Read Numbers 33 at Bible Gateway.
Today in Numbers 33 we get an aerial view—forty years of wilderness wandering distilled into just 49 verses. Most of the drama is left out, but the few details the Spirit highlights are there on purpose.
They depart Egypt following the Passover (vs. 3). They pass through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, then they journey three days to Marah, where the bitter water is made sweet (vs. 8). In the entire summary, this is the only extent of time recorded from one place to the next, and it’s no accident! Then they camp at Elim, where there are twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (vs. 9).
This brief historical travelogue paints an amazing Prophetic picture.
Passover, prophesying of the crucifixion of our Passover Lamb, Messiah Yeshua (1 Cor 5:7);
Crossing the midst of the sea, prophesying burial (Col 2:12, 1 Cor 10:2);
Three days to Marah, where our bitterness is turned to sweetness, prophesying resurrection life after three days (Mat 16:21, Luk 18:33);
Then Elim, the lush oasis with twelve springs and seventy palm trees—a foreshadow of rest, refreshment, and shade.
WHY THIS MATTERS.
The Torah is once again preaching the Gospel of grace! Those twelve springs feeding seventy palm trees aren’t random. The twelve tribes of Israel become the channel through which blessing flows out to the seventy nations—in other words, to all the families of the earth (Gen 12:3). Through Messiah Yeshua, everyone is invited into that same oasis of rest!
33:1-39 {s} Journey of Israel from Egypt to the death of Aaron
33:40-49 {s} Journey of Israel from Mt Hor to Acacia Grove
33:50-56 {p} Israel shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and possess it
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