Exodus Chapter 15 Verses 18-21   

:18 “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

“The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.”  This statement is just as true today as it was back then.  There is no end to the LORD’s reigning in his everlasting kingdom. 

“For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.”  This continual recounting of the Lord’s work in delivering Israel is an encouragement to the children of Israel.  They were later told to tell their children and their children’s children about the Lord’s mighty work in delivering them from Egyptian bondage.  Today we should take note and tell our children and our children’s children about the mighty workings of the Lord in our lives such as His work in our spiritual birth, in saving us from the condemnation of sin and in the providential deliverances we have experienced in life.  This is an encouragement both to us and to them to recount these stories over and over again. 

“And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”  Here the women were expressing their joy over the great deliverance the LORD had wrought for them and their families.  Joy should be embraced by us today because of the LORD’s great deliverances in our lives.   

Verses 22-26 

:22 “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” 

The Lord told some unbelieving Jews in John 5:39: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  When studying the Old Testament we should always be looking for a testimony of Jesus.  In the above passage we find a testimony of Jesus. 

Upon crossing the Red Sea the children of Israel made a three day journey into the wilderness of Shur.  In this journey they found no water.  This was a desert land and water is essential to survival in a desert land.  Moreover, the human body in such conditions can only go about 3 or 4 days without water before the individual become so dehydrated that he dies.  When they came to Marah they found water.  The problem was that the water was bitter (poison).  They could not drink of the water.  The children of Israel were in a predicament in that they could not last a journey back to the Red Sea and they could not drink of the water before them.  It was not surprising that they murmured against Moses, the servant of the Lord.  Moses immediately cried unto the LORD and the LORD showed Moses a tree which when he had cast it into the waters the waters were made sweet.  This is similar to the predicament that we as born again sinners were in.  This world provides us with no spiritual water.  We see our lives as poisoned by sin.  We get a good look at our own depravity and come to realize our condemned state before God.  We are unable to do anything about our condition.  We are only delivered after the Lord shows us the tree of the cross which has been cast into the condemned state of our lives.  It is then when we see that Christ died for us to redeem us from our sins that the waters of our lives are made sweet.  Jesus is like that tree that was cast into the water of Marah and made the water sweet.  

The word, “Marah,” meaning bitter is equivalent to the New Testament word, Mary.  When Jesus hang on the cross there were three women named Mary at his feet.   

“There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”  The children of Israel had seen a type of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in the healing of the waters of Marah.  They were by type on redemption ground.  Here they are given a statute and an ordinance and told to do what was right in the sight of God and to give ear to his commandments.  They had the promise that if they would do that then the Lord would not put any of the diseases upon them that he had plagued the Egyptians with.  Thus they were made to see that there are great blessings in obedience even though obedience was not what delivered them from Egyptian bondage.  Likewise, there are great blessings to us in obedience to the commandments and ordinances of God even though our obedience is not what delivered us from our sins.