MARAH
J. Taylor
Moses led them three days and they found no water, and when they found water it was bitter. The will must be subdued, there must be unqualified submission to the authority of the Lord. There are failures at the outset, the failure of believers to submit to the authority of the Lord.
You may see it coming out in the households. The Lord will bring out of that. There must be the acceptance of death. You must be tested. The Lord tasted it in His own way. The sin that brought in the judgment that fell on Christ is not going to be allowed in a believer. Happy is the soul who began in the abhorrence of it.
So he led them to Marah, and there the water was bitter. We shall have to accept definitely the judgment of God on the flesh, bitter of course it is, but how delightful when you can say, “Where thou diest I will die”. Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him wood. It is a wonderful moment when the wood comes in; the judgment of God and discipline are very near together. He showed it to Moses, it was the light of the love that has been there. He has been there—“who loved me”—think of that; do you ever say that? Who loved me! I know of nothing so affecting. Paul says, “He loved me”, the Lord Jesus loved me when He died for me; think of the Lord loving me when He died! I can understand your saying, ‘He loves me’, but “He loved me”, says the apostle, “and gave himself for me”. One can understand that the link formed there with Christ will never be broken. That precious fact will ever remain with us, that the Lord loved me when He died, and hence the change in me, in the light of the love of Christ, that has begun in the wilderness; multiply the forty years by three hundred and sixty-five days, every day brings in that experience of the love of Christ. What has He been to me today? Wilderness time is a most valuable time. What about it beloved—how are you spending it? If you were to take a calendar, every day brings its own tale of the love of Christ.
If I read the book of Exodus, I see Him die. He died for me. If I take the book of Leviticus, what is Christ to me there? If I take the book of Numbers, what is Christ to me there? God has given instructions as to how they were to march, but when they marched, the ark of the covenant went before. Hear Moses’ word when the ark went forward—“Rise up, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered”. Who is the ark? It is Christ going before us—it is love—it is Christ going before to find a resting-place for the saints. Will He ever fail us? Never!
Again I hear; “Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel”. Having scattered all enemies the ark comes back. From the beginning to the end it is the love of Christ—every day.
(Extract from an address in Vol. 15, pp.33, 34)