Exodus 15: The Miraculous Powers of Trees

After reading Exodus 15:22-25, try and imagine what it must have been like to be an Israelite following after Moses through the Sinai desert. You had just watched the God of Moses humiliate the mightiest empire on the face of the earth. You witnessed the Lord’s power to control the elements of creation when He parted the Red Sea. When you saw the lifeless bodies of Egypt’s army wash ashore, Moses commanded you to do the unthinkable… Leave the fertile resources of Egypt, and travel by faith into a barren desert — a place without water, plant life, or shelter.

You know that Yahweh is powerful, but is He faithful? After marching for three days in the blazing hot Sinai desert, your nagging doubts become all-consuming. You feel the effects of severe dehydration — crippling headaches, exhaustion, dizziness, aching muscles, and heartburn. Death nips at your heels. Your mouth is parched, and every time you try to muster up strength to go forward the relentless heat drives you to your knees with nausea. You have no more sweat, and your body is overheating. Worst of all, it is too late to turn back. The three-day journey back to Egypt would be certain death. It’s hopeless.

Suddenly, you spot a tree rising up into the skyline on the horizon! Salvation! A tree must mean that there’s water and life. So with all the strength that remains in your body, you race to this oasis, fall at the water’s edge, and take a deep gulp — only to find that the waters are bitter, not potable. You would weep, but your body cannot find the tears. Why would the Lord do this? Is He cruel? God has total control over the waters. When Pharaoh’s army pinned the Israelites against the Red Sea, you saw the Lord transform those waters into the means of their deliverance. But the waters of Marah only mock you. The people are now beginning to break under the strain of this emotional rollercoaster. With a furious rage, they despair and turn against Moses (Exodus 15:24) — just as they had done when they were pinned against the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11-12). And once again, Moses looks up. 

Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet (Exodus 15:25, nasb).

The Power of a Tree

It was not an accident that God led the Israelites to bitter waters. He could have provided fresh water to immediately cure their thirst. Only two chapters later, God brings forth water from a rock (Exodus 17:6). But in this instance, God wanted to teach them — and us — about life and hope. He wanted to teach them to trust in Him through the darkest of circumstances. And He wanted to teach them something about their ultimate Savior. Like this tree, Jesus was life in a land plagued by death and barrenness. Like this tree, Jesus would be “cut down” (i.e., killed) so that others could have life. Salvation always comes at a cost! Like this tree, the Cross of Christ can transform our worst bitterness into sweetness.

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said:  

“May not this tree cut down be an emblem of the Savior? A glorious tree indeed was he, with spreading branches, and top reaching to heaven — but he must suffer the ax for our sakes. And now, today, contemplating his atoning sacrifice, and by faith resting in him, the troubles of life and the troubles of death are sweetened by his dear cross, which, though it be a bitter tree in itself, is the antidote for all the bitterness that comes upon us here and hereafter.”

The Waters of Scripture

The biblical stories involving waters are often associated with death and judgment. Consider the account of Noah (death and judgment for the world), the Red Sea (death and judgment for Pharaoh’s army), or Jonah’s plunge into the depths of the sea (judgment for his disobedience). David understood this metaphor when he prayed that God would deliver him from “the deep waters” (Psalm 69:2), and the prophet Isaiah wrote about God delivering His people from metaphoric rivers and waters (Isaiah 43:2). Waters are clearly symbolic of death or judgment in the Scriptures. With this understanding, we see more clearly that the tree of Marah was cast into judgment, so that the people could find life.

Even baptism is to be compared to our death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:4). Jesus underwent two baptisms. His first baptism took place in the waters of the Jordan with John the Baptist. This baptism, which “fulfilled all righteousness,” opened the gates of heaven and led God to voice His pleasure in Jesus Christ. After all, He was the first man to live in perfected righteousness since the Garden of Eden. However, after this baptism, Jesus continued to refer to a second baptism (e.g., Luke 12:50, Mark 10:38). This was to be a baptism of death, in which Christ would suffer the torrent of God’s wrath. The world’s only man to be declared perfectly righteous in God’s sight would suffer under the immeasurable wrath of God in our stead. Most first-century Jews could not conceive of a Messiah being judged by God. In fact, the Christ was supposed to judge the hearts of men! Consider the words of John the Baptist. Immediately before baptizing Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, he condemned the religious leaders — comparing them to fruitless trees that would be cut down by the ax of the Messiah’s wrath. 

“Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).

Elisha’s Floating Ax

This brings to mind another story involving an ax and trees along the Jordan. In this story, the sons of the prophets asked Elisha for permission to go down to the Jordan to cut down trees for lumber.

And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick [the Hebrew word (עֵץ) should be translated “tree”] and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it (2 Kings 6:4-7).

Clearly, it was no coincidence that both Moses and Elisha brought forth a miracle by commanding their people to throw trees into waters. And if Moses’ tree points us to the gospel, then it should be fair to assume that Elisha’s tree also points us to the gospel. Transforming bitter waters into sweet waters is one thing, but how does an ax being raised from the waters of the Jordan point our hearts to Christ? 

As John preached on the banks of the Jordan, he warned of a Messiah who would come into this world like an ax cutting down all fruitless trees and casting them into the fire. But to John’s amazement, the “ax” did not cut down the wicked. In fact, this “ax” was submerged in the waters of the Jordan “to fulfill all righteousness.” Even after Jesus had been declared righteous by God, He did not cut down the fruitless trees. Instead, our Lord was cut down in their place! Though He was perfectly righteous, He hung upon a tree and accomplished an unthinkable exchange. He bore our sin and endured our judgment, and He gave away His righteousness. The judge became the judged. The ax became the tree! The Lord extended grace and mercy to us at the cost of His own life. Following His death upon a tree, our Lord was raised from the depths of judgment. The Lord’s ax of judgment had been stayed. But now, having extended His mercy and righteousness to sinners, the ax has been restored into His hand. Sinners may now find refuge in Him, but only in Him. All those who refuse the costly love and the forgiveness secured by the miraculous tree will— as John foretold — be cut down by the ax of His judgment.