The Healing Tree, part 4

By Doris Tarbutton

The staff Moses carried was a piece of wood that God chose to use as a symbol of His mighty presence.  The staff had no magical power, indeed no power at all, but was a visible tool God used to teach His chosen people about His constant care for them.  The piece of wood Moses cast into the bitter waters at Marah to make it sweet was just that—a piece of wood with no innate power.  Yet, God used that simple tree to do a miracle before the people.  The thread of a “piece of wood” is woven throughout the Scriptures culminating in the wooden tree on which Jesus was crucified.  On that piece of wood, the Cross, ultimate healing in the atonement for all our sins took place.  It was the shed Blood of Jesus on that wooden Cross that will supply all our needs now and throughout eternity.  It wasn’t the piece of wood that had the power, but how our heavenly Father used it as an instrument of punishment for sin through the willing sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The power to provide the atonement was from God alone.

God continued to use the staff of Moses before the Hebrew multitude in the wilderness.  Exodus 17 recounts a second time Moses used the staff as the symbol of the power and presence of God.

“They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  So they quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’  Moses replied, ‘Why do you quarrel with me?  Why do you put the LORD to the test?’  But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses…Then Moses cried out to the LORD,…The LORD answered Moses, ‘Walk on ahead of the people…take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.  Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ “                                                                   At God’s command Moses struck the rock and water gushed out for the people to drink.  It wasn’t Moses and it wasn’t the staff that produced the water from the rock—it was the power of God.  God was there and the “tree” (staff) Moses used was the one anointed and provided by God Himself.  There is another element that is prominent in this account—the water.  The tree represents the Cross; the water the ministry of the Holy Spirit meeting the needs of people who believe and act on faith in the power of God symbolized by the  tree.

In both accounts God’s provision came after the people grumbled, showing a lack of faith and unbelief.  Moses’ response both times was to “cry out to the LORD” (Exodus 15:25; 17:4).  Moses interceded for the people and God responded, in His mercy, to the believing prayer of Moses.

There is a personal lesson here: I can intercede on behalf of someone grumbling instead of praying and believing and God will answer my cry for help.  What a comfort to know God’s mercy extends to grumblers!

Continuing the story in Exodus 23:20-26 we are told how our Father God sent an angel ahead to prepare the way and guard the people to bring them to the prepared place.  The angel had the Name, I AM, in him.  This must be Jesus for this is a description of His ministry for us!  If we listen carefully (verse 22), do not bow down to other gods and worship them (verse 24), and if we worship the LORD, He will take away all sickness. (verse 25)  This is the reward for obedience to God’s laws and decrees.

Disobedience brings the curse of sickness.  Leviticus 26:16 describes “wasting diseases and fever that destroys sight and drains away life.”  The remedy is found in Leviticus 26:40: confess sins and generational sins, humble ourselves and pay for our sin.  We cannot pay for our sin, therefore Jesus did it for us! The point is that the price has been paid in full for the disobedience we commit against our holy and righteous Father in heaven.  The way to wholeness and health has been prepared for us to follow by our Lord Jesus and His shed Blood on that tree we call the Cross.

 

The Healing Tree

 

By Doris Tarbutton

Divine healing is a fascinating subject.  It is something we want, but many times don’t totally believe it is for us.  I decided to delve into what the Bible says and then come to my own conclusions.  Can I ask for healing and expect to receive it?  I want to find out.  This posting will be in several parts due to its length.  I hope it helps you.

“When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)  So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What are we to drink?’  Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the waater, and the water became sweet.”  Exodus 15:23-25

 The healing tree at Marah did not bring physical healing, except in the sense that physical survival was at stake.  The people were in need of water to drink for without it they would surely die.  It is at our most desperate moments that we genuinely seek the healing power of God, whether physical survival or internally in our souls.

 The tree thrown in the water had no power—it was just a tree.  Its history would have been the same as all the others like it growing in the region.  It was merely a log of wood.  It had no say in what would become of it or how it would be used.  It was available to be used by the power of its Creator in any way He so chose.  He chose to make it an instrument of provision and healing in the hands of Moses.  An instrument has no value until it is in the hands of one who can make use of it.  Moses acted in obedience and faith when he picked up the tree and cast it in the water.  He did not stop to be tempted to think about how embarrassed he would be if it didn’t work!  What an example for us to see obedience without questioning and an act of faith that produces the revealed nature of our God!

Do you and I have that level of belief in our God’s power that we obey without hesitation and act in faith believing He will do what He desires?  Do we have to know the outcome?  There is no indication in Scripture that Moses knew exactly what God was going to do.  That is evidence of faith in the power of God.  We can learn from his example to be bold in acting on the faith we have and trusting God to do what is best and most beneficial in any given situation.

What was the healing that took place in the waters of Marah?  The people were not ill or suffering from infirmities so it was not for physical restoration.  The emphasis is on the water:  it was “Marah”, bitter water.  When we harbor bitterness, resentment, grumbling, criticism, judgmentalism, anger and self-centeredness in our hearts we are swimming in and drinking marah.  Our lives become bitter pools internally.  On the outside we look just fine, just as the water looked good until it was tasted.  On the inside, however, lurk the dangerous, destructive characteristics of life apart from God.

Regarding iniquities in our hearts does not annul our relationship as the children of God, but it definitely puts a barrier up so that we no longer communicate clearly with our Lord.  We can only groan under the load of sin because we have no remedy within ourselves. The remedy comes only from the love, grace and mercy of God.  It is He who provides the forgiveness of our sins and the cleansing from all those abiding iniquities that are the root cause of the bitter water in our souls.  Forgiveness and cleansing are both forms of healing.

The pool of water was marah.  Was it the tree that made the water sweet?  Was it a special type of wood that can be used by anyone to sweeten bitter water in their souls?  It was not the wood of the tree that did the miracle—it was the power of God symbolized in the casting of the tree that did the miracle.  It was a visible depiction of the true character of God.  The sweetness was the presence of grace, mercy, love and forgiveness in the Person of the Holy Spirit of God.  He was demonstrating graphically how God’s power can change anything to become beneficial for God’s chosen people.  Moses’ act of faith was an evidence that God wants to be personally involved in providing our every need.  Perhaps some of the people caught a glimpse of the possibility of their own faith in God producing provision for their needs and healing for their souls.

It is the presence of the Spirit of God dwelling within each true believer in Jesus Christ that manifests the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of our heavenly Father.  It is His presence that changes our bitter nature into the sweet nature of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This incident at Marah was a one-of-a-kind miracle.  Our Father revealed Himself as Jehovah-Rapha, our God who heals.  Today we still take encouragement from this revelation.  If God’s power is sufficient to change that bitter water into sweet, surely His power is sufficient to change our bitterness into the sweetness of the life of Jesus within us.

As believers in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we carry the healing tree as a part of our cross.  Remember, Jesus said “Take up your cross daily and follow me.”  We have the power of God working in each one of us to act in faith and cast that healing tree into the bitter waters of every situation.

What are some of the bitter pools of water we encounter?  There is chronic illness, sicknesses of various kinds, disabilities of all kinds, relationship difficulties, divorce and separation, deaths of family members and friends, problems at work or school, emotional problems and distresses and perhaps many others.  Whatever the outworking of sin in our lives– the consequences and curses associated with sin—these are pools of bitter water.  Into these pools we can cast the cross of Jesus, the healing tree, and acting in faith release the power of God into the bitterness to make it sweet.

What was the agent that made the water bitter? It looked like water should look to the eye; perhaps it smelled like any pool of fresh water should smell.  However, there was a problem—the taste was wrong.  The water contained some contaminate that changed the taste to something unfit for human consumption.  Is this a picture of our human souls?  We can say the right things, have an acceptable appearance and act righteously, but what is lurking beneath the surface to make us unfit on the inside of our souls?

Is there pride, arrogance, self-sufficiency, rebellion, unbelief, distrust, skepticism, deception, lying, gossip, bitterness, resentment or anger?  How about busyness, prayerlessness, cold love towards other believers, the need to be praised and recognized by others, the need to dominate and control, manipulation or perfectionism?

Each one of these characteristics, among others, is an outworking of our natural self, our flesh, our sinful nature.  We are each one in desperate need of the sweet water of the presence of Jesus.  Each one of these must have the healing tree cast into it to release the cleansing power of God through the Holy Spirit.  Like Moses and the Hebrew people, we have no ability to change the bitter to sweet.  Like Moses, we must cry out to the Lord for healing and restoration.  We need Him to provide the healing for us. The Scriptures make very clear the way to freedom from these sins and iniquities.  We must act in faith to appropriate the freedom that Jesus bought for us on the healing tree, His cross.  More to follow…