From Mara to the Wells of Elim
Exodus 15:22-27 NKJV “So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you." 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
I love the whole story of the Exodus and all the Israelites went through from 430 years of slavery in Egypt until they finally possessed the land of Canaan 45 years after they crossed the Red Sea. The story I just read happens immediately after they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground after God parted the waters. You know, there is a lot we can gain from this story by walking through the Word step by step.
It starts out with the fact that they crossed the Red Sea and then the whole nation walked three days into the Wilderness of Shur.
The Wilderness of Shur means the “Point of Observation.”
So, up to this time things have been a whirlwind in you will. They have seen the 10 plagues, Pharaoh’s harshness, subsequently Pharaoh’s release of the Israelites, then his change of mind and his pursuit to get them back. They were pinned up next to the sea with seemingly no escape. Then they saw the Red Sea parted and a supernatural wind blowing on the seabed all night drying it out while God supernaturally kept the Egyptians at bay. Finally they were given the go ahead to cross the sea which they did as they witnessed the demise of the Egyptian army. And finally they are across the Red Sea and apparently safe.
And now, the Israelites have entered the Wilderness of Shur or the Point of Observation. They have reached a place where they can take stock of their situation, catch their breath and try to make sense of it all. But their Point of Observation was view from the wilderness, not the final destination. So their observation was a little biased and tainted by their recent past experiences. Sometimes when we are in a difficult place in life we need to stop and find a point of observation to kind of take inventory and process everything that has taken place.
Let me ask you a question…. Have you ever felt as if God helped you out of a terrible jam just to put you in a bigger hole?
That was what the Israelites were feeling when they walked three days into Shur, the Point of Observation just to find out they made it to Mara, the “Place of Bitterness.” I mean, we can only go about three days without water and they were three days away from the Red Sea…. How were they going to make it?
Hebrews 12:15-16, NLT “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”
One reason that bitterness is so extremely dangerous is because it can take root and begin to grow and spread and spiritually contaminate and defile your heart and spirit before you even realize what's wrong with you. Sinful human nature makes it very easy for us to rationalize and justify ourselves for harboring hurt feelings or a grudge against others when we feel that they have wronged or mistreated us. In fact, we can even feel this way towards God!
Like the roots of most plants, little "roots" of resentment and bitterness lay below the surface where they remain unseen while they are growing. But there they go, spreading and growing; going ever deeper and deeper. If allowed to continue, these roots of bitterness will eventually eat away at your very heart and soul, until they finally devour and destroy you spiritually!--Ultimately leaving you spiritually dead and virtually useless to the Lord! Bitterness is very much like the South American vine known as the "Matador." Beginning at the foot of a tree, the matador vine slowly works its way to the top. But as it grows, it kills the tree, and when at last the top is reached, it sends forth a flower to crown itself. The word “Matador” literally means KILLER. Bitterness may appear harmless when it is small, but if it is allowed to grow, eventually it kill the soul.
This is why God's Word tells us in Ephesians 4:31 to "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." And if you allow that root of bitterness to take hold in your heart and life, it will cause you to fail both the grace of the Lord and yourself. It will also defile everyone around you. Such a root can go a long way, and can ultimately destroy you.
Back to our story in Exodus: Thirst had consumed them and they did not have enough reserves to go back the way they had come. Yet, they couldn’t drink the water that was in front of them. Hope was quickly draining. Proverbs 13:12 NLT says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12 Message, “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around. That’s where they Israelites were; they were heart sick because their hope for a better life was deferred. And in this despair, they had begun to develop a really bad attitude. They whined and complained and pointed fingers and played the blame game.
You know, attitude is everything. Being in a bad place with a bad attitude does several things:
1. It makes things worse
2. It places your focus more on the problem than on the solution
3. It keeps you from having an open heart and mind to the Bible and the leading of the Spirit.
4. Destroys creativity and resourcefulness.
5. It causes dissension and division in the Body of Christ.
Attitude can either be toxic or else it can be life-giving. It’s up to us which attitude we embrace. So, in the middle of all this bitterness, Moses gets before the Lord…. Check that; he cries out to the Lord. It’s one thing to get before the Lord in prayer and it’s another thing to cry out to the Lord. Matthew 20:30-34 NLT, “Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" 31 "Be quiet!" the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" 32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, "What do you want me to do for you?" 33 "Lord," they said, "we want to see!" 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.
You see, there is a big difference between praying little ceremonial prayers and crying out to the Lord. These two blind guys cried out, they shouted out until Jesus not only heard them but also stopped in his tracks to help them. And that was what Moses did….. he cried out to God with all his heart and mind and strength. And that is what we need to do too.
When God answered Moses and gave him direction what did the Lord tell him to do? He was told to pick up this tree, some translations call it a piece of wood, and toss it into the waters and it instantly became sweet and good to drink.
Now, obviously the tree or wood is symbolic of the Cross of Jesus and how the work of the cross addresses the bitterness of the curse of sin and how Christ transforms our life.
And, I want you to get this…….. in the midst of your crisis, your darkest hour, your disaster, your reversal, the Cross of Jesus will turn it all from darkness to light, from despair to hope, from bankruptcy to prosperity, from death unto life.
It was also here at Mara, the Oasis of Bitterness, where God gave out some unnamed ordinances and statutes. We do not know what they were but it was at the Oasis of Bitterness where God laid down some rules because the Law and 10 Commandments were not yet given; that’s still 5 chapters away. It was also at Mara where they were tested. And you know what? It was an open book test. He told them in verse 26 what they would be tested with and what the reward would be if they passed the test.
The test was that they be obedient and if they were, they would not suffer the diseases of the Egyptians for the Lord would be their healer. Isaiah 43:16-19 NLT, “I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. 17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. 18 "But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
King James says to forget the former things and consider not the things of old, Behold I do a new thing.
And here’s the good news, we are not camping out at Mara, the Oasis of Bitterness. We are moving on…. Moving to Elim. You see, Elim was only about 7 miles down the road but they didn’t even know it until they sent out some scouts because they had never been here before.
It wasn’t a long, hard journey to Elim, just a few hours walk; maybe a half a day’s journey.
I looked up Elim and it means “Strong, Robust, Mighty Ones.”
They went from being the Bitter Ones to the Strong, Robust Mighty Ones in a matter of a day or so.
Even though God had made the waters of Mara sweet through the work of the Cross of Christ, they knew they needed to move forward from there.
We can’t emotionally and spiritually stay camped out at the Oasis of Bitterness no matter how sweet the water now is. They didn’t rename it, they moved away from it even though God performed miracles there.
Their destiny wasn’t found in Mara, they needed to keep going forward, so they did. And Elim was waiting for them.
Exodus 15:27 says, “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.”
There are a couple of significant things I want to point out about Elim. There were 12 wells and 70 date palm trees.
Here in Elim there were 12 artesian wells. I mean it was an endless supply of great water.
The fact that there were twelve is significant because:
The number 12 is the number of:
1. Divine government and Apostolic Rule.
2. It represents the epitome of consummate coming together of the divine and human rulership under God. The coming together of the heavenly and the human.
3. 12 is the number of power that comes through the covenant and authority of spiritual impartation.
At Elim it all comes together in the form of twelve wells; 12 artesian springs. We are tapping into the unending, life-giving flow and outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Also at Elim there were 70 date-palms. Seventy represents the completion of a cycle. The Babylonian captivity was seventy years, Daniel’s prophecy included 70 weeks or time periods, and there were 70 Elders.
The wells of water and palm trees speak of foundation, healing refreshment and sustenance. They paint a picture of an oasis in the desert. The Israelites rested and were refreshed there. But, why the numbers 12 and 70?
There are no insignificant details in the Bible. The 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees represent anointed ministries that refresh you with God’s Word. So if you want to know Jesus as the Lord who heals you, sit under anointed preaching of God’s Word because when His Word goes forth, it will heal you. His Word is medicine to all your flesh! (Proverbs 4:22)
How did I make that connection? Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Matthew 10:1 says that when Jesus had “called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”
Matthew 10:7–8, “He sent out the 12 and said to them, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons...”
Then, in Luke 10:1, the Lord “appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go”.
Luke 10:9; He also said to the 70, “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Heal the sick and preach the Kingdom of God.
Church, we are leaving the Bitterness of Mara and we are now headed toward Elim, The Strong, Robust Mighty Ones!
