15:22-25
Having crossed the Red Sea any faith the Israelites had quickly evaporates. They went out into the “wilderness of Schur”. Three days into the desert and they had found no water, so they start to moan. They came to a place called Marah which had water, but the water was bitter (i.e. undrinkable). The people grumbled against Moses, and Moses cried out to God. The people’s lack of faith is shown by the fact that they grumbled against Moses. The Lord gave Moses an answer. He showed Moses a log, which Moses threw into the water and it made the water sweet (i.e. drinkable).
15:26,27
The Lord had saved Israel, but this did not mean that they didn’t have any responsibilities. We tend to get in a muddle over salvation. We know we are saved by grace, by what Jesus has done, not by anything we have done. However, the Bible is absolutely clear, again and again, that we have responsibilities. Here God outlines the key requirements for the Israelites. They were to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord”. They were to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Today so much of the church seems to be more concerned to do what is right in the eyes of the world, rather than the eyes of the Lord. This means keeping His commandments. If they did this, then Israel would suffer none of the diseases of Egypt.
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water. One wonders how far this was from Marah. Could they have just carried on from Marah and come to Elim?
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