Now I want to bring out certain points out of that account that I just read. First of all, it always strikes me that in that crisis about three million people grumbled, and one man, Moses, prayed. And Moses got the solution. That always shows me that it is wiser to pray than to grumble.

Secondly, the initiative in this revelation came from God. There is so much skepticism today in the church about God’s power and willingness to heal. I think we need to see this. God set up a situation. He brought His people to the point of desperation and then out of His own will and counsel He specifically revealed Himself as the healer of His people. It was not something that people asked, it was something that came from God’s own decision. God Himself decided to be the healer of His people.

The word that’s used there for “heal” is the basic Hebrew word of “physical healing.” It gives us the modern Hebrew word for a doctor. In fact, it would be perfectly correct to translate that, “I am Jehovah [Yahweh], your doctor.” That’s exactly what it would be in modern Hebrew.

Then we need to see that it took an act of faith to release God’s miracle-working power, as it usually does. God showed Moses a certain tree. Moses had to pick the tree up or the piece of wood up and cast it into the water. And that act of faith of casting the tree into the water released God’s miracle-working power in that water. Moses could have stood on the brink of that water and just believed without doing anything and nothing would ever have happened. This brings out the principle that faith without works is dead. If we believe, God always gives us an appointed act to demonstrate our faith.

Then we need to see that the means of healing was a tree. Now in Hebrew the word “tree” is used both for a tree that’s growing and a tree that’s been cut down. So this is exactly the word that’s used in the New Testament for the cross. And so once again this points us forward to the cross of Jesus as the place where this healing covenant found its ultimate fulfillment. It was a tree that brought healing to those bitter waters.

Another thing that always impresses me is that we are never told why the waters were bitter. But Moses was shown how to make them sweet. Sometimes we waste our energy in life by asking a lot of unfruitful questions. “Why did this happen? Why did that happen?” I think sometimes we have to bypass those questions and go to God and say, “God, show me what to do.” And God will do it. I think sometimes to understand why things have happened would burden our minds but God always gives us the practical answers when we want to know what to do.

The basic requirement for healing is stated so clearly there, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God...” In Hebrew it says, “if listening you will listen to the voice of the Lord.” The word “listen” is repeated twice.

I remember as I lay sick in hospital, desperately needing healing, seeking God for it in the Scripture, this verse came to me and I said, “What does it mean to listen, listening?” And it seemed God gave me this answer. “I gave you two ears. A right ear and a left ear. To listen listening is to listen to Me with both ears. But if you listen to Me with one ear and to somebody else with the other ear, all you get is confusion and not faith.” So I stopped my ear to the sinister whisper of the devil, listened to God with both ears, and sure enough, I received my healing.

God Revealed In His Names

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