In the Wilderness, pt. 1 by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952) 22So
Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into
the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the
wilderness, and found no water. 23And when they came to Marah,
they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were
bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. “So Moses
brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the
wilderness of Shur” (15:22). When God separates a people unto
Himself, it is not only needful that that people should be
redeemed with “precious blood,” and then brought near as purged
worshippers, but it is also part of God’s wise purpose that they
should pass through the wilderness ere they enter into the
promised inheritance. Two chief designs are accomplished
thereby. First, the trials and testings of the wilderness make
manifest the evil of our hearts, and the incurable corruption of
the flesh, and this in order that we may be humbled — “to hide
pride” from us; and that we may prove by exper