Introduction: How can we move from being a fearful, complaining people to a people who are powerful, confident and dependent on the Lord? As we look at this lesson I would like to suggest a practical approach to our areas of difficulty, activities that the Israelites didn’t use.
1) Listen to God’s Word
2) Remember what God has done
3) Trust God to meet overwhelming circumstances
The first problem that the people faced was water that was bitter. And so begins a sad story of unbelief and God’s miraculous provision. He is long suffering as a teacher with difficult students-in fact, they had a learning disability called unbelief. They were also afflicted with a poor memory forgetting that not so long ago they were trapped between the Red sea and Pharaoh’s army. The unbelief had a serious end result. They were not allowed to enter the promised land, a fitting end for a people who never believed God’s promises. God was leading the people and their camp was beside bad water. The people complained against Moses.
This could have been a right response, a response of faith to this situation:
1) God has lead us here
2) The water is bitter
3) God has a plan
4) Let us watch what God is going to do
5) Let us give thanks and praise God for His great power and character
The Lord did heal the water and the people were able to drink it. He became Jehova Ropha-the Lord who heals. I don’t know what the Israelites were expecting in the desert, but this is earth, not heaven and there will be difficulties. While we are on the earth we can expect trials, circumstances that are overwhelming, but we also have a God who provides for us.
They next come to Elim, a place of rest and blessing. A place to be refreshed and enjoy good things. But the Israelites can not stay there as they will no longer depend on God and will remain an immature people who fail every test.
Manna
The people got hungry and started to complain. They didn’t remember all that God had done for them, but they did remember the good times they had in Egypt. I think that we can see a defective memory at work here, certainly a selective one. A few chapters ago they were crying out to the Lord because of their bondage in Egypt and now they are saying that they ate well. God once more provides miraculously for the people.
There are some that say the manna was a naturally occurring substance. This is completely unreasonable as the amount needed was for 2 million people and their live stock everyday for 40 years. Natural resources can’t handle that kind of demand. Also God had specific instructions on how to collect, use and handle this stuff. If it was held over for the next day, it became maggoty and stunk. But on the 6th day they were to collect enough for the Sabbath and on that day it was held over with out problems. There was no manna on the ground on the 7th day. At every turn there were people who didn’t listen to God’s word and that He meant what He said. This is the first mention of the Sabbath since the Creation when God rested on the 7th day. We find that the Sabbath was observed before the Ten Commandments. The manna ceased to fall from heaven when the forty years were over and they were to enter the promised land.
There are 2 very important points in this story. The first one is the emphasis on daily provision. God meets us everyday. He provides for everyday. His daily care helps us to depend on Him for all our needs. Lam. 3:22-23 and Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt.6:25-34 and it is also included in the Lord’s prayer. The second one that Jesus himself is the Bread of Heaven, the bread of life. Jesus is God’s ultimate provision for our sin.
In chapter 17, the Israelites are back into the problem of needing water. Their reaction is one of complaining and unbelief. We all need water and Jesus knew that our need runs deep. In John 4 He talks about being the living water that satisfies for all time.
Warren Wiersbe says, “Every difficulty God permits us to encounter will become either a test that can make us better or a temptation that can make us worse, and it’s our own attitude that determines which it will be. If in unbelief we start complaining and blaming God, then temptation will trap us and rob us of an opportunity to grow spiritually. But if we trust God and let Him have His way, the trial will work for us and not against us and help us grow in grace.”
So then how do we attack our complaining, unbelief and panic in the face of overwhelming circumstances? By bringing our minds and spirits into discipline.
1) Identify the negative feeling-worry, fear, anger, revenge
2) Name the feeling and the problem-you have 5 minutes to wallow
3) Remember the times that God has taken care of you and your friends, all that God has done in Scripture.
4) Find scriptures that meet your need, memorize them, and meditate on them, distract your mind from the problem.
5) Learn scriptures of praise and hope. Focus on God’s great power and love.
Phil. 4:8-9
We will be people of faith, enjoying and experiencing God, being trustworthy people that God can count on, if we: listen to God’s word, remember all that God has done and trust God to care for us.