When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Then they came to a place called Marah, where there was water, but they could not drink it, because it was bitter. Here the Lord revealed Himself to the children of Israel as YAHWEH-RAPHA, the Lord who heals you. It is interesting that, having revealed Himself in this way, the Lord did not heal anyone, because all the Israelites were healthy. The Word of God says that when the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He brought them out “with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes.” [Ps.105:37] Why then did the Lord say: “I am the LORD who heals you”? In this story, as in the story of Abraham offering up his only son, another side of Jesus’ finished work on the cross is revealed.

… and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them.
—Exodus 15:22-25

Just as Abraham walked for three days to the place where he was going to offer up Isaac [Gen.22:4], so the children of Israel went three days in the wilderness without finding water. These three days point us to the burial of Jesus, when He spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, without a drop of water. On the third day they came to water, but the water was bitter, and Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. So what is this tree, what do the bitter waters symbolise, and why did the Lord reveal Himself as healer if He did not heal anyone there?

The tree symbolises the cross of Jesus Christ, as I think you have already guessed. We know that when Jesus died on the cross, by His shed blood He washed away our sins once and for all, for ever and ever. The Word of God says: “…without shedding of blood there is no remission.” [Heb.9:22] But in this story there is no shedding of blood, only a tree. I want to say that Jesus did not need to die on a cross to wash away our sins. If He had been stoned and had shed His blood, His shed blood would have been enough for our forgiveness. But He needed to die on a tree. Why? Paul writes to the Galatians: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree‘)” [Gal.3:13].

The Curses of the Law

In the Old Testament there was a law that said: “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” [Deu.21:22-23] Even this verse is about Jesus and His death on the tree. Notice the words you shall surely bury him that day. Jesus was buried on the same day He was crucified.

In Deuteronomy chapter 28 there is a list of God’s blessings that a person receives if he keeps God’s commandments and statutes, and then comes a very long list of all the curses and diseases that come into a person’s life when he does not keep God’s commandments. The problem with this list is that a person is unable to keep God’s law and always ends up under the curses. Paul explains why: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” [Rom.7:14]. Man is earthly, and the law is spiritual, so the earthly cannot fulfil the spiritual. Thank God that the Father sent a spiritual Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is heavenly, and He was able to fulfil the law, to redeem those who were under the law. [Gal.4:5]

So when a person tried to keep the law, he always fell under the curses of the law, because he could not keep it. Even today many believers whom the Lord has redeemed from the curses of the law, if they go on living by trying to keep the commandments “Love God” or “Love your neighbour as yourself”, bring themselves under the curses of the law. Paul writes to the Galatians, who, having received the Lord’s grace, then put themselves under the law: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” [Gal.3:10]. Simple and clear: everyone who relies on keeping the law is under the curse, and the things listed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, from verse 15 to the end, happen in his life. A very big and long list.

The bitter waters at Marah speak precisely of the curse. Bitterness symbolises the curses of the law. This is what James writes: “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?” [Jas.3:10-11]. You see how James puts blessing and fresh water, and cursing and bitter water, in place of each other. But when the Israelites came to Marah, God had not yet given the law, had He? True, but the curse had existed since the days of Adam, when the ground was cursed because of Adam. [Gen.3:17]

The Curse Reversed

In the days of Noah, when every living thing on earth was destroyed by the waters of the flood, while Noah with his family and the animals floated on the surface of the water in the ark, the Word of God says that “the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.” [Gen.8:4]. The word Ararat in Hebrew means the curse reversed. This happened on the 17th day of the month. Why on the seventeenth? The Bible is a wonderful book; every word in it is God’s Word, and every number and name contains precious truths. Jesus was crucified on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, when the Jews celebrate Passover, and three days later, on the 17th day of the month, He rose again.

When Jesus hung on the tree, He became a curse. He became the embodiment of the curse itself. That is why, when Mary anointed Him with precious myrrh, or bitterness, and the disciples were indignant, Jesus said: “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.” [Jhn.12:7] Our curse, whose embodiment Jesus became, was buried! And when He rose, on the 17th day of the month of Nisan, the curse turned into blessing, the bitter water became sweet. The risen Jesus became a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek — a High Priest who, unlike the Levitical priesthood, always blesses. The Levitical priesthood is of the law, so they blessed when a person kept God’s commandments and cursed when he broke them. But the ministry of Melchizedek is not a ministry of condemnation; His ministry is a ministry of righteousness. He sits at the right hand of the Father and always justifies and blesses us.

Paul writes to the Ephesians: “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” [Eph.2:5-7] We were all in bitterness, under the curse, but by His great grace God raised us up with Christ and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ. Through the cross God turned our bitterness and all our curses into sweetness and blessings, and placed us in the place of blessings. In Christ Jesus there are no curses. In Him there are only blessings. To the same Ephesians Paul writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” [Eph.1:3] That is why the Lord revealed Himself as healer. By reversing the curse, He delivered us from all curses and diseases. In Christ Jesus there are no curses and no diseases, only blessings!!! Glory to the Lord for this wonderful work! Hallelujah!!

God’s Proofs

Just as in the story of Abraham, when God tested him [Gen.22:1], so in the story of the bitter waters the Lord tested Israel [Exd.15:25]. The word to test [Heb. nasah] also means to prove. If we look at the story of Abraham as the heavenly Father giving His only, beloved Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice, it turns out that in this story God the Father proves His love to us. This is what beloved Paul writes: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Rom.5:8] By giving His only, beloved Son, the heavenly Father proves His love to us.

In the story of the bitter waters the Lord also proves to us that He will never curse us. Isaiah prophesies: “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.” [Isa.54:9] Just as Noah in the ark moved from a land where violence and strife reigned to a land of rest, so you and I in Christ have been moved from the place of curses to the place of blessings. “For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.'” [Heb.6:13-14]

We now have strong consolation that there should be no curses in our lives, because we are now not under the law but under grace. The Lord has redeemed us from the curse of the law and placed us in the place of His blessings, so that not only in this age, but also in the ages to come, He might show us the riches of His grace. So, beloved children of God, enjoy God’s blessings. The curse has been cancelled; the bitter waters have been turned into sweet. Only one thing is left for us, as Paul writes: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” [1 Ths.5:18] You may have heard people say: “It says here to thank God in everything, so for curses too.” No, my friends, in Christ there are no curses; He has redeemed us from all the curses of the law, so we thank Him for all the blessings with which He has blessed us in Christ. David sings about the same thing: “What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.” [Ps.116:12-13]