Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer." Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.
Exodus 15:22-27
The story of Israel's experience at the waters of Marah is one which has many lessons to teach in relation to the spiritual life of the believer, and we must be patient to extract them for our good. And before we consider the details of the divine succour provided them, we should pause to reflect that things were perhaps harder for the people than they need have been because they were not right with God. God had said to Moses in 14:15, 'Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward', but a 'going forward' that is fitful and partial, not to say almost unwilling, and liable to be halted at the first sign of difficulty, is hardly calculated to make for an exhilarating pilgrimage. Their hearts did not seem to be in it. It is possible to be doing all the right things, yet not be wholeheartedly committed to them, and this is why we often make heavy weather. The people were on trial, of course, on this occasion, and the Lord was proving them (25), but it matters a very great deal how and with what spirit we enter and face the trials of life. There is a low spirited, pusillanimous attitude, which makes it a foregone conclusion, almost before the trial starts, that a man will crumple as soon as the pressures begin to increase. He feels he has no fight left, but it is because he had so little fight in him to begin with. This is not the way to advance; we must brace ourselves, make our souls put on their Sunday clothes, and confront the adverse circumstances with courage and determination. 'We faint not', says the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:1).