1.31.26 – Enduring Moments in a Vapor-Filled Life

After the spiritual and physical high of crossing the Reed Sea (Yam Suf), receiving the prophetic revelation as a nation, and singing in unison the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15:19; Rev. 15:3), one would think that the spiritual high would last more than just a few days. However, new and never-before-experienced challenges often take our mind away from the One who is our Great Deliverer (Yeshua). Why do the emotions flee away like a vapor or mist (hevel)? Inquiring minds want to know :-)

In this week's Torah portion, the Israelites find themselves with no water for three days. God's firstborn children are beginning to murmur against Moses (I don't blame them). They didn't need a drop for their tongue; they needed cool, refreshing, pure water to quench their thirst. Unfortunately, God led them to a murky puddle poisoned by "chemical waste"—the bitter waters of Marah (Ex. 15:22–26).

From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, water was meant to be utilized for life-giving processes or judgment. Faithful Jews know this to be true as they end their morning prayer with the joyful Song of the Sea, because daily life is always about leaving behind the enemies of our past through the waters of deliverance.

When Israel arrived at Marah, they did not find water with a life force. They found a bitter test waiting for them.

After a physical and spiritual high of personal deliverance, something got lost when the thirst arrived. The spiritual high was forgotten, and the murmuring low was inserted.

As we have learned in previous studies, water is an allusion to the Torah (instructions) and its ability to refresh and restore the soul (Ps. 19:7). Here at Marah, God's firstborn sons got disconnected from their purposeful journey. What caused it? Was it a ho-hum attitude that God was going to do everything for them? Spiritual apathy? Expecting to stay on the mountaintop forever? They were moving forward, but their heart was still back in Egypt (Isa. 5:13)? Intellectually, they knew what had happened with all the plagues in Egypt and their salvation at the sea (Ex. 14:12–31). Their salvation (Yeshua) experience gave them adrenaline-pumping vigor and courage. But now, the joy has left, and they feel like dead men walking. Same information, but a different feeling deep inside.

I am sure we can all identify with this feeling! One minute on the mountaintop, the next in the valley of bitterness. We are never guaranteed the "high" will last. What we should remember is how to enjoy the moment to the fullest—like the thanksgiving offering that needed to be eaten all the same day (Lev. 7:13–15).

Complacency, entitlement, and doubt are major villains in our spiritual journey from Egypt to Canaan. Later on in the Torah, we will learn that the bread placed on the table of showbread gave us a great example of how to stay focused. Every week the bread was placed on the table, and on the next Sabbath it was enjoyed fully. Historical readings say that the bread was still hot and fresh as though it was freshly baked. It never got dry, boring, or moldy.

God's instructions to Moses help us learn how to take a bitter situation and make it sweet.

Moses began by crying out to the Lord. God heard his cry, along with the people's murmuring, and He taught (yara) him about the tree (etz) that he could throw into the water to make the bitter water sweet.

According to the sages, the tree was either the bitter olive tree or the very bitter oleander tree. Huh? God wanted Moses to throw a bitter tree into bitter water to make it sweet? Double huh?

If we look deep into our "bitterness," we will recognize that everything comes from God Himself and is designed for our lives to conform us to the image of His dear Son (Rom. 8:28–29). Bitterness is self-generated and defeating, and it is here that we are tested. We need to recognize the root. Every tree grows by God's soil, water, and light. And because we are likened to trees (olive, fig, vine, oak, palm, thorns and thistles, etc.), remember that God is in control of our direction for life. That thinking will keep us from experiencing the bipolar spiritual mindset that Israel had at Marah.

Look where everything comes from! It is at this point that individual and global changes will occur. Do not look somewhere else. Every time we feel low or inadequate, that is an indicator that something is missing in our thinking.

Within our Marah experience, God teaches us to take the tree (etz) and cast it into the water. That is an ironic statement because the word for tree is the root word for counsel (etzah). What God wants to teach us in our bitter experiences is to look deep inside the situation to find the root and inoculate us from the sickening side effects of bitterness—like a vaccine designed to strengthen our immune system, not kill us.

Shabbat Shalom!
Alan

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