AND THE EARTH WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID; AND DARKNESS WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP. AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS. AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT: AND THERE WAS LIGHT. Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 2.
The Earth (spirit) was without FORM and void. DARKNESS was upon the face of the deep. The word “form” here was translated from the Hebrew word “tohuw.” Tohuw is defined as a wilderness, a waste place, desert or desolation. In the beginning DARKNESS permeated the face of the deep (waters). The Spirit of God moved upon the FACE of the waters and said, LET THERE BE LIGHT (understanding). The Spirit of God cries out in the WILDERNESS to bring wisdom, understanding and clarity to the heart (spirit) of those who walk in DARKNESS. Men without Christ live in Spiritual Darkness. The Light of Christ knocks at the door of the hearts of men and women everywhere to bring spiritual wisdom, clarity and understanding. These three spiritual attributes can only be found when people open the door of their hearts to Christ and ask Him to come in and dwell with them.
Spiritual Light brings Spiritual Understanding. Many people reject Christ, the Light, because they love DARKNESS rather than Light. However, many live in Darkness because they have never heard the Gospel preached. Others, who once KNEW the Truth (Christ) were drawn back into a lifestyle of sin by sorcery and confusion through satanic delusion and treachery. Their disposition, regardless of how it came about, has again engulfed them in Spiritual DARKNESS.
A CALL TO REPENTANCE
FOR MY PEOPLE ARE FOOLISH, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN ME; THEY ARE SOTTISH CHILDREN, AND THEY HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING: THE ARE WISE TO DO EVIL, BUT TO DO GOOD THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE I BEHELD THE EARTH, AND LO, AND IT WAS WITHOUT FORM, AND VOID; AND THE HEAVENS, AND THEY HAD NO LIGHT. Jeremiah, Chapter 4, Verses 22-23.
God was speaking of His rebellious children. They had flagrantly disobeyed His Holy Commandments and worshiped gods they made of gold, silver, wood and bronze. They were foolish, drunkards, and evil children lacking in godly wisdom and spiritual understanding. The Children of Israel had returned to the Spiritual Wilderness of their forefathers. Their hearts (spirits) were filled with sin and degradation. God had warned them for forty years to REPENT or they would find themselves in danger of being taken captive by the King of Babylon. Unfortunately, most of them rejected the call of the Father to REPENT of their sins and return to serve the true God Jehovah.
Man was created to worship and serve God. God created within man the desire and propensity for worship. Unfortunately, many have replaced their desire to worship for a desire to be worshipped. This is called PRIDE. People living in sin are driven by the sin of pride, or self-worship. Pride can never bring self-satisfaction or spiritual rest. Consequently, people wander in the Wilderness of Sin constantly worshipping self, or some other god they have chosen to worship. Because their desire to worship has been warped and redirected by evil thoughts and desires, they are constantly leaving themselves open for condemnation and judgment.
DARKNESS prevails in the hearts of men because they lack and/or reject spiritual UNDERSTANDING. They reject the TRUTH and worship the created rather than the Creator.
Today many of God’s people continue to worship the same gods the Children of Israel worshipped. They may not fall to the ground and pay homage to them, but they still worship them in their hearts and minds. The gods may not have the same names they had then, but they are still the same ones. Worship is an attitude or action of the heart. Anything men admire and honor more than the true God is an affront and an offense to Him. Yet, God still loves man. He always stands waiting and ready to forgive people if and when they repent of their sins and turn to follow Him.
A DANCE IN THE WILDERNESS
AND MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS, THE SISTER OF AARON, TOOK A TIMBREL IN HER HAND; AND ALL THE WOMEN WENT OUT AFTER HER WITH TIMBRELS AND WITH DANCES. AND MIRIAM ANSWERED THEM, SING UNTO THE LORD, FOR HE HAS TRIUMPHED GLORIOUSLY; THE HORSE AND RIDER HAS HE THROWN INTO THE SEA. Exodus, Chapter 15, Verses 20-21.
Miriam was repeating the song she heard Moses sing after the Children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army had drowned in the Red Sea while pursuing the Children of Israel. God had miraculously parted the Sea, and the Children of Israel had walked across on dry ground to safety in the Wilderness of Shur. God’s chosen people were dancing and singing as they rejoiced because God had delivered them from their enemies. The actual Hebrew text suggest that the men had also taken part in the great celebration.
We saw in Chapter Three that the Children of Israel first began murmuring and complaining in the Wilderness of Shur. Shur means “playing the harlot.” Instead of trusting God for provision, they became bitter and began murmuring and complaining. The waters at Marah were bitter. Marah means “bitter.” It didn’t take long for God’s children to forget He had recently and in a miraculous way SAVED them from their enemies. One day they were rejoicing and praising God for His deliverance, and three days later they were playing the harlot through accusation and unbelief. At Marah in the Wilderness of Shur God miraculously turned the bitter waters into sweet water.
After leaving the Wilderness of Shur, the Children of Israel entered into the Wilderness of Sin. Playing the harlot always leads people deeper and deeper into a WILDERNESS OF SIN. God’s chosen people became more and more unfaithful and rebellious in the Wilderness of Sin.
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. Exodus, Chapter 16, Verse 4.
In the Wilderness of Sin God’s chosen people began to murmur and complain against God because they didn’t have bread to eat. They had still not learned the lessons God was trying to teach them by leading them into the Wilderness in the first place. Again, God miraculously supplied their need and provided them with Manna (Angel’s food) from Heaven.
The message which God was trying to convey to His chosen people was not a physical or natural one, but a spiritual one. He was trying to get them to trust in Him and His ability to perform the miraculous, no matter what circumstances they might find themselves in. These are the same lessons He is trying to teach His chosen people today. He wants His people to be people of Faith. We are entering into a time of testing. The World is a type and shadow of the Wilderness. The lessons God is trying to teach His chosen ones today are both spiritual and natural. They are the same lessons He was trying to teach His chosen ones by leading them into the Wilderness. He could have taken them to the Promised Land via another route which would have taken very little time.
Jesus is the LIVING WATER. He alone can supply our need for spiritual water. As Christians we are able to drink from the River of Life. Only Christ can quench our thirst for peace and rest. Without Christ we walk through a spiritual wilderness, void of the WATER which quenches the thirsty soul.
Jesus is the BREAD OF LIFE. Only Christ can supply our need for spiritual food. As Christians we have access to Angel’s food or Manna from Heaven on a daily basis. Only Christ can fill our empty souls with spiritual food. Without THE BREAD OF LIFE, Christ, our souls become spiritually impoverished. Jesus told us to pray: “GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.” God supplied bread (manna) daily for the Children of Israel. We must seek Christ DAILY for our spiritual bread. He is the Bread of Life which sustains us daily as we fellowship with Him in Heavenly Places. Christ is the supplier of every need we have, both spiritually and naturally.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. If we do not learn the lessons the Children of Israel failed to learn in the Wilderness, we will surely suffer the same consequences. They WANDERED in the Wilderness for forty years because they played the harlot. They were a rebellious people whose hearts were evil. If they would have believed God and sought truth and understanding, many of their carcasses would not have fallen and been left in the Wilderness. The Promised Land was theirs for the taking if they would have believed God.
THE REPHIDIM INCIDENT
AND 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 THEM TO DRINK. WHEREFORE THE PEOPLE DID CHIDE WITH MOSES, AND SAID, GIVE US WATER THAT WE MAY DRINK. AND MOSES SAID UNTO THEM, WHY CHIDE YOU WITH ME? WHEREFORE DO YOU TEMPT THE LORD? AND THE PEOPLE THIRSTED THERE FOR WATER; AND THE PEOPLE MURMURED AGAINST MOSES, AND SAID, WHEREFORE IS THIS THAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT US UP OUT OF EGYPT, TO KILL US AND OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CATTLE WITH THIRST. Exodus, Chapter 17, Verses 1-3.
You would think after seeing God supply them water in the Wilderness of Shur and manna in the Wilderness of Sin the Children of Israel would have been getting the picture of God’s purpose for them. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Their hearts were still filled with unbelief. Again, the CHOSEN PEOPLE murmured and complained against God. Their hearts were still focused on Egypt and how good things were in Egypt. There was no mention of the cruelty of their Egyptian taskmasters who had made slaves of them. Now they had become slaves of their own unbelief.
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, GO ON BEFORE THE PEOPLE, AND TAKE WITH YOU OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL; AND YOUR ROD, WHEREWITH YOU SMOTE THE RIVER, TAKE IT IN YOUR HAND AND GO. BEHOLD I WILL STAND BEFORE YOU THERE UPON THE ROCK IN HOREB; AND YOU SHALL 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. Exodus, Chapter 17, Verses 5-6.
Again God showed His mercy to His Chosen People by miraculously supplying water to quench their thirst. He could have slain them all at Rephidim for their disrespect and chiding, but He chose rather to show mercy to them. Time after time God had proven His faithfulness to provide for His Chosen People, but they were not getting the message.
Moses smote the rock and water gushed forth to provide life sustaining water for the Children of Israel. Jesus is not only the Living Water, but also the ROCK of our Salvation. Moses smiting the rock is also a picture of the Cross. “Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, SMITTEN of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah ch. 53 vs. 4). Jesus, the Rock, was SMITTEN of God and became the Redeemer of our souls. A spear punctured His side and “water flowed out of the Rock,” Christ. The incident at Rephidim is a prophetic picture of the confluence of the Water and the Rock harmonizing together to bring salvation to a World lost in the Wilderness of Sin.
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? Exodus, Chapter 17, Verse 7.
Massah means “contention” and Meribah means “strife.” Rephidim means “place of rest.” Rephidim should have been a place of rest for the Children of Israel. Instead it was a place of contention and strife because of their unbelief. Up until this time the CHOSEN PEOPLE had been travelling a path of unbelief in the Wilderness of Sin. This path ultimately led them to spending the rest of their lives wandering aimlessly in the Wilderness. Because of their unbelief they missed the opportunity to enter into the land God had promised was theirs for the taking.
TAKE HEED, BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED TODAY: LEST ANY OF YOU BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, IF WE HOLD THE BEGINNG OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEADFAST UNTO THE END. WHILE IT IS SAID, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE DAY OF PROVOCATION. FOR SOME, WHEN THEY HAD HEARD, DID PROVOKE; HOWBEIT NOT ALL WHO CAME OUT OF EGYPT BY MOSES. BUT WITH WHOM WAS HE GRIEVED FORTY YEARS? WAS IT NOT WITH THEM WHO HAD SINNED, WHOSE CARCASSES FELL IN THE WILDERNESS? AND TO WHOM SWORE HE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ENTER INTO HIS REST, BUT TO THEM WHO BELIEVED NOT? SO WE SEE THAT THEY COULD NOT ENTER IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF. Hebrews, Chapter 3, Verses 12-19.
The PROMISED LAND was to be a place of rest for the CHOSEN PEOPLE, but they could not enter in because of their UNBELIEF. It was a land flowing with milk and honey waiting for them if they would learn the lessons of trust and obedience. They provoked the Lord and murmured and complained against Him when they should have been grateful and thankful. They hardened their hearts when they heard His Voice in the Wilderness instead of trusting and believing for Him to meet their needs.
Today many in the Church, the CHOSEN PEOPLE, murmur and complain because of their unbelief. God has given them the greatest miracle they can receive. Christ, the ROCK was smitten at Calvary and LIVING WATER gushed forth for a lost and dying World wandering through the Wilderness of Sin. Hear His voice today and do not “HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART AS IN THE DAY OF PROVOCATION.”