COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 132 - A WONDERFUL PLACE CALLED ELIM

A LONG WALK THROUGH THE EXODUS
A WONDERFUL PLACE CALLED ELIM
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

In the last COME AS A CHILD lesson, we left the Israelites happily camping at Elim where there were twelve abundant springs of fresh clean water, and seventy flourishing palm trees full of dates providing festive food and providing cool, restful shade for everyone.   (Have you ever noticed how palm trees seem to lift their branches up in worship to God?)  

Elim was quite a contrasting change from the bitter waters of Marah.  Remember the original request of Moses to Pharaoh when he first asked him to let the people go?  He asked that they could be free to go out to the desert to hold a feast before their God.  At Elim, this finally happened.  The people rested, worshipped and were refreshed before God.   

The scriptures that back up what I want to explore in today's lesson can be found in that last short little sentence at the end of Exodus, Chapter 15, verse 27 that states:  "Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water."  

The scriptures state this so plain and simple.  As so often we find there are no elaborate details; yet why were the words even stated in the first place?  There is always a good reason when you take your study deeper.  I think this last statement of the chapter is loaded with hidden meaning.  We touched on this a bit before; but I want to be sure to emphasize the importance of this part of the journey.  Elim was so much more than just a stopping off place along the way.  I think Elim can be compared to the place of safety that we read about in Revelation 12:14.  "The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach."  

The people had been through quite a dangerous and treacherous journey so far; and they were just getting started making their way toward the life God wanted them to have.  They were on their way to meet God; and they were tired and worn out already, in the beginning the journey.  I think God wanted them to have a time of refreshment before they moved on to the BIG important events He had planned ahead for them.  So; He led them to Elim, a wonderful, little known, hidden oasis in the desert.

We begin to read about Elim at the end of Exodus, Chapter 15 right after the dramatic song of Moses and Miriam and the hard time they had at Morah where the water had been bitter.  It is interesting that the biblical meaning of the number fifteen (the number of that chapter in Exodus) is "rest."  Rest is certainly what the people found at Elim.  The number fourteen (the number of the previous chapter where they were delivered from Pharaoh) is symbolic of deliverance, which is also truly what happened just before Elim.  I am always amazed at the fascinating meanings of biblical number sequences.  Only God could have made such orders with such clear meanings, and only He could have put them together in this way!  The mind of God is so vast and so high above anything we could ever think!  

These scriptures at the end of Exodus 15 give the exact number of springs and the exact number of palm trees whenever they speak of Elim.   It is detailed in that way; yet all of the other details are left for us to research and come up with on our own.  You can’t help but wonder why the exact amount of each spring and tree was given; is there a good reason for this? 

The old sages of long ago asked this same question.  Many of them have supposed that the twelve springs correspond with the twelve tribes of Israel, and the seventy palm trees correspond with the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin, and/or the seventy elders who were later chosen by Moses to approach the Mountain of God for the giving of Torah.   

Others even go so far as to say that at the time of creation God was anticipating this day that His people would be wondering through the wilderness with the thought that each tribe of Israel would be able to come to Elim and sit beside their own spring of water and each elder of each family would have their own palm tree for their family to sit under.  They would sit down right there in the middle of a hot dry desert and be comfortable and well watered and give thanks to The One and Only God who had thought of them at the very time of their creation and had even made this oasis in the desert especially for them to rest, enjoy and be restored.  It is a nice little story; and quite imaginative; but what is the real reason that God brought Israel to this very spot after Marah?  Is there any truth to the old imaginings of the sages?

At Marah the people got a “glimpse” of Torah.  As they journey further and further toward Sinai' they are about to discover the WHOLE Torah. God is going to refresh their souls with His word; but perhaps He is refreshing their physical bodies for the journey first.  Many times in the bible when we read of spiritual things there is an equal physical thing that foreshadows the event.  At any rate The People of God will soon begin to understand how significant Torah will be to them.  It would seem that the Torah is a very special gift from God; it is comparable to a wedding gift for a much cherished bride!

The giving of Torah worked in a similar way to the giving of a wedding ring.   It was a commitment and a promise.  God was giving His people Torah as a permanent symbol of His love for them.   Torah was a gift that would embellish the life of the people after they took special vows to live before God forever and to serve Him with their lives.   With the giving of Torah God would be making an official, public statement to the people of Israel as well as the whole world that they were to be His very own special Bride. Torah was their wedding covenant.   So, you might say the journey into the wilderness was the beginning of Israel becoming God’s Bride.  Elim came to serve as a safe and special place where they could rest up for the wedding vows that were ahead of them. 

At Mt. Sinai the Bride of God called Israel would receive The Torah, which was equivalent to her wedding ring.  This is true because the Torah is full of God’s commandments, and there with the great leadership of Moses they would take a vow to obey those commandments given by God forever.   There was to be a type of wedding ceremony between God and His chosen people; Israel, God's beloved; and all of the nation of Israel was invited to attend this special event as the guest of honor!  

I honestly think that was the heavenly perspective of the coming events at the time the people journeyed to Elim.  I'm not sure, on the other hand, that all of the Israelites totally understood the extent and significance or importance of God's BIG plans for them; yet.  Like many young brides, Israel was naïve and unaware of many things.  

I DO think Moses understood the full extent of God's intentions though, and I think Moses tried to communicate this same message to everyone involved.  At this point of the journey God was definitely making plans to make Israel His nation and His Bride.  It was something He had planned from the beginning of creation!  Israel was to become the model nation that would bring all other nations into the family of God.   

So how does this relate to Elim?  The grove at Elim, on the way to Sinai, was like unto an expensive resort hotel where you would put up your wedding guests before a very special wedding took place.  There would be parties and little celebrations and times of refreshments and relaxation before the big event.  This set aside time is to prepare the people for the mood of the wedding.  At most resorts of this sort there is a bridal suite; and it is set aside and reserved especially for the Bride.  It is a place where she can receive her special invited guests and spend festive times with them.  There are wonderful well appointed rooms for everyone.  Is is a super special place!  There are gifts and luxurious days to be had in such a place; especially if you were there as a member of God's family in the making.  

I'm sure you are familiar with these types of establishments of which I am speaking; the one's where special guests get baskets full of wonderful goodies delivered to their room because The Host (knowing all of their own special tastes) has taken special care and planning to have very creative people prepare exotic baskets to be delivered which are filled with delicacies that He knows they will love and adore.  No one else knows you like your beloved!  He knows the things that will bring you delight and He has spared no expense to give them to you! There are rooms full of flowers and gifts just for the Bride.  

There are also other special suites for special guests with selected functions to perform at the wedding.  Maybe each one will even receive their hometown newspaper bought and brought in, delivered especially for them from their own home town which is far, far away from this resort, so that they will not miss any local news or events going on in their homeland, and especially so they will be made to feel right at home and comfortable while they are attending the wedding feast.  I guess little glimpses of Torah COULD read like a newspaper from your own hometown.   Every effort has been made to dot the i's and cross the t's and all the little special things are being put into place right here at Elim for the sake of honoring and cherishing the bride just before the wedding.  The Groom has spared nothing to show His unwaivering love for His Bride.

There is lots of special individual attention given to each guest at such a resort as this!  There is a special place prepared for each one who has accepted the invitation to the wedding.  No one is overlooked or forgotten here; everyone is special!  Nothing is held back.  Nothing is too fine for these guests!  No small favor is overlooked in this wedding preparation! 

After all, this is the upcoming wedding of Isreal to the Ruler of the Universe!  It is no small occasion!  Elim is like that luxurious resort hotel filled with special wedding guests, including the most honored Bride.  All of this is happening on the journey to the wedding; in the time leading up to  the date of the wedding of Israel to God.  What a grand celebration!    Everyone is gathering together in one place at the same time for festivities that go on and on.  Not only have they celebrated great freedom and liberation from the bondage of slavery; they have met their lifelong lover.  They are going to be married to an awesome and powerful King!

At Elim, each head of household of God's future family had their own designated individual stream for drinking and bathing and swimming.   No one was crowded; everyone had just what they needed and more.  

This trip the Israelites took to Elim is comparable in nature to the family trip we take each year on our annual celebration of The Feast of Tabernacles.  That festival mirrors this time in Elim, as well as The millennial reign of Christ in the days to come.   The time in Elim was a refreshing break from the madness of life in the wilderness.  The Annual Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is a refreshing break for us from the madness of today's fast-paced and stressful world.   Eight days of celebration of our freedom in Christ away from the rest of the world; like a little oasis with God.  

At Elim each head of household had their own special palm tree to sit under.  These are special palms which are in season and each of the trees are filled with luscious palm-dates for good eating.  It reminds me of the scriptures that speak of how it will be in the last days that we read of from the prophet  Micah in Micah 4:4; "Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for The LORD Almighty has spoken."  This is exactly what the people experienced at Elim.  They were getting a "taste" of what eternity might be like when they are married to God forever.

Everyone in the wedding party at Elim had been given a luxurious place to stay as they awaited the wedding of the Nation of Israel to God.  God has gone out of His way to impress His Bride before she receives her wedding ring (Torah.)  

Elim is yet another gift from God, a place of rest and refreshment before the special wedding day.  Here the bride is to be pampered and treated like a queen!   Here in this spa of twelve springs and the shade of seventy palms the bride may at last come to act like a bride.  She will be safe from the enemy here.  She will be protected and unafraid.  This will get her ready for the wedding at Sinai where she will get her first full glimpse of The Face of God.  Can you imagine how Israel must have felt?   Can you imagine God's anticipation of becoming more and more intimate with His chosen people?

It does seem as you read between the lines of the scriptures that God had waited and planned for this very special time all the way from the first point of creation!  It is so much like a time in the life of a perfect groom.   Perhaps He was thinking of His Bride, Israel as He created these 70 palm trees and these 12 streams that He knew would be a special oasis for His very own Bride as she waited in route to their very special wedding day.  

The seventy elders who would sit under their own individual palm trees would be the ones who would record the awesome events of the wedding.  They would note each little detail and later they would tell the stories of them to all the earth throughout all of history.  Their job was very important; they were very honored dignitaries; the close and special guests who would perform very special tasks for the Bride and Groom.  One of their jobs would be to make sure everything was up to par with The Kingdom they were representing at the coming wedding feast.  Nothing but the best!  The finest wine, the best food, clean white linen, the most beautiful music, and perfect attire for all of the attendees.  It all would be arranged.  

They; (everyone who made the journey past Marah to Elim;) were to be honored at Elim.  Everyone who arrives at Elim is to be treated as royalty!  God has rolled out the red carpet and chosen the best servants to cater this event!  (Angels guarding the way and the camp; headed up by none other than The Angel of The LORD Himself!)  God has provided for every need!

These wells and water and palm trees speak of a joyous times of sheer refreshment.  Here under the trees and next to the fresh streams of waters the people are healed from their long tiring lives as slaves to another king where they were held in bondage against their will.  They have been rescued and they are on their way home.  They are restored.  They are set free.  They are given back their hope. They are healed and refreshed right here at Elim.  Their eyes are opened to a whole new way of life.  For once; they see they DO have a future; an awesome one! 

The healing at Elim comes from the very voice of the groom; their God.  He speaks through the language of love found in Torah.   It is alive and it resounds long and loud, like the sound of a trumpet blast announcing good news.  The voice of God is now coming into their lives in a very official and permanent way and it brings healing to the whole nation; which eventually, over time will bring healing to all of the earth.

The coming wedding of Israel to God sets the pattern for the coming future wedding of the Church to Christ; God's Only Begotten Son.  It is a family tradition!  The Son will follow in the steps of His Father in choosing His Bride and setting up the plans for His wedding celebration.

With God’s wedding to Israel at Mt. Sinai, there were twelve tribes that made up the Bride and seventy elders that were made up of those who would take God’s word forward and teach the people how to live life God’s way from that point on through time.  This would be their healing; this would bring them joy. 

With Christ’s wedding to the church there are twelve original disciples who taught God’s word and seventy other disciples who committed to come with them.  They were commissioned and sent out two-by-two to preach the word of the gospel of Christ to the world.  They were told to deliver the good news, to cast out demons, to raise the dead and to heal the sick.  This was their time of refreshment from the wilderness of life; this was their joy and purpose!  This time of grace and the giving of the gospel is their Elim.

Jesus is coming back soon!  We are now supposed to be living and waiting like the Israelites who were in Elim; waiting on the royal wedding feast.  It is a wonderful place!  

Are you there yet? 

Are you covered in the blood of the Lamb and waiting on your time of rest and restoration and joy? 

Are you looking forward to that trip to Elim right before the Marriage Super of The Lamb? 

Jesus promised us; “I will prepare a place for you so that where I am, you may also be.”  Just as God had on the day of their creation, prepared a place for his Bride named Israel; Christ too has prepared a place for his Bride; the Church.    

Jesus was there at our creation and He has prepared for our future right from that very day that He created us.  We are His and He is ours; we must get ready to go to Elim.  We will receive new bodies, new clothes, new minds and hearts and in that place is rest and delight.  We will find the time of our healing and restoration there.  We will totally understand our future and our purpose there.  We will no longer be looking through a glass darkly; but we will see and know that God will be with us forever, and we will be wed to Christ and rule and reign with Him in His Kingdom.  As The Son of God, Christ has chosen us to be His.  In describing our relationship He has repeated those famous words of Solomon; “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine!”

We must keep moving on past Marah to Elim. 

As I said before; there is no proof of Elim on the map.  Geologists cannot tell us that it ever existed.  We simply have the scripture references for knowledge.  I believe this is true for a reason; it is because Elim is not a “physical” place but a “spiritual” place.  It is a place we arrive at when we have been through the wilderness and tasted the bitter waters at Marah and kept the faith in spite of it all.  It is a place of overcoming the world and holding on to Christ and His promises for our future.  Whenever this world becomes too crazy and unforgiving and evil; we must hold onto Elim in our minds and wait on our Bridegroom.  Stay ready because He is coming soon!

 

We have spoken of the twelve wells of water at Elim, and the 70 palm trees that grew there.  We have seen how the bitter waters were made sweet at Marah by a tree which we have equated to The Tree of Life that heals the nations.  We have discussed the fact that The Tree of Life relates to Torah.  Torah is the direct Words of Christ.  The only way to the Tree of Life is through Christ.  The Torah was given to Moses to bring the people life and redemption and freedom.  They got an early glimpse of part of Torah at Marah.    The sacred words of Torah have been given to us directly from Christ in the time that He walked the earth.  He was like Moses to us.    

As we read about end times; we come to hear of another place similar to Elim; a place of bountiful water and trees that provides rest, restoration and healing.  It is called The River of Life and it flows from The Throne of God through the City of God.  There seems to be 12 kinds of fruit growing here, a different fruit for each month of the year.   We know that it takes water to grow fruit trees, possibly these trees producing the fruit are found beside twelve wells of water similar to the trees that grow in Elim.  The leaves from the two trees that produce fruit in this city (are the trees maybe Israel and the church?) are for healing; just as the tree in Marah was for the healing of the water.  The 70 nations of the earth (another symbolism represented by the 70 Palm Trees) will receive healing from the leaves of these two trees that grow in this city by the river that is so similar to Elim.    

Here are the words we read from Revelation 22:1-3:  "Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, down the middle of the main street of the city.  On either side of the river stood a tree of life, producing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him."

Elim was like a replica of this City in Heaven.  It is a special place where God will have us to stay as we await the coming Marriage Supper of The Lamb.  Elim was a special city where God was having Israel to wait on the receiving of the Torah, which would officially wed God to the People of Israel forever.  

Can you see these patterns that develop to show us we have a hope and future?  

God was doing this for Israel back in their wilderness journey; and He is doing the same for us as we await his instructions in the wilderness journey we are now taking through life.  

Enjoy Elim!  Get excited about the wedding day!