In the worship song When the Music Fades, Matt Redman concludes that, “when the music fades” it must be “all about” God. He writes from the standpoint of a Christian musician who understands the temptation to make worship all about us. I appreciate his honesty. We need to contemplate whether or not we will take our praise on the Lord’s Day into the next day and days. Will we so respond to God’s person that, when the wheels seem to fall off in our lives, we will remain faithful? After all, it is one thing to praise God when the wheels fall off for the Egyptian army, but do we also submit to the sovereignty of God when the wheels fall off for us? All too often, I must confess that I fall into the trap of unbelief when challenges come. If you can relate, then may this study be of much help to you. If you can’t relate, then praise God, and may you be further encouraged from this text.

Our journey through Exodus has been a wonderful instruction concerning the gracious faithfulness of God to His covenant people. God keeps His Word. His promises are sure, and as Adoniram Judson once exclaimed, “the future is as bright as the promises of God!”

The Exodus story opens with God’s people enslaved in Egypt, facing a pogrom instituted by a Pharaoh who “knew not Joseph.” This man perceived that the ever fruitful children of Israel would soon pose a serious threat to his nation, and therefore he commanded that all male children of the Israelites be murdered at birth. When this failed (because of God’s covenant faithfulness) he commanded that all newborn sons (the age limit is uncertain) were to be drowned in the Nile. But once again, the Lord in His gracious faithfulness stepped in and Moses was spared. And he was spared for the purpose of God fulfilling His covenant. That is, the Lord raised up this human saviour in order to ensure the arrival of the ultimate Saviour much later in history.

Eighty years later the Lord called Moses to return to Egypt for the purpose of leading His people to freedom. At this stage, it was quite clear that things over the past eight decades had only grown worse. The Egyptians had increasingly made the lives of the Israelites difficult, and because of this we see them crying and sighing to God for deliverance.

You see, they had been in Egypt for some 400 years, and in accordance with God’s promise (Genesis 15:13-16), they fully expected for Him to deliver them. Thus we have the account of Exodus 2:23-25: “And it came to pass in process of time that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.”

The rest of the story is the account of God’s historic response to His “remembrance” of His covenant. And what a story it is! It is a story filled with emotional ups and downs as God’s people vacillate between belief and unbelief.

To begin with, Moses’ track record was not without its faith lapses. In chapters 3 and 4 we see him struggling with faith as he dared to argue with the Lord—the One who had graciously appeared to him!

But over time Moses had grown in his trust in the LORD and so these lapses of unbelief became fewer and further between. But this was not the case with the people whom he was called to lead to freedom. Their shifting between faith and unbelief is increasingly apparent.

For example, when Moses returned to Goshen and informed his kin that God had appeared to him and that they were assured of divine intervention and eventual deliverance from Egypt, they bowed their heads and worshipped Yahweh (4:31). But this posture of faith was soon superseded by the posture of unbelief as they turned on Moses and Aaron in the next chapter when things seemingly did not go according to plan—according to their plan that is (5:20-21).

Thankfully, they repented, and as the Lord powerfully displayed His grace and His faithful care for them (in His judgement upon Egypt), they were emboldened in their faith. With the apostle Paul they could say, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

At several points they are to be commended. After all, they did believe God enough to ask their Egyptian neighbours for jewels of gold, silver and various materials. They did believe God as they slew the Passover lamb, applied its blood and stayed inside their homes that dreadful (and wonderful!) night. They did believe God as they left Egypt in a calm and orderly fashion rather than in the frenzied panic of unbelief.

But having acknowledged this we see them subsequently faltering in their faith once again.

As they approached the Red Sea with the Egyptian army heading straight for them, they complained against both Moses and God. They made outlandish statements like, “We were better off in Egypt!” They clearly were suffering from some serious amnesia—which does not seem to be endemic only to the old covenant church!

One would think that their miraculous experience at the Red Sea would have put an end to their spiritual vacillation. But such was not to be the case, as the passage before us highlights.

As they entered the wilderness of Shur, the children of Israel found no water for three days. When they did eventually come across some precious water, they found that it was “bitter” and thus unpalatable to their taste (if not dangerous to their bodies). And their response was one of grumbling. Within a mere three days the children of Israel went from singing about God to slandering God.

Three days earlier they had sung with gusto the victory song of Moses. There was great God-centred jubilation over the defeat of their enemy and they had high hopes for the future (vv. 13-18). But as we come to these verses the music has faded, the tambourines are silent, the antiphonal singing has been replaced with antiphonal grumbling! The children of Israel quickly went from experiencing a great conquest, which resulted in a glorious celebration, to a grumbling complaining.

Before we get too critical, let us honestly ask ourselves, does this sound familiar? If we are completely honest in our assessment, we will surely admit that we often fall into this same trap ourselves. In fact, Scripture uses the wilderness-wandering generation to warn us against murmuring and complaining ourselves.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

(1 Corinthians 10:1-10)

Do you ever find yourself singing the song of Moses one hour and the song of murmuring the next? In other words, after the music fades on the Lord’s Day, how do you handle the challenges that surface on Monday, or for that matter, even on Sunday night? Do you ever find yourself going from confident trust in God to confused trauma in your response to events in your life?

Perhaps you are a new convert and you are confused as to why things seemed so rosy at first but now all seems difficult as you find that believers disappoint you, the world is increasingly opposed to you and, generally, God is making your life difficult. If you can relate to this then I have a question for you: How will you respond?

I trust you will do so much better than did the children of Israel. Let’s learn how not to respond and then how to respond for God’s glory—especially when the music fades.

When the Music Fades, Remember the Song

It wasn’t long before the miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea was forgotten by the people and murmuring ensued. Again, this is a temptation common to all. But the first lesson that we learn from this text is that, when the music fades, we must remember the song. Let me explain.

Remain Steadfast

“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. 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” (vv. 22-23).

The English text tells us that “Moses brought Israel from the Red sea.” The Hebrew verb tense used suggests that Moses had to apply some effort to get the people of Israel to move on from the shores of the Red Sea. As they had just experienced a great deliverance, they were perhaps content to remain where they were. After all, they were out of Egypt, they were free, their enemies were dead—and they could see it—and so, with the threat behind them, why the hurry? It is quite likely that their celebration had led to what could have been a ruinous complacency; a refusal to move forward to other challenges by which they could grow in their faith.

Commenting on this, Warren Wiersbe compares the life of the believer to a school, and in this regard he says, “One great victory doesn’t settle everything; we need challenging new experiences that will help us mature and glorify God. Yes, life is a school, and the Lord knows just when to give us an examination.” Israel’s next examination was to be held at a place called Marah, and the Lord would not have them late for class!

Phillips Brooks counsels, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to our tasks.” Such power-granting tasks will most likely not be found unless we are willing to leave our comfort zones. Israel needed to learn this lesson in our text, and it is one that we must learn ourselves.

Involving yourself in a new ministry will call you to give up the comfort zone of your time. A new faith venture (like missions giving) will call you to leave the comfort zone of your extra income. As the church sends out missionaries she is required to leave the comfort zone of a key member’s ministry within the church. Would you build new relationships in the church? Be sure that you will be required to leave your comfort zone in order to reach out to others. Would you take a stand for Christ in the workplace, at your school, or before your family? Be sure that comfortable relationships will begin to take strain as Christ takes priority.

Life for the believer is not a party. It is not a constant celebration, but rather a march. It is about going forward as Christian soldiers, marching as to war. Yes, we have our wonderful times of celebration, but then we need to move forward to new challenges.

But not only are we sometimes reluctant to move forward because of a party mindset, we are often slow to move forward because of fear of the unknown. Even though we may have seen God do some marvellous things in our past, we remain uncertain about what we will face in the future. Perhaps this was the case with the children of Israel here. They may have been reluctant to leave because of the dangers that awaited them ahead. They knew that they would have to face the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites and the Canaanites, and they were in no hurry to do so. Perhaps they thought, “Yes, we know that victory is ours (15:13-18) but the time is not yet right; let’s hang around here and bask in this recent victory.”

Andrew Bonar warns us, “Let us be watchful after the victory as before the battle.” That is, this time of restful contentment can lull us into spiritual immaturity. We need to march forth into the known unknown.

Whatever the reason, the Israelites were reluctant to go further and this is where once again we see good leadership on the part of Moses: He got them moving!

Sometimes leadership must get people to move after the music fades, and sometimes they must even help the music to fade! That is, they must help the church to come away from the celebration. God never intended for life to be lived continually on a mountain top. Peter, James and John wanted to stay on top of the Mount of Transfiguration, going as far as to suggest building tents to stay there, but Jesus insisted that they come down. And immediately as they did so they began to face new challenges.

The children of Israel, motivated by their leader, set forth into this desert of Shur leaving the Red Sea behind them. Perhaps some were still humming the song of Moses but if so, soon that too would fade.

Three days into the journey they found themselves in a trying circumstance: They could not find any water. And that of course is a serious problem in any terrain but especially so when you are in a desert.

I hate to even think about the burden that Moses was here carrying! What a great weight of responsibility for this man. He had led them to freedom, the people had pledged their loyalty both to Yahweh and to him, and he had just led them in a victor’s song. In addition, he had persuaded them to keep moving and to move into the wilderness, leaving the security of the familiar and the victorious behind. But now they apparently were in danger of dying of thirst. Rather than the future looking as bright as the promises of God, it appeared to be as dismal as the parched ground before them.

As they kept moving they came to a land known as “Marah,” meaning “bitter.” Perhaps they were wondering about this name. To what did it refer? Soon they would discover the answer.

Perhaps someone shouted with great enthusiasm, “Water! I have found water! Praise the Lord; I knew that He would care for us. I knew that the Red Sea was not the end of His care for us! O ye of little faith—let’s start singing again!” As the individual scooped a handful of water in his mouth he immediately spat it out. In disgust, he perhaps yelled, “This water is brackish, perhaps even poisoned. We can’t drink this!” And that was too much for the congregation to bear. Their hopes, which had faded over three days without water, were raised with the discovery of Marah, only to be fully dashed with this bitter realisation.

Interestingly, it would seem that this region—even to recent days—is known for bad water. Walter Kaiser quotes from Biblical Researches in Palestine: “Marah ... the basin is six to eight feet in diameter, and the water about two feet deep. Its taste is unpleasant, saltish, and somewhat bitter ... The Arabs ... consider it the worst water in all these regions.” Because of the fact that the water seeps through the sandy soil it often adopts a saltish taste. Can you imagine the disappointment at this unfulfilled expectation?

This may seem strange when you contemplate that these were God’s people who were now lacking an essential element of life. But though the circumstances were apparently against them, we must remember that God was for them. We certainly need to learn this lesson.

The Lord does at times (oftentimes, in fact!) lead us into difficult circumstances. Yes, the obedient life can be tough. Charles Spurgeon says that the water “was an essential of life ... God may touch us in areas and probably has done so or will, in points most vital. God may touch you in the most beloved object of your heart.”

The new believer should not be surprised by difficulties. I love what Spurgeon said regarding this:

I have no doubt, of very young Christians who still have the shell upon their heads and are scarce hatched, [who think] that their trials are over now that they have become winged with faith; they had far better have reckoned that their trials have begun with tenfold force, now that they are numbered with the servants of the Most High.

When your life gets tough let me encourage you that it is an opportunity by which you can grow in your relationship with Christ. As Wayne Mack instructs, “We need to stop seeing God through our circumstances and start seeing our circumstances through God.”

The truth that we must keep in mind as we face difficulties is that the Lord’s love for us has not diminished one bit in spite of what the circumstances are screaming at us. Or as Matthew Henry observes, “Let us not faint in tribulations. The Israelites were nevermore certainly led by the guidance of the cloudy pillar that when it conducted them to Marah. Our trials are the appointments of a God of mercy and wisdom who cannot err.”

Refuse to Sin/Slander

How do most people respond when expectations are not met? How do they react when life turns bitter? Well, many turn bitter and this appears to be the case here, for the text says, “And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” (v. 24).

A monk once joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first ten years his superior called him in and asked, “Do you have anything to say?” The monk replied, “Food bad.” After another ten years the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, “Bed hard.” Another ten years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, “I quit.” The superior responded, “It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”

Though this story is clearly anecdotal, the reality is that this illustrates quite accurately the disposition of the children of Israel. Whereas in the earlier part of the chapter there was a wonderful choir of voices which sang God’s praises to God, in this latter part of the chapter we have the record of an altogether different choir, not in personnel but rather in the tune they were singing. Here they murmured, they complained, they grumbled. And though they aimed it at Moses, their real target was God.

This murmuring and grumbling became a hallmark of the children of Israel. John Currid observes, “This is the first time the verb ‘grumble/murmur’ appears in the OT ... In every instance it reflects the rebellious attitude of the Israelites against their leaders and authority structures.” He adds that “the grumbling of the Israelites becomes a dominant motif o the wilderness wanderings (Ex 14:11; 15:23-26; 16:2-3; 17:2-3; Num 11:4-6; 14:1-4; 16:11-14; 20:2-5).”

It is important to recognise that this response was not a little problem; this was not merely a case of some people having a bad hair day. Rather, they were guilty of rebellion against God. They were slandering God, were questioning His goodness, His faithfulness, His love. Again listen to Currid: “The biblical author sees the rebellion in direct contrast to the grace and favour that Yahweh has bestowed upon the people.” That is, rather than responding with humble submission they responded with hateful slander.

Let’s be clear about the fact that, when we complain about our circumstances, we are actually criticising God. When the weather turns bad, God is the cause; when the weather turns good (and you have no excuse for not washing your wife’s car!) God is the cause. When you are well, give God the credit; when you are sick, give thanks, for He is the cause. God is sovereign, which means that when you find all the water that you need, He has supplied it; and when you can’t find it, God has supplied it. Do you only find undrinkable water? God has supplied this as well! Amos 3:6 is here helpful: “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” Or listen to these words of Spurgeon:

We deny perhaps indignantly that we murmur against God; and to prove it we double the zeal with which we murmur against Moses ... like the dog which bites the stick with which it is beaten. It owes no anger to the stick but to the person who uses it ... whoever is the instrument, the Lord overrules ... Is this blaming of the second cause, better than railing against God?

How tragic that, in spite of God’s faithful and gracious deliverance of the children of Israel, they were now unmindful of those blessings and ungrateful that He had led them thus far. This is the nature of all grumbling: a failure to believe the best about God when faced with a challenge.

Request the Solution

Out of some two million redeemed individuals, Moses was the only one who seems to have faired well here: “And he cried unto the LORD” (v. 25). When the people complained to him, he took their complaints to the Lord. Perhaps some in his sandals would have prayed, “Lord, remember that imprecatory praise in the earlier part of the chapter? Would you please turn that judgement on this ungrateful lot?” But Moses would not complain about them, for that would make him just as guilty of slandering God as they were. Rather, Moses prayed and asked God for a solution. No doubt Moses believed that Yahweh would provide now just as He had provided three days earlier. Certainly, if He could part and then close the waters of the Red Sea, He could do another water miracle here!

This is precisely how we must respond when we find ourselves facing a waterless wilderness: pray. Remember the greater miracle of the new birth. The greater is the guarantee of the lesser. James says that “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). Use the temporary thirst as an opportunity to grow in your faith and such growth is accompanied by prayer.

God graciously responded to the prayer of Moses by giving a command. He told Moses to cut down a particular tree and to cast into the water. The result was that the bitter water was completely transformed into sweet water. How can this be explained?

Many explain this transformation of the water as an example of ion exchange, and the suggestion is made that this was not a miracle but rather an act of nature. For several reasons I reject this suggestion, but the fact remains that God did something special here. He told Moses to cut down a tree and to cast it into the water, and this subsequently turned the water sweet and therefore palatable. What can we take from this scene?

First of all, we should note that God had already, literally, planted the solution there long before the children of Israel ever needed it. All along the Lord knew that He would instruct Moses to find and cut down this tree; He had planted it there!

We should note that this tree was planted and grew a long time before the Israelites ever set foot on this soil. That is, God had provided the solution long before the situation; He had planted the cure decades before the children of Israel found themselves in this circumstance. Let us be encouraged that because the Lord is both Jehovah Jireh and Jehovah Rophe—He has planned to take care of us!

Second, the solution gives us a wonderful illustration of the work of Christ. Many commentators are hesitant to agree with many of the early church fathers who allegorised this to be a passage prophesying the cross of Christ. Though we do need to be cautious with their interpretation, at the same time I think we err if we do not at the least use it as an illustration of the result of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Writing concerning this Matthew Henry notes, “The Jews’ tradition is that he wood of this tree was itself bitter, yet it sweetened the waters of Marah—the bitterness of Christ’s sufferings and death alters the nature of ours.”

Charles Spurgeon notes that just as Moses took “the axe to the tree” from which the bitter waters were made sweet, so the Father took the axe to Christ, the tree from which His sweet salvation has flowed. I agree.

When the realisation of the weight of sin began to be felt then only the redemptive work of Christ could solve our problem.

Believer that same Saviour, that same gospel is the cure for the bitter experiences that God providentially orders in your life. In fact, the Lord orders these for the purpose of us clinging to Christ so that we will experience true sweetness.

I fear that too many of us think that “sweetness” is defined by an affliction-free life. We think that a life without any health problems, a life without any relational challenges, a life without any financial crises, etc. is the sweetest of existences. But what we do not realise is that a life without challenges is a life with fewer opportunities for experiencing God’s transforming grace. Theologian and author J. I. Packer observes concerning this,

Grace is God drawing sinners closer and closer to him. How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstance, not yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology, but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to him more closely.

This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another—it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast. The reason why the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating that God is a strong rock, a firm defence, and a sure refuge and help for the weak is that God spends so much of his time showing us that we are weak, both mentally and morally, and dare not trust ourselves to find or follow the right road. When we walk along a clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help us, likely we would impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught in rough country in the dark, with a storm brewing and our strength spent, and someone takes our arm to help us, we would thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn to lean on him thankfully. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to trust in himself, to—in the classic scriptural phrase for the secret of the godly man’s life—“wait on the Lord.”

As has been said by others, “God’s will will never lead you where His grace cannot keep you.”

When the Music Fades, Remember the Saviour

As always, there was a purpose behind this trial. The Lord was proving them; He was testing their mettle, as it were: “there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them” (v. 25). Fundamental to this declaration is that God is reminding them of who He is and their relationship with Him.

Now that this test was over (even though they failed it—miserably!) the Lord gave them both an announcement that more tests were to come as well as promises connected with them. It is as if the Lord was giving them an exam schedule and telling them that to the degree that they followed directions, they would pass and would be blessed abundantly.

As Calvin noted, “After God had tried His people, by the want of water, He at the same time admonished them by His word, that hereafter they should submit themselves more teachably and obediently to His commands.”

We can be sure that more tests wait for us in the future. How will we pass such tests? Let’s learn from this text.

Remember the Saviour’s Position

“Jesus is Lord” is the bedrock of Christianity. And since He is Lord, we who confess Him as such are responsible to submit to Him—unquestionably and always. Our Saviour is our Lord; what He commands, we do. He expects for us to obey Him regardless of whether we are in Marah or in a mansion. Every time the music fades, we are being tested regarding our confession; do we truly acknowledge Him as Lord? This was the lesson that the Israelites needed to learn:

There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 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.

(Exodus 15:22-26)

Consider that “at Marah they ran into a material problem, and they responded unfaithfully” (Currid). Many of our faith challenges are also in the area of the material, and the Lord Jesus has taught us that this is because it is a wonderful opportunity to learn that He is Lord.

The Lordship of our saviour demands that we cannot serve both God and mammon. The children of Israel needed to remember that God had delivered them from the “diseases” (plagues) that He had meted out on the Egyptians. They needed to reflect on the great power that He had exercised for their deliverance. God was basically telling them that He expected for them to now behave like they were not Egyptians! If they turned to idolatry then He would treat them like Egyptians. On the other hand, if they persevered then He would continue to be their Saviour. He would continue to turn their bitterness into sweetness, their sorrows into joy.

Even though they deserved the same death as did the Egyptians, and even though they deserved their waters being turned to blood, the Lord promised health-giving waters if they would obey. What a privilege!

Dear believer, when you find that the music fades, remember your Saviour and continue to joyfully submit to Him.

Remember the Saviour’s Purpose

The children of Israel soon found that blessings were actually just around the corner. “And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the water” (v. 27). As they journeyed onward they discovered an Oasis which served both as an immediate refreshment as well as a reassurance. Again, we must be careful here, but surely the numbers 12 and 70 are significant. The number 12 probably is with reference to the twelve tribes, whereas 70 reminds us of the original number of nations. Water is also significant in Scripture as it speaks of God’s refreshment of the earth. It is as if this scene is to point it to Eden, a new one at least at which Israel will be significant upon the nations.

Further, let us be encouraged that for the children of God, we can be assured of God’s loving care. When you experience the bitter, realise that God has also planned a blessing. As Wiersbe observes,

The Lord knows how to balance the experiences of life, for he brought His people to Elim where they found plenty of water and opportunity to rest. Let’s be grateful that the Lord give us enough blessings to encourage us and enough burdens to humble us, and that He knows how much we can take.

As we come to a close let us be encouraged that when the music fades, God’s faithfulness has not and will not fade with it.

Has your marriage, your home, your work situation, your health turned bitter? Then, child of God, keep trusting God and claim His promises. An oasis may be just around the corner!

Unbeliever, you are at Marah, whether you realise it or not. Turn to Christ and trust Him alone for your forgiveness of sin. God has showed you the tree in this passage. Will you lay hold of it and experience the sweetness of eternal life today?