Exodus 15: The Song of Moses, the Bitter Waters of Marah, and Jehovah Rapha
I was out in the garage last Saturday, planing a piece of ash that had been sitting in the rack for about a year. The wood was dry and the grain was straight, and the plane was leaving ribbons of shavings that curled up and fell on the floor. It is one of those sounds that does not get old. The blade catching, the wood giving, the shavings piling up. I was thinking about the last time I had been out there. It had been a week and a half, and life gets in the way. But the wood was still there, waiting.
Exodus 15 is a chapter about what happens right after a big moment. The Red Sea crossing is behind them, the Egyptians are gone, and the Israelites are standing on the far shore. They sing.
The Song of Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15
The song starts with Moses and the people of Israel. It is the first recorded song in scripture, and it is not a quiet one. They sang about the Lord being their strength and their song, about the horse and the rider thrown into the sea, about the right arm of the Lord dashing the enemy in pieces.
It is a victory song. Loud and public and full of the kind of joy that comes when you have been delivered from something that should have killed you.
The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:2)
Then Miriam took a timbrel in her hand, and the women followed her with timbrels and dances. She sang the same words back to them. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
I like that detail. The men sang it first, and then the women sang it back. It was not a solo performance. It was the whole camp, everyone who had walked through the sea, standing together and saying the same thing.
I wrote about Exodus 14 a while back, about the crossing itself. This chapter is what comes after. The miracle is done. Now they have to figure out what to do with the memory of it.
The Bitter Waters of Marah Made Sweet
The song ends at verse 21. Verse 22 starts with Moses bringing Israel from the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days into the desert and found no water.
Three days. That is not a long time. But when you are in the desert with a crowd of people and the water is gone, three days feels like forever.
They came to Marah, and there was water. But the water was bitter, and they could not drink it. The people murmured against Moses and said, What shall we drink?
I have read this story many times, and I am always struck by how fast it happens. They were just singing and dancing, and now they are complaining. The same people who walked through the sea on dry ground are standing at a spring and saying, What are we going to do now?
Moses cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. He cast the tree into the waters, and the waters were made sweet.
A tree was the remedy. Not a complicated ritual or a sacrifice. A tree thrown into the water, and the bitterness was gone.
I think about that tree sometimes when I am working with wood. Different woods have different properties. Some are good for structure, some for finish, some for treating water. The Lord knew exactly which tree to show Moses, and Moses did what he was told.
What the Tree in Exodus 15 Teaches Us
The tree is a small detail in the story, but it is the whole point. The water was bitter, and God provided the remedy from within the wilderness itself. He did not lead them back to Egypt to find sweet water or rain it from heaven. He showed Moses a tree that was already there, growing in the same desert where they were standing.
The solution was in the problem. They just needed to be shown where to look.
I have had moments like that. You are stuck on something, and you think the answer is somewhere else. You need a different tool or material, or you need to start over. And then someone points out that the thing you need is right in front of you, and you just did not see it.
The tree did not change the water. It changed the water. That is the part I keep coming back to. The bitterness was real. The water was undrinkable. But God put something in the middle of it that made it drinkable.
The Meaning of Jehovah Rapha
After the water was made sweet, the Lord made a statute and an ordinance for the people. He said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Jehovah Rapha. The Lord who heals you. He revealed that name at Marah, not at the Red Sea where the water parted and the army drowned. Not at the top of the mountain. At a bitter spring in the middle of nowhere, after three days of walking through sand. That is where he chose to tell them who he was. I am the Lord that healeth you. The healing was not just for the water but for the people. He was telling them that the same power that made the bitter water sweet could make their bitter lives sweet too. If they would listen. If they would obey.
Why the Israelites Grumbled After the Red Sea
The grumbling at Marah is one of those things that is easy to judge until you have been in the same position. I have been the one who received a clear answer to prayer and then panicked about something small an hour later. I have been the one who forgot the big thing because the small thing was right in front of my face.
The Israelites had just watched the sea swallow the Egyptian army. They had seen the water stand up like a wall. They had walked through it on dry ground. And three days later, they were standing at a spring saying, What shall we drink?
It is not that they did not believe in God. It is that they believed in thirst more. The need in front of them was louder than the memory of the miracle behind them.
I do not think that makes them bad people. I think it makes them normal people. The same thing happens to me all the time. I get a clear answer or a clear blessing, and then something goes wrong at work or at home, and suddenly I am acting like God has never done anything for me.
The grumbling is not the end of the story. God did not punish them for complaining. He showed Moses the tree, made the water sweet, and told them who he was. The grumbling was real, but the mercy was bigger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Israelites complain at Marah right after the Red Sea miracle?
It is the same reason any of us forget a blessing when a new problem shows up. The thirst was immediate and physical. The miracle was three days behind them. Human memory is short when the body is uncomfortable.
What is the spiritual meaning of the tree that made the water sweet?
The tree represents God's ability to provide a remedy within the trial itself. It was already growing in the wilderness, and the solution was there all along. It took obedience to find it.
What does Jehovah Rapha mean in Exodus 15?
It means the Lord who heals you. God revealed this name at Marah, connecting the healing of the bitter water to a promise of spiritual and physical health for the people if they would follow his voice and keep his commandments.
What is the featured verse for Exodus 15?
Exodus 15:2. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
How can I apply the lessons of Exodus 15 to my life?
Pay attention to what is growing in your own wilderness. The thing you need might already be there. And when you find yourself grumbling about something small, remember what God has already done. The bitterness is real, but the healer is real too.
The ash I was planing last Saturday is going to be a small table for my daughter's room. It has been sitting in the rack for a year, waiting. I could have used it sooner, but it was not ready. The wood needed time to cure.
The Israelites needed time too. They needed the song and the desert and the bitter water. They needed to know that the Lord who delivered them was also the Lord who healed them. The same God who parted the sea was standing at the spring.
-- D.