Friday, October 1, 2010

Celebration and the Wilderness (Ex 15/ 65)

Exodus 15
It would seem that the time has become right to PAAARRRTTAAAYYY for the Israelites.
After the stern and demanding performances, Moses lets his hair down.
A song and a dance and a walk into the wilderness.
Very descriptive song.
"At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up"
is the line that in particular strikes me.
Kind of struggling to get the rhythm though.

And yet.
3 days after the celebrating.
3 days after the praising God.
Complaining.

v23 "When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah."

Ok so maybe the clue about the water was in the name of the place before they arrived. Was there a sign that said "Marah"? How did they know they had arrived and by whose consensus did they arrive at the name?
"Well this is Marah"
"Nice. How's the water?"
"Bitter with a hint of brackishness."
"Hmmm. That's no good. Well I guess we should name it something."
"OK. How about Marah? 'Cause the water is y'know."
"Marah fits. Hey Moses how about we call this place Marah. Because of the water. Y'know."
"Yeah ok. Marah it is. Oh Father please help them not to be complete losers all the time, please."

But God fixes it.
Moses lobs in a shrubbery and the water is not just unbitter. It was "sweet".
God asked Moses to do something simple.
Moses did it.
God fixed it.
Simple.

Next stop had 12 springs of water.
I think there was a lesson in that.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You're funny and abundantly articulate
SHA~ZAM!!

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