Reflection for B’shalach
“A Spiritual Bread and Water Diet (Modified)”
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
John 4:5-15; 6:25-35, 47-56; 7:37-39
excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections
Israel’s dramatic deliverance and departure from Egypt, is the focus of this week’s Torah reading, B’shalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16). The Egyptian Pharaoh finally consented to let the people go. The narrative describes how the Holy One ostensibly allowed a few challenges along the escape route, because He knows how the nature of people is to seek the path of least resistance for the relative comforts of life (i.e., water, food, shelter). Because those necessities were readily available to Israel as slaves in Egypt, in order for them to be delivered from being forever trapped in a slave mindset, the Lord not only displayed His power by defeating Pharaoh’s army, but also miraculously provided the bread and water required for sustenance. In so doing, these incredible episodes—and all the wilderness travails—are recorded for posterity’s sake. It is a heritage which not only the Jewish people are to partake of, but all people who express faith in Messiah Yeshua:
“Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11, WMB).
In the larger context of what Paul shared in his writing to the Corinthians, mention was made of some of the other discomforting events, which occurred during the forty year sojourn from Egypt to Canaan. 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 includes references to: Exodus 16:4; 17:6; 32:6; Numbers 14:29; 26:5; 11:4; 16:41; 21:5; 25:9. We could conclude that Paul simply summarized the times when Ancient Israel grumbled or complained to the Lord about their various predicaments, without fully understanding how these trials were supposed to instruct and strengthen the people to faithfully persevere. God’s people, having been delivered from slavery, were now free to choose their own destiny:
“Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Messiah. However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play’ [Exodus 32:6]. Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. Let’s not test Messiah, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall. No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:1-13, WMB).
The statement of this passage which really stands out is v. 13: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (NIV). Despite the temptations which come upon men and women in life, those who faithfully trust in the Lord will have a way of escape, so that they might demonstrate themselves mature in Him. What they have to overcome, is generally going to be something which they can handle.
It is also noteworthy how Paul has described God’s provision of spiritual food and spiritual drink for His people. This is something previously claimed by the Messiah Himself, where He described Himself as not only the Bread of Life, but also the bearer and provider of living waters of eternal life. In John 6, after the miracles of feeding the five thousand and walking on the Sea of Galilee, Yeshua told His Disciples that He was the Bread of Life, something which was prefigured by the manna which fell upon the Ancient Israelites in the wilderness:
“When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Yeshua answered them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.’ They said therefore to him, ‘What must we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Yeshua answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ They said therefore to him, ‘What then do you do for a sign, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, “He gave them bread out of heaven to eat” [Exodus 16:15; Numbers 11:7-9].’ Yeshua therefore said to them, ‘Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said therefore to him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’ Yeshua said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:25-35, WMB).
In order for Yeshua to be the Bread of Life for people, His followers need to feast daily upon Him, similar to how the Ancient Israelites needed to retrieve some manna in the desert every day for their nutritional welfare. Yet, Yeshua as the true bread of Heaven, is much more than physical sustenance which comes from eating—but He is spiritual sustenance providing eternal life. In His instructions to the Samaritan woman which occurred earlier, He related Himself as being Living Water, enabling people to never be thirsty again:
“He needed to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Yeshua therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Yeshua said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, ‘How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Yeshua answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?’ Yeshua answered her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw’” (John 4:5-15, WMB).
Yeshua was able to use common physical elements, which everyday people use, to describe how He offered something more than just physical life. In Himself Yeshua is able to provide people with eternal sustenance. While such sustenance can affect people on Earth—especially via healings and well being—it extends far beyond this realm.
Later in John 7, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Yeshua declared how when He would be glorified, the Holy Spirit would be there to manifest as living water. Access to the Holy Spirit can only come through belief in the Messiah:
“Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Yeshua wasn’t yet glorified” (John 7:37-39, WMB).
As important as eating bread or drinking water are to live, human beings are not to find the meaning to life solely in physical things. We are to find the meaning to our lives in the revelation of God’s Word, and in the relationship which we have with the Father through His Son. The Torah makes the point to state,
“He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the LORD’s mouth” (Deuteronomy 8:3, WMB).
This week, as you read the memorable recollections of the parting of the Red Sea and the defeat of Pharaoh’s army, followed by the songs and timbrel celebrations of Miriam, and then the trials of lack of water and shortage of food—perhaps the verses we have just discussed from the Apostolic Scriptures, will expand your understanding of why the Holy One made the Israelites endure these trials. There are hints provided in B’shalach how these trials were specifically arranged by God to “test” them:
“Then he cried to the LORD. The LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them” (Exodus 15:25, WMB).
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not’” (Exodus 16:4, WMB).
According to these passages, the tests of lack of water and bread were actually attached to seeing whether the people would follow torati, “My instructions” (Exodus 16:4, NJPS). In many regards, even up until today, the Lord has not changed His methods for requiring His people to follow His instructions.
In order to have eternal life, we have to make sure that we have partaken of the Bread of Life and the Living Water, who is our Messiah Yeshua. We have to believe His words as the Greater Prophet who was to come (Deuteronomy 18:18-19). In fact, the Lord Himself taught that His followers have to consider “eating” of His own flesh and “drinking” of His own blood, to have redemption:
“‘Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Judeans therefore contended with one another, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Yeshua therefore said to them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread will live forever’” (John 6:47-58, WMB).
These words would have been very difficult for many First Century Jews to fathom, given the Biblical prohibition against consuming blood (Leviticus 17:10-12), and what can be read as being an endorsement of cannibalism. But this is not what was intended. Closely focusing upon the broken body and shed blood of the Messiah—as though one were going to literally consume of them—is what was intended.
During Yeshua’s Last Seder meal, the Lord made the Disciples pay close attention to some specific bread and a specific cup of wine—likely the afikoman and the third cup, or the Cup of Redemption (cf. b.Pesachim 99b). This unleavened bread and wine were to represent how He was soon to be beaten and humiliated, and how He would shed His blood—so all humanity would have permanent atonement for sin. Remembering this significant point in the seder, is something which future generations of Messiah followers are to surely keep in mind during their commemorations:
“As they were eating, Yeshua took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29, WMB).
Unlike the Ancient Israelites who departed from Egypt, and who just followed the Lord via the fire and the cloud—today, we have the ability to have the Lord’s actual presence inside of us, because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit brought to all by the sacrificial work of Yeshua. Not only is this true of us as individuals, but together as fellow brothers and sisters, we have the opportunity to demonstrate God’s holiness as we make up His Temple:
“Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19, WMB).
The key, for born again Believers to live a life pleasing to the Lord, is making sure that He increases, and they decrease (cf. John 3:30). Do we truly have hearts of flesh which are able and willing to obey Him, via the transforming power of the Spirit?
“I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, WMB).
As we consider the messages from B’shalach this week, I would like us to consider what it means for Believers to operate by the power of the Spirit, as opposed to the baseness of our flesh. When we have the ability to focus our attention on spiritual things of God, we are able to please Him and truly serve Him as redeemed sons and daughters. The Apostle Paul explained,
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to God’s Torah, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Messiah, he is not his. If Messiah is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Messiah, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:5-17, WMB).
Praise God for the adoption! Praise Him that Believers can all call Him Abba, Father! Praise Him that by His Holy Spirit, we can understand what He was doing with Israel so many generations ago! Praise Him that we today might benefit from past experiences, and be taught how we might live in a way which pleases Him! May He be blessed and glorified even more, through all that He does through us!
I thank You, Lord, for the Bread of Life and Living Waters found in Yeshua—so that His life might flow from my innermost being with inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8)!
