I am fascinated by this place of 12 springs and 70 palm trees called Elim (Exodus 15). Elim is mentioned almost in passing; it gets only a sentence or two in scripture. Yet I researched the symbolism in the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Intervarsity Press), and it seems very significant to me.
Symbolically, twelve is the number of “divine government,” and 70 is the number of “perfect spiritual order.” And springs represent “new beginnings” or “a well of salvation.” Palm trees represent “uprightness” or “fruitfulness.” With this symbolism in mind, Elim seems like the place of a new beginning for the children of Israel. Perhaps this is the place where they become a nation, a nation under God’s governance and spiritual order. That seems significant to me! Elim is truly an oasis of uprightness and fruitfulness!
It is telling that this new beginning of divine fruitfulness comes at the end of a season of intense thirst. God had freed them by a great deliverance from the hand of their enemy (Egypt) and then led them through the wilderness for three days without water. Three days is about how long a human being can survive without water; so the Israelites were desperately thirsty. If God didn’t miraculously provide for them, they would surely die. Of course, God did provide for them. At Marah God turned their bitter water into sweet water (hmm, there is a metaphor here too!).
After satisfying their desperate thirst at Marah, God set up rules and procedures. And He began to test them (so says verse 25). God promised that if they would obey, then He would not strike them with any of the diseases that He had put on Egypt. “I, the Lord, am your healer.”
THEN, God led them to Elim, the place of His divine government and perfect spiritual order. They rested in this oasis of salvation and uprightness and fruitfulness for 40 days.
I calculated 40 days by noticing that they left Elim on the 15th day of the 2nd month after their departure from Egypt. That would have been 45 days from their departure from Egypt. From that 45, I subtracted the 3 days of thirsting in the wilderness and 2 days on the other side of the Red Sea to reach 40 days. The reason I mention all this is that 40 is also a significant number; it is the number of testing. We know this because the Israelites were tested in the wilderness for 40 years, and Jesus was testing in the wilderness for 40 days after His baptism. It will not surprise you that, from Elim God led the Israelites into the "wilderness of Sin." Again, the theme of testing!
This reoccurring theme of testing brought to mind Deuteronomy 8:3. In Deuteronomy, Moses was reiterating for the second generation of Israelites (the children of the those who died in the desert for unbelief) of God’s dealings with them as a nation in the wilderness. In this verse Moses told them that God humbled you and allowed you to go hungry, then He fed you with manna (fresh revelation) which neither you nor your fathers have known. God has done all of this so that you will know that man shall not live by bread alone: HE is your sustainer! Jesus quoted this scripture when He too was tested in the wilderness (see Matt. 4).
I am also reflecting on the fact that all the great revivals of history were sparked by Christians desperately hungering for more of God. And that puts me in mind of the Beatitudes where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”
I guess my take-away of all this musing in the Word is that God leads us into seasons of drought and allows us to go hungry to test us. Even Jesus was tested in this way. Will we obey God? Will we follow after Him and allow Him to turn our bitter water (complaining) into sweet water?
THEN He leads us into a place of His divine governance and perfect spiritual order. God rewards those who hunger and thirst for HIM with new beginnings and spiritual fruitfulness. Sounds like revival to me!!