What Happened to Your Tambourine?

Our pastor has been taking us through an expository study of the Book of Exodus.  This past Sunday we were in Exodus chapter 15, verses 1-21.  He continuously sang a song (while shaking a tambourine) that went something like this, “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”  Several times through this message he shared this.  And, of course, he would have to re-stress again how Miriam and all the ladies grabbed their tambourines and began to chime in “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”  I think it is safe to say they were celebrating, they were rejoicing over the fact that God has just handled them their biggest victory to date.

Then my pastor contacted me and ask if I would like to take on the next section of that study, as he remembered a message I shared nearly 20 years ago about the “Bitter Waters of Marah.”  So of course I was immediately shocked that my pastor could remember a message from 20 years ago, and even more shocked that he would think I would remember a message from 20 years ago!  So I immediately began writing down thoughts about Exodus 15:22-27. And here they go:

So, Israel has just crossed the Red Sea, God has handed them their greatest victory,  They are singing, and shouting, and celebrating.  Now God is about to give them a test – a test that they are going to fail miserably.  Exodus 15:22, 23 says, “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ²³ 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.“

Marah (which means “bitter”) is three days travel from where they crossed the Red Sea and approximately 36 miles.  I get the sense from reading the first 21 verses that the children of Israel felt they would just sing and dance their way to Canaan.  But, it didn’t turn out that way.  In three short days they went from singing, and shouting and praising God, to hanging their harps in the willows (spiritually speaking).  While they travel three days in the scorching hot Sinai Desert, they have a water crisis.  They get to Marah, hoping to find water, only to realize the water they found was not fit for consumption.  How disappointing that must have been for them.

In verse 24, the Bible says, “And the people murmured against Moses (just like they did when they got to the Red Sea and just like they would do over and over again over the next 40 years while wandering around in the wilderness), saying, What shall we drink?”  Since it was Moses that convinced them to leave Egypt in the first place, naturally it is his fault that they find themselves in this predicament (even though they were following the same “cloud by day and pillar of fire by night” that he was).

They were thirsty; they desperately needed something to drink; they were in a drought.  How disappointing it must have been to travel for three days only to realize that when you finally found some water, you couldn’t drink it?  Reminds me of people that are in spiritual droughts, and desperately need a drink of water.  They go to the House of God hoping to find a cool cup of Living Water, only to find there is none.

Verse 25 says, “And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,”

What did Moses do as the people were murmuring?  He did the same thing he did when they murmured at the Red Sea – he cried out to God on their behalf.  It wasn’t Miriam that was crying out to God, it wasn’t Arron that was crying out to God – only Moses.  You ask why?

• Because Moses knew that God could turn bitterness into sweetness;
• Because Moses knew God could turn their lemons into lemonade;
• Because Moses knew God could turn their defeat into victory;
• Because God can make a temporal evil work for a spiritual good!

Verse 26 says, “And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,”

God makes a statute and an ordinance and says, “If you do what I tell you to do, and don’t do what I tell you not to do, then I will bless you and not plaque you like I did the Egyptians.”  And right here, God proved them, He tested them.  According to Deuteronomy chapter 8, this is a pattern that would repeat itself time and time again over the next 40 years in their wilderness wanderings while God tested them to see what was in their hearts.

Finally, verse 27 says, “And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water (which coincidentally happens to be the number of the tribes of Israel), and threescore and ten (70) palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.”  One of the most interesting things to me is that Elim was just 7 miles down the road from Marah.  Rather than wasting their time murmuring in Marah, they could have made forward progress to Elim.  Yet, in order to get to Elim, they had to go through Marah.  Maybe because you can’t fully appreciate the Elim moments in life without experiencing the Marah moments in life.  Let me finish by sharing 6 observations with you.

1. It’s easy to lose your song.
2. It’s easy to forget where God brought you from.
3. It’s easy to blame everybody else when things don’t go the way you thought they should have gone.
4. It’s easy to forget that the person you may be blaming for your problem, might be the very person who helped lead you out of bondage to begin with.
5. It’s easy to forget that the very person you are murmuring against, may be the only person in the world that is praying for you.
6. It is easy for God to change your circumstances!

If you are reading this, and you are in a spiritual drought, I pray you don’t forget that the God who brought you out before, can do it again.  I pray God will give you a fresh cup of Living Water today.  God bless and keep you!