The people of Israel can’t find drinkable water. Instead of asking God to provide, they grumbled against Moses. Had they already forgotten the power and goodness of God?

God provides for them by making the bitter water sweet. Different types of log will remove metallic contaminations from water, like an acacia sapwood and date palms. I believe this water to be contaminated, and God shows Moses a tree popular in the region that decontaminates the water, making it less bitter. Indeed, the date palm has many health benefits and is used in the modern day to “remove unwanted materials such as acid and basic dyes, heavy metals, and phenolic compounds” from water (Ahmad, T., Danish, M., Rafatullah, M., Ghazali, A., Sulaiman, O., Hashim, R., & Ibrahim, M. N. (2012). The use of date palm as a potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment: a review. Environmental science and pollution research international, 19(5), 1464–84.). The answer is simple and not supernatural. God takes the opportunity to teach about His creation.

After the people see that God’s advice is good, God gives them a regulation. If they listen to Him and heed His advice, keep His statutes, they will not experience the type of disease they saw God put on the Egyptians. God is their healer. Thus, God reveals the motivation behind many of the laws he gives to national Israel, including dietary, sexual, and purification laws. They prevent sickness and disease. When we read the laws God has given, we should know that He intends those laws for our good, not to burden us with religious requirements. Even when heathens follow the basic precepts of the Law, it is good for them.