The children of Israel sang their song of
redemption; God is good; God is great; He is glorious; He is our Commander in
Chief; there is none like Him; He gave us victory over our enemies. Having sang their song, they moved on, and
one may add with great enthusiasm.
They went
out into the wilderness, led by Moses; they journeyed for three days in the
wilderness of Shur, and of course they needed water; they were thirsty; but
there was no water; and so they journeyed on until at last they came to water;
but alas the water was bitter and so was their disappointment.
Predictably,
they turned against Moses once again, not to mention the very God whom they had
so lustily praised in song.
“Moses,”
they screamed; “What shall we drink?”
Moses
turned to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree and instructed him to take it
and cast it into the water, which when he did so caused the bitter water to
turn sweet; so they called the name of the place Marah, meaning bitter. And
Moses made a point of making the people swear that if they would diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord their God, and do that which is right in His
sight, and will give ear unto His commandments, and keep all His statutes, that
none of the diseases which befell the Egyptians would befall them.
After that
the continued journeying on, and came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of
water, and seventy palm trees which provided good cover for them; so they
stopped and refreshed, and rested themselves there.
