Having the Experience of Marah, the Healing of the Bitter Waters, to become Overcomers

The experience of the people of Israel at Marah is very significant both in the history of Israel and in our Christian experience.

After three days of traveling through the wilderness, they found no water, and they came to Marah – only to discover that the waters there are bitter. The people of Israel murmured against Moses, Moses cried out to Jehovah, and Jehovah showed him a tree, which Moses cast into the bitter waters – and they became sweet.

There, the Lord made an ordinance and a statute with the people of Israel, which most probably relates to no more murmuring when it comes to having no water.

In our Christian life, after the Lord saves us from the world and we are being baptized to be separated from Satan and his usurpation, we will be surprised to discover again and again that we have “no water”, that is, there’s no natural water. In the realm of resurrection there’s no natural water, and we are thirsty; even the water that we can find is bitter.

The Lord Himself leads us in the realm of resurrection to a place where there’s only bitter waters: there’s bitterness in our situations, in our environment, and even in our being.

At such times we may complain and murmur, but what we need to really do is cry out to the Lord, pouring out our soul and heart before Him, and He will show us “a tree” – just as He showed Moses a tree. The Lord will show us a vision of the crucified and resurrected Christ, we will “cast Him” into our bitter waters, and the bitter waters become the sweet living waters of the precious presence of the Lord.

This experience is not 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, and in such situations we need to cry out to the Lord, see a vision of the crucified and resurrected Christ, and apply Him to our bitter being and bitter circumstances.

The result will be that our bitter waters will be healed, we will enjoy the Lord’s sweet presence, and we will produced as overcomers who meet God’s need in this age.

Crying out to the Lord, Seeing a Vision of the Crucified Christ, and Applying the Cross to our Bitter Situations

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As a true servant of God, Moses didn’t strive or argue with the murmuring people of Israel but cried out to Jehovah. He could have told them that God brought them out of Egypt and led them to Marah, so they should cry to God and murmur to Him – but all he did was to bring this situation before God.

In response to Moses’ cry, the Lord showed him a tree, and when Moses cast the tree into the bitter waters, the waters became sweet (Exo. 15:25). In our experience this tree signifies the cross of Christ, the crucified Christ, and the resurrected Christ.

In 1 Pet. 2:24 we see that Christ Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise we were healed. When we cry out to the Lord in our bitter circumstances and because of our bitter being, He will show us a vision of “a tree” – the tree of life (Rev. 2:6 and footnote 6 in Recovery Version Bible), which is the crucified (implied in the tree as a piece of wood) and resurrected (implied in the life of God – John 11:25) Christ.

The tree cast into the water to change bitter waters into sweet typifies the crucified and resurrected Christ as the tree of life. When we cry out to the Lord in prayer, He shows us a vision of the crucified Christ; seeing this vision, we apply the cross to our situation, and immediately the bitter waters become sweet.

As we live in resurrection, enjoying the Lord and walking in newness of life, the Lord leads us to a situation of bitterness, and He exposes both the bitterness in our situation and the bitterness in our being.

Our daily Christian life after being baptized is no longer in the natural realm with the natural supply: it is now in resurrection, and here the Lord leads us to Marah to expose the bitterness in our environment and in our being. When we realize how bitter we are and how much bitterness is in our environment, we need to cry out to the Lord, and He will show us a vision of the tree of life, which is the cross of Christ.

We need to see a vision of the cross; we need to see a vision of the crucified Christ and apply Him to our bitter circumstances and bitter being, and immediately the bitter waters will become sweet. Just as Moses saw a vision of a tree and cast the tree into the bitter waters, so we need to see a vision of the crucified Christ and apply the cross of Christ to our bitter situations.

When we apply the cross of Christ to our bitter situations and being, we will become overcomers and others will be produced as overcomers through us.

Lord Jesus, keep us coming to You and crying out before You concerning the bitterness in our situations and in our being. Lord, we pour out our soul and our heart before You; show us a vision of the crucified Christ so that we may apply His cross to our situation! Thank You Lord for bearing our sins in Your body on the tree so that we, having died to sin through baptism, might live to righteousness. Lord, by Your bruise we are healed; we want to cooperate with You to apply Your cross to our bitter situations and to our bitter being so that any bitter water would be turned into the sweet waters of Your presence!

Having the Experience of Marah again and again for God to gain His Overcomers

We do not experience the bitter waters at Marah once and for all; a one-time experience of the application of the cross of Christ to our bitter situation and being does not heal us completely. Rather, in our Christian experience, we come to Marah again and again, since this experience is not merely an incident but a basic principle in our Christian life.

After being baptized and thus being dead to the world and to sin, we walk in newness of life in the realm of resurrection, and we shall thirst. We thirst all the time, and we discover again and again that there’s no natural water to supply our need; rather, the only waters available for us are the waters of bitterness.

The Lord is faithful to lead us to situations, things, and people where we encounter bitterness again and again; in such situations, we need to cry out to the Lord, open to Him from within, tell Him everything, see a vision of the crucified and resurrected Christ, and apply Him to our circumstances and to our being.

This “tree”, the crucified and resurrected Christ, once applied by faith with the exercise of our spirit to our circumstances and to our being, will heal our situation and change the bitter waters into sweet. The result is that we enjoy the sweet waters of the Lord’s presence, and we are produced as overcoming ones in God’s economy (as Hannah’s experience in 1 Sam. 1 produced Samuel, a Nazarite).

If we see the matter of our bitterness leading us to cry out to God and apply the crucified and resurrected Christ to our being for us to become overcomers, we will realize that this is something in God’s economy to build up the Body of Christ and produce the overcomers.

The experience of Marah is deeply personal and touches our deep need of thirst, and therefore the application of the cross of Christ leads to be personally and inwardly healed in our mind, emotion, and will, so that we can become overcomers for God’s building. Yet such a personal experience of Marah is for the producing of the overcomers for the building up of the Body of Christ!

When we are in bitter situations and circumstances we shouldn’t just pray for healing and sweetness but for God’s economy, for the Lord to gain His overcomers to meet His need, and He will produce us as such ones and make us those who help others be produced as overcomers!

Lord Jesus, we open our being to You. Produce us as Your overcomers. Regulate us from within with regards to our murmuring and complaining concerning our bitter situations, and remind us to pray much, open to You, cry out before You, and see the vision of the crucified and resurrected Christ! Oh Lord, produce us as Your overcomers even as we go through bitter situations and are exposed of our bitter being! May Your overcomers be produced for Your need to be met as we come to Marah again and again!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 30, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 7 / msg 7, The Experiences of Marah and Elim.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # I am breathing out my sorrow, / On Thy kind and gentle breast; / Breathing in Thy joy and comfort, / Breathing in Thy peace and rest. (Hymns #255)
  # May the Cross put me to death / That on Christ I may rely; / May His Holy Spirit fill, / That Himself I may apply. / May His death so work in me / Daily deeper than before, / That my self may be destroyed / And His life thru me may pour. (Hymns #412)
  # Less we would argue, Lord, and go our way; / More we would say “Amen” to what You say. / Grant us a walk to You conformed, / ’Til our living is transformed. / We adore You, Jesus— / May a pure love for You seize us. / Any unwillingness, Lord, quickly slay; / Even by faith we open all the way— / Rising to heights of love unknown, / Christ our destiny alone, / We would love You, Jesus, more! (Song on Applying the Cross)