Exodus 15:27: Twelve springs and seventy palms, and the best-agreed camp on the road

Marah is now behind them. They came to Elim, with its twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water. These are God's provision of refreshment for a thirsty people. When we have brought ourselves into line with God's conditions, we find that the water is not always the kind that has to be sweetened for us. It is sweet already — a pure, unmixed satisfaction and joy, with no sorrow in it.

They were tested, and they murmured, but God does not chasten them. No matter what you are going through, if you take it from God, it is accepted as from Him, and blessing is always the result. If you take the cup from the devil's hand, you will have to drink it with the devil. But if you take the cup from God you will have God's company and God's support. Elim is a lovely picture of the tenderness of God's ways with His people, in the very first step of the wilderness pathway.

At Elim there is an oasis in the desert. It pictures how God provides ministry through people on earth. There are twelve springs, not "wells." Christ is the hidden well, and channels run from Him — apostles, prophets, teachers, and so on. Twelve is the earthly number, four, multiplied by the heavenly number, three, because this is spiritual ministry handed out on earth. Think of the twelve tribes, the twelve gates to the New Jerusalem, and the twelve apostles through whom God gives the Holy Spirit, the living water. But the palm trees stand for a more general ministry. "The righteous flourish like the palm tree" (Ps. 92:12).

Elim was a sweet, green spot in the wilderness, with its twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees. They camped there by the water. This so reminds us of Jesus surrounded by His twelve apostles and seventy disciples. Wherever we see Him, He is the One the thirsty may come to and drink. May we always camp near the wells of living water.

But Elim was not Canaan. Its wells and palm trees were only a taste of that happy land. That land lay beyond the barren desert the redeemed had just entered. Elim gave refreshment, no doubt, but it was wilderness refreshment. It lasted only a moment. God meant it in grace to lift their downcast spirits and strengthen them for the march on to Canaan. So it is, as we know, with ministry in the Church.

Beware of seeking rest in the wilderness! If a Christian gives in to that desire, it is the sure sign that backsliding is coming — or rather, it is the start of it. There is no standing still, in spiritual life or in natural life. You go either forward or backward. Do you long for an "oasis"? Just a little "green spot," an "Elim" of your own, in this world? Let me warn you, with love and with all seriousness! God refreshed His people long ago, after they entered a barren wilderness, with the shade of seventy palm trees and the water of twelve wells. I know He still does the same today. In His tender mercy and loving kindness He leads His weary pilgrims, from time to time, to a place of brief rest.

Marah is followed by Elim with its twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees. A beautiful oasis in the desert, giving them a foretaste of Canaan... Elim means "trees," and they must have been of rich growth, planted by the wells of water. Israel had their own Marah experience. One day the LORD will forgive their sins and heal all their diseases. In that day of blessing and glory they will be like trees planted by streams of water, and they will draw water from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3).