Elim is a plural noun that means the mighty ones or the strong ones. It is derived from a root that means mighty or strong. According to a number of scholars, this word also means a grove of palm trees. The first meaning may be applied to the twelve springs, and the second, to the seventy palm trees. At Elim there were twelve mighty springs flowing and seventy palm trees growing. What a picture of resurrection life!
Consider the twelve springs flowing and the seventy palm trees growing. The springs were flowing forth, and the trees were growing upward. No doubt the palm trees at Elim were not dwarf palms, but giant palm trees reaching high into the air. Certainly the water from the springs flowed downward. Therefore, at Elim we have the water flowing downward and the trees growing upward. This is a picture of resurrection life flowing out of God into us and then growing up from within us. Firstly, resurrection life flows from God into us. The result of this inflow is that something grows within us.
We have pointed out that in His creation God prepared the Red Sea to serve as the baptistry in which His people were baptized. Now at Elim we see God’s plantation. God created the twelve springs of water, but He planted the seventy palm trees. Hence, the springs are related to God’s creation, and the palm trees, to His plantation. The principle is the same in the church life today.
Everything related to the experience at Elim was sovereign of the Lord. In His creation God prepared the springs, and in His natural plantation He prepared the palm trees. Certainly it was no accident that the children of Israel came to Elim and found there twelve springs and seventy palm trees. Why were there not eleven springs and sixty-nine palms? The answer is that in His sovereignty God placed twelve springs and seventy palm trees at Elim for a specific purpose. When we follow the Lord as the pillar of cloud, we shall come to a place of twelve springs flowing and seventy palms growing.
In the Bible the numbers twelve and seventy have a spiritual significance. According to the Bible, twelve is composed of four times three. For example, the New Jerusalem has twelve gates, three on each of the four sides of the city. The number four signifies the creatures, especially mankind, and the number three signifies the Triune God. The fact that there are three gates on each side of the New Jerusalem indicates that we come into this city through the Triune God, that is, through the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Matthew 28:19 says that we are baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Since four signifies humanity and three signifies the Triune God, four times three signifies the mingling of God with humanity. Therefore, the meaning of the number twelve is the mingling of divinity with humanity.
This mingling is not temporal but eternal. As we consider the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22, we see that the number twelve is an eternal number, a number used in eternity. Furthermore, in the New Jerusalem we see that the mingling of divinity with humanity is related to God’s administration, for the New Jerusalem is the center of God’s universal and eternal administration. The number twelve also signifies eternal perfection and completion. Therefore, the number twelve signifies the mingling of divinity with humanity for the complete and perfect carrying out of God’s administration eternally.
If we consider the New Jerusalem, we shall see the comprehensive significance of the number twelve. It is God mingled with man to carry out His eternal administration in a complete way. In this eternal administration there is no lack. Rather, everything is perfect and complete. In the Old Testament the children of Israel, God’s chosen race, were of twelve tribes. In the New Testament the Lord Jesus selected twelve Apostles. These twelve tribes and twelve Apostles will be in the New Jerusalem. The twelve tribes will be the twelve gates, and the twelve Apostles will be the twelve foundations. This indicates that the twelve tribes and the twelve Apostles are for God’s eternal administration.
Now we can understand the significance of the twelve springs of water at Elim. These springs are for the mingling of divinity with humanity. They signify that God as living water is flowing into His chosen people to be mingled with them for the purpose of accomplishing His administration.
The twelve Apostles in the New Testament were springs flowing with living water. God flowed out of the Apostles into the believers. However, the flowing forth of the living waters is not limited to the Apostles. All who believe in Christ may be living springs. John 7:38 speaks of rivers of living water flowing out of our innermost being. The rivers in John 7 are the very springs in Exodus 15. Both the rivers and the springs signify the divine life in resurrection. John 7:39 shows that the rivers of living water are related to the Spirit: “But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Jesus was glorified in His resurrection (Luke 24:26). Immediately after Christ’s glorification in resurrection, the disciples received the Spirit (John 20:22). The Spirit is the divine life in resurrection portrayed by the twelve springs in Exodus 15 and the rivers of living water in John 7. The divine life in resurrection flows out from God and into God’s people for the mingling of divinity with humanity. This mingling carries out God’s eternal administration.
In the Bible the number seventy is composed of seven times ten. Like the number twelve, seven also signifies perfection and completion. But in contrast to the number twelve, it signifies perfection and completion in time dispensationally, not eternally. The book of Revelation speaks of seven churches, seven golden lampstands, seven Spirits, seven lamps of fire, seven eyes, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. All these sevens are related to God’s dispensation in time. In eternity the number seven will be replaced by the number twelve.
In the Bible the number seven is composed either of six plus one or of four plus three. In Genesis 2 we see seven composed of six plus one: the six days of God’s work plus the day of God’s rest. The same is true in Revelation, where the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls are arranged in groups of six plus one. In Revelation we also see seven composed of four plus three. For example, the seven churches are in groups of three and four.
The number six represents man, who was created on the sixth day. When God the unique Creator (signified by the number one), is added to man, the result is completion, satisfaction, and rest. The unique Creator is the Triune God (signified by the number three) and man is a creature (signified by the number four). On the one hand, the Creator is added to man to produce the number seven. On the other hand, the Triune God is added to His creature, man, also to produce the number seven. In either case, seven signifies the addition of God to man, not the mingling of God with man.
The first mention of the number seven in the Bible is in Genesis 2:2, where we are told that God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” This use of seven is definitely related to time, not to eternity. Daniel 9:24 speaks of the seventy weeks of years that have been determined for the children of Israel. These weeks are also related to God’s temporal dispensation, not to eternity. Furthermore, the local churches are signified by the number seven because the churches today are for God’s dispensation in time. All these examples indicate that the number seven signifies perfection and completion dispensationally and temporally.
The number ten signifies fullness. As we consider our ten fingers and ten toes, we have the impression of fullness. Since seven signifies completion and perfection in time and ten signifies fullness, seventy, composed of seven times ten, signifies completion and perfection in time for God’s dispensation in full. The fact that there were seventy palm trees at Elim instead of just seven indicates such a fullness of God’s dispensation in time.
The twelve springs and the seventy palm trees are all in resurrection. In resurrection we have the flowing of the twelve springs for eternity. In resurrection we also have in time the growing of the seventy palm trees for God’s dispensation.
In the Bible there are two important cases where the numbers twelve and seventy are used together. In Exodus 24:1 and 4 we read of the seventy elders of Israel and of the twelve tribes of Israel. When Moses was about to contact God for the carrying out of His administration on earth, the Lord told him to bring seventy elders of Israel. The twelve tribes may be likened to the twelve springs, and the seventy elders, to the seventy palms. We see another case in the New Testament. In Luke 9:1 the Lord “called together the twelve,” and in Luke 10:1 “the Lord appointed seventy others.” The use of the numbers in each case is significant. When used together, the numbers twelve and seventy indicate that the Lord’s people are to carry out His ministry. The principle is the same both in Exodus 24 with the twelve tribes and the seventy elders and in the Gospel of Luke with the twelve Apostles and seventy disciples. In each instance the Lord’s people were to carry out His ministry. God has a ministry which must be carried out by the flowing life signified by the twelve springs and by the growing life signified by the seventy palms. Only life flowing and growing can fulfill God’s ministry.
In the past we may have talked much about resurrection life without having words to describe it. Now through the help of the picture of the children of Israel at Elim we see that resurrection life includes twelve springs and seventy palm trees. It includes life flowing in a perfect and complete way to carry out God’s administration for eternity. It also includes life growing to carry out God’s administration to express life that is flourishing (Psa. 92:12), rejoicing in satisfaction (Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15), and victorious over tribulation (John 12:13; Rev. 7:9). In the Bible palm trees signify life that is flourishing. They also signify rejoicing in life’s satisfaction and victory over tribulation. Eventually, resurrection life carries out God’s ministry both dispensationally in time and eternally.
Both as the church corporately and as the believers individually, we need to experience the resurrection life at Elim. Oh, the resurrection life flows and grows! It flows out of God into us, and through this flowing it grows upward to express the riches and victory of the divine life.
We have pointed out that in the Bible palm trees signify flourishing, rejoicing in satisfaction, and victory. The growth of the flowing life expresses the riches of the divine life and its victory over all things. Those in the vast multitude in Revelation 7 are all holding palm branches and have come out of great tribulation. These palm branches signify both the riches in life and the victory of life.
If we consider the picture of Israel at Elim, we shall realize that it is a marvelous portrait of resurrection life. Something is flowing out of God into us, and something is growing through this flowing to express the riches and the victory of the divine life. As we consider this portrait further, I believe that the Lord will speak more to us regarding resurrection life.