Category: Biblical Basics

Wetter than Water

This is a long teaching, but I think it’s worth it for the destination. It might be worth printing out and reading when you have some quiet time. Next week, we’ll see where this wilderness trail is taking us…the River of Life in the millennium.

The section of the Song of Songs we’ve been working with is

Your shoots

are an orchard of pomegranates

with choice fruits,

henna with nard plants. (So 4:13)

This orchard of pomegranates is linked to the Torah that Moses instructed the Israelites in the wilderness. The pips of the pomegranates represent the individual commandments, or mitzvot. The Torah was given to Israel as an eternal covenant to be maintained generation after generation.

The orchard of pomegranates is also tied to the miraculous well in the wilderness, which traditional is referred to as the well of Miriam. The well is associated with her leadership because when she died in the Tzin wilderness, the Rock quit yielding water. The rock was Yeshua, a gift from the heavenlies. Why was Yeshua so sensitive to her death that he stopped the flow of Heavenly water to Israel?

Remember our principle that we’ve been learning: when we respond in the natural realm to the Bridegroom, and we give Him gifts in the natural realm, He responds and gives the Bride a similar gift, but sourced from the spiritual realm. It’s something miraculous.

What we offer is not miraculous unless maybe it’s a miracle we would give it because of the transformation that he’s done in us. That would make us generous people, like Abraham and Sarah, who “made souls.” They were not stingy and contributed to the building of a congregation.

In order for light to increase in the earth, assemblies need to grow to be that light, to build the congregation. This is how we make the Bridegroom’s Name famous, and he in turn promises to make His bride famous with His splendor:

“’Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,’ declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 16:14)

In this gift transaction, we wonder why the Bride was gifted with the Well of Miriam? The manna (Torah) was in the merit of Moses, the covering cloud in the merit of Aaron’s grace, for he ran to offer the healing incense during the plague.

The well, however, was in the merit of Miriam. You can figure this one out!

Miriam guarded Moses’ journey in the Nile, risked her life in approaching Pharaoh’s daughter at the river, and led the Israelite women in praise after the miraculous sea crossing, singing the Song of the Sea. She celebrated the overthrowing of the “horse and his rider,” not only the death of Pharaoh and his charioteers, but the death “rider” that John describes in Revelation. Yeshua prevails over death by providing a way of salvation through the sea. Women are often associated with wells of water, and therefore, Miriam is associated with that miraculous well streaming water from the Rock Messiah.

It was thought that Messiah would come with the miracles of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Yeshua identified himself as the bread of heaven, the manna, and then he miraculously multiplied bread. This recalled the miracles of Moses, the faithful shepherd. Moses led the people out like a shepherd to feed them. He was the natural shepherd. Then Heaven responded and fed the sheep with spiritual food, manna.

Aaron ran to make intercession with natural incense and stood between the people and the plague with the cloud of smoke to heal the plague. So this cloud of protection was a spiritual gift for Israel. This cloud continued with them in the wilderness as a kind of a memorial to that heart Aaron had. The spiritual gift perfecting the earthly gift. Yeshua in turn came healing and was acknowledged by the cloud on multiple occasions as recorded in the Gospels.

But how did Yeshua come with the sign of Miriam, the first woman to praise and worship when Israel came through the sea? He came from the Galilee! Jewish tradition says that before he died, Moses sank the miraculous Rock in the bottom of the Galilee. Although many were puzzled by a teacher from the Galilee, he was born in Beit-Lechem, the House of Bread. His teaching was also water, the Rock from the wilderness journey. Three leaders, three signs, one Messiah!

The Rock would flow with pure water once the Israelites encamped. It would form multiple routes with its stream so that it routed by the Levitical camp for the preparation of sacrifices and the purifications, and then it routed around each tribe’s territorial encampment, encircling it so they didn’t have to travel potentially miles to obtain their water each day for cooking, washing, and drinking.

It is said the water was deep enough to swim across. This water started flowing in their new encampments quickly and miraculously, not over a long period of time. Likewise, Jonah’s gourd vine grew up over his sukkah overnight. Aaron’s rod budded overnight. Adonai caused them to grow. Likewise, it’s thought that vegetation would spring up on the banks of these streams in the wilderness.

Overnight, trees would grow orchards and there would be the spices for the Mishkan services, even vineyards to supply the wine libations in the Mishkan.

In that sense, the Bridegroom shows us we shouldn’t begrudge what we give to the assembly like it’s coming out of our pocket. Consider it a miracle in your wilderness. He put it there.

The Israelites didn’t have to plant vineyards or trade with outside nations for wine and grain for libations and offerings. The Bridegroom supplied his own sacrifices to the Bride, so to speak. He supplied the spices for the incense service and trees for the anointing oil.

The Bridegroom supplied them with orchards of fruits, if not overnight, then likely no more than a month for the fruit to mature. John prophesied of this with a wilderness insight that the Jewish people would understand based on how they saw the encampment in the wilderness and how they saw this Rock Messiah that followed the Israelites in the wilderness. (Next week’s teaching)

The Bridegroom gave His gift back to the people from Miriam’s sacrificed faithfulness to Moses and praise for the miracle of the water; He perpetuated the miracle of the parting salvation seawater with even more miraculous water activity, the Rock that purified a royal priesthood for holy service.

“Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there. There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.” (Nu 20:1)

When the Jewish mind reads, “Now Miriam died there and was buried there. There was no water for the congregation,” they see two connected thoughts.

When Miriam died, the water stopped. They assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron because the water stopped because Miriam died.

“The people thus contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. why, then, have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die here? Why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” (Nu 20:2-5)

At this point in their journey, what sticks out like a sore thumb is the complaint. “It is not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates…”  

We understand that they’re complaining about water, but why in the same breath…FIRST…are they complaining about lack of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates?  Many Israelites are young enough that they never farmed natural land. They never sowed barley or wheat. They never picked a natural fig, or a natural grape, or a natural pomegranate. They’ve been out of Egypt that long. So why, all of a sudden, are they complaining about the lack of grain, the figs, the vines, and the pomegranates?

Miriam dies.

The miraculous water dries up.

Now the grain for sacrifices would wither; the figs and the pomegranate trees for first fruits would die, and so would the vines for libations.

In this particular part of the wilderness, the Arava, and specifically the Tzin wilderness, it is a seabed. It’s been undersea twice in the world’s history. In a seabed, there’s salt. The sand is salty. In fact, if you go down to Miriam’s Spring today, you will see this crusted salt over the place where there has been moisture. What was left was the crystallized salt sitting on top of the sand. You can literally pick it up. It’s like sun-baked sugar.

When you plant a tree there, you must irrigate it unless it’s a natural tree of the Arava, like the acacia or the salt bush. Even for the date tree to grow, there must be some source of fresh water close to the surface to push the salt away from the roots. Fresh water has to keep flowing. If it doesn’t, the salt from the sand will encroach into the roots of the plant and kill it.

So it takes a continuous spring, a continuous source of fresh water to drive that salt content away from the root system of the plant. So if Miriam dies and the water dries up, this is exactly what’s going to happen in the Tzin wilderness.

These plants were semi-heaven, semi-earth, and they’re no longer receiving the miraculous water which grew them speedily with miraculous qualities.  

So below is a picture of Miriam’s Spring in the Tzin wilderness. This would not have been Miriam’s Well, but to this day there is a fresh water spring that flows through the location, perhaps to mark the place as a memorial in the wilderness. You can see, yes, there’s greenery growing around this natural stream because it’s fresh water year round, but if you venture away only a few feet, you may as well be standing on the surface of the moon. This gives you an idea, at least, of how that miraculous water would have flowed out of the rock. The salty earth even supplied the salt for those sacrifices, especially the grain offering!

“You shall salt your every meal-offering with salt; you may not discontinue the salt of your God’s covenant from upon your meal-offering-on all your offerings shall you offer salt.” (Le 2:13)

We know that the plants were not the same when they grew up around the streams from Miriam’s Well, and Paul even talks about it in 1st Corinthians. He wrote that it was important for them to know. Corinthians had no background in this story, but Paul wanted them to. This was a Jewish understanding of Torah they needed to be aware of:

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.” (1 Co 10:1-4)

According to Isaiah’s prophecy, the covering cloud in the millennium, that eternal gift to the Bride, will have the same qualities as did the pillar of cloud in the wilderness:

In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. (Is 4:5-6)

Remember, the Israelites, a royal priesthood, were camped at “Kadesh” (one of at least three locations by the same name), a proto-prophecy of what was to come when “he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy-everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.” The royal priesthood was rehearsing for this prophetic role that ultimately would be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

Paul says a cloud hovered over them as well as the Mishkan, signifying His Presence. They were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. He’s connecting those things, for under that cloud, miraculous things happened. Isaiah says miraculous things will happen again under that cloud.

They passed through the sea. Why would Paul mention that? The well was in the merit of Miriam, who broke out in praise and worship at the Song of the Sea. She offered her natural gift of the Song of the Sea. She guarded baby Moses. Then the Bridegroom rewards the people with this miraculous streaming rock, Messiah. He protects them as a Bridegroom covering the Bride under the cloud.

All were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food right here.

Paul’s telling us in a simpler way what we already learned about the merit of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. The cloud was in the merit of Aaron. The spiritual food was in the merit of Moses. The miraculous water was in the merit of Miriam. Paul then states, “They all drank the same spiritual drink.” These three miracles were connected.

Because of the Presence of the cloud and the miraculous water of Messiah, the other supernatural food (than the manna), the grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates grew. The miracles were three, but one. Because we drink from this same Rock, eat the same spiritual food, and remain in His Presence, we produce more spiritual fruit! We maintain a state of kadesh in the current wilderness of the peoples, holiness separate from the world.

Speaking of holiness, here’s one more detail: did you notice the order of these challenges to Moses and Aaron?

“Why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.”

The FIRST concern of the Bride, a royal priesthood, described by King Solomon in Song of Songs 4 as “an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, henna with nard plants,” was the orchards that grew by the stream, not drinking water!

Only with fresh, living water could a royal priesthood maintain their “holies,” the many purifications described in Vayikra (Leviticus).

It was not only the Levitical priesthood called to the holies. The royal priesthood to the nations had to maintain household purities to mark several life events. This was so that they could enter into the more intense dwelling of the Presence in the Mishkan to offer their sacrifices and present their gifts of spices, first fruits, grain offerings, and lighting or anointing oil. They needed living water to immerse themselves, and they needed living water grow their gifts for the Mishkan, the grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates as well as the incense spices.

With these insights, it is easier to understand why the Bridegroom was more upset with Moses and Aaron than the Israelites. Their complaint was at a much higher level than just drinking water. The royal priesthood wanted more than the waters of salvation; they wanted holiness for service. They wanted Mashiach, to soak in his holy gifts, and they wanted him now!

Scripture hints at the problem:

“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD.” (Le 22:2)
“…for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. (Nu 27:14)

Next week, we’ll connect these wilderness miracles to Ezekiel and John’s visions of the millennium where they see both fruitful trees and THE Tree of Life flowing down through the Arava. We get a more focused insight as to how the nations of the world will come up to Jerusalem at the feasts, which seems impossible because of the prophesied level of holiness there. 

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