Exodus 15:20-27 - Bitterness and Sweet Release

Exodus 15:20-27

The Song of Miriam (Numbers 26:59)

20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them:

“Sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!”

Bitter Waters Made Sweet

22 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.

The bitterness of God’s people who suffered under harsh affliction for four hundred years was over at last and sweet release came through passing through the Red Sea.  Moses’s and Aaron’s sister Miriam led the women in songs of praise for God’s overwhelming triumph over their enemy as they went for on dry land on the other side of bondage with no more enslavement pursuing them.  They were free at last!  This song of praise recorded here follows the longer one of Moses who praised the LORD for how wonderful He is and all He had done for them, just as we continue to do so in Christ for our deliverance from the sin that held us in bondage all our lives (Romans 7:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) until He led us to freedom from sin’s penalty by His work of substitutionary grace on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) in our place.  The bitterness of their captivity as to sin in Egypt was brought back to mind then Moses led them to drink after three days of thirsting on their journey.  At Marah they found water, but it was too bitter to drink and satisfy their growing thirst and reminded them of their bitterness of life before their salvation from the land of their hard servitude.  When they were thus reminded of these things and complained to Moses, the LORD led him to a certain tree which when put in the water made it sweet to be palatable and even enjoyable to the taste.  Their thirst was satisfied by God when they looked back to their previous oppression in Egypt.  We also find ourselves in situations of bitterness and anger that are satiated by God’s consolation of His sweet word and Spirit in those times as we cease complaining and find contentment (1 Timothy 6:6) in the godliness of trust in His leading.  Moses reminded the people then that if they diligently heed what the LORD God says and do what is right according to everything in His word, that they would be kept from the consequences of disobedience as the Egyptians found in the diseases that resulted.  We certainly are not rewarded with disease for our disobedience in Christ, yet the consequences of sin can be just as painful in suffering for what is wrong (1 Peter 2:20, 3:14) instead of obediently doing what is right even if we suffer at the hands of others for His sake.  Our bitterness of discontent comes through disobedience to what we know His word instructs us to do to be pleasing and thankful children.  How sweet it is to praise the Lord in adversity and camp by the waters of His grace in the peace of the Spirit of God within us as we focus on Him and our deliverance instead of the challenges and obstacles of adversity in our journey as we keep our feet moving in the direction of obedience and holiness, walking in love, light, and wisdom as we read in Ephesians 5:2, 8-10, 15-16 to guide us.  We find sweet release in God’s word by His Spirit as we encounter bitterness in situations and our responses when we take our eyes off the promised heavenly land (Hebrews 11:16) to come.  This is written for our example of how to look at Bitterness and Sweet Release in our journey with the Lord in our sanctification.  It is better to find joy in our deliverance from sin’s penalty and sing praises like Moses and Miriam did for our example than allow bitterness in the situations to turn us from praises and joy.