25. the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet--Some travellers have pronounced
this to be the Elvah of the Arabs--a shrub in form and flower
resembling our hawthorn; others, the berries of the Ghurkhud--a bush
found growing around all brackish fountains. But neither of these
shrubs are known by the natives to possess such natural virtues. It is
far more likely that God miraculously endowed some tree with the
property of purifying the bitter water--a tree employed as the medium,
but the sweetening was not dependent upon the nature or quality of the
tree, but the power of God (compare
Joh 9:6).
And hence the "statute and ordinance" that followed, which would have
been singularly inopportune if no miracle had been wrought.
and there he proved them--God now brought the Israelites into
circumstances which would put their faith and obedience to the test
(compare
Ge 22:1).
JFB.
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