“Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge;
their honorable men are famished,
and their multitude dried up with thirst.”
(Isa 5:13)
In Day 263 and Day 264 we spent some time examining the historical Bethlehem and how God prophetically prepared the history and fate of certain individuals so that Jesus could be received in that specific place. As we approach the end of this subsection dealing with Jesus’coming in the flesh it is important to note the underlying spiritual significance of Bethlehem.
Paul explains in 1 Cor 10:6 & 11 that all the events from the Old Testament serve as symbolic or prophetic examples that we should come to a spiritual understanding of within the New Covenant. (Remember: Strictly speaking the New Covenant only commences with Jesus’ rising from the dead – thus the Old Testament spans till then. This is also the reason Jesus, during his time on earth, so faithfully kept to the laws of the Old Testament – the new covenant of grace, which was brought about by His death was not yet in place.)
We now already know that Bethlehem means “house of bread” and that this primarily points to Jesus being “the Bread of life” (John 6:48). But, interestingly enough, He is also the “Water of life” (John 4:14; Rev 21:6). We have now already seen how comfortable David was in this house of bread, but it is still interesting to note that when in battle his desire was specifically for the water of Bethlehem – “And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” (2 Sam 23:15). There in the house of bread David’s desire was for the water of life – Jesus! Likewise the Israelites were fed in the desert with their hope on Jesus – “You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.” (Neh 9:15). Bread from heaven – Ps 105:40 clearly presents this as Jesus! And water from the Rock – that was Jesus too – “all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:3-4).
When Jezebel got rid of God’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4), Obadiah hid 100 of them in a cavern and fed them with bread and water – today their diet gains greater significance (Matt 4:4)! While on the mountain Moses was fed on this for 40 days (Ex 34:28). There is a hunger and a thirst which cannot be satisfied by bread and water (Amos 8:11).
The expression “bread and water” is found no less than 39 times in the Old Testament, but not once in the New Testament – the Living Bread and Living Water had replaced the prototype!
- Sela: What does Isa 5:13 mean to you within the context of this teaching?
- Read: 2 Chr 26; Job 24; Isa 5
- Memorise: Isa 5:13 (how faithful God is!)
- For a deeper understanding: Read about Lass, the sheepdog, “who refused to eat and drink” in Phillip Keller’s Lessons from a sheepdog.
