Congregation  in  the  Wilderness

 

Why  God  gave  Israel  the  Wilderness  Experience 

 

The wilderness refers to a barren desert or to an uncultivated region.  God placed them in such a harsh environment for good reasons.  Consider what Moses said to Israel for their wilderness experience (Deut. 8:1-6).

 

1   Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.

2   And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3   So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

4   Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

5   You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

6   Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

 

Due to their unbelief, disobedience and murmurings in the wilderness God did not allow them to possess the land until forty years later.  Some Christians think that since they are saved by grace and are no longer under the law they can do what they like.  They fail to realize that they still have to obey God’s commandments.  True Christian life, according to God’s word, comes from total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who gives us eternal life.  It requires discipline, sacrifice and hard work to reach the ultimate goal of maturity and perfection that corresponds to Israel’s Promised Land.

 

Bitter and Sweet Experiences in the Wilderness

 

After crossing the Red Sea the Children of Israel encountered their first bitter experience. “And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.” (Ex. 15:22-24) God showed Moses a tree; “and when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And He tested them.” (Ex. 15:25)

 

The tree that made the water sweet signifies the Cross that the Lord Jesus Christ was hung (1 Pet. 2:24).

 

A Christian’s life can be a difficult and bitter struggle, but when we look to our Savior Jesus Christ and make Him the center of everything then it can become a sweet life.

 

“Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, so they camped by the waters.” (Ex. 15:27)

 

 

NOTE:  The photographs are published with the
permission of Wyatt Archaeological Research
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Elim is an oasis in the desert for the discouraged, tired, and weary people who are still wandering in the desert. But now, God had provided a place for them to rest, to be refreshed (water), nourished (date palms), and encouraged (given courage to continue the journey). Elim was also a place where healing began (Ex. 15:26).

 

Water  from  the  Rock  in  Rephidim

 

Just as He had promised Moses God led the Children of Israel to the Land of Midian where they camped in Rephidim (Ex. 17:1)

 

 

At Rephidim the Children of Israel had encountered the same problem as before -   "but there was no water for the people to drink" (Ex. 17:1-7). The people contended with Moses and murmured against him, and he prayed to God (Ex. 17:4-6).

 

4   So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"

5   And the LORD said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.

6   Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

 

Modern day archaeologists have discovered a split rock near this location on Horeb.

 

 

The height of the rock is roughly 60 feet (18.29 m) tall, and it is about 100 feet (30.48 m) above ground level on the hill. It is one of the most fascinating objects in the area. From a close up view of the base of the rock it is evident that a tremendous amount of water flowed from between the large crack, not just a trickling stream (Psm. 78:15-16).

 

15  He split the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

16  He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

 

At Rephidim Moses was instructed by God to take his rod to smite the rock in the company of the elders. The symbolism of this incident is provided by the Apostle Paul who wrote, "and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank of a spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (I Cor. 10:4). Striking the rock by Moses according to the instruction of God prefigures the striking of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, according to the determined will of the Father.  The water that gushed out from the rock represents the Holy Spirit that would be given after Jesus Christ has been crucified, buried and resurrected (Jn. 7:37-39) 

 

37  On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

38  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

39  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

God  gave  the  Ten  Commandments  on  Mount  Sinai

 

One of the most significant events in the Exodus is the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:17-18).

 

17  And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18  Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.

 

 

The Bible has two different names for God’s mountain - Sinai and Horeb. Its Arabic name in Saudi Arabia is Jabal Al Lawz. The top of the highest peak is blackened. The rock is simple granite that seems to have been scorched and melted from intense heat, just like what is described in the Holy Bible.

 

“The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.” (Ex. 24:17)

 

While Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments the people asked Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship. 

“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go, get down!  For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.” (Ex. 32:7)  Moses became angry “and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.  Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and he scattered to on the water and made the children of Israel to drink it.” (Ex. 32:19-20)

 

 

Moses broke the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, not only out of anger, but it is also a powerful expression of God’s wrath on Israel’s breaking His laws. The people might have broken only the first two commandments, but to God who wrote the Ten Commandments Himself, it is the same as breaking all of them (Jas. 2:8-12).

 

8  If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well;

9  but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

10  For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

11  For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

12  So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

 

 

The  Tabernacle  was  moved  outside  the  Camp

 

After the Children of Israel had broken the Commandments of God He was no longer in their midst (Ex. 33:3). Although the Tabernacle tent was still in the middle of the Camp but the “Shekinah" Glory of God which is the presence of God was no longer there. At that time God’s presence was with Moses who “took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting.  And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp.” (Ex. 33:7)

 

“And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.”  (Ex. 33:9)

 

 

The children of Israel repented of their sins by stripping themselves of their ornaments, so God’s Shekinah glory appeared on Moses’ tent which became the Tabernacle (Ex. 33:4-11). “All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door.” (Ex. 33:10) The Lord Jesus Christ said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Mt. 18:20)

 

God did not allow Israel to go without the Ten Commandments so He said to Moses: “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke.” (Ex. 34:1). “And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me.” (Deut. 10:4)

 

The Ten Commandments are given not only for the Children of Israel and the Old Testament people, but they are given for all mankind. It is the duty of every person on earth to keep the Ten Commandments as these are the standards God would use for His judgments (Ecc. 12:13-14). The Lord Jesus Christ said that keeping the Commandments enables one to have eternal life (Mt. 19:16-19). Our Lord summarized the Ten Commandments into two Great Commandments. The first four commandments are to love God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. The last six commandments are to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Mk. 12:28-31).

 

“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." (1 Jn. 3:24))

 

The hallmark of God’s people is that they “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17; 14:12). “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14 NKJV)

 

--- to be continued ---