“And (Moses) cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”
The Israelites were on their journey from Egypt when they became thirsty and looked for water. They found water, but the water was bitter, which means it was probably stagnant. Moses took a tree and threw it into the water and it became sweet – or fit to drink. Before that the people had complained to Moses because they were thirsty. This was not the first time that they complained and not the last, but at that moment bitter waters were made sweet and Israel’s thirst was satisfied. What can we learn from this event? The first thing that we notice is that this was first and foremost an act of God. Exodus 15:24-25 will reveal this to us: “And the people murmured against Moses saying, What shall we drink? 25. And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.” It is important to note that “the Lord showed him a tree.”This was not a magic tree, and Moses was not a miracle worker. It was God who enabled Israel to have water to drink. Psalm 24 tells us that “the earth is the Lord’s and fullness thereof…” We should recognize that it is God who provides the means for our own “bitter waters” to be made sweet. We need to recognize that what God did for Moses and Israel, He has done and will do for us. God will turn the bitterness of sin into the sweetness of forgiveness. The main problem with the human condition is sin. People have always tried to redefine sin and make it less bitter, but they have not succeeded, nor will they succeed. It is the bitterness of sin that causes so much consternation in our world. It is the bitterness of sin that caused Jesus to say that there would always be “wars and rumors of wars.” Sin is the main problem of every human being. It is only when we recognize that we have “sinned and come short of the glory of God,” that we will seek the forgiveness of Jesus and have our own “bitter waters” made sweet. The great thing is that, even when we sin after we are saved, Jesus has promised to forgive us and to cleanse us. We do not have to live in the bitterness of sin. God will take away our bitter attitudes and put sweet attitudes in their place. Throughout His sojourn on earth, Jesus was mistreated by religious leaders. The wonderful thing was that He did not become bitter in His spirit. We know this because His first words from the cross were sweet words: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” If you know anything about the apostle Paul, you know that he was mistreated. From the day that he turned from his bitter ways to become a Christian, he was under a death sentence. People did not just disagree with Paul, they wanted to kill him. In spite of this He was able to write in Ephesians 4:31-32: “Let all bitterness and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate), forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” I think you see the point that I am making here that all kinds of things that could make us bitter can be sweetened by the Lord. Jesus stands ready make the bitter things sweet in our lives. Throw yourself on Him in faith and let your “bitter waters be made sweet.” Do it! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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