Message 30
Scripture Reading: Exo. 15:22-26; Rom. 6:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Cor. 2:2b; Phil. 3:10; Psa. 103:3; Matt. 8:17; 9:12
We have pointed out that Exodus is a book of pictures that portray God’s salvation as revealed in the New Testament. This salvation is spiritual, mysterious, and related to the divine life. Without the pictures in the book of Exodus, it would be difficult for us to have a firm grasp of the meaning of God’s salvation. Therefore, in His wisdom, God uses the pictures in Exodus to depict His salvation.
The crossing of the Red Sea marked the completion of the first stage of God’s salvation of His chosen people. This stage includes three items: the Passover, the exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea. The Passover is related to God’s judgment. Through the enjoyment of the Passover lamb, His people were saved from the judgment of God. The exodus is related to the tyranny of Pharaoh and to enslavement in Egypt. God’s people were not only under His judgment; they were also under the tyranny of Pharaoh. For this reason, they needed the Passover and the exodus as well. By means of the exodus, the people were delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny and from Egyptian slavery. The crossing of the Red Sea is related to the destruction of the Egyptian army, which perished in the waters of the sea. Through these three aspects of God’s salvation, the children of Israel were saved from God’s judgment, from the tyranny of Pharaoh, and from the army of the Egyptians.
We have seen that the crossing of the Red Sea signifies baptism. First Corinthians 10:2 says that the children of Israel were all “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Hence, the crossing of the Red Sea was a full type of baptism in the New Testament. According to Romans 6:4, baptism ushers the believers into resurrection. In baptism we are placed into Christ’s death and buried with Him. In this way we are also resurrected in Christ and with Christ. The result is that we “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4), that is, in resurrection life. All those who have been baptized into Christ should walk in resurrection. To be in resurrection is to be in another realm, in a realm that is beyond death. Just as the Red Sea was the separating line between Egypt and the wilderness, so the death of Christ realized by baptism is the separating line between the old realm and the realm of resurrection. Baptism separates us from the world and brings us into the realm of resurrection.
According to 15:22, “Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness.” In the writings of Moses the wilderness has both a positive and a negative significance. However, most Christians have heard only that there is a negative significance. Many readers of Exodus may be surprised when they hear that the wilderness in this verse signifies resurrection. In order to understand this adequately, we need the proper knowledge of the Bible and some amount of spiritual experience as well.
The Red Sea was created by God as a baptistry for the children of Israel. This means that even in His creation God made some preparations to signify the salvation of His people. The geographical features signify spiritual things. Africa is on the west side of the Red Sea, and Asia is on the east side. The word Shur means a wall, and the name Migdol, mentioned in 14:2, means a fortress. According to some historians, there was a separating wall to protect the land of Egypt, a wall that began at the Mediterranean Sea and ended at Shur. After the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea, for three days they journeyed in the wilderness of Shur (15:22). The pillar of cloud led them to the south, toward Marah.
In order to know the spiritual significance of these geographical facts, we need to consider this portion of the Word according to the revelation in the New Testament and also according to our experience. We have pointed out that baptism ushers the believers into resurrection. We have also pointed out that the Red Sea was the baptistry in which the children of Israel were baptized. Hence, after they were baptized in the Red Sea, they were brought into resurrection. According to 3:18 and 5:1, Moses told Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go so that they might make a journey of three days into the wilderness and there sacrifice to the Lord their God and hold a feast unto Him. This journey of three days signifies resurrection. This means that it is in resurrection that the people of God were separated from Egypt. Hence, the wilderness is a realm of separation.
Now we must go on to see that the wilderness also signifies the realm of resurrection. We say this according to the New Testament revelation regarding baptism and also according to our experience. Baptism brings us into resurrection. As soon as a believer is baptized, he has the sense that he has been brought out of the old realm into a new realm, the realm of resurrection. Romans 6:4 says that, having been baptized into Christ, we should walk in newness of life. No doubt, to walk in newness of life means to live in the realm of resurrection. According to the type in Exodus, this realm is the wilderness of Shur. Thus, the wilderness of Shur is a type of the realm of resurrection. As we have seen, it also signifies a realm of separation. When the children of Israel entered into this realm, they were separated from Egypt both by the Red Sea and by the wall.
We are told in 15:22 that the children of Israel “went three days in the wilderness.” Since three is the number of resurrection, this signifies that they walked in resurrection, that is, in newness of life. It is significant that the journey from the Red Sea to Marah was exactly three days, not two days, four days, or even three and a half days. According to a note in the text of the Amplified Version, the distance from the Red Sea to Marah was thirty-three miles. Surely the children of Israel could have walked this distance in less than three days. We must believe that the pace of their travel was under God’s sovereign leading and control. The fact that they traveled for three days is a portrait of walking in resurrection. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they certainly walked in a way that was different from the way they walked in Goshen. In Goshen they did not have the pillar of cloud, but in the wilderness they walked according to the guidance of this pillar. They were led by the Lord’s presence to walk in a new way.
Perhaps you are wondering why the Bible uses the wilderness to signify resurrection, for we do not usually think of resurrection as a wilderness. To those who have been baptized into Christ, resurrection is not a wilderness. But it is a wilderness in the eyes of the worldly people. After we were baptized, our relatives and friends may have thought that we entered into some kind of wilderness. Before we were baptized, we were in Egypt enjoying the Egyptian “garlic,” “leeks,” and “onions,” and our relatives and friends were happy with us. But by believing in the Lord Jesus and by being baptized, we were brought into a new realm, which our relatives and friends considered to be a wilderness. But in the eyes of God this wilderness is actually a realm of resurrection. If we have the heavenly view, we shall realize that the realm we entered through baptism is not a wilderness, but a realm of separation and resurrection. In this realm we walk in resurrection according to the Lord’s guidance. Praise the Lord that in His creation God prepared even the geographical features in order to present a picture of His salvation!
According to 12:37, the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. Leaving Succoth, they eventually encamped between Migdol and the sea (14:2). God did not lead His people “through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near” (13:17). Even though that was the usual way for people to journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan, God led His people southward instead, and then brought them to the Red Sea so that they could be baptized there. In the eyes of Pharaoh, it was foolish for the children of Israel to take such a way. He thought they were trapped there by the sea and had no way of escape. In the eyes of man God’s way was foolish. However, God had planned to bring His people through the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur. Furthermore, after He led them through the sea, He did not lead them northward according to geography. He purposely took them southward on a journey of three days to Marah.
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.
Immediately after the waters were made sweet, the Lord made a statute for the people and an ordinance, “and there he tested them” (v. 25, Heb.). Then He said, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah 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 the diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah thy Healer” (Heb., Jehovah Ropheka, v. 26). When I first read this promise, I could not understand why it was mentioned immediately following the healing of the bitter waters. If we consider this in the light of our experience, we shall realize that the cross of Christ heals not only our bitter situation, but it also heals us. Not only are the waters of our circumstances bitter; we ourselves are also bitter and in need of healing. Our very self is bitter. In other words, the self is sick. We are sick physically, psychologically, and also spiritually. There is bitterness in our body, soul, and spirit.
When I have been in bitter circumstances, often the Lord has pointed me to the cross of Christ. I realized that I needed to take the cross and live a crucified life. This saved me from my bitter situation, and my bitter circumstances were healed. However, at the same time the Lord has often shown me that there is bitterness within me. I saw that there was bitterness in my self as well as in my circumstances. I also saw that there is bitterness in my whole being, in my spirit, soul, and body, and that I needed to apply the cross of Christ to every aspect of my being. Spiritually, psychologically, and physically I needed the application of the cross of Christ. Time and time again I have experienced the Lord’s healing in this way. As my situation was healed, I was healed inwardly. Both in my circumstances and in my being, bitterness was changed into sweetness.
You may think that you have no need to be healed in your mind, emotion, or will, much less in your spirit. Allow me to say that we all have problems with these parts of our being. Whether we are old or young, male or female, we are sick in our mind, emotion, and will. We are sick even in our spirit. Before I was saved, my will did not function properly. When it should have made a certain decision, it failed to do so. But when it should not have decided things in a particular way, it proceeded to make that decision. Have you not experienced this? Furthermore, our emotion may not be balanced. When we are joyful, we may rejoice without restriction; when we weep, we may weep without restraint. Therefore, we need a great deal of healing. We realize this every time the healing tree is cast into our bitter circumstances.
As we walk in the realm of resurrection, we shall be led to Marah again and again. Every time we experience the healing tree cast into our circumstances, we spontaneously realize that something in our being needs to be healed. We may sense the need for healing in the mind, or realize that our will needs to be adjusted, or see that our emotion needs to be balanced. At other times we may become conscious that our spirit is bitter toward others and needs to be healed.
Just as the Lord tested the children of Israel at Marah, He uses our experience of His cross in bitter circumstances to test us and to prove us. By testing us, He shows us where we are and what we are. He exposes our motives, intentions, and desires. Nothing tests us more than the experience of the cross. The experience of the cross in bitter circumstances tests us and exposes every aspect of our being. When we are exposed in this way, we should pray, “Lord, I need You, and I need more experience of the cross. I need to put the tree not only into my circumstances, but also into my very being. I need to apply this tree to my mind, emotion, and will. I need to apply it to my spirit and to my attitude toward others.” Through such an application of the cross, the Lord heals us.
This kind of healing is very different from the so-called healings that take place in healing campaigns. I have attended such campaigns, and not once did I see a genuine healing. Real healing takes place as we receive the dealing of the cross. We are healed when we are subdued and when we hearken to the voice of God, listen to His statutes, and obey His commandments. Then Christ’s resurrection life becomes our healing power, and the Lord becomes our Healer.
Through His work of redemption Christ intends to be our Healer. Speaking of healings performed by the Lord Jesus, Matthew 8:17 says, “In order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” All healings accomplished on fallen mankind are accomplished through the Lord’s redemption. Through His redemption the Lord is our Healer. In Matthew 9:12 the Lord indicates that He is our Physician: “Now when He heard this He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.” As our Physician, He cares for us not only physically, but also psychologically and spiritually. He is able to heal our entire being.
First Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself carried up our sins in His body onto the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.” This verse indicates that the cross is the tree and that the One who died on the cross is our Healer. He was crucified for our healing. If we would experience His healing, we need to be identified with His crucifixion. Suppose, for example, that you have stomach trouble. To be healed of this illness, you would need your stomach to become identified with the cross of Christ. If your stomach is identified with Christ’s crucifixion, the crucified Christ will become your Healer. Your stomach ailment may be caused by living according to the self. In your eating you need the dealing of the cross. The cross must deal with the self in relation to eating. In the same principle, your mind may be sick because it has never been dealt with by the cross, never identified with the crucifixion of Christ.
The same may be true of your spirit. Possibly your spirit is not upright or is impure. The reason for the impurity or the lack of uprightness is that your spirit has not been touched by the cross of Christ.
Some brothers have not allowed their attitude toward their wives to be dealt with by the cross. For this reason, in their relationship with their wives they are sick. Hence, there is the need for healing in their married life. This healing comes only through the application of the cross of Christ. This principle should be applied to every part of our being.
The Lord’s word in Exodus 15:26 indicates that in His eyes the children of Israel were sick and in need of healing. Otherwise, the Lord would not have used the title “Jehovah thy Healer.” As the Lord Jesus said, only those who are sick have need of a physician. The fact that the children of Israel needed Jehovah to be their Healer indicates that they were sick.
The same is true of us today. In certain parts of our inward being we are still sick and need the Lord’s healing. As we pointed out, the process of healing takes place as we are touched by the cross of Christ. The only way to be touched by the cross is to see the vision of the tree and to cast this tree into the very place that needs to be healed. If your mind is bitter, cast the tree into your mind. If your attitude toward someone or something is bitter, cast the tree into your attitude. Do this with every part of your being, and little by little you will be healed. Every time we experience the cross of Christ, we shall have a deeper realization of our need to be healed through the touch of the cross. We need to be identified with the crucifixion of Christ by applying His cross to every part of our being that is bitter and sick. Then those parts will be healed. In this way daily and even hourly the Lord Jesus becomes our Healer.
The more we are healed by the Lord, the more we have an ear to hear His voice, a heart to keep His statutes, and the willingness to obey Him. Unless we are healed, we shall remain rebellious in every aspect of our being. Our natural being is a constitution of rebellion, for the element of rebellion is in all of our inward parts. How we need to be healed by seeing the cross and by having the cross applied to us! We need to see the tree on which Christ was crucified and then apply this tree to every part of our being. We must allow the cross of Christ to test our inward parts. As the cross is applied to our being, our inward parts will be healed and subdued. Then those parts will listen to the voice of the Lord, obey His word, and keep His statutes. As a result, those parts will become one with the Lord in a practical way. May we all experience this healing day by day.
