John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: April 21

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: April 21


Today is: Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 (Show Today's Devotion)

Select a Day for a Devotion in the Month of April: (Show All Months)

Thirst

Exo_15:22-27

When the Lord appeared to Moses in Horeb, in the bush that burned without being consumed, it had been indicated that the Israelites, after their deliverance, should render homage to God in that very place. Accordingly, when they quitted the spot where they had crossed the Red Sea, they took their course in that direction along its shores. Three days they marched without finding any water. We do not, with some, suppose that in all this time they were without water. This was impossible. They must have brought water in their leathern bottles with them from the last station. But this time having passed without an opportunity of replenishing their vessels, the supply was at length exhausted, and they began to suffer fearfully from thirst. Let us not drink lightly of their distress. Thirst is a cruel thing; and is known to be such even in a humid clime, where the sensation is rarely and lightly experienced, and is very easily removed. But amid the hot sandy waste, under a burning sky, without any means of relief, the suffering is horrible. There is nothing like it. If we reflect, we see that this vast host of men, women, and children, with numerous herds of cattle, had to travel over the sandy waste mostly on foot, with the burning sun over their heads, and we may form some faint abstract idea of their condition. But if we look the individuals in the face, the unmistakable signs of suffering and misery enable us to have a more distinctive apprehension of their wretched condition. They plod moodily and heavily on—no man speaking to his fellow. Many cannot speak if they would. Their tongues are parched and rough, and cling to the roof of their mouths—their lips are black and shriveled—and their eyeballs are red with heat—and sometimes comes over them a dimness, which makes them stagger with faintness. There is not one in all that multitude who probably would not have given all he possessed in the world—who would not have parted with a limb, or have given up his life, for one cool draught of water. And this was suffered by a people who had been used to drink, without stint, of the finest water in the world.

But lo, their misery they think is past. In the distance they behold trees and bushes clad in refreshing green, and they know there must be water near. With glad looks and quickened steps they push joyously on.

“For sure through that green meadow flows

The living stream! And to! their furnished beast

Sees the restoring sight!

Hope gives his feeble limbs a sudden strength,

He hurries on!”—Thalaba.

What a rush to the water—what eagerness to gulp the refreshing flood. Whence that universal groan, and horror, and despair? The water is butter—so bitter as to be loathsome even to their intense agony of thirst. Pity them; but judge them not too severely, if, in that awful moment of disappointed hope, with the waters of Marah before their faces, and the waters of the Nile before their thoughts, they did murmur, they did complain that they had been brought from unfailing waters to perish in that thirsty desolation. They should have trusted in God. They had been rescued from more imminent danger; and it was no arm of flesh, but the sacred pillar of cloud, which had indicated their way, and brought them to that place. They should have prayed to their divine Protector to supply their wants, as he was well able to do; and although there is much in the real misery they suffered to extenuate this offence, their forgetfulness and neglect was most blame-worthy. Yet, in consideration of their sufferings, God himself excused them in this more readily than man has done. It will be seen in the sacred record, that he dealt tenderly with them. He did not, as on other occasions, when they sinned in like manner without the like excuse, reprove them; but when Moses cried to Him for help, He, in the tenderness of his great pity, at once healed the waters, and made them sweet and salutary. Yet here, as usual, he wrought by means. He showed Moses a tree, and directed him to cast it into the spring, and immediately the bitterness departed from the waters. Some travellers have innocently sought in this quarter for some tree or shrub, possessing the natural quality of healing such unwholesome waters; but they have found none. The natives know nothing of the kind. As well might they have sought near Jericho for the kind of salt with which Elisha healed the bad waters of the fountain there—2Ki_2:20-22. The tree never existed, the mere immersion of whose branches could naturally correct the bad qualities of so much water as was needed to quench the thirst of so large a host.

The sites of both Marah and Elim appear to have been identified. The former in Ain Howarah, a fountain about thirty-three miles to the south of Ain Mûsa. The site is marked by two lone palm trees, or rather bushes, in the distance, and a nearer approach discloses some ghurkud Note: Peganum Retusum. shrubs. The fountain is a shallow pit, seldom holding more than a hundred gallons of water. The well is scooped out at the top of a broad flat mound, formed by a whitish substance deposited by the water in the course of many centuries. It is probable that when the Israelites arrived here, the hill had scarcely begun to form, and, of course, the waters were at a much lower level. The waters were also, doubtless, more abundant: for the Scripture narrative does not indicate that there was any want of water in the neighborhood, but only that it was bitter, whence the place received the name of Marah. The quality of the water, as well as the quantity, has probably been somewhat altered in the course of ages. The Arabs, however, regard it as the worst water along the coast, and only use it when it is impossible to obtain any other. Camels do not refuse it; and if formerly in its present condition, its loathsomeness to the thirsty Israelites can only be explained by its being the first decidedly bad water which had been encountered by a people accustomed to the sweet waters of the Nile. A water which, even at this day, the rough-tasted Arabs shun, must have been detestable to the Israelites. Its qualities, perhaps, vary with the time of the year, being worst in the driest season. We thus account for the somewhat varying statements of travelers. Its taste is, however, unpleasant, saltish, and somewhat bitter. One compares it to a weak solution of Epsom salts; and another intimates that the effects are similar. It is to be hoped, that some future traveler will secure a bottle of it for analyzation.

The next station, Elim, with its palm trees, is identified with Wady Ghurundel, about six miles south of Marah. This is a considerable valley, filled with wild tamarisk and other bushes, and also with some small trees, among which are palms. This spot seems like “green pastures,” compared with the desolate and sterile tracts which the traveler has passed since quitting the neighborhood of the Nile. Wholesome and sweet water is found here, by scooping out the sand to the depth of two or three feet. The fountain itself, lying up the valley out of the direct route to Sinai, had not been visited by travelers, until Mr. Bartlett determined to find it out for himself; and he had not proceeded for more than half an hour, before he reached the principal spring. It wells out at the foot of a sandstone rock, forming a small pool of refreshing water, and bordered by sedges, and looks highly refreshing, after Ain Mûsa, and Hawarah. “There was even—delightful sight!—a little grass, and birds were hopping about, enjoying the rare luxury. The water trickling off, pursues its way some distance down the valley, forming a reedy marsh, interspersed with thickets of bushes and dwarf palm trees, and a considerable quantity of tamarisks and other shrubs; and as there are also considerable masses of similar vegetation above this point, there are probably several other springs which nourish it. Altogether, it was a reviving sight in the thirsty desert; and I saw no spot which could so well correspond with the wells and palm trees of Elim, through the entire route to Wady Feiran.” Note: Bartlett’s Forty Days’ Wandering in the Desert, 33, 34. See also Laborde, and the American travelers-Doctors Robinson, Olin, and Durbin.