Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

The Passover, The Red Sea, Marah, then Elim

Numbers 33:3-9 NKJV — They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD had executed judgments. Then the children of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth. They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. They moved from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is east of Baal Zephon; and they camped near Migdol. They departed from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, went three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham, and camped at Marah. They moved from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there.

The Passover

The Passover night was a night of great deliverance.  But leaving Egypt meant that 2 million people were going to survive in a wilderness without motels, McDonald’s or even Porta Potties.  How were they going to survive?  Had they really thought this trip through?  

Salvation is a great deliverance.  It is described as a new birth and as salvation in John 3, as a resurrection in John 5.  Salvation requires trust, not just a head-knowledge belief about the Lord but actual trust in Him.  That is why we are told to repent (change our minds) and believe.  All of us believe something or someone but we are supposed to quit telling God how to save and we need to let Him tell us.   Paul makes salvation a point in time experience when he says, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation (the rapture) is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:11 NKJV).” But this trusting business is not only an issue when we first trust in Christ for salvation or deliverance, but it is an on-going issue in our journey through this life as we head for the promised land.

I believe that the experiences of the children of Israel as they are delivered from the bondage of Egypt (representing the world) to cross a barren land because of the promise of obtaining a land flowing with milk and honey, has lessons for those of us that are pilgrims in this present dispensation.

The Red Sea

What I notice is that after a great deliverance, the children of Israel faced obstacles.  The first major one was at the Red Sea.  The Egyptians were behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them.  What were they going to do?  Of course, they were powerless to do anything;  but they did wonder if they had made the right decision.  But what did God say through Moses?  “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever (Exodus 14:13 NKJV.)”‘  The Lord performed another unexpected miracle.  But once they passed through the Red Sea there was no way that they could turn back.  Maybe this is a stretch, but I think baptism is that point for many people and the reason they don’t get immersed after salvation is that they don’t want the criticism of family and friends who believe that in some way baptism saves.  They want to keep one foot in Egypt while at the same time enjoying their deliverance from that bondage.

Marah

The second major obstacle was a lack of water at Marah.  “So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water (Exodus 15:22 NKJV).”  When they complained to Moses, (and wouldn’t we all complain?) they found water.  Great!  But the water was bitter or probably poisonous.  That was not the answer for which they were looking.  However,  a tree thrown into the waters made them sweet or satisfying.  I would like to believe that the tree represents the cross in our day.  When the answer to our prayers seem to leave us with a bitter experience, remember the cross.  The bitter waters are made sweet.  The Lord met their needs, but he tested their loyalty and confidence in Him with this experience.  They were going to have many other difficult obstacles on the way across the desert, but remembering the time when bitter waters were made sweet should have encouraged them.  And when our faith is tested, we too need to remember the bitterness of the cross where our bitter waters were made sweet.  

Elim

Do you sometimes wonder if worshiping the Lord is worth it?  Did you have it better as an unbeliever?  Remember, that just beyond Marah is Elim.  At Elim there was an oasis in the desert.  “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters (Exodus 15:27 NKJV).”  Elim is not the promised land but it was a place with enough water for all of the twelve tribes and enough shade for them and their animals.  But Elim was beyond Marah, where they were tested.  

Practical Applications

Sometimes we are not really honest with people when we preach the Gospel.  The prosperity people think that if we have enough faith we will have riches in abundance even though the Lord said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. (Matthew 8:20 NKJV).” The charismatics and pentecostals believe that if we have enough faith we will have all of our demons cast out and all of our sicknesses healed.  I would like to suggest that it is possible for the Lord to heal and cast out demons today, but we worship Him because of His love for us. Sometimes he does not heal us or cast out our demons.  When He tests us, we need to remember the cross.  

In other words, our journey through this barren wilderness called the world is going to be a testing time and there will be obstacles.  Unfortunately many of us will complain when we should be praising, but we are just sinners saved by grace and the Lord wants to use us to manifest His glory to a fallen world.  We will have to fight the flesh (Amalek) and we will  have to get water from a rock–a literal impossibility.  We will likely be faithless when we see the enemies in the land (who are giants).  But  we need to remember that our God who saved us is the God who can keep us.  And even when the Lord performs miracles in our lives, if you are like me, you may have trouble expecting the next miracle.

Remember

First, we need to remember our Passover experience.  The day when we realized that as a sinner God loved us and forgave us because of the cross should have been a day of great joy.  But when we come to the Red Sea, remember God has literally got your back.  If we are thirsty and the water seems bitter,  we need to remember the cross.  And we should always be encouraged since I believe that there will always be an Elim just down the road.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of January 26, 2025

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