Greetings,
We are on a journey in experiencing the life of the internal kingdom of God in life. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within our hearts is the influencing factor of the kingdom of God that turns our wilderness journey to a destiny of kingdom influence. I believe that the true Promised Land is to become a kingdom expression of the internal kingdom of God in all things. We must face the tests that resist the process of our becoming givers of life to the world around us. As leaders in the body of Christ we must set an example in this process and lead others in this same journey.
The third test on the journey to the Promised Land is a test of bitterness. As we move forward in our journey of destiny, we will face walls to our progressing forward. Those walls are often established by bitter roots in our own hearts. We must be healed in the bitter places of our hearts or we will be hindered and even stopped in our journey.
Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
The word Shur means, walls.This test beyond the Red Sea was a test in the Wilderness of Walls. The water at this place was the water of Marah. Marah means bitterness. The people could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. Moses had to do an action that brought healing to the bitter waters of Marah. The Lord showed him a tree and when he cast the tree into the waters the water became sweet. The wounds of the world resist the healing of God’s love in our lives, but Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. The wood that Moses cast into the bitter waters of Marah were symbolic of the cross of Calvary. God will never put upon us something that Jesus took off of us at the cross. It is the sacrifice of Jesus that gives healing to the bitter roots in our hearts. God doesn’t condemn us for the bitter places within. He gives us healing. When we find healing in the bitter places of our lives we find the purpose of that healing. We are healed in the bitter places of our lives so that we can bring life to others. When the children of Israel experienced the miracle of the healed waters at Marah they were able to move forward to Elim. The name Elim means fruitful.The purpose of Marah is Elim. The healing of the bitter places in our lives allow us to be fruitful and to bring life and blessing to others.
Exodus 15:27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
Being healed of bitter roots will allow us to overcome the judgments of the world that were based upon offenses in our lives. Elim is a place of twelve wells of water. Twelve is a numerical symbolism of God’s sending government of life. It is testimony to true authority. Authority always gives life, it never takes. The seventy palm trees are a symbolism to bringing life to all the peoples and nations of the world. The sons of Noah produced seventy cities that became the nations of the world. The number seventy represents all people. Palm trees are a symbol of fruitfulness and prosperity. When we are healed form our bitterness we find that the very thing that seemed to be bad in our lives becomes a source of life within us for the sake of others. When we hold on to the bitter roots in our lives we defile many, but when we receive God’s healing we become a source of life to others.
From Elim the children of Israel journeyed to the Wilderness of Sin. The word Sin means thorny, clay.I believe this is a symbolism of offenses. Offenses are like thrones in our lives. When we are poked in our flesh in some way we become offended. Clay is a symbolism of human flesh that can easily be chipped or broken. Human nature without Christ within is easily offended.
Exodus 16:1 And they journeyed from Elim (palms), and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Difficult plains and difficult mountains stand between our promise of fruitfulness and their fulfillment in our lives. If we are not healed of our bitter roots, we will not be able to walk through the challenging things of life and we will not be able to bring life to others. God heals us of our bitter roots, not so we will never face difficult challenges again, but so we can journey through them and still be givers of life to others. God doesn’t want us to escape the circumstances of life, but to be able to go through them for the sake of others. God wants us to be givers of life in every stage of our lives. Greater is Christ within us that anything we will face in life!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Please consider helping us finish 2018 strong. We have a number of expenses to pay before the end of the year. We have been able to go to many peoples and many nations with a message and impartation of New Covenant Life and Grace. Your assistance in prayers and resources helps us accomplish our assignment.
We are expecting another great year of reaching the nations and generations in 2019 and your financial support can help us accomplish the task.
We need your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.
Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225
