Wilderness – Page 3 – Praying Pint

45.t. “Wilderness” – 9.z. “Unauthorized fire before the LORD”

Numbers 3:1-4 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

Lev 10:1-7 – 1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace. 4 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” 5 So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled. 7 “You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD [is] upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

What was their sin in thus offering it? Plainly, the narrative points to the essence of the crime in calling it ‘fire which He had not commanded.’ So this was their crime, that they were tampering with the appointed order which but a week before they had been consecrated to conserve and administer; that they were thus thrusting in self-will and personal caprice, as of equal authority with the divine commandment; that they were arrogating the right to cut and carve God’s appointments, as the whim or excitement of the moment dictated; and that they were doing their best to obliterate the distinction on the preservation of which religion, morality, and the national existence depended; namely, the distinction between holy and common, clean and unclean. To plough that distinction deep into the national consciousness was no small part of the purpose of the law; and here were two of its appointed witnesses disregarding it, and flying in its face. They have had many successors, not only in Israel, while a ritual demanding punctilious conformity lasted, but in Christendom since. Alas! our censers are often flaming with ‘strange fire.’ How much so-called Christian worship glows with self-will or with partisan zeal! When we seek to worship God for what we can get, when we rush into His presence with hot, eager desires which we have not subordinated to His will, we are burning ‘strange fire which He has not commanded.’ The only fire which should kindle the incense in our censers, and send it up to heaven in fragrant wreaths, is fire caught from the altar of sacrifice. God must kindle the flame in our hearts if we are to render these else cold hearts to Him. (MacLaren)

This may be an emblem of dissembled love, when a man performs religious duties, prays to God, or praises him without any cordial affection to him, or obeys commands not from love, but selfish views; or of an ignorant, false, and misguided zeal, a zeal not according to knowledge, superstitious and hypocritical; or of false and strange doctrines, such as are not of God, nor agree with the voice of Christ, and are foreign to the Scriptures; or of human ordinances, and the inventions of men, and of everything that man brings of his own, in order to obtain eternal life and salvation. (Gill)

Hearing and reading God’s Word must come into willing, obedient, and reliant hearts. If not we will have worldly desires of what is right and wrong and try to mix the Word of God with that which is not ordained by God, nor does it give Honor and Glory to Him. The Word of God has little benefit in a disobedient heart that is set on its own desires and paths in life. Without a desire to be led by God for the single purpose of honoring and glorifying Him our hearts and minds become dull and our ears deaf and our hearts like stone. It is easy to spot and identify the first steps away from God that lead to such lukewarm commitment – Neglect and Complacency. The loss of desire to honor and glorify God is always preceded by a lacking desire to honor and glorify Him in all thoughts, words, and actions, which is closely followed by neglect of His Word. We might live content with our place in life but we should never be content with our growth, maturity, and service to God.

45.o. “Wilderness” – 9.u. “Take a census”

Numbers 1:1-4 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

As recorded in the book of Exodus, God miraculously rescued Israel from their long slavery in Egypt. They came through the Red Sea and saw God provide through the desert wilderness. Israel then came to Mount Sinai where God appeared to them in a spectacular way. At Mount Sinai Moses went up to meet with God and receive the law. At Mount Sinai, the people of Israel also honored an idolatrous image of a golden calf and were afterward corrected by the LORD. The main part of the book of Exodus covers about one year, and Leviticus only a month – but the story of the book of Numbers covers more than 38 years.

The book of Numbers approaches it all God’s way. In the wilderness, one may be tempted to launch a hundred different schemes and plans to move forward. But only God’s way really works; and the book of Numbers tells us about God’s way. The idea that the LORD spoke to Moses is repeated more than 150 times

The book of Numbers is all about God’s people in the Wilderness – how they got there, how God dealt with them in the wilderness, and how He brought them out of the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.

“The theme of the book of Numbers is the journey to the Promised Land of Canaan. Its opening ten chapters, covering a mere fifty days, describe how Moses organized Israel for the march from Sinai to the Promised Land.”

“So the Israelites had been slaves in the land of Goshen; their tasks were appointed, and their taskmasters compelled their obedience. Their difficulties had been great, their bondage cruel, but they were free from the necessity of thought and arrangement. Having escaped from their taskmaster, they imagined that freedom meant escape from rule. They had been taught in their year of encampment under the shadow of the mountain that they had to submit to law, and it was irksome to them, and they became discontented. This discontent resulted from lack of perfect confidence in God.”

Now they were numbered again for the purpose of organizing and counting an army. God wanted the count made by their families because the strength of Israel was determined by looking at the strength of individual families. This was a military census to see who could fight for Israel in taking the Promised Land. This was the first step in taking the Promised Land – an inventory to understand the resources they had to conquer the Promised Land. The taking of this census would have a great effect on the nation. As the count was made, every family knew preparations were being made for war. (Guzik)

44.x. “Wilderness” – 9.c. “‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you.”

Exodus 33:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

Numbers 14:12   I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Ezekiel 3:19   But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

Deuteronomy 9:6-13    “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.  Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

Psalms 78:8   and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Acts 7:51    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Luke 17:26-30 And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man: the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as it was in the days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins]; but on the [very] day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

This was a challenge to Moses and the nation as a whole. God told them they could have the Promised Land, but He would not remain with them in a close, personal way. “It is clear that the people felt that the promise of an angel to be sent before them was the lowering of a privilege.” If they were satisfied with that arrangement, it would prove they only loved God’s blessings and not God Himself. If they challenged God – pleading with Him for His presence, not only His blessings – it would show a genuine heart for God Himself. This was the first step towards spiritual restoration and revival in Israel. “To be given every other blessing is of no value if God is not with you. What is the value of Canaan? What is the value of milk and honey? What is the value of having possessions, if God was not with them? They saw that the realization of the presence of God, having this fellowship and company, was infinitely more important than everything else.” (Guzik)

Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin deserved. Let them go forward as they are; this was very expressive of God’s displeasure. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God’s departure from them. (Henry)

At length there was an end of ambiguity – God’s purpose was made plain – the people had shown themselves unfit for his near presence, and he would withdraw himself. So it would be best even for them; since, if they were about to show- themselves as perverse in the future as they had in the past, his near presence could only lead to their entire destruction. Some day they would so provoke him, that he would consume them in the way. (Unknown)

What would our lives be like if we would understand that the indwelling Holy Spirit is “God With Us” and “God In Us”? Do we go about our lives as if His presence is not there? Do we join in social and cultural worldly paths, pleasures, and non-God-honoring ways? Do we put on worldly ornaments of pleasure and act as if somehow we are honoring God? Do we act like those in the times of Lot and Noah who went about life without giving God and things of God a second thought? Are we neglectful and complacent? Can we expect the presence of God to bless our lives while we live for things of this world?

Oh that we would cherish the presence of God in such a way that every day we desire to know Him more and more so that we might honor and glorify Him more and more.

44. “Wilderness” – 8.g. “When my angel goes before you”

Exodus 23:23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

How rich are the particulars of this promise! The comfort of their food, the continuance of their health, the increase of their wealth, the prolonging their lives to old age. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is. It is promised that they should subdue their enemies. Hosts of hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God use for chastising his people’s enemies. In real kindness to the church, its enemies are subdued by little and little; thus we are kept on our guard, and in continual dependence on God. Corruptions are driven out of the hearts of God’s people, not all at once, but little by little. The precept with this promise is, that they should not make friendship with idolaters. Those that would keep from bad courses, must keep from bad company. It is dangerous to live in a bad neighbourhood; others’ sins will be our snares. Our greatest danger is from those who would make us sin against God. (Henry)

These promises secured to the people not only the protection and help of God during their journey through the desert, and in the conquest of Canaan, but also preservation and prosperity when they had taken possession of the land. (Keil)

The promises of God are great and awesome and reveal His mighty power over His creation in heaven and earth. Is anything too hard for God? No! Can He do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine? Yes! We do not have the knowledge and understanding or wisdom to begin to know the power of God and the fullness of His grace, mercy, and love. We do have glimpses of these though through His Word and by the indwelling Holy Spirit in all who believe. He has given us great promises so that we have a reason for belief, faith, and hope for today, tomorrow, and forever. It is in these promises that we find peace and rest for our souls in the midst of the confusion going on around us. It is in these promises we find a reason to live in such a way of obedience for the single purpose to honor and glory to Him in all we think, say, and do. Though a mountain is before us, God is with us. Though a great divide is in front of us, God is with us. Though darkness is all around us, God is with us. Though our trials and troubles seem unbearable, God is with us. Though I do not know Him fully, He knows me fully. Though I do not know what tomorrow brings, God knows. God created all there is. He placed every star in every galaxy. He parted the Red Sea, brought water out of a rock, fed His people in the wilderness, sent messengers, prophets, and priests to guide and warn, He sent His Son for the redemption of all who would believe, He healed the sick, raised people from the dead, He is coming again, and has promised eternal life to those He has called.

43.g. “Wilderness” – 7.n. Sinai – “Now when all the people saw”

Exodus 20:18  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Psalms 139:7-8    Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

Isaiah 41:10   fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Deuteronomy 13:3   For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 8:2   And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

Job 28:28     And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Proverbs 1:7    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

Proverbs 3:7   Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

Joshua 24:14  “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 5:5    while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire

Psalms 97:2    Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

1 Timothy 6:16   who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion.

Deuteronomy 5:23 explains why the mountain smoked; it says the mountain was burning with fire. The awe of all the phenomenon did nothing to draw the people closer to God; it only made them stand afar off. One might think that Israel loved the dramatic experience at Mount Sinai, and especially the honor of hearing God’s voice like a loudspeaker from heaven. Instead, because of the great awe and dread they felt, they wanted God to stop speaking to them directly. This is a typical reaction of those who came into the presence of God, such as Isaiah who felt undone before God (Isaiah 6:1-5) and John who fell as a dead man before the Lord (Revelation 1:17). The people promised to hear and (by implication) obey the word of God that came to them by Moses. In following generations, Israel interpreted the law downward, so it could be more easily obeyed, removing the heart and intent of the law. Jesus exposed this shallow understanding of the law in His Sermon on the Mount.

The people of Israel wanted to separate themselves from the manifest presence of God, but God meant it for good to test them. The test revealed to them what kind of God they served: a God above nature, personal, good, and holy. The test revealed to them their own weakness and need for God’s grace, help, and rescue. The test revealed to them what God’s expectations were, that God is a moral God who expects moral behavior from His people. That His fear may be before you speaks of the attitude of honor and reverence that leads to respect and obedience. Though it is better to obey God out of fear than to disobey Him, God’s ultimate motivation for obedience is love. This is clear from 1 John 4:18-19: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. Moses had a relationship with God the common man in Israel did not have. Through the circumstances of his life and the direct revelation of God, Moses was aware of both God’s holy power and also of God’s glorious grace. (Guzik)

This law, which is so extensive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the future judgment of God, as it is for the present conduct of man. If tried by this rule, we shall find our lives have been passed in transgressions. And with this holy law and an awful judgment before us, who can despise the gospel of Christ? And the knowledge of the law shows our need of repentance. In every believer’s heart sin is dethroned and crucified, the law of God is written, and the image of God renewed. The Holy Spirit enables him to hate sin and flee from it, to love and keep this law in sincerity and truth; nor will he cease to repent. (Henry)

The Israelites drew near to the mountain. They were intrigued by what they saw and heard when the 10 commandments were given. Now in closeness to God and the power and might of presence, they heard and saw and felt the holy awesomeness of God and feared for their lives.

What would our lives be like if we would have a reverent, trusting, and reliant fear of God? Would it be different than it is now? Would we fear, hate, anger, and be anxious less? Would we rejoice, praise, and worship more? Would we be content? Would greed, pride, and unkindness be not found in our lives? Would we run to the mountain of God or would we retreat to what we believe is a safe distance? Would we desire to be in the continual presence of God? Would we want to hear His voice with a desire to obey it for His honor and glory? Would things of this earth become less distracting and things of God become more encompassing? Would we know joy and peace that passes all understanding? Would we be more generous? Would we discern the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit leading us? Would the Word of God be precious to us? Would our thoughts, words, and actions be in line with honor and glory to Jesus Christ? Would we hunger and thirst for His Word and leading so that this honor and glory would be pure? Would we??????

42.s. “Wilderness” – 7.a. Sinai – “All that the LORD has spoken we will do”

Exo 19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

In one sense, all that went before was meant to bring them to this place. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of what God said in Exodus 3:12: this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Moses, led by God, went up on the mountain to meet with God. God gave a message to Israel through Moses, a message regarding His purpose and destiny for Israel. This destiny was based on what God already did for them in the great deliverance from Egypt. “On eagles wings” – God didn’t deliver Israel so they could live apart from God, but so they could be God’s people. Before God called Israel to keep His law, He commanded them to “keep My covenant.” The covenant was greater than the law itself. The covenant God made with Israel involved law, sacrifice, and the choice to obey and be blessed or to disobey and be cursed.

God intended for Israel to be a special treasure unto Him. He wanted them to be a people with a unique place in God’s great plan, a people of great value and concern to God. It wasn’t as if God ignored the rest of the world (for all the earth is mine), but that He was determined to use Israel to reach the earth. The Apostle Paul also wanted Christians to know how great a treasure they were to God; he prayed they would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. God intended for Israel to be a kingdom of priests, where every believer could come before God themselves, and as a group they represented God to the nations. God intended for Israel to be a holy nation, a nation and people set apart from the rest of the world, the particular possession of God, fit for His purposes.

Peter reminds us we are a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). As God’s people, we must be set apart, thinking and doing differently than the flow of the world in general. (Guzik)

Note the response of the people; “All that the Lord has spoken we will do”. How many times do we sincerely say the same and fail so miserably? How many times is our hearts and minds pricked by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word and we are moved to commit to obedience, faith, trust, and reliance, only to fail at that which we committed to? I venture to say that we, like the Israelites, commit in our minds but our hearts are free to roam the pleasures and temptations of the world.

We will not grow and mature until we have a desire deep within us to know the sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, and the grace and mercy God has offered. The shallowness of commitment is tied to the heart’s desire. “Where the heart is so is the commitment”. How many days, weeks, months, and years do we waste chasing after what this world has to offer and neglecting things of God and honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do?????

42.q. “Wilderness” – 5. Jethro heard and is now coming

Exodus 18:1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”

Do you ever wonder how Jethro heard of all that God had done? Without mail, email, phones, texting, social media, internet, TV, radio, news media, etc…. he heard of the work God had done. How is this possible? People spoke of it. People who were amazed at how God provided an exodus out of Egypt for the Israelites. I imagine a traveler stole of it and it went something like this; “ I have just Come through Egypt. The Israelite slaves are all gone. There are none to be found. Pharaoh and all of his chariots and men were drowned in the Red Sea. Prior to this all of the firstborn of all of the Egyptians died, and all of their livestock firstborn died too. Prior to this, there were many plagues of such wonder that only God could have done it. Now it is said that the Israelites are wandering around in the wilderness. They say their God is with them and it is displayed by a cloud by day and fire by night. We have even heard that when they were attacked by Amalekites the Amalekites were amazingly defeated by them.”

More than one report surely came to Jethro and most assuredly he inquired of any passing through. Let us be mindful of sharing what we have seen God do in people’s lives. How He has changed them. How He has blessed them. How He has protected them. How He has given them peace, rest, and joy. How He has healed them. How He has delivered them from addiction. We never know how God will use it but He will for His good. Some will reject what you say. However, the next time they hear something from another person it might just be the softening of their heart that leads them to repentance and eternal life.

42.o. “Wilderness” – 3. Water from the Rock

Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Israel did exactly what God commanded, following the pillar of cloud and fire; yet there was no water to drink. They were in the will of God but in a difficult time. It is possible to be completely in the will of God yet also in a season of great problems. The people of Israel had a real problem – there was no water for the people to drink. This was not an imaginary problem and the people were right to be concerned. Yet when the people then contended with Moses, they did not respond with spiritual thinking or actions. When we have a problem it is much easier to blame someone than to think through the problem carefully and spiritually. In this situation Israel could have thought, “We are in a desert; it’s not surprising there isn’t much water here. We need to look to God to meet this need.” Instead they blamed Moses and did nothing to help the problem. One of the great themes of this journey from Egypt to Canaan was that God was with them. He was with them each step of the way, and here again He would show His presence to Moses and to Israel.

God remembered the way Israel tested Him at Massah and Meribah, recalling it in several passages.

· Deuteronomy 6:16: You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.

· Deuteronomy 9:22: at… Massah… you provoked the LORD to wrath.

· Deuteronomy 33:8: Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah.

(Guzik)

This attitude among the Israelites was their great sin. In this time of difficulty, the children of Israel – directly or indirectly – doubted the loving presence and care of God among them. “Under the stress of an immediate lack, these people doubted the one fact of which they had overwhelming evidence.” (Morgan)

The heart, mind, and soul in every person are the place where intentional decisions are made to either honor and glorify God by faith or to dishonor, reject, and grumble against Him by denying that He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. We trust God for salvation, redemption, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ but so easily deny any power God has over the trials and troubles we face. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Oh, that our faith would be our shield and place of refuge, peace, and rest. A place where our trust and reliance in the Power of God overcomes that which is a burden upon and around us.

We have been given God’s Word which records His power, might, wisdom, knowledge, and ever-present presence. It is by these confirming acts of love for those who trust, follow, obey, and rely upon Him that faith has roots in our souls, or at least it should. Though it might appear to us that we are in the wilderness for a long time, that which seems like a curse can be truly reliant and faith-walk with God through it. Though we may be tempted to grumble, cast those thoughts from your mind the minute you recognize these seeds of doubt appears. Continually rejoice in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, and faithfully think, say, and do that which honors and glorifies Him.

42.n. “Wilderness” – 2. Quail and Manna

Exodus 16:13. In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.

Exodus 16:35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Psalms 78:27-28    he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;  he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.

Psalms 105:40    They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

Numbers 11:9   When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3   And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Nehemiah 9:15    You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger

Nehemiah 9:20-21     You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.  Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Psalms 78:24-25    and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.  Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.

At evening the quails came up, and the people caught with ease as many as they needed. The manna came down in dew. They called it Manna, Manhu, which means, What is this? It is a portion; it is that which our God has allotted us, and we will take it, and be thankful. It was pleasant food; it was wholesome food. The manna was rained from heaven; it appeared, when the dew was gone, as a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost, like coriander seed, in colour like pearls. The manna fell only six days in the week, and in double quantity on the sixth day; it bred worms and became offensive if kept more than one day, excepting on the sabbath. The people had never seen it before. It could be ground in a mill, or beaten in a mortar, and was then made into cakes and baked. It continued the forty years the Israelites were in the wilderness, wherever they went, and ceased when they arrived in Canaan. All this shows how different it was from any thing found before, or found now. They were to gather the manna every morning. We are hereby taught,

1. To be prudent and diligent in providing food for ourselves and our households; with quietness working, and eating our own bread, not the bread of idleness or deceit. God’s bounty leaves room for man’s duty; it did so even when manna was rained; they must not eat till they have gathered.

2. To be content with enough. Those that have most, have for themselves but food and raiment; those that have least, generally have these; so that he who gathers much has nothing over, and he who gathers little has no lack. There is not such a disproportion between one and another in the enjoyment of the things of this life, as in the mere possession of them.

3. To depend upon Providence: let them sleep quietly, though they have no bread in their tents, nor in all their camp, trusting that God, with the following day, would bring them in their daily bread. It was surer and safer in God’s storehouse than their own, and would come thence sweeter and fresher. See here the folly of hoarding.

(Henry)

42.m. “Wilderness” – 2. Meat and Bread from Heaven – Grumbling

Exodus 16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven 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. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.” Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. And the LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

The provisions of Israel, brought from Egypt, were spent by the middle of the second month, and they murmured. It is no new thing for the greatest kindness to be basely represented as the greatest injuries. They so far undervalue their deliverance, that they wished they had died in Egypt; and by the hand of the Lord, that is, by the plagues which cut off the Egyptians. We cannot suppose they had plenty in Egypt, nor could they fear dying for want in the wilderness, while they had flocks and herds: none talk more absurdly than murmurers. When we begin to fret, we ought to consider, that God hears all our murmurings. God promises a speedy and constant supply. He tried whether they would trust him, and rest satisfied with the bread of the day in its day. Thus he tried if they would serve him, and it appeared how ungrateful they were. When God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know he was their Lord; when he provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know he was their God. (Henry)

They had just seen the bitter waters instantaneously made sweet to assuage their thirst, and a little while before had been miraculously delivered at the Red sea, when there seemed to be no possible way for their escape; and yet so far were they from learning to trust in that divine, almighty Providence, that had so wonderfully and so evidently wrought for them, that on the very first difficulty and distress they break out into the most desponding murmurings! (Benson)

In the original text the name “Wilderness of Sin” has nothing to do with sin and yet, as the story unfolds, we see that this wilderness had a lot to do with sin. It would seem that starvation was more anticipated than experienced. In other words, they did not live through weeks and weeks of famine, nor did they see their family and friends die of malnutrition. Israel selectively remembered the past and thought of their time in Egypt as a good time. They lost sight of God’s future for them, and they also twisted the past to support their complaining. This thinking is common among those who complain. This is another common practice among those who complain. They insisted that Moses and Aaron had bad or evil intentions. Of course, Moses and Aaron had no interest in killing the people of Israel, and this was a horrible accusation to make. Yet a complaining heart often finds it easy to accuse the person they complain against of the worst motives. Bread doesn’t normally rain from heaven. Yet God promised that He would provide for Israel in this unexpected way. This reminds us that God may provide from resources that we never knew existed. Sometimes He provides from familiar resources, sometimes from unexpected resources. One would think that with the experience of the plagues, Passover, and the deliverance at the Red Sea, Israel would already know that the LORD had brought them out of Egypt. Yet experiences, even great experiences, don’t change the heart as much as we often think. (Guzik)

Nothing is impossible for God. All things are possible for God. God is not limited by what we think is possible for Him to do. He is not limited at all. He can do more than we ask, and much more than we can imagine.