“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.’” Exodus 16:3
The Israelites were not enjoying their transitional stage.
It could have been a brief transition, but because of their hearts, it became
very lengthy. Two things were true: they’d come from captivity and God promised
them a wonderful land to possess and rule in. However, they were in neither
place now and they were very vocal about not liking where they were.
Two problems helped to contribute to the Israelite’s
discontent: #1 – glamorizing their tragic past and #2 – not taking hold of the
promise of God for their future. The
Israelites were slaves who endured great oppression and genocide under Egyptian
rule. Yet, in their state of transition, they remembered it for the supposed
benefits. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with appreciating God’s provision
in the midst of hard circumstances, but that is not what they were doing. The
Israelites had been given a promise and saw the Lord move mightily on their
behalf to escort them directly to the promise, but that wasn’t good enough for
them. The Israelites suffered from a severe case of short-term memory loss.
They saw the Lord spare their lives through the blood/doorpost miracle and the
plagues. They saw the parting of the Red Sea – they walked through it! And when
Pharaoh’s army tried the same thing—lights out! Cloud by day, pillar of fire by
night, manna, quail, water from a rock…and still they grumbled, they lamented,
they questioned.
I cannot come down too hard on the Israelites because I see
myself in their behavior. Glamorizing the past? Been there. Knowing the promise
but questioning God? Been there too. Forgetting the times He’s made a way for
me when it looked like it couldn’t happen? Been there many times. It’s
ridiculous! The fact is that God is faithful to His word. He loves us and all
that He allows in our lives truly does work a good thing within us. So I have
to consistently remind myself to exercise my faith, to meditate upon the truth
of His word, to frequently recall all that the Lord has done on my behalf, and
to remember these words:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified
because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
Regardless
of what my past was or was not, God has some great things planned for my
future. I need to keep my eyes on Him and trust that His promises are true. How
about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment