25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

In the previous verses Israel had found themselves without any fresh water, and had murmured to Moses, asking what they were supposed to drink. I compared this to the sinner who leaves the enslavement of his vices, only to find himself in a hard and trying world, with none of his old coping mechanisms to soothe his aches.

In verse 25 we hear God’s solution, which is that He had planted a tree, and when the tree was cut down and cast into the waters it counteracted the bitterness, making the water sweet to the Israelites. I do wonder whether “bitter” and “sweet” are only referring to the taste of the water, or whether “bitter” actually “poisonous” and “sweet” actually “safe to drink.”

To me, the symbolism of this moment is clear. Consider that the tree was apparently able to draw in the bitter waters that the Israelites could not drink and still remain live, but by its death it also sustained life for all the people. Christ is the tree that is able to take in all the bitterness, all the sin and evil, of this world. He takes it into his own person and remains perfect, yet he was cut down and killed, buried in the waters of death, and by his virtue dispelled the curse of mortality for us all. He takes all of our trials and travails and sweetens them, counteracting their effects by providing forgiveness for sin and resurrection from death. All wrongs are made right in him, all setbacks are made to our own benefit.

Going back to the idea of the addict beset by the afflictions that normally would cause him to relapse, recovery is found through a higher power that makes the intolerable tolerable. Surrendering the bitter moments to the group, the sponsor, and the higher power causes them to lose their power. The bitterness is taken out of the pain and what remains is a growing opportunity. The addict finds respite and soothing through this new process, and he is able to continue onward, not going back to the comfort of his old slavers.