Read Exodus 15:1-5, 13-28
The story
Imagine standing on the banks of a fast, flowing river, knowing you have just crossed its depths without a drop of water touching your skin. As you look back at the distant shore the corpses of your oppressors litter the banks. Israel had seen again the awesome power of their God, Yahweh.
The people burst into spontaneous praise, a first, from the depths of their heart, a loud outpouring of awe. Miriam leads the women in song, and now scripture gives her a name, oppression and slavery don’t realise individuals, but freedom does.
A confidence erupts from all that the Lord has done, from a zeal and trust in the promises for the future. The first glimpses of what they have been saved for, not just what they have been saved from.
This is the first day of real liberation and they set off, cloudy pillar and Moses in front. You can imagine the chatter and joy, loud and evident amongst them all for the first day or so, maybe even into the second a little, but by day three the deep thirst would have kicked in, and suddenly all that was believed about Yahweh and Moses on the shore of the Sea of Reeds has shrivelled and dried in the sun of the wilderness.
Can you imagine, as they raced towards the waters at Marah, scolding themselves perhaps, for not trusting in the God who had split the sea for them, to find that even with a life threatening slavish thirst the water was undrinkable, the bitterness of the water matching only the mood of the people. I would have been desperate and complaining too, I know I would have.
Moses, well trained now in turning to God for his needs cries out to Yahweh who shows him a piece of wood to throw into the water, sweetening the flavour and allowing the Israelites to drink, gulp down the much-needed hydration.
The Lord gives them a command to obey, he says pay attention, keep the decrees and you won’t suffer diseases the way that the Egyptians just have. The bitterness of the water was from Magnesium, the consumption of it would have purged from their body all the parasites and diseases they had brought with them from Egypt. The Lord led them to an imperative medicine, one that they would need if they were to be strong and well enough to reach Canaan. The Israelites wouldn’t have known that, they may never have known the purpose of the bitter water, but there truly was one.
What’s happening with Moses ?
Moses has seen Yahweh produce the impossible on many occasions now, but nothing like he had just witnessed at the sea crossing. I am sure he had a spring in his step too as they walked towards the wilderness of Shur. I think Moses was becoming all too aware of his limitations and his weakness and all that didn’t seem to be changed in himself, but maybe the realisation that in that, God just became more. Had he hoped the Lord would transform him into a stronger, perfected leader to take this on, but he hadn’t. He was still the same Moses, perhaps reluctant to lead in his weakness, unsure of what to say to the people when things looked bleak, no real idea of what to do in his own strength. He didn’t have the answers but he did speak with the God who did.
The only change he noted as he watched the people drink their fill was his ability to take the complaining without feeling it as a rejection of his being an outsider. He realised he had become one of his people, not a hybrid Egyptian prince and Hebrew, Not a Midianite shepherd but one of Gods’ own people. I think a protective warmth started to grow in his heart, not unlike the one he had felt for his father in laws sheep as he had walked them to water in what felt like another life.
What’s happening with the Israelites?
In what seems like a short time and a short journey the Israelites were learning a daily dependence on God, for every inch they released their grip of Egypt, God was able to fill that void with his providence. With each day of providence the acceptance of Yahweh would have grown. Maybe it was felt he was just a kinder version of Pharaoh, a more merciful master, which indeed he was, but oh so much more.
To enjoy the fruits of providence we have to trust, This takes nerves of steel I think, even when you know the goodness of the one providing. But here, they didn.t know of His goodness. That will come in every step towards becoming human again, a losing of the anonymity that comes with slavery.
I think trust is often described as a choice, and sometimes when there is no choice its the only course of action. Trust costs us something, we risk being wrong, we risk a certain amount of autonomy and we lay down our vulnerability ready for it to be trampled under foot. With all ‘bridges’ back to Egypt burnt the option to follow and Learn to trust becomes simpler, doesn’t require something heroic. It becomes the only serious option and that opens wide the door for Yahweh to show His Character and His nature and how unlike Pharaoh it is possible to be.
Lets be honest its a scary ride, and I’m sure handing over control of your family’s and your own destiny to an unknown God and a Midianite Shepherd would test every resolve. I wonder how many times I have walked forward waiting for disappointment to be around the very next corner. ‘It’s in this sandy, dry classroom they start to learn to be human again, slavery robs that from us, slavery strips the individuality of the soul, we become a commodity to be used. It will be a few generations before there is the confidence to approach Yahweh personally. Here the Israelites would have learnt to keep their heads down, to not stand out, certainly not to approach those in command. It will take generations to wash away the stains of slavery.
What do we learn about God?
Here I see a God not phased by the moaning and accusations. He knows they need the Magnesium in that water to purge the parasites and ailments out of their bodies. He knows they wont make the long journey ahead without it. He also knows that if there’s a choice then they will only drink the sweet water and the prescribed medicine will be left untouched. I wonder if any part of you would allow such unjust condemnation about your choices for your children? I think as a parent I was continually trying to justify why the medicine was necessary, why I had said no, why there were chores for example. I didn’t want to risk being unliked, unloved. But the Lord is bigger than that. The Lord doesn’t have to justify His actions to us or anyone. We do have to trust that it will always be for our good, what ever He permits.
What do we learn?
I see that first God delivers us from the immediate danger, saves us when we are in so deep that we are unable to save ourselves. We should respond in awe and with this a deepening of our faith comes through for the next step in formation.
God ( obv) knew exactly what was needed and when the Israelites don’t, they don’t have the first clue what the Lord is doing for them and in them, just like us, so much of the work He does in us is imperceptible and subtle in the delivery, it appears like a hurdle often or a struggle that could so easily have been swept aside by His mighty hand, yet it wasn’t. It’s only with the gold that is hindsight we can see His unending redirection, His unfailing patience steering us back, His eternal Undoing of the harm we choose on a daily basis.
It’s in the afterglow we learn to build trust, but as flawed and fragile humans in the moment we see only hard, unyielding and uncaring. How it must tear at his heart all the unjust judgements we lay solely at his feet, the ungrateful cries of “why won’t you…”
When our crying drowns out the small voice whispering “just wait, child, I am always making things new”
Trust comes with time and experience, there is no shortcut to a deep trust, there’s the close your eyes and leap kind, but that’s a moments grace, or when the other options leave little choice. No, the deeper, truer, hard won trust you can stand on in the face of all terror and suffering comes from the continual day to day experience of the Journey with Him.
What is the significance for the Spiritual journey?
I think if you are a convert, or a revert, we arrived fresh from our conversion thinking we’ve made it, that the hard part is behind us. That we have found the winning ticket, because this prize will assure that all will go well from here on in. With our hearts set on heaven and our past forgiven and behind us, we are certain of a trouble free passage, but It really is here that the work begins.
the problem isnt with God’s lack of protection, the problem is, that yes, all those sins are forgiven, clean slate living. But our attachment to those sins is still very evident. Our desires have become twisted and disordered, the work of purifying them can last a lifetime. The good news is, in the undoing of the desires is the work of building a relationship of trust in the one who brought you this far.
In Gods mind we were created to bear His image, we were made in His likeness, everything added or distorted from that is a step away from who you were created to be. The redemption is all about restoring that original glory. Praise God!
Its a tough season those early days of faith filled infancy. He is as patient with you as any mother, he knows you dont know he is to be trusted, he knows you have limited knowledge of His deep love for you. He knows that your only experience of him is in a world of broken people who barely know Him either. You will be on a life long pilgrimage discovering how much He differs from the Gods that you used to worship.
In all that mess and distrust and choas, He will still lead you though, He will risk your scorn and displeasure because he loves you enough to draw you through it. He knows the prize He holds is one you cant yet begin to imagine.
Questions
- Have you questioned Gods goodness in times of trial?
- Are there subtle times where you feel that your being punished for wrong doing, rather than being formed into fullness?
- Have you experienced that zeal and confidence singing out of your heart ?
- How long did the joy last? What can you do to recall that sense of awe for the Lord?
- How do you fare in situations where you have no control?
- What gods did you serve before Jesus? Money, reputation. Power, jobs, sex, your body?
- Have you felt tempted to return, do they still hold some appeal for you?
- Have you experienced the Lord purging these holds in some way?
- In what ways has the Lord sweetened the medicine your soul needed to do this? How has he made this easier for you?
- The Lord explains that if they follow his decrees they wont suffer like the Egyptians did, are there any of Gods teachings that you struggle to understand? What could help you to understand the purpose behind them better?
