Desert Streams And Manna

by Keith. O. Dorricott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Category: Christ In Type And Shadow | Oct 1989

Why is it that disciples of the Lord Jesus so often lose their first love? The early enthusiasm that marked their salvation and baptism seems to dissipate as time goes on.

They may have occasional periods of revival, but overall consistency is lacking, which is a mark of immaturity. Some of these disciples may even be active and regular in their attendance at gatherings of the Lord's people, but the inner joy arid strength ebbs and flows. They become easily discouraged, and may be defeated in times of stress and-adversity.

Help from Exodus

In this respect, the book of Exodus can be so helpful to the Christian disciple. The step by step progress that Israel went through in their early years as the people of God tracks so closely with the growth and development of God's people today.

Through the first fifteen chapters, for example, God had been calling Israel out of Egypt, redeeming them by blood to Himself from the power of Pharaoh. He had taken them across the seemingly insurmountable water barrier of the Red Sea to new territory by a new leader.

The parallels in these chapters to a Christian's early days are clear: he or she hears the call of God in the gospel, responds by faith to the preaching of Christ as Saviour and Lord, and undergoes baptism in water, committing himself or herself as a disciple to obey the Lord in association with the people of God.

On the other hand, the last twenty-two chapters of Exodus (19 to 40) describe the service of the people, as instituted by God: the establishment of the Covenant, the building of the Tabernacle, the priesthood of Aaron and his sons and the service of the Tabernacle.

Again, the parallels to today are clear. In the spiritual house of God, the disciple engages collectively in holy and royal priesthood service: worship, the prayers, ministry, the gospel.

But between chapters 15 and 19 are several vitally important chapters that describe four learning experiences that were absolutely necessary for Israel before they could be engaged in the service that was to follow.

More than Service

God has not called us just to be busily active for Him upon this earth. What God desires is that He might continuously be working in us to bring us into closer and closer fellowship with Him and thus with each other; into greater and greater conformity to His will and to the likeness of His delight, His Son. This then has its outworking in divine service; any one without the other is incomplete. This is the lesson of Exodus 15:22 to 18:27.

At the beginning of this phase of their journey, Israel had just experienced a resounding victory - a miraculous deliverance where it had appeared there was no escape. The crossing of the Red Sea was such a momentous event in their early life with God that it became the monument that they would look back to in memory for generations afterwards. No wonder they were so elated, and that they sang songs on the other side. But the other side was wilderness. It now became a matter of survival. Nothing is more basic to our natural existence than eating and drinking - and it was in these things that they were tested first. They must have expected that there would have been enough food and water during their journey for them to live on. Perhaps they expected that it would be much the same as Egypt, yet for the first three days they had no water!

Marah - Bitter Water

We would not underestimate how serious a difficulty that was. Three days without water in that heat is near the limit of human endurance. Finally they came to Marah - and water. Imagine how their hopes must have been dashed when they discovered that it was not fit to drink, not even by people in such a dehydrated condition. Now came the real test: how would they react to this new set-back? "the people murmured against Moses". Is not this the all too common, almost automatic response of the immature, still carnal, Christian: complaining, and blaming others.

Moses had learned a deeper relationship with God. He too was suffering from three days without water, frustrated hopes at the bitter water, and an angry mob expecting him to do something. His response? He "cried unto the LORD", and the Lord showed him a tree or branch which would cure the water ... and the problem. Moses had learned the response of prayer, of dependence on God; a sign of his maturity.

The sweetened waters of Marah were just a foretaste. Now that the testing and the lesson were over, God poured in His blessing. They came to Elim and it had twelve springs and seventy palm trees - water and shade in. abundance.

Israel had to learn from God that survival in this wilderness was not going to be by natural water supply. Things they had taken for granted in Egypt were not available here. It was God who had called them into that place, and it was God who would provide for them. He always does. He is the only resource for a spiritual people in an alien world. There is nothing here on which to feed spiritually.

It was God Himself who had deprived them of water for three days,

for just this purpose. The water would without doubt be supplied, for God is faithful even when we are unfaithful (2 Tim. 2:13). But first there must be testing so that the water may not be taken for granted - that they would learn to rely on Him.

Manna - Bread from Heaven

From Marah they travelled to the Desert of Sinai. Their needs had been met for now, but what had they learned that would be lasting? It was not long until the next survival experience was upon them. In Egypt, despite their slavery, they always had food; leeks, onions, garlic and meat. Out here in this barren place there was nothing!

Both Egypt and the wilderness are pictures of this world, but different pictures. In one there was plenty of food, but of the wrong kind. In the other there was nothing, and again their response was to complain. This time they were even more militant against Moses: "You have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger".

God had not brought them here to starve them, or to give them the food they had been used to in Egypt. Their diet was to be changed completely, in keeping with their new existence as God's people. And so He gave them bread from heaven, "manna', something they did not recognize ("what is it?" - 16:15), and for which they would have to acquire an appetite.

They still craved the meat which they were used to, not "this light bread" (Num. 21:5). God gave it to them. They had quails in the evening and manna in the morning. For forty years God faithfully provided the manna until they didn't need it any more. And for forty years the people learned to gather enough for themselves one day at a time (except on the sixth day when they gathered also for the sabbath). It was entirely sufficient; they "lacked nothing" (Neh. 9:21).

How important it is that we learn to feed ourselves spiritually on the nourishment that God provides, on the person of Christ Himself, as conveyed through the Scriptures. This also should be the goal of all workers with young disciples, that disciples of Christ may reach the point of being able to consistently feed themselves from the Word.

Rephidim - Water from the Rock

Next they travelled to Rephidim. Again there was no water, and again the people complained. They were not learning the lessons of God easily. Again it was Moses who cried to God and who was shown the rock from which water would come.

There is a great deal of meaningful symbolism for us today in these ancient experiences of Israel. Not only was God revealing that He would meet all their survival needs in that barren, hostile environment. He was showing to us exactly what that provision would be.

The manna speaks of Christ Himself - "the true bread out of heaven" (John 6:32), as does the rock from which the water came (1 Cor. 10:4). How much we need to learn this lesson that everything that God provides for us spiritually is in the person of His Son. Meanwhile the water itself is representative of the Holy Spirit (John 7:39) which is God's great provision of enabling power to the believer today.

In John chapter 15 the Lord Jesus clearly outlines the source of the disciple's fruitfulness. "Abide in Me, and I in you" (v.4). "Apart from Me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered" (vv. 5,6).

Spiritual Growth

Today, above all, we need to remember that the life we have received is spiritual; it is lived in our spirits, empowered by the Holy Spirit within us. The world in which we interact with others, and in which we have been brought up and have developed habits of life, is totally designed to appeal to the fleshly nature which is still in us. There is nothing in the world on which our quickened spirits can survive and grow. Without feeding on Christ from His Word, under the power of the Holy Spirit, we will starve in our wilderness. God did not bring us out for that, but He will not force us to eat or drink.

If the experiences of the Israelites showed their immaturity, then the similar experiences of the Lord Jesus on earth show perfect maturity. He too was tempted with respect to food and drink. In the desert He was without food for forty days and then challenged by Satan to use His supernatural powers to provide food for Himself. But He depended instead on the Scriptures. On the cross He cried out "I thirst" and Psalm 22 says (prophetically): "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws" (v.15). They offered Him bitter vinegar, but unlike the Marah experience there was nothing to sweeten the taste for Him. There was no complaining, no blaming others, just a complete and explicit trust in God - "be not Thou far off, 0 LORD ... haste Thee to help Me" (v.19).

We do not crave spiritual food naturally. We have to acquire the taste. "Long for the spiritual milk... that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). We must learn to recognize and avoid the substitutes and to "hunger and thirst after righteousness". We need to become as consistently reliant on it as we are on our daily meals. Without it, the eternal life begotten within us will be invisible. Without it, even our service for God will be lifeless. Without it, we will lose our first love and will not stay the course. "Lord, evermore give us this bread" (John 6:34).

Keith. O. Dorricott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Oct 1989
Christ In Type And Shadow