With God in the wilderness

A new year, a new beginning and wherever there is a new beginning there is uncertainty,

what will this year be like?

 

Life is uncertain, despite all our best efforts we have no ability to control the future, we do the best we can but as we begin a New Year, if we have any sense at all, we look to God to guide us, to lead and provide…

 

This passage in Exodus 16 highlights this.

Here are the Israelites,

They headed out into the wilderness exactly one month after they left Egypt. Numbers 33 says,

 “They set out…on the fifteenth day of the first month.”

This is now the fifteenth day of the second month—one month into their journey.

A lot has happened in the last 30 days…

• The Passover meal and the dramatic exit of Israel early the next morning.

• the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaohs army.

• Then the last few weeks in the Sinai peninsula where they have seen first hand the provision given to them by God at Elim.

But they are now entering a desert. A wilderness where water and food are extremely scarce.

 The desert is called Sin, but the Hebrew Word has got nothing to do with sin.

6 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

 they grumble.

What are they unhappy about…why grumble?

Vs 3 gives us a clue…it’s the food, or the lack of it.

Obviously they are a great number of people and they are concerned that the food they had brought with them from Egypt would run out.

Why is grumbling, complaining such a problem here?

After all when you read the Psalms or a book like Job or Jonah for instance, we see that God’s people often go to Him in their frustration and complaints and He hears them, God invites us to go to Him in any and every circumstance.

But that’s not the complaining you see here.

 

It’s not complaining to God,

it’s complaining about God…

The people grumble against Moses and Aaron…but they are actually complaining against God…See vs 7

and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.

 

3 times Moses emphasizes that they are grumbling against God.

 

And Listen to their complaining, they are suddenly very upbeat about life back in Egypt

In verse 3,

 

3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death

 

 Egypt sounds like paradise!

We sat down by great big meat pots.

Life was a great big party…

Just a month on and they already seem to have forgotten what things were really like…

They may have had meat to eat in Egypt, but they were singing a very different tune around those meat pots.

Remember Exodus 2:23?

 “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.”

 

 That’s what they were doing back in Exodus 2—groaning and crying out.”

 

Life was absolutely miserable.

 

You don’t know whether to laugh or to cry when you read this.

Listen to them…

 I wish I was dead.

God doesn’t care.

He doesn’t love us.

I wish we had died in Egypt…why didn’t you just kill us there?

 

faced with new difficulties…they just fall apart

 

God’s response is surprising…

 

He gives them meat to eat in the form of a massive flock of quail landing right in their midst…

 

And then the manna…

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer[a] for each person you have in your tent.’

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

 

Manna…lit what is it?

 

How do we know that this is miraculous and not some natural phenomenon?

1. The manna did not appear until Moses said it would.

2. It was not interrupted by the weather or the seasons for 40 years.

3. There was enough to feed huge numbers every day.

4. There was twice as much on the sixth day.

5. It spoiled if you tried to keep it.

6. The other nations did not have it.

7. Once the Israelites got to the edge of Canaan, it stopped.

8. The portion in a special vessel before the Lord did not rot.

Whenever we encounter the miraculous we have to say… of course God can do this!

That’s the whole point about miracles… if God is God don’t you expect Him to be able to do this?

 

With the manna, they are to take an Omer, per person which is about 2 liters in capacity.

 

19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

 

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

 

Why did Moses give that instruction? It must have come from God, but what’s the point?

Underlying this command is an issue of trust…you see the manna, it’s wonderful, you give thanks with the family over manna stew, but at the back of your mind you find yourself saying…

what if this stuff doesn’t arrive tomorrow morning…?

 

yes I know God says He will send it daily but what if it doesn’t come tomorrow?

I’d better store some just in case…

And it rots…the maggots come and Moses is angry because he sees the distrust underlying all this.

And then on the Sabbath…

 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers[b] for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

 

24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

 

The instructions are different on the Sabbath… they are to gather twice as much and there won’t be any manna on the Sabbath.

You can sleep later, (if the kids will let you) no need to get up and gather any.

 

And it doesn’t rot.

What is God saying through this and through the Sabbath command as a whole?

Do you trust me enough to rest when I tell you…each Sabbath, and know that I will provide for you?

And of course some don’t trust God…

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you[c] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day

What is your response to this as you look at the future?

whats your grumbling index like?

 

A complaining spirit indicates that something is not right with your relationship with God.

Whatever form the complaining takes, and it’s easy to hear in conversation…

as we have a meal together as a family,

as people listen to us…

If we say we follow Christ then what impression do they get of the God we say we serve?

The actual words we use may not be a direct attack on God but the attitude displayed in those words can easily show a profound lack of trust in God.

Again, this is different from a groan,

“I hurt. I’m in pain.” That’s not what we’re talking about.”

We’re talking about an active lack of faith in Him.

The reason this complaining attitude is in focus here is that it underneath the complaining is this thought…

I don’t really trust that God is big enough to help and good enough to care.

That what was in the minds of those going out looking for manna on the Sabbath…I don’t really believe God can do this…

So when it comes to the Sabbath…

I can’t trust God enough to rest as He told me to… if I rest things may not work out.

Listen to Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount…

 He says…give us this day our daily bread—

not our weekly bread, our monthly bread, enough for the next year, but today.”

Or Matthew 6 “Don’t worry about tomorrow, saying ‘What shall we eat?’”

He’s reminding us of the manna, just like in the wilderness.

Think of waking up as an Israelite in the wilderness… each morning there’s the manna to be gathered…

By noon, it’s burnt away.

 

God could have allowed a permanent delivery of manna, 24/7 but He didn’t, otherwise we wouldn’t have trusted Him.

 

you’re anxious about tomorrow, and God says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.

You’ll get more bread then, I’m not giving you tomorrow’s bread today.

if we demand He reveal his provision ahead of time then

We don’t really believe that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and his mercies are new every morning  

What is worry and anxiety except living out the future before it gets here?”

 

Going ahead to tomorrow,

three weeks from now,

four months from now,

ten years from now,

and wondering what your children are going to be like,

 

what your marriage is going to be like?

 

if you will get married,

 

will there be enough money?

 

how this illness is going to work out,

 

How will this country, this world turn out…

 

The church…

It’s all about trying to borrow tomorrows mercies that God hasn’t meant to give you yet.

He’s given you bread and mercy for today.

When you get to tomorrow (or a year from now), whatever trials or surprises are there, he’ll give you some more manna for that day.

But there’s something more…

Hebrews 9:4

 

3 things were placed in the Ark of the Covenant

 

Aaron’s staff that budded,

the tablets of the 10 Commandments,

and a jar of manna.

They were meant to remember then and forever, throughout their generations, that  God provided for them in the wilderness.

And yet all the physical provision was simply a sign to the people saying…will you trust me,

not because I give you food,

but because Im your God and you need me and relationship with me more than anything else in this world.

In John 6, the Jews wanted a sign.

After the feeding of the 5,000, when their stomachs were full with bread, they said,

 

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

 

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:31-35

“Give us a sign, Moses gave us manna. What do you have?”

 it wasn’t Moses. It was my Father.

 I’ll give you something better than manna: bread that lasts forever—

Great!... Let’s have this bread!”

And Jesus says…

It’s me.. I’m the manna from Heaven.

Eat of me and you will never go hungry and never  thirst.

 

Just the day before Jesus has fed the multitude over on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

They saw firsthand the miraculous provision from Jesus.

Any thinking person would immediately have said…last time this kind of thing happened was in the wilderness during the exile.

Who is this man? How can he do these miracles?

And Jesus is telling them…He is God’s Son, He is the only one who can provide for them…food that will never end.

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:31-35

Every human being is hungry. There is a spiritual hunger that every human being has.

The deep longing for peace, for meaning in life.

There is an emptiness, a restlessness that’s impossible to end no matter what we do to occupy ourselves…

Augustine speaking about God…”We are restless until we find our rest in You”

 

Have you eaten? This is an invitation… it’s actually imperative…

 

 

Better in Egypt? (Notes from Tim Chester Explore Bible reading notes on Exodus 16)

Read Exodus 15 v 27 – 16 v 3

• Why do Israel not need to trust in God’s provision while they are in Elim (15 v 27)?

• How do they respond once they do need God to provide, in the Desert of Sin (16 v 1-3)?

• The people are effectively telling God, We wish you hadn’t bothered rescuing us. We wish you’d left us as we were. One of the characteristics of grumbling is that it often imagines idealised and unrealistic alternatives.

• In chapter 2, the people were groaning and crying out. Now, all of a sudden they think of Egypt as a wonderful place to live! The Egyptians slave drivers are forgotten. Indeed, they suggest it was God who oppressed them in Egypt (“if only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt”, 16 v 3). And they claim God’s intentions are malign (“you have brought us out … to starve this entire assembly”).

Trust issues

Read Exodus 16 v 4-36

• How does God graciously provide for his people this time (v 4-8)?

• What further instructions does Moses give about collecting the heaven-sent manna (v 19, 22-24)?

• How do the people respond (v 20, 27)?

• Some of the people trust their efforts, their savings and their provision. They go to bed looking at the pot of manna saved for tomorrow and that makes them feel secure. But the next morning, it is full of maggots and has started to smell. There is no alternative but to trust that God will provide tomorrow.

• The exception to this is the seventh day—and again, this is an invitation to trust God. But again, the people struggle to rely on him (v 27).

• One of the ways in which we demonstrate our trust is in God is our ability to rest. We can rest because we are trusting God to provide. So if you can’t rest—if you’re always busy with your work or your family or your ministry—it is because you’re not trusting God. You’re trying to secure your own future or create your own identity or provide your own justification.

• In the desert, God is schooling his people to trust him with daily trust.

• As a permanent reminder of this lesson, a jar of manna is “to be kept for the generations to come” (v 32-36).
• We have to learn to trust him every day. Hence the Lord’s prayer: “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6 v 11).

APPLY

How do you need to learn the lesson of the manna today?

What practical different would a complete reliance on God’s provision make to you?