Encounter at the well

Exodus 15 
And they came to Elim

1-19 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord
Amen! and, Praise the Lord! There are two songs we used to sing from this great song:

The Horse and Rider (from verses 1&2)
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
the horse and rider are thrown into the sea. (2x)
The Lord, my God, my strength, my song
Is now become my victory! (2x)
The Lord is God and I will praise Him
My father’s God and I will exalt Him! (2x)

Who is Like Unto Thee (from verse 11)
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Who is like unto thee?

20-21 And Miriam...took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. Amen!

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.
Three days without finding water. I imagine they are growing concerned.

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 shewed 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.  
This is an amazing and wonderful passage! They came to water but it was not drinkable and they murmured. Murmuring reflects a lack of faith. They are supposed to be learning but instead they are murmuring. Moses cried out to God and God answered and provided for the people. And in so doing He reveals more of Himself to Israel through His name, Yahweh Rapha - I am Yahweh that healeth thee. There is much in this passage for us today, but it doesn’t take place by a well so I must move on.

27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
Here, in the last verse of this chapter, we finally come to the well. Actually, twelve wells! And a grove of palm trees!!

Matthew Henry says of this encounter at the well:
“Though God may, for a time, order his people to encamp by the waters of Marah, yet that shall not always be their lot. See how changeable our condition is in this world, from better to worse, from worse to better. Let us therefore learn both how to be abased and how to abound. Here were twelve wells for their supply, one for every tribe, that they might not strive for water, as their fathers had sometimes done; and, for their pleasure, there were seventy palm-trees, under the shadow of which their great men might repose themselves. Note, God can find places of refreshment for his people even in the wilderness of this world, wells in the valley of Baca, lest they should faint in their mind with perpetual fatigue: yet, whatever our delights may be in the land of our pilgrimage, we must remember that we do but encamp by them for a time, that here we have no continuing city.”

A.B. Simpson explains the significance of the encounter at Marah and says it refers to the promise and provision of divine healing. And after explaining Marah, he goes on to speak of the wells of Elim:

“Once more, the blessing that follows divine healing is finely expressed in the sequel to this ancient incident. "They came to Elim where were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters." There is something exquisite about this sentence. It seems to be a sort of crystallized poem. The very tones fall upon the ear with strange sweetness. We can almost imagine that we feel the balm of the soft tropical air, hear the rustling of the palm trees, and see the sparkling waters from Elim's wells. How refreshing the shade; how exhilarating the fountains; how delightful the rest; how heavenly the overshadowing cloud! It is like a scene from the land of Beulah. It speaks to the deepest senses of the soul of the love of the Lord and the peace of God that passeth all understanding. And this is just the experience to which divine healing introduces the soul; the spiritual blessing is even richer than the physical. How real Christ seems to us; how we come to know the Lord as never before, and how He rests us and sheds the fragrance of His love and joy through every sense of our spiritual and physical being until the heart finds utterance in the inspired song, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Reader, have you made this great discovery? It is hidden somewhere in your Bible. Perhaps the very trial that has crushed you is God's opportunity for revealing it to you. God grant that the old story may be reproduced in your life. "He cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the water, the waters were made sweet."”

What a blessing this was after wandering three days without water. What abundance! This wasn’t just barely enough water, this was twelve wells of water! And not just water, but shade!

They should have been in the Promised Land, but through unbelief they were stuck in the wilderness, and God is taking them from trial to trial to prove them, and there he proved them, that is, will they look to God in their trials. Sadly, when they got to Marah they murmured, but Moses interceded for them and God healed the waters. How awesome is that? He also made for them a statute and an ordinance ... And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken ... Now he blesses them with twelve wells.

This is a picture of our spiritual life: God saves us from our Egypt and intends that we make a straight path to the Promised Land, but, like Israel, many of us don’t enter the land right away, instead we wander in the wilderness. God is with us even in the wilderness, and He uses our trials and troubles to prove us, to see whether we will trust Him in our troubles. And how often is a Marah followed by an Elim? But as we learn from this chapter, even Marah can be turned into a blessing!