We are told in 15:22 that during this journey of three days in the wilderness, the children of Israel did not find any water. This signifies that in the realm of resurrection there is no natural water, no natural supply. After we are baptized and brought into the realm of resurrection, we may expect to receive a certain kind of help, the help that comes from natural water. Before we were saved, and when we were living in the old realm of the world, we had an abundant supply of natural water from the Nile. But in the realm of resurrection there is no such water.
God led the people to Marah, which means bitterness. Exodus 15:23 says, “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.” The fact that God led His people to Marah indicates that as we walk in the realm of resurrection, God will lead us to a place of bitterness, to Marah. The pillar of cloud led the people to a place where there were waters, but these waters were bitter. When the people discovered that the waters were bitter, they “murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” (v. 24). Like the children of Israel, we also have complained and murmured about our bitter situations. Many times we have said in a complaining way, “What shall I do? What shall we drink? What kind of help is this?” If I had been Moses, I would have told the people not to complain to me. I would have reminded them that they were led to this place by the same cloud that protected them from Pharaoh and his army just three days before. But as a true servant of the Lord, instead of striving with this murmuring and complaining people, Moses cried out to the Lord (v. 25).
In response to his cry, the Lord showed him a tree (v. 25). When Moses cast the tree into the waters, the waters were made sweet. First Peter 2:24 indicates that this tree signifies the cross of Christ. Thus, the tree that healed the bitter waters denotes the cross on which the Lord was crucified. The cross of Christ, the unique cross, is the healing cross.
This picture corresponds to our spiritual experience. After we are baptized and begin to walk in newness of life, we are troubled because we have no natural water. On the one hand, we are like the people who complained and murmured. On the other hand, we are like Moses who cried to the Lord. When we cry out to the Lord in prayer, He shows us the vision of the crucified Christ. We need to see a vision of the cross. Seeing this vision, we apply the cross of Christ to our situation, and immediately the bitter waters become sweet. I have the full assurance that everyone who has truly been baptized into Christ has had this kind of experience. Our experiences may differ in degree, but in principle and in nature they are the same.
According to Romans 6:4, we walk in the realm of resurrection, in newness of life, after we are baptized. This realm is the real wilderness of Shur, a realm in which we are separated from the world by the wall and by the sea. As we walk in this realm, we have no natural resources, and we face much bitterness. But in resurrection we may experience the cross of Christ and live a crucified life. As we do this, our bitter situation becomes sweet.
Last year my wife and I came to a real Marah, a very bitter situation. But because we were walking in the realm of resurrection, we could experience the cross of the Lord Jesus and live a crucified life. We richly enjoyed the healing tree cast into the bitter situation. This tree caused the bitter waters to become sweet. For this reason, I gave a number of messages last year on the crucified life. Yes, my wife and I suffered from the bitterness in our situation. However, eventually we enjoyed sweetness because the healing tree with the crucified life had been applied to our circumstances. This is the way to experience and enjoy Christ’s death in the realm of resurrection.
Whatever we experience in the realm of resurrection is an experience in resurrection. In the wilderness of Shur the children of Israel experienced the cross of Christ in resurrection. The bitter waters of Marah were changed into sweet waters in the realm of the wilderness. In the same principle, in the realm of resurrection we experience the death of Christ changing our bitterness into sweetness. May the Lord give us more experience of this.
We do not experience the bitter waters of Marah once for all. As long as we live on earth, we shall walk in the realm of resurrection and come to Marah again and again. The experience of the children of Israel at Marah portrays a principle, not merely an incident. This principle is basic in our Christian life. As we walk in the realm of resurrection, we shall thirst, only to discover that there is no natural water to supply our need. Only the waters of bitterness are available. Whenever we are in such a situation, we need to see the vision of the tree and then apply this tree to our circumstances. This tree will then heal our situation and change the bitter waters into sweet.