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Scripture Reading: Exo. 15:22-27; 17:1-7; Num. 20:1-13; 21:16-18; 1 Cor. 10:3-4
We saw in the last chapter that the history of the children of Israel was one of eating. In this chapter we want to see that the history of the children of Israel is not only one of eating but also one of drinking. In Genesis 2 are the tree of life for eating and the river of water for drinking. These two items go together to produce the precious materials which are good for God’s building. From Genesis 2 onward with the history of God’s chosen people, there were always the two matters of eating and drinking. These two matters are seen throughout the entire Bible. With today’s chosen people of God, there must also be the matters of eating and drinking because these are the two main aspects of the maintenance of life. For life we need to eat and drink. Eating and drinking enable us to enjoy and maintain life.
The history of the children of Israel started with the eating of the passover lamb in Exodus 12. Soon after they had eaten the passover and crossed the Red Sea to come out of Egypt, they became short of water. Exodus 15:22 tells us that “they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.” They came to Marah, which means “bitterness,” because the waters of Marah were bitter and not good for drinking. It is significant that the journey from the Red Sea to Marah was exactly three days. Their being three days in the wilderness in thirst means that they were buried for three days, that they were in death. The third day may be considered as the day of resurrection since the Lord Jesus was raised on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4). When the children of Israel came to the bitter waters of Marah on the third day, the Lord showed Moses a tree, and when Moses cast this tree into the waters, the waters became sweet (Exo. 15:25). We may say that the tree is the resurrected Christ because this tree was cast into the bitter waters of Marah after the children of Israel had traveled three days in the wilderness.
Because the children of Israel were short of water and came to a place of bitter waters, they began to murmur and complain. This is a good picture of the people of God when they are short of water. If a local church is short of spiritual water, be sure that there will be fighting, chiding, murmuring, and complaining there. If chiding, complaining, and murmuring are present in a local church, that is a proof of dryness, a proof of thirst. If we had no water to drink for three days, no doubt, many of us would be chiding, fighting, and murmuring because of the shortage of water. We need to realize that we have a living tree, the resurrected Christ. If we would put this resurrected Christ into our bitterness, allowing the resurrected Christ to come into our situation, the bitter waters will become the sweet waters.
At Marah, even before the law was given, the Lord made for the children of Israel a statute and an ordinance (v. 25). This signifies that if we have the drinkable, sweet, living water among us, out of this living water there will spontaneously be a living statute and ordinance. The more we drink of the living water, the sweet water of the resurrected Christ, the more we are regulated. The statute and ordinance are not of the law of letters but are the living statute and ordinance of the drinking of the living water.
I believe that the statute made at Marah may have been that there was to be no more chiding or murmuring. After the bitter waters were made sweet, the children of Israel may have said that there was no more need for them to chide or murmur, so they made a statute to this effect. There is no need to chide or murmur when there is plenty of water and when the waters are sweet. If there is much chiding and murmuring in a local church, there will be much sickness in that church. If we murmur all the time, we will be sick. Murmuring opens the door to the enemy to bring in all kinds of diseases. If we are those who murmur, complain, and chide, we are the same as the Egyptians, the worldly people. In most worldly associations or societies, the people murmur, chide, and even fight with one another. Should we have this kind of situation or condition among the people of God in a local church?
Our chiding or murmuring is a kind of disease. We are sick spiritually, and this spiritual sickness can result even in physical sickness. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul told the Corinthians that many among them were weak and sick, and a number were even dead (v. 30) because of their murmuring, chiding, and divisiveness. The Corinthians were against one another because they were short of the sweet water of the resurrected Christ. If we have the resurrected Christ in our situation, our situation will be so sweet with the living water. Then we will have a statute that we would never chide, murmur, complain, or fight with one another. Our ordinance is to praise the Lord and to shout for joy with no chiding and no murmuring. This ordinance is an issue of the sweet waters. If we are enjoying the resurrected Christ in our situation and the sweetness of the living water, we will not have any kind of disease.
If murmuring and chiding can be found in a local church, this proves that there are Egyptian diseases there. If there is an absence of murmuring and chiding, there is a living statute made of the sweet, living water that instructs us not to criticize, chide, murmur, complain, or fight with one another. This statute was not given at Sinai but was made at Marah where the children of Israel had the sweet waters. Exodus 15:26 says, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of Jehovah your God and do what is right in His eyes and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah who heals you.” We should not have diseases or illness among us, because the Lord is the Healer to us, and His healing is in the sweet waters. We have the Lord as our Healer.
Following their experience at Marah, the children of Israel came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (v. 27). The palm tree in the Bible signifies the victory of the evergreen life. We have to praise the Lord for the palm tree, for the victory of life. Seventy is ten times seven. Seven is the number of completion, and ten is the number of fullness, so Elim is a place full of victories of life. There were also twelve springs of water at Elim. Twelve is composed of four times three. The number four signifies the creatures, especially mankind, and the number three signifies the Triune God. Therefore, four times three, the number twelve, is the mingling of divinity with humanity. The springs at Elim are for the mingling of divinity with humanity. God as the living water is flowing into His chosen people to be mingled with them. The resurrection life at Elim flows and grows. It flows out of God into us, and through this flowing, it grows upward to express the riches and victory of the divine life.
We need Christ as the tree, the resurrected One, to be put into our situation. Then we will have the sweet waters. Out of these sweet waters will issue a statute and an ordinance not to murmur or chide but to praise. Our situation should not be one of murmuring, but one of praising. We need an ordinance of saying, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah.” Our ordinance and our statute is not to chide, criticize, murmur, or complain, but always to praise. This statute and ordinance was not of the letter of the law but of the drinking of the sweet waters. Eventually, we are brought to a situation at Elim with twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. This situation is full of the flowing of life for the mingling of divinity with humanity and full of the victories of life for praising the Lord. Elim is a place full of praises coming out of life.
In Exodus 15 the children of Israel enjoyed the sweet waters, and in chapter 16 they ate the heavenly manna. In chapter 17 they came to a place where they were short of water again. Whenever they were short of water, there was chiding, murmuring, complaining, and fighting among them (vv. 1-4). They became sick again because they were short of water. At a certain time, the ordinance of praising in a local church may be gone. Instead of praising, there may be murmuring and criticizing. At that time the church will be sick. Today we may have the ordinance of praising, but later we may have the ordinance of criticizing.
Because the children of Israel were short of water, again they began to chide Moses and murmur against him. “So the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses and said, For what reason did you bring us up out of Egypt; to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried out to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do with this people? A little more, and they will stone me. And Jehovah said to Moses, Pass on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the River, and go. I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel” (vv. 3-6).
It seemed that the Lord was saying to Moses, “Take your staff to do something. I have given you the power, the authority. The staff is in your hand. Didn’t you use the staff to do many things in My authority, in My power? Now take the staff and strike the rock.” This signifies that Christ as the living rock was smitten by the power of the law. Moses represents the law. Christ on the cross was smitten by the authority, by the power, of the law. Then the living water came out of Christ, the smitten rock. John 19:34 tells us that out of the side of the crucified Christ came forth blood and water. The blood was for redemption, and the water was for life impartation. Christ as the living rock had to be smitten by the power of the law in order for the living water to flow out from Him.
In a sense, as the members of Christ, we all have to be smitten by the power of the law. We have to be dealt with by God’s authority. Christ was dealt with by the power of the law, and today as members of Christ we all have to be dealt with by God’s authority. Then we will have the living water.
In Exodus 15 is Christ as the tree, and in chapter 17 is Christ as the rock. The tree signifies the resurrected Christ, and the rock signifies the smitten, crucified Christ. If we are going to have the living water, the sweet water, the flowing water, in the local churches, we have to apprehend and experience the crucified and resurrected Christ. The resurrected Christ is the tree to us, and the crucified Christ is the rock to us. First Corinthians 10:4 tells us that the children of Israel all drank the same spiritual drink of the spiritual rock which followed them, which was Christ.
Numbers 20:1-13 tells us that after a certain time, the children of Israel came back again to Massah and Meribah. This third occasion of the children of Israel’s drinking is a repetition of the second one. Massah means “test,” and Meribah means “strife” or “contention.” It was at Massah and Meribah that the children of Israel tested and strove with the Lord. By that time the children of Israel were circling in their travels. They were wandering in the wilderness and came back again to the same spot. If they had not wandered but had gone on, they would never have had a repetition of their experience at Massah. Because they were wandering and would not go on, they came back again to the place of tempting the Lord and striving with the Lord. If a local church would not go on but would wander, sooner or later that church will have a repetition of this poor experience.
The children of Israel chided Moses again, and this time they really offended Moses. Moses went to the Lord, and the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock so that the water could flow out of it. There was no need for Moses to strike the rock, because it had already been struck and cleft. But Moses was angry with the people of Israel and called them rebels (v. 10). This incident shows us that we need to be careful regarding how we treat and speak about the Lord’s children. Even if they are poor, we should not be so angry. Even if they are poor, it is safe to say that they are very good. If you are wise, you will not go to the parents of a certain boy or girl to say something bad about them. Regardless of how poor or how bad their children are, do not go to their parents to say something bad about them. It is best to tell the parents something good about their children.
The book of Numbers tells us the story of Balak hiring Balaam to curse the children of Israel. At that time the children of Israel were very poor. Balak thought that it was the right time for him to hire Balaam to curse them because of the poor situation among them. All Balaam could do, however, was bless the children of Israel. He said that the Lord saw no iniquity or trouble among the children of Israel (23:21). Balaam’s prophecy surprised Balak, so he took Balaam to another place to curse the children of Israel. Perhaps if Balaam would see the children of Israel from another angle, from another direction, he would see their real situation and curse them. Eventually, Balaam said, “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, / Your tabernacles, O Israel!” (24:5). All Balaam could say about the children of Israel was something positive. Do not say that the church in your locality is so poor. If you say this, you will lose something.
Moses lost the entry into the good land due to his mistake in his anger at Meribah. Because he was angry, he did something wrong. The Lord did not tell him to strike the rock again. The Lord told him to go and speak to the rock, which had already been struck. When people get angry, it is always easy for them to do something wrong. When you get angry, you must learn the secret of running away from the situation that makes you angry. Do not say anything or do anything. Just run away from the situation, and keep yourself away until your anger is over. Then you may come back to say something. Even Moses, who was an old, experienced, humble, meek, and patient man, did something wrong in his anger.
It is very hard to pass the test of the local churches. In the local churches the leading brothers are always tested by the saints. They may have done many good things for the saints and to the saints, but the saints may forget these things. They may chide the leading ones, fight against them, and say something poor about them. That may cause the leading brothers to be angry. But we need to be careful and not get angry. Do not call the saints rebels, but always speak well concerning them. If you say that the brothers are good and the sisters are nice, you will gain something. Although Moses did something wrong by striking the rock, the Lord was merciful, and the water still came out of the rock. The fact that the rock gave forth water even under the wrongdoing of Moses proves how merciful the Lord is.
The truth is that Christ was struck and cleft on the cross once for all. There is no need for Him to be struck again. We need to realize the accomplished fact that Christ was struck on the cross two thousand years ago. Instead of striking Him again, we just need to speak to Him. When we speak to Him, He will give us the living water. Hymns, #248 is very good in this point:
The more you sing this hymn, the more you will fall in love with it. Christ has already been crucified and riven for us. We do not need to strike Him, but we need to call on Him, to speak to Him, to bid Him to give us the living water.
The fourth occasion of the children of Israel’s drinking is recorded in Numbers 21:16-18. They came to a place called Beer, which means “a well.” When the children of Israel came to Beer, they came to a well. This is a type of Christ being a well in us. He is not only the cleft rock but also a well of water. The Lord Jesus tells us in John 4:14 that if we drink of Him, we will have a fountain or a well of water within us. Christ is the rock outside of us, and He is the well within us. As the rock outside of us, He needs to be struck. Regarding Christ as the well within us, we need to be dug. There is no need for Christ to be struck again, but there is the need for us to be dug so that Christ as the well can spring up within our inward being. There is much dirt in our inward being blocking the flowing of Christ. All this dirt needs to be dug away.
Numbers 21:18 says, “The well, which the leaders sank, / Which the nobles of the people dug, / With the scepter, with their staffs.” A scepter is a royal rod in the ruler’s hand related to authority. Psalm 23 indicates that the staff or staffs are for guidance (v. 4). Thus, scepters are for authority, and staffs are for guidance. We need to be dug under the Lord’s authority and according to His guidance.
The leaders and nobles of the people would not normally be the ones to dig the well. The people of the lower class would do the digging. But Numbers 21 tells us that the leaders and nobles of the people of God dug the well at Beer. If we are going to enjoy Christ as the well springing up all the time in the local churches, all the leading ones have to take the lead to dig away the dirt under the Lord’s authority and according to His guidance. Then we will have a well springing up with living water all the time in the churches because we have the digging by the leaders and the nobles of the people with the scepter and the staffs.
The fifth occasion concerning the matter of drinking in the Old Testament is the occasion of Samson in Judges 15. The Spirit of the Lord had come upon Samson, enabling him to slay a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Afterward, Samson was dying of thirst, so he called on Jehovah (v. 18), and “God broke open the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came forth from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned and he was revived; therefore he called the name of that place En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day” (v. 19). En-hakkore means “the fountain of him who called.” When we call on the name of the Lord, we drink the living water, and we are revived. The portions of Scripture that we have covered in this chapter cover five occasions that provide us with a full picture of the matter of drinking in the Old Testament.
