through healing waters
drink your fill
I recently watched Lawrence of Arabia in its entirety. (It clocks in at 3 and a half hours; I had seen bits and pieces previously.) It’s a great movie, and I could give a summary of the plot, but I want to focus on one aspect of the voyage to Aqaba. This was a city occupied by the Ottoman Turks during World War 1. It was primarily defended against a naval invasion since approaches from the desert were thought to be too hazardous.
But that’s the route T. E. Lawrence and his Bedouin allies took. I have never made a desert trek, let alone one as grueling as through the deserts of Arabia. Clearly, the most important commodity is water. I recall the scenes of the burning sun and frightening heat, the whipping wind of the sandstorms, and the camels laboring in that oven.
There is another desert trek that comes to mind, and it involves Moses and the children of Israel, having fled the slavery of Egypt. They have been in the wilderness for three days, without finding water — at least, not water fit to drink. Exodus 15 tells us of the people’s grumbling. I think “grumbling” would be putting it lightly!
Imagine three days without water. Imagine their thirst and the thirst of their animals. When they do come upon water, it is undrinkable. It is bitter, so they named the place Marah, which just happens to mean “bitter.” Moses finds a tree with curative properties. It is used to render the water clean and potable. Theologians, scientists, and madmen have weighed in on the nature of this plant. Ultimately, its power flows from the obedience of Moses to the Lord’s direction.
Listen to my voice because I am the Lord who heals you. The foul, bitter water is healed.
The biblical month of Iyar began on Friday at sundown. It is the second month on the calendar. Iyar has a focus on healing. It is also a month of transition. In the case of Moses and the people, it is a transition from slavery to freedom, from the diseases in Egypt to healing.
What transitions are we in need of? What healings are we in need of?
As we reflect on this month of healing and transition, we must face the cold reality that so far this year, America has suffered a mass shooting basically every day. A mass shooting or mass murder is labeled as such when there are at least four victims. I know I am not alone in losing track of these horrible events. They begin to just wash over us.
Aside from countries actually at war, the United States suffers from more violence than almost any nation on Earth. And too often, the prompting of these shootings is based on the pettiest of reasons, on pure nonsense.
Certainly, there are political, cultural, and emotional aspects involved, but we need a healing. We are dealing with more than what meets the eyes. We need a casting out of the spirits of hate and murder. We need a cleansing with the fresh, flowing water that rejuvenates and renews the world.
After the incident at Marah, when the Israelites finally had fresh water, we are told, “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water” (v. 27). They arrived at an oasis, which relatively speaking would have been small, considering the large number of travelers. Twelve springs wouldn’t have produced an abundance of water, but it seems to have been enough.
That seems to be the way God deals with us. We usually have just enough.
We have just enough, and indeed much more than enough, when we approach Christ — when we approach him for the water that is always fresh and never runs dry. As it says, “On the last day of the [Feast of Tabernacles], the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37–38).
Jesus says to us, “Come to me and drink, and I will give you life.”
