THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #109 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #91
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3794
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #109
THE LIFE OF MOSES #91
FROM ELIM TO THE WILDERNESS OF SIN #1
The Exodus has so many spiritual lessons to teach us.
After the Wilderness of Shur, they left Elim for the Wilderness of Sin ( a geographical name not a moral wrong ).
Enroute they complained that they had no meat to eat as was their wont in Egypt.
Perhaps there were no animals to hunt in the wilderness that resembled the meat they hungered for.
Let's put their complaints in a time perspective:
1. FUTURE - They did not look forward to the glory to come.
They have been promised a land of their own and that they will become a great nation, but all they can see is the pain of the moment.
2. PRESENT- A Chinese proverb says an army does not march on an empty stomach.
Instead of praying for a solution to their hunger, what did they do?
They murmured and complained against Moses ad nausem saying that the god of their bellies demanded justice.
At Marah they wanted water, at the Wilderness of sin they wanted meat.
3. PAST - they also do not see the past and the many ways that God has come through for them especially in the Red Sea Crossing.
Again all they can see is their momentary hunger pains.
We know from Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus endured the Cross for the joy set before Him, and that is what we need to do as well.
But let's be honest here. Are we now in any way better than the complaining Israelites in the Wilderness of Sin?
1. FUTURE. Heaven for us is a future destination that does not interest or inspire us. Who reads or understand the Book of Revelation anyway?
2. PRESENT. As for the present, the Covid situation have thrown our church life and holy huddles out of whack.
And we are arguing among ourselves which vaccine to sign up for or not at all!
3. PAST.
Worse, we are not even grateful for God's blessing in the past much less for the finished work of the Cross two thousand years ago.
Aren't we ripe for God's judgment as they were?
Contrary to expectations, God in his mercy God rained down manna on them - a special kind of heavenly wafer that will feed them for the next 40 years when they were lost in the wilderness.
Surely this act of undeserved grace and mercy would silence their mouths.
This bread pointed to Jesus as the Bread of Life.
But would His own people want Him for Himself or what bread He could provide them?
In our further lessons, we shall see how much we all need His Daily Bread...as He leads us to the Promised Land of Heaven.
