Healed By a Tree
Shortly after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they ran into a problem. We read, “they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 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. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” They had just miraculously come across the Red Sea on dry ground, but it was a salty body of water and so could not be used for drinking. When they finally found fresh water, it was bitter. Moses “cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (Exodus 15:22-25). The scripture help for this passage suggests the following application: “When Moses obeyed the Lord’s command to cast a tree into the waters of Marah, the water, which had once been bitter and unfit to drink, became healed and pure. Like the tree that brought he...