Exodus 15:22-27 comments: bitter waters

22 ¶  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. 27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

The wilderness of Shur is east of Egypt, as we would expect. Hagar fled from Sarai to the wilderness on the way to Shur. They are now in the Sinai Peninsula it would seem.

Genesis 16:7  And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

1Samuel 15:7  And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

1Samuel 27:8  And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.

Marah obviously means bitter. One can easily imagine sermons about God’s word being bitter to the unbeliever but sweet to the person who is saved by God or how God’s will is bitter to the disobedient Christian but sweet to the Christian who trusts God.

God promises the Hebrews that for their obedience the diseases that were visited upon the Egyptians will not come on them. For a large group of people to move about like this you can imagine the possibilities of epidemics afflicting them. This is an important point to consider when we get to the Law that Moses is given to give to them.

Numbers in the Bible are very interesting. Such things like twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees at Elim are good material for sermons on symbolism in the Bible. Certain numbers come up quite frequently in the Bible but a sidetrack on them would take away from the flow of the narrative. Does twelve refer to the tribes of the children of Israel? What about the seventy weeks of prophecy in Daniel?