The Red Thread: Part 4
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes
Living Water, Living Bread
A study of the symbols of manna and water from records of Israel in the wilderness.
Today, we are going to talk about two different things that are, surprisingly, quite similar. Previously we talked about types and shadows and how many of the types are people. Today, we’ll explore two shadows: living water and manna.
After all the plagues and Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go, they found themselves trapped between the water of the Red Sea and a pursuing Egyptian army. God had Moses part the Red Sea, and they walked across on dry land. The Egyptian army chased them and ended up drowning.
Many modern scholars try to discount this record. For instance, by claiming that the water wasn’t very deep. Ask yourself, which was the greater miracle: that the children of Israel walked across the Red Sea on dry ground or that the whole Egyptian army drowned in a puddle? They did not cross in just a marsh; where they crossed was deep.
Exodus 15:22 KJV:
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
How many people are we talking about here? Scholarly estimates range from 600,000 to 3 million people (the higher number is probably more accurate). Either way, that’s a lot of people to provide water for.
Exodus 15:23–24 KJV:
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
The children of Israel were notorious for murmuring when things didn’t go as they wished.
Exodus 15:25 KJV:
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
It’s important to understand what this proving means. All the miracles that God performed in rescuing the people were to show or prove that God was worthy to trust. God showed them that He could be relied upon, no matter how tough the situation was or how much bondage they were in, there was no circumstance where He couldn’t take care of them.
Here they were in the desert just three days after witnessing an incredible miracle at the Red Sea. They didn’t do anything themselves; God did it all. And now they are murmuring because they have no water.
The “proving” is always about knowing all the things God did before; now, what are you going to believe? God wants the people to know that He can be trusted in every circumstance. In the big things and the little things, He would take care of them.
Exodus 15:26 KJV:
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
This is the first record where God’s name, Jehovah Rapha (YHWH Rapha), the Lord who Heals you is used. The name Yahweh (YHWH) always refers to God as provider or caretaker (caretaker here in verse 26).
Exodus 15:27 KJV:
And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
Now they have plenty of water.
Think about water. God parted the water so they could cross on dry land. God changed the water from bitter to sweet. God lead them to where there were 12 wells of water.
Genesis 17:1–3 KJV:
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
Here we go again. Haven’t we all had times when we wondered, “Why aren’t my needs being met?” Haven’t we heard others say things like that?
Genesis 17:4–5 KJV:
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
Moses’s rod was the rod he had with him when he was a shepherd and first saw the burning bush. He always had that rod with him when he appeared before Pharoah.
Genesis 17:6–7 KJV:
6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Remember, at the burning bush (Exodus 3), Moses was questioning. This time, he doesn’t question; he just obeys. Moses had reached the place where he trusted God and had stopped questioning Him.
Just consider it would take a huge amount of water to supply up to 3 million people.
Quote from the writer of an expository outline of the Bible in the 1800s.
“The water is the shadow of Christ. We could have no doubt but that this part of sacred history was intended to prefigure and typify Christ as the source of all spiritual blessings to the world, like a spring. No one would have conceived the idea of looking for water in that rock any more than in any other spot throughout the plain whereon they stood. Nor would it have entered into the mind of man to bring water out of it by the stroke of a rod or a cane. But God appointed both the rock and the rod to be means and instruments of communication between Himself and His distressed people
“And who would have ever thought that God’s only dear Son should be given to us, and the blessings should be made to flow down to us through the wounds inflicted on Him? Yet all this was done according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. He was wounded for our transgressions, smitten, stricken of God, and afflicted, yet by His stripes, we are healed. Yet it is a faithful saying that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world. It pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell.
“The water gushed out of the stricken rock and flowed like a river so that it abundantly supplied the whole camp of Israel, both men and beasts. Following them in all their journeys for the space of 38 years. And whoever lacked that has once drunk from the water that Christ gives to His church and His people. Neither shall any of them thirst again for the water that Christ gives us shall be in them a well of water springing up unto eternal life.”
When God told Moses what to do, God knew that this would be the picture of what would happen to Christ.
In John 4, Jesus is talking to the woman at the well.
John 4:13–14 KJV:
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
The picture of the water is that it’s living water, it gushes out and it supplies all the people who drink of it with salvation and wholeness.
John 7:37–38 KJV:
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
One interesting definition of “drink” here is to receive into the soul what serves to strengthen and nourish. Water nourishes every cell in our bodies.
Zechariah 14:8–9 KJV:
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
By the way, this passage in Zechariah is the passage that was being read in the synagogues and temple during the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. This section is a prophecy about the coming millennial kingdom. That section talks about when there would be water coming out of Jerusalem that would supply the whole region.
John 7:37-38 KJV:
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
It’s going to happen from Jerusalem like it happened from the rock with Moses.
John 7:39 KJV:
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Joel 3:18 KJV:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Isaiah 44:3 KJV:
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Isaiah 49:10 KJV:
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Isaiah 58: KJV:
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring [source] of water, whose waters fail not.
When we believed, God placed that Spirit within us, which is a source that never runs out. So come and drink!
Exodus 16:1–2 KJV:
1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
Here we go again. Murmuring!
Exodus 16:3–5 KJV:
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Again, we see that God may prove them. You can read the record for yourself. God explains that the manna, the food, would be on the ground like frost in the morning. It would be gone by the afternoon. There were lots of ways they could prepare it. But if they tried to save more than one day’s worth, it would rot and stink. There was one exception. On the day before the Sabbath, they must gather enough for two days because there wouldn’t be any on the Sabbath day when they were supposed to rest. So what was gathered on that day would last for two days without spoiling; any other day, it would only last one day before spoiling.
Exodus 16:13–15 KJV:
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna [in Hebrew manna means “what is it?”]: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Some people discount and disbelieve all miracles, so they try to say that this was something natural. They even describe something that is found in some places during July and August. But manna was something supernatural. The children of Israel ate this for 38 years in the wilderness. It was substantial enough to over a million people every day. It only appears six days per week. Every week, there was a day when it didn’t appear. Five days per week, it would only last one day and then be filled with worms. On the sixth day, it would last for two days. The manna was not something natural, it was supernatural.
Psalm 78:24–25 KJV:
24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
The manna was supernatural.
Deuteronomy 8:2–3 KJV:
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
That’s the verse that Jesus quoted during the temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3–4; Luke 4:3–4). Satan tempted Jesus to be His own supplier rather than to depend upon God. How would that have worked out for the children of Israel in the desert?
Deuteronomy 16:16–18 KJV:
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
The manna is also a shadow of Christ.
John 6:31–37 KJV:
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:41 KJV:
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
Here we go again; they’re murmuring!
John 6:42–59 KJV:
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
The provision of the bread and the water in Exodus, both pointed toward Jesus Christ.
Bookstore Suggestions:
