For all of 2020 I had been praying for Yahweh to show me/us "a way through". He has done so in many ways, but there is so much more to be revealed, so I have been keeping my ears open. Today is Shabbat, a day where I have the quiet and peace to fine tune my spirit to Yahweh's voice. I know everyone hears from God in different ways, but for me, His voice takes on different characteristics depending on what He is saying to me. His Abba voice, (The Parent) can be loving and gentle, encouraging, edifying and patient. But His Parent voice can also take on the tenor of "the correction mode", firm, serious and strong, demanding accountability and encouraging Teshuva (the act of stopping what we are doing, turning around and returning to His Instruction). Still there are other voices: The Teacher, The Creator, The Scientist, The Healer, The Protector, The Prompter, The Humorist and more. I guess over time, my Sabbath Wanderings could explore all His voices, but for today I will talk about the voice that wakes me up in the middle of the Night... The Teacher. The Teacher's voice speaks a word or a phrase to get my attention and then over the following days fills in the rest of the lesson.
Earlier this week I was woken in the hours before daybreak, by this phrase, "The bitter waters of Marah." Recognizing that The Teacher was speaking, I wrote the phrase down and went back to sleep because history has taught me that it will take awhile for the rest of the lesson to percolate. I knew the story of the Bitter Waters of Marah was from Exodus, so I looked it up. The reference comes from Exodus 15:23-27. While I was waiting for "the rest of the story" to come, I looked up on the internet as many references to Marah's waters as I could find. Most of them talked about bitterness and complaining and how Marah was a lesson in obedience. Hmmm. Not the vibe I was getting. I was sure that there was a deeper understanding that that Yahweh wanted to reveal.
I was so excited!! Understanding why, has always been tantamount to me. I believe in faith, but I also believe in doing due diligence and asking for understanding, so that I have a firm foundation to build on for times when I must go on faith alone. Over my lifetime, The Teacher has opened up worlds of understanding for me and I have learned from experience that His scriptures are part of a cohesive whole, an intricately designed plan which he has laid out for us to understand.
Being a homeschool mom for 17 years, I know that lessons are best learned when a student is part of the process. Research, exploration, and questioning lead to doors of understanding opening and themes coming into focus. I won't bore you with all my thread pulling and research, but some explanation is necessary in order to see how a phrase in the night turned into an "Oh wow" revelation.
My first question was "OK, Why Marah? Marah's waters were bitter, why is that important?" I tried to find the modern day Marah on a map, but of course it wasn't going to be that easy. There is no map with x marks the spot for Marah. So I then looked for a map of the area that Moses and the Children of Israel traveled in the Exodus. There are several, I settled on one particular map, because of previous research I did on another topic (also very "Oh wow" but that is a story for another day).
Then I looked at information about this area on a modern day map and read up on the kinds of water sources in the area. There are bodies of water, much like the Dead Sea, that are high in saline content and other mineral deposits, since in antiquity this was all under the ocean. As time passed land rose up around the area and trapped the saline rich water inland, fresh water springs kept the area from drying up, but the body of water was virtually undrinkable. So somewhere a 3 day journey from the crossing of the Red Sea, lay one of these salt laden inland bodies of water, that the Children of Israel called Marah, which means bitter.
My next question was, "but why stop at Marah if the water was undrinkable? Why not just produce water in a miraculous way as was done later?" Oh...there is a very good reason coming!! I could feel The Teacher guiding me through to find my next clues and then come to my "Oh wow" moment. So I asked, "what makes water taste bitter?" The answer is, when water is bitter, it is usually because there is a combination of some or all of these ingredients: sodium, magnesium, calcium, magnesium sulfate and sodium sulfate. So what in this combination of ingredients is important to my quest? "Uh, wait... isn't magnesium sulfate another name for epsom salts?" Yes! It is! Epsom salts, are what is used for soaking sore feet, feeding tomato plants and as a gentle laxative. DING! DING! DING!! The clouds in my understanding started to part and light was shining down on the answer to my first question, "Why was drinking Marah's water important?"
The Children of Israel had just lived in a land filled with pestilence and plague. Even though most of them were in Goshen where they were shielded from the worst of the plagues, many were in service to Egyptian households outside of Goshen. God knew that they would carry bacteria with them from Egypt that could start widespread illness in their close quarter living conditions. This would make it necessary to have a detoxification pitstop at Marah! The combination of minerals in the water would make a laxative strong enough to purge them of the pestilence and plagues of Egypt. They had basically been preparing their bodies for a cleanse since the crossing of the Red Sea, having consumed their food supplies and drinking water and having fasted while they traveled the 3 days to Marah. So at Marah the detox process could be completed.
So here is where God the Master Scientist/Healer comes into play: He designed our body to fight off illness by having immune response supported by detoxification done by the liver. Bitter things that we consume can be purgative, but they can also stimulate the production of bile which aids in digestion and detoxification. Bile also breaks down fats so that it can facilitate the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, like vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to the body to protect it against bacterial and viral attack. So Marah was all about detoxing the Children of Israel to cleanse them from bacteria that could cause an epidemic. This was my first "Oh wow", but there was another coming...
I feel like this would be a good place to say "to be continued..." , but what I am getting to next is really important to our present situation with Covid-19. So please bear with me as I get to the other "oh wow" and close with a few modern day observations (or make a note to come back and read the rest soon).
According to Exodus 15, the water was too bitter to drink, so God told Moses to throw wood from a certain tree into the water, which made it sweet enough to drink. So here is my next question: "why throw a tree into the water?" "What kind of tree could sweeten the water and make it drinkable?" This question had an easier answer because we lived in Costa Rica and I am aware of the cleansing and medicinal properties of the Moringa oleifera tree. So I looked it up and found that this tree has many species that are found around the world in sub tropical climates. In the area around the Red Sea the moringa tree is quite prolific. So more light was shed on the answer to my questions. Most likely, the tree used to sweeten, disinfect and cleanse the water was the Moringa oleifera.
This tree is famous for its ability to clear murky water and turn low, medium and high turbidity water into drinkable tap water in a couple of hours. Just a few crushed seeds can bond with particles and contaminates and cause it to settle to the bottom, then the clear, sanitized water can be poured off and consumed. The bark, roots, fruits and seeds can also be used to desalinate ocean water.
Marah would have been both murky and high in saline as well as having high quantities of other minerals that made it undrinkable. But with the help of the antibacterial, desalinating and cleansing properties of the moringa tree, the waters of Marah were sweetened, but still had the detoxing properties for a whole congregation cleansing.
Not only was it probably the moringa tree that used to sweeten the water, but it would have also helped fill the Hungry Gap until the time God sent the quail and Manna. Almost every part of the Moringa tree is useful. The leaves are similar to spinach in nutritive value. A serving of Moringa has 4x the calcium of a serving of milk, 7x the vit. C of an oranges, and 4x the Vit. A of carrots. Since green leafy foods have phyto- protein, even some amount of protein would be provided.
So my final questions to Yahweh The Teacher, are: "Why did you wake me up to tell me about Marah? What am I supposed to do with what I have learned?" I believe the answer is multifaceted, first of all it what I learned is pretty cool and it is always a good thing to get a deeper look at scripture and share what is learned. But why also revolves around the Covid-19 pandemic, our vulnerabilities to the virus and the shockingly prevalent negative attitude towards science and common sense health precautions that is costing precious lives.
It is important to know how to take care of ourselves and to maintain our health. In the first 5 books of the Bible many, many principles are laid out for how to do just that. But for this moment in time I will talk about more general health information. Facing the pandemic can be less threatening if a few basic health principle are followed, to start with a good diet, exercise, rest and plenty of water will help the body to maintain good health. Then as with Marah, it is important to get bitter, foods into our diet to stimulate bile production and the assimilation of the Vit. D so vital to fighting off the virus. Some easy to obtain bitter foods like green leafies; kale, collards, swiss chard, dandelion greens, arugula and other bile inducing foods like eggplant and turmeric. These can be added to the daily diet to give us a better chance at remaining well. Also a periodic fast and cleanse to detox the body is a prudent thing to do during a pandemic.
Next, I will say this plainly because I know no other way to put it, God is the creator of science. He set the boundaries of all created things and put them in motion within the framework of science. To "ignore the science" as is so often coined in the news these days, is to scoff at the principles that God Himself put spoke into existence. We do so at our own peril. The natural consequences of ignoring scientific fact, common sense and human decency, is to become infected with Covid and become ill, or to be an unaffected vector and give it to others; maybe to a loved one, maybe to a stranger, but the cost to them is high in any case. It seems that the bitter taste of our present need to protect ourselves and others is leading to complaining and resistance and non-compliance with basic health practices. God didn't ask the Children of Israel if they wanted to go to Marah, He took them there for their own good and then sweetened the water to help them drink it. Really, our present requirements do not need a lot of sweetening. How bitter is it to wear a mask, stay away from crowds, wash hands, and if you have to be around others keep your distance? Can you imagine what would have happened if the Children of Israel had refused to drink the sweetened water at Marah? I imagine it would look very similar to what is happening today.
Thank you for accompanying me on my Sabbath Wandering! Some days it is a walk around Heart's Ease Cottage with my camera, other times it is following a scriptural trail together, but whatever we are doing I am glad we are doing it together! I am of course happy to hear what you think, so feel free to share your thoughts and inspiration. Have a blessed day!
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