Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the Shur Desert. They traveled in this desert for three days without water. 23 When they came to Marah [245, 5·7², 14² + 7²], they finally found water. But the people couldn’t drink it because it was bitter. (That is why the place was called Marah, which means “bitter.”) Then the people turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25 And he cried to YHWH, and YHWH showed him a tree [branch] which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet.

It was there at Marah that YHWH laid before them the following conditions [laws, statutes] to prove their faithfulness to him: [v. 25 sum 3627, 39·93, the same as John 1:1] 26 Saying, If you will diligently listen to the voice of YHWH your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am YHWH Who heals you [v. 26 sum 8098, 2·4049, 558^th P (6·93), 273^rd PP (7·39)]. (Exo. 15:22–26, AMP, NLT, [i] mine)

The children of Israel, arising in a grand triumph of YHWH’s deliverance, escaped through Yam Suph and found themselves “walled out” of Egypt. Trudging three days into the Wilderness of Shur¹ to Marah, they found themselves also “walled out” of the interior plateau by mountains to the east. Numbers 33:8 refers to the mountains bordering the northern shores of the Sea of Aqaba as the “Wilderness of Etham” (689, 13·53), bringing Etham’s meaning², “with them; their plowshare,” into the Marah scene. Hitchcock’s Bible Names defines Etham as “their strength; their sign.” From the definitions of Shur and Etham, it is possible to infer that YHWH had walled Israel in to plow and break up their fallow ground and clods to sow and rain righteousness upon them during their journey to His holy mountain.

YHWH, the God yoked to Israel in covenant, was her strength, teaching her how to be fruitful. The wilderness portrayed images of land with few inhabitants (or evil inhabitants) and little rain (Deu. 8:15), metaphorically meaning no instruction from God. It stands in contrast to YHWH’s “showing” Moses the tree branch (the root of “showed” means to teach/instruct, the verbal of Torah). The fledgling nation suffered water deprivation, the substance required to sustain life and make it fruitful. The water they found at Marah was salty and bitter, like their lives in Egypt, full of chaos, lacking the strength and instruction of God’s Spirit (sweet, living water, Jhn. 14:26). But from Etham’s Wavesheaf Day, YHWH had begun His work already, plowing upon their backs, opening their minds to His teaching, converting their lives from barrenness (thirst) into a fruitful field (sweet). He was their plowshare, preparing the ground to receive seed.

In their neediness, the Creator hedged them in, fostering dependence upon Him. Through His death and resurrection, shown in the sea crossing, He destroyed the deceiver’s power (the carnality securely bound to their minds), making it impossible to return to slavery. The branch Moses threw into the water symbolized the Tree of Life, a sign of their “garments of salvation” and “the robe of righteousness.” The Branch, the victorious risen Jesus (Wavesheaf), the Word of God, walled Israel into Himself. Israel and the Ox of Strength became a team yoked together, a statute of life.

When Moses cried out to YHWH, He made a statute and an ordinance for Israel, placing before her conditions of restoration (healing) to remain His free nation (Exo. 15:25, 3627, 39·93). Through the Lamb’s blood, YHWH rescued her from Egyptian bondage. Since her purchase and betrothal, Israel was obligated to stay free and not come again into bondage to sin but to walk free of sin, avoiding Egypt’s judgment. Israel must become slaves of righteousness, obeying from the heart His doctrine (Rom. 6:16-18). His redeemed people must “diligently hearken to the voice of YHWH their God and do what is right in His sight and listen to and obey His commandments, keeping all His statutes” (Exo. 15:26, AMP). Egypt was no longer their slave master. Yet free, they were not free to do as they wished, for their new Master was YHWH (Rom. 7:4). They must wall in themselves to seek Him with great desire and single-mindedness, overcoming any unfaithful thought (Psa. 116:16, Luk. 1:74-75). If Israel did this, YHWH pledged, “I will not bring on you any of the diseases [plagues] I brought on the Egyptians, for I am YHWH, who heals you” (Exo. 15:26). God put His righteousness upon them in the form of His laws, statutes, and judgments. Though Israel failed to live in them, YHWH did not fail to save Israel by taking her sins upon Himself, dying on a tree.

The bitterness of worshiping other gods, the disease and death of unbelief that Egypt embraced, had reached into Israel’s heart (Jer. 4:18). YHWH offered to heal them, giving them life, turning their bitter water sweet with shalom by throwing the tree into it, revealing the knowledge of YHWH’s holy sacrifice in the face of Yeshua. Because Israel was raised from the dead when God raised Yeshua from the dead, “He is our life and length of our days (Deu. 30:20).” We have life by “living by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of YHWH” (Deu. 8:3, 30:20). In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (Jhn. 1:1-4, 14). The solution YHWH taught (“torahed”) Israel at Marah was the covenant’s healing, the ordinance and statute of His Spirit flowing from the risen Wavesheaf. Exodus 15:25 bears the numeric signature, 3627, 39·93, of John 1:1, “in the beginning” of a new creation, the signs of His glory, restoring humanity to live and walk in the light of God (Exo. 15:26).

Takeaway:
In the first week of the count, the journey from Etham to Marah highlights the challenges of transformation. Israel’s unbelief in rebellion necessitated Yeshua’s death. As a sin offering for healing, “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). Yet, the Wavesheaf offering becomes “their strength; their sign” as well as “with them; their plowshare.” In the new creation, John 1:1, He is with us, the Tree of Life, teaching us to live by every Word of God.

Fun Factors:
At the burning bush, YHWH told Moses what to say to Pharoah, “This is what YHWH, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert.'” And when Pharoah spurned the request, Moses said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to YHWH our God, or he may strike us with plagues or the sword” (Exo. 5:1–3). What happened on the Marah Sabbath ties to their three-day journey still within Egyptian territory at Etham. Etham (with its 441, 3·7·7·3, Genesis 1:1 signature, 37 × 73) marked that year’s wavesheaf (first of the firstfruits). Three days from the First Day of Unleavened Bread was the wavesheaf cutting; three days from the Last Day of Unleavened Bread was Marah, the first of the Sabbaths. The Sabbaths are signs that we might know He is YHWH who sanctifies us and signs of where the journey will end. The Wavesheaf set in motion the count to a new holy creation linked to Yeshua’s sacrifice and resurrection.