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 healing to Marah’s waters, Jesus Christ offers His healing power to cleanse us and remove bitterness from our lives.” This points to Jesus as a tree that makes what is bitter to become sweet. This makes me think of the tree of life as described by Lehi in his vision: “And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen” (1 Nephi 8:10-11). We know that the fruit which was sweet represents the love of God, and perhaps we can see the tree itself as a representation of Jesus Christ. He brings us the fruit which will make life sweet; He will turn the bitter to become sweet just as the tree did for the waters of Marah.

               As I thought about this story, I realized there is another connection between the Savior and a tree that may be part of the symbolism here. The Savior was hung on a cross which came from a tree. Peter declared to the Jewish leaders, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 5:30). On another occasion he similarly declared, “And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 10:39). Peter also later wrote in an epistle, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Paul similarly referred to the Savior hanging on a tree: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). All of these statements suggest that we can say that the Savior’s sacrifice was done on a tree, and it is from that tree that we are healed. The symbol of the cross used by so many to represent Christianity is in fact a tree, or at least the wood from a tree. And just as the tree at Marah healed the water so the people could drink, so too does the tree of His crucifixion offer us healing and can turn life’s bitter experiences into that which is sweet. In this experience at Marah the Lord declared to Moses, “I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). And today He still offers to heal us through the tree of His crucifixion, inviting us, “Return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you” (3 Nephi 9:13).