LESSONS FROM THE DESERT - Part 3 - The Desert of Doubt and Disobedience - Numbers 14

 It has probably happened to all of us at one time or another.  We believe we know God’s will for us in a given situation – we know that saying “yes” will launch us on a great adventure of faith, giving us an opportunity to experience the Lord’s power, presence and provision as never before.  But moving ahead scares the life out of us.  

That was my experience in Bible Study Fellowship when our teaching leader decided to retire and asked me to replace her.  I knew that the Lord had prepared me for the job and I was excited about it.  But saying “yes” was the easy part!  Doing the job, trying to keep my eyes on the Lord, despite the incredible fear I felt week after week was the hard part!

All of those unknowns, and “what ifs”, and potential change we face in saying “yes” to God can sabotage our faith, and fill us with fear.   We’re afraid to take that first step of faith, but the only alternatives are to stand still, or turn back in fear!  We’re in a “desert of doubt”, afraid to move ahead, and afraid to turn back.

And then there are the times when God clearly says, “Do this”, but this resistance and rebellion wells up in our hearts because we just don’t want to do what he’s asking us!.   

·         He says, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, and we think about our nasty mother in law, or boss, or co-worker, or relative

·         He says, “Respect your husband”, but we think, when he earns it, then I’ll respect him

·         He says, “Be content in your circumstances”, but being home all day with toddlers makes us long for a job, or a greater mental challenge.

·         He says, “The church needs a Sunday school teacher”, but we want the freedom to go away on the weekends, or we think the younger women should step up and do it.

·         He says, “Do you love me enough to give up your dream for mine?”, but we’re not sure we do.

·         He says, “Do you see that struggling young woman?   I want you to be her mentor and friend”, but we don’t want to commit our time.

We might have some very reasonable excuses for refusing to obey, but we know in our hearts that they are only excuses, not legitimate reasons.  

We’re not afraid of the outcome, we just don’t want to do what the Lord is asking of us.  We’re in a “desert of disobedience”, a desert of our own making!

We’ll see both these reactions in the people of Israel in this blog and learn some lessons for us when we find ourselves in a similar situation.

In my last blog we left nation of Israel about 2 months out from deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  God has demonstrated His power, provision and protection all along the way as He led them through desert regions to Mt. Sinai at the foot of the Arabian Peninsula.  They remained there for more than a year while God gave them His law, including the 10 Commandments. 

There they also received instructions regarding festivals, as well as the design and instructions for building the Tabernacle and its furnishings.  All of that was included in the book of Exodus.

Remember, God has a purpose in the desert wanderings of this people.  On the way to fulfilling His promises to Abraham, including giving them the land of Canaan, God has been testing Israel’s obedience, growing Israel’s faith in Him – so that when they arrive in the Promised Land, they will be a nation so obedient, so set apart for Him, and so different from their neighbors that it will create in them a longing to know the God of Israel.

After the book of Exodus, comes the book of Leviticus which picks up where Exodus leaves off.  Its main message is the holiness of God.  

·         Lev. 19:2 “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy”.  

Because unholy, sinful people can’t approach a holy God, the book of Leviticus gives God’s detailed instructions for offering sacrifices in the Tabernacle.  These sacrifices, which God ordained, were symbols of repentance for the forgiveness of the sins of the people but they offered temporary relief.  Because they could not do away with the guilt of sin, they needed to be repeated over and over.  

They were pictures of the ultimate sacrifice of the Lord Jesus whose sacrificial life and death would be the ONCE AND FOR ALL sacrifice that would make the system of Old Testament sacrifices no longer necessary.

It’s when we get to the book of Numbers that the history of the movements of the nation toward the Promised Land begins again.  

Israel was still a nation that had a lot to learn about obeying God and trusting in His faithfulness.  The grumbling and complaining we saw in Exodus 16 last week continued through the time of their sojourn at Mt. Sinai, and on again through their journey toward the land of Canaan.

The first thing we read about in the book of Numbers is a census, which is the reason the book is called “Numbers”.  Since the Promised Land was already occupied by a number of different people groups, conquering it would require going into battle, so in preparation for going into the land, God instructed Moses to count the number of fighting men from each tribe.   

Before we get to chapter 14, which we’re going to look at in more detail, let's summarize chapter 13 where Moses gives instructions about a variety of things and he faces some interesting challenges in the opening chapters of the book that you might want to read about on your own.  

It will probably be a familiar story to many of you – although there’s always something new to learn from God’s Word, right?

It has been about 2 years since the Israelites have left Egypt.  God has now led them near the border of the Promised Land in preparation for going in.  

Moses records over in Deuteronomy 1 that at that time the people came to him and suggested they send men ahead to spy out the land first and report back.  The Lord allowed their plan to go ahead, so Moses told the people to select one man from each of the 12 tribes. 

Numbers 13:17-33

Moses sent the 12 spies out to explore Canaan, with these instructions: see what the land is like:

• Whether the people are strong or weak, few or many?

• What kind of land do they live in – is it good or bad?

• What kind of towns are there – unwalled or fortified?

•  Is the soil fertile or poor?

• Are there trees or not?

• Do your best to bring back some fruit (it was the season of the first ripe grapes)  

So they went up and explored.

• They found a single cluster of grapes on one branch.  It was so big they had to carry it on a pole between two men!  

• There were pomegranates and figs too.

Aft 40 days they returned and reported to Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community.

o   They showed them the fruit of the land and

o   Reported that the land DID flow with milk and honey

o   BUT the people who lived there were powerful, the cities very large and fortified; and other people groups were already occupying land

Caleb, one of the 12 spies, silenced everyone and spoke up, saying: 

• We SHOULD GO UP and take possession of the land for we CAN CERTAINLY do it!

BUT men who had gone with him said:  

• We can’t attack those people, they are stronger than we are!

They spread among the Israelites a BAD report about land, saying:

• The land devours those living in it.  

• All the people we saw are of great size.  We seemed like grasshoppers (in comparison!)  

•   And descendants of Anak are there  (These were a very tall race – Goliath may have descendant of Anak)

God had made a promise and now it was time to claim it – but when God said, “GO”,  fear and unbelief kept the Israelites from moving ahead.  The people and circumstances they faced seemed BIGGER than the God who made the promise that the land was theirs.

Fear reigned in the camp of Israel – Numbers, chapter 14

v. 1 That night the whole community raised their voices and wept aloud 

We can hear their fear and unbelief in their grumbling words (V. 2-4):

•  It would have been better for us if we had just died in Egypt!

• Why would the Lord bring us here and then let us die fighting the people of the land?

• Our wives/children will end up as slaves!

• We should turn back to Egypt!

·         Their fear even caused them to reject God’s leader – Moses – to find another and go back.

•  v. 5 When Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell face down before the whole assembly!  

·         That’s an interesting reaction, isn’t it?

• ·v. 6 Joshua and Caleb, two of those who explored the land, tore their clothes 

·         That’s another interesting reaction.  

Joshua and Caleb said:

• The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good

•  v. 8  IF Lord is pleased with us, He WILL lead us into that land, land flowing with milk and honey and He WILL give it to us

• v. 9  Only DO NOT REBEL against Lord.  

• Do not be afraid of the people of the land because we will swallow them up

• Their protection is gone, but Lord is with us.  

• Do not be afraid of them!  

While the people of Israel were trembling in fear and doubt, Joshua and Caleb were walking by faith in God & His promises – so confident that the Lord would be faithful that they encouraged their fellow Israelites to believe God and move in to take the land!  

·         The actions of Moses and Aaron and Joshua and Caleb in these verses show that they were also afraid – but not of moving into the Promised land.  

o   They had a holy fear of God Himself – a fear of the consequences of rebelling against Him and His will for them.

o   They tried to encourage the people that IF they were doing as the Lord asked, they had no need to fear, He would be with them!

·         BUT they also issued a warning!   Rebelling against God was a serious offense against Him!

v. 10- BUT there was no convincing them!  The whole assembly talked about stoning Moses and Aaron

 

·         Then the glory of the Lord appeared at Tent of Meeting to ALL the  Israelites.

 

·          I wonder what went through the minds of those standing in the crowd when they saw this visible evidence of God’s presence in the form of the pillar of cloud hovering over the tent of meeting.

The Lord, reacting to the lack of faith among the people, said to Moses (v.11):  

• How long will these people treat me with contempt?  

• How long will they refuse to believe in me in spite of all miraculous signs I have performed among them?

• I will strike THEM down with a plague and destroy them, but will make YOU into a nation greater and stronger than they

What follows in v. 13 is one of several prayers Moses offers to God on behalf of the people.  If you’re looking for something new and fresh to study from the Bible, you might consider looking at the various prayers God’s people prayed.

Moses proves himself to be a great and humble intercessor on behalf of Israel – as well as one who loves the Lord and desires to uphold the faithfulness of God’s name to those looking on.  He prayed:  

• (If you destroy this people you chose to be your own) then Egypt will hear (and what will they think?)!

• By your power you brought these people up from among the Egyptians

• The Egyptians will tell the inhabitants of Canaan about it
•  
•  They have already heard that you are WITH these people and that you have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them and you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night

• If you put them to death all at once, nations who have heard about you will say:

o   (What kind of God is HE!)

o   The Lord WAS NOT ABLE to bring them into the land He promised, so he slaughtered them in the desert

• v. 17  (No Lord!  You can’t do this!  On the contrary) may your strength be displayed as you declared (THESE are your strong points, Lord!)

• You are slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving sin, and rebellion
•  Yet, he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of fathers to the 3^{rd and} 4^th generation. 
• In accordance with your great love, (because you are a God of great LOVE) forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt till now.

V. 20  See how quickly the Lord responds to Moses’ prayer with mercy. . He will not destroy the people of Israel, He will actually forgive them, BUT there will be consequences to their disobedience.

• I have surely forgiven them, as you asked,

• Nevertheless, as sure as I live and as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth

• Not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but disobeyed me and tested me

• Not one will ever see the land I promised to their forefathers

• No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it

• BUT because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land and his descendants will inherit it

The consequence would be that that generation would never get to enter the land God had promised them and they, AND their children would spend the next 40 years wandering in the desert instead of occupying the land.

 

v. 26 The Lord said to to Moses and Aaron:

• How long w this wicked community grumble against me?

• I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.

·         Tell them:

• As surely as I live, I will do to you the very things I heard you say

• In this desert your bodies will fall – everyone of you 20 years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me

• Not one of you will enter the land, except Caleb and Joshua

• As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring THEM in to enjoy the land you have rejected

• But you – your bodies will fall in this desert

• Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert

• For 40 years, one for each of the 40 days you explored the land – you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you

• I, the Lord, have spoken and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded against me.

• They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die

What a high price their disobedience cost them – and their children!

Unbeknownst to me, at the time I was writing this blog, our pastor would preach a sermon about the importance of keeping God’s commandments.  

·         He said, “Belief in God, loyalty to God, and love for God, are the secret to success in life, but disregarding God and His commands guarantees destruction”.  

This is a very sobering lesson isn’t it?

There are lots of lessons we could apply to our own lives from this passage. Here are a couple:

When God says “go, or do this”, we can’t let fear or “what if’s” hold us back, or we miss the blessing of knowing God better and fulfilling His plans for us and the next generation.

What if Abraham had said “no” when God called him out of Ur?  

·         What if fear of the reliability of this God he didn’t know very well stopped him?  

·         What if he thought about all the things he was leaving behind and decided the cost was too high?  

·         What if when drought hit in Canaan, he decided to just go back to Ur?

·         Look at what he would have missed:

o   This amazing plan God had, not only for his life, but for Isaac’s life, and Jacob’s life, and Joseph’s life, and for the nation of Israel that would come from them? 

o   They may have missed out on the honor God bestowed upon that nation to be HIS people and be THEIR GOD and carry on His plan of redemption through Jesus Christ through them!

What about Moses?  

·         What if when God called him at the burning bush to be his instrument to deliver Israel from slavery, Moses had said no?  

·         He made lots of excuses and tried God’s patience, but God persisted until He agreed.

·         What if he had never interceded with God for the nation?  

What if Jesus had said “no” to the cross?  We would still be lost in our sins!

Some time ago, I watched a program on the life of Oswald Chambers, author of “My Utmost for His Highest”.   He lived in the early years of the 20^th century and was a gifted artist.  He had enrolled in Edinburgh University to study art, but sensed the call of God on His life.  When his freelance art opportunities dried up, he decided to transfer to a Bible college and spent 4 years struggling with God’s will for his life.  In the end, he surrendered completely to whatever the Lord had for him.  He ended up founding a school for pastors.  

His wife faithfully recorded all the sermons he ever preached and after his death at the age of 41, began publishing them.  She died in 1966.  Christians are still using his book today for their devotional readings.  Wow, what an impact he had long after his death!  And all because he said “yes” to God’s plan for him and “no” to his own.

 

How do we know that it’s God speaking His “go” to our hearts and not just our own desires?

#1 CHECK THE BIBLE:

God would never ask us to do anything inconsistent with His Word or character.

·         Is what we think we’re hearing consistent with the Word and character of God?  God would never ask us to do something that was contrary to His Word.

o   Do you think the God who says in the book of Exodus, “You shall not commit adultery” would ever approve of our falling for another man or woman when we are already married?

o   Do you think the God who says:  As far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men, would ever approve of our deliberately being a peace breaker with another family member?

o   Do you think the God who says:  “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of fine jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight”, would have us spend a fortune on botox and cosmetic surgery but spend no time getting to know Him better so we might be beautiful on the INSIDE?

#2 EXAMINE YOUR MOTIVES.  

·         When we think the Lord is leading us to say “yes” or “no” to something, we have to ask:  Is it my desire to obey and glorify God that causes me to want to say yes, or is this something I just WANT for my own reasons?   Am I more interested in building MY kingdom, or God's?

·         Is it fear that’s keeping me from saying yes?  

·         If God is calling me to say yes to His desire for me, then I might just have to take that first step AFRAID, and let God prove His faithfulness to me.

Ask yourself:  Is my “yes” or “no” to God’s direction due to something I want or don’t want – or is it a willingness to surrender my will to what God really wants, no matter what that is?

#3  PRAY

·         Jesus prayed all night before choosing His disciples.

·         In Acts 1, the Apostles were praying when they were led to seek a replacement for Judas.  They made a list of the qualifications they wanted this person to have, chose two men who filled them, and they prayed again.  And the Lord answered by giving them the direction they needed.

#4  DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: to speak to your heart and mind giving confirmation of God’s direction and the courage to take the first step.

·         The book of Acts records that the Apostle Paul had planned to preach the gospel in Asia but was prevented from doing so by the Holy Spirit.  They were getting ready to set off in a different direction when the Spirit, through a dream Paul had during the night, showed them that they were to go instead to Macedonia to preach the gospel there.

·         When in doubt, don’t.   Sometimes doubt is caused by fear, and fear can be overcome by the Spirit.  But sometimes doubt is that sense of hesitation that you shouldn’t make a decision yet.  When you’re not sure, give it time and continue to pray.

#5  SEEK GODLY COUNSEL:

·         Sometimes it’s good to share your struggle with a godly friend who knows you well and isn’t afraid to ask you the hard questions!  Someone who will pray with and for you.

·         They can help you examine your motives.

So, how about some thought provoking questions?

What will you do the next time you face a desert of doubt or disobedience?  

Will you allow fear of the unknown to stop you in your tracks? 

Will you make excuses for not doing what you know God is directing you to do? 

If you're sure He's leading, will you take the next step to follow God, even if you have to do it afraid?

When the Lord clearly tells you to do something - but you just don't want to - will you examine your motives to see if there is any rebellion, or anger, or self will there - and confess it?

How willing are you to surrender your will and embrace God's will for you?   

Remember, God had a plan for the people of Israel.  IF they participated in His plan by obeying His commands, they would be blessed.  But if they insisted on their own way, they would miss out on His blessings themselves and lose the ability to impact the world for Him.  And the suffered some pretty serious consequences for deliberate disobedience!

When God says, "go", we can't let fear or self will hold us back.  And when God says, "do this, or don't do that", we dare not disobey!

Which would YOU rather do? 

Have and do what you want, but miss out on the blessing God has for you in obedience? 

Or will you take the risk, even if you have to take the first step AFRAID, in order to experience the faith stretching challenge of doing things God's way, and reaping the reward of knowing Him in a deeper, more intimate way than ever before so that the world sees God's glory?

PRAYER, KINGDOM ASSIGNMENTS, AND A SNOW STORM

Years ago I participated in something called, "The Lighthouse Project".  The basis of it was to pray regularly for our neighbors in the hope of meeting them and sharing the love of Jesus with them.  I prayed for our neighbors for quite some time and the Lord provided a number of serendipitous opportunities to meet many of them.  Out of those encounters a summer Bible study was launched in a neighbor's home.  We had about 15 women that summer, a number of them neighbors who had never studied the Bible before.  Out of that study another was launched in a neighboring town at the home of one of our participants who then invited 4 of her friends.  One stopped after that summer and the other the next summer when kids were home from school again.  It was a hugely exciting answer to prayer and a very spiritually fruitful time.

In the years since, I'm ashamed to say, I hadn't done any really consistent praying for my neighbors unless I knew someone had a specific need.  But then a challenge from our pastor, maybe a year ago now, got me started again.  I don't pray for them every week, but they occupy a separate page of my prayer list, so I pray for them on a rotation, probably once every other week.  I've listed them by name if I know their names, or I remember them by the little I do know about them if I don't. 

Guided by "The Lighthouse Project" suggestions of many years ago, I pray that the Lord will bless them:

1. Physically - with good health, protection from injuries, things like that.
2. Socially - with good marriages, good relationships with co-workers, extended family, neighbors
3. Emotionally - freedom from fear and depression, a sense of contentment
4. Financially - with freedom from debt, wise decision making, enough money to cover their bills, job security
5. Spiritually - with a sense of their need for God, a soft heart toward Him
6. And the last thing I pray for is opportunities to get to know them and show them the love of Jesus.

A few weeks ago I was praying for them and lamenting to the Lord that there had been so few opportunities to connect with any of the neighbors.  I contented myself with the thought that even if ALL I was doing was praying for them - I may be the ONLY one who was - and the Lord was hearing my prayers and He was at work.  I figured it was important to just keep on praying and anticipating that the Lord would eventually open a door.

Then about a month ago, our pastor announced that as a church, we were going to participate in what he called the first of three "Kingdom Assignments".  That Sunday anyone who wanted to participate received a $100 bill (from the $5000 the elders had set aside).  Along the lines of the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 25:14-30, we were to use our time and talents and the $100 as seed money, and seek to multiply it.  At the end of January, all the money that we raise will be collected, with one third of it going to the town in which our church is located; one third to a non-profit agency in Bergen County, NJ where many of our members live, and the remaining third to a non-profit in Rockland County, NY,  where the rest of our members live.

There is a HUGE amount of excitement at church.  Everyone's creative "wheels" are turning to think of ways to earn money!  It's the most ministry excitement we've had in a LONG time!

Immediately, I began to try and think of ways we could combine a way to earn money with a way to bring the neighbors together too.  My daughter and I thought of using our baking and cooking talents to make meals and desserts.  But before I put a plan on paper and decided on a date to launch it, the unexpected happened!  We had a huge snow storm - not in December - which is the more expected time for snow - but on the last Saturday in October, right before Halloween!  And what a storm it was!

Because the leaves were still on the trees and the snow was so wet and heavy, the afternoon air was filled with loud cracking sounds, followed by falling tree limbs.  Thankfully, we fared well.  We lost a number of smaller branches in our back yard that it took us an afternoon to clear.  But all day long we watched out our front windows as limbs from tall oaks fell into the yards of our neighbors.  The people directly across from us had the worst damage.  One of their front yard trees split in two, bringing down cable lines and endangering electrical lines too.  Another tall tree lost limbs that nearly hit their cars.

When Sunday dawned, beautiful and sunny, we could better survey the damage.  Church had already canceled Sunday school classes, but despite the extra time that gave us for getting to the worship service, once we began to try and get the deep, ice encrusted snow off our cars, we realized we wouldn't get out on time.  So we determined to make it a "love our neighbors" day instead.  Once we cleared off our cars, and gathered downed branches, we went over to the neighbors and helped them drag their fallen tree limbs into the street.  We were at this quite a while until the job we were able to do was done.  Professionals had to be called to do the rest.

The next day, the neighbor with the most damage came over to invite us and all of the other neighbors to a pot luck on Saturday night.  Many of the neighbors living on our cul de sac were there, including ones we didn't know.  It was a great time!  We didn't initiate it, but it brought our neighbors together and paved the way for another event that we will initiate during which we'll tell them about our Kingdom Assignment and ask if they'd be interested in helping the non-profit we'll support by ordering some of our baked goods.

When all of this happened I never once thought about my prayers for my neighbors.  It was only yesterday in Sunday school when I was telling my junior high students about praying for our neighbors that one of them said: "Oh, so YOU'RE the one we have to blame for that snow storm, just so you could reach out to your neighbors!". 

It was a funny moment, but suddenly I thought, "Wow, I know that the Lord didn't send that snow storm just so the Elwoods could connect with their neighbors!  But He did help us to see that our kingdom assignment THAT day was to reach out to our neighbors with the love of Jesus.  And that was a direct answer to my prayers.  

 It was encouragement to me as well to keep on praying because He undoubtedly was busy answering the other prayers I pray for my neighbors too.

LESSONS FROM THE DESERT - Part 2 - The Desert of Want - Exodus 16

Just as the Lord had foretold, Jacob and his family entered Egypt just 70 people strong, and then after the death of Joseph and the Pharaoh he served, the people of Israel were enslaved.

After the 400 years God had foretold would be the length of their slavery, the people cried out to the Lord.  He heard them and sent Moses to Pharaoh with the instructions to “let My people go”.   

You know the story. Pharaoh refused, so the Lord sent 10 plagues on Egypt, each one worse than the last, with the last being the death of the firstborn of every family in Egypt, while the Lord “passed over” all those of His people who had sprinkled blood on the doors and lintels.  (The Passover is still remembered yearly to this day just as the Lord commanded.)

During that terrible night, Pharaoh finally summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up!  Leave my people, you and the Israelites!  Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.” 

 Not only did the Lord fulfill the promise of deliverance from slavery that He had made to Abraham, He also gave them favor with the Egyptians, so that they left with articles of silver and gold and clothing – fulfilling that same promise to Abraham that they would come out “with great possessions”.

If you know the story, you know that Pharaoh had a change of heart and pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea where God parted the waters so the Israelites could go through on dry ground.  The Egyptians followed and lost their lives when the waters were released.

Immediately, we read in Exodus 15:32, the people of Israel faced their first desert experience  – they ran out of water, and the only water they could find was bitter, so they immediately grumbled against Moses.  The Lord made the water sweet, and then led them to Elim, where there was an oasis with plenty of drinking water and a place to rest and be refreshed.

God led a family of 70 into the land of Egypt where He protected and provided for them – even though their time there would include 400 years of slavery!  BUT now, He had delivered and led out of Egypt a NATION that had grown to nearly 2 million people!

They were united by their common history, their common location, their common occupation, and their common desert experience – hard and cruel slavery.

I was wondering this week what kind of witness for God there had been among them throughout those years in Egypt.

Undoubtedly there was a verbal, historical witness.  They had probably all heard of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and the promises God made to them that included this current generation as well.  Those promises must have been a huge encouragement during those years of slavery.  God had promised Abraham that their slavery WOULD end and then He would lead them to the Promised Land.

There also would have been the verbal witness of faith that went beyond just ancestral history, to a trust and commitment in the God who made the promises.  We read about the faith of various individuals in this time in Israel's history in the New Testament book of Hebrews 11, verses 22; 23-24; and 29.

“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones (to carry them to the land of promise and bury them there)”.

“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for 3 months after he was born, because they saw that he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.”

“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.”

There was a godly influence in Israel, although the nation as a whole still had a lot to learn about God, and what He required of them as He worked in and through them to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

His plan was for them to be:

• A witness for Him, by their lives and words, to the idolatrous nations around them as they followed the one, true, living God – to make God known

• The guardians of His Word – first verbal, and then written.  It’s because of the faithful preservation of God’s Word by the Jews that we know God and His plan of redemption from the Old Testament today!

• The nation through whom God’s Redeemer, Messiah, would come

When they left Egypt, they were FAR from being that nation.  So their desert experiences were designed by the Lord to accomplish His purposes in and through them.

God uses OUR desert experiences for the same purpose – to reveal Himself to us and to those around us, to make us people of The Word, and disciples of the Lord Jesus.  He works in us individually, and as the church of Jesus Christ.

EXODUS 16: 1-3

Two months later after the account at the end of Exodus 15, the Israelites are back in the desert again. 

There, the whole community grumbled against Moses/Aaron his brother saying:

·         “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!”

How contagious complaining is!  This wasn’t just one or two disgruntled squeaky wheels, this was the entire community!  

We are quite a nation of complaining people ourselves!  If you’re not quite sure of that, take a minute to write down one or two things you complained about just this morning!   

We complain about our cable service (or lack thereof), of having to wait on line or in traffic.  We complain about the food or the service when we go to a restaurant.  We complain about taxes (what’s NOT to complain about there!), politicians, the president, Republicans and Democrats, the price of gas, the IRS, hot flashes, not getting enough sleep, the noisy neighbors - and on and on.  

And we Christians do our own share.  We complain about our pastor, our church, and our brothers/sisters in Christ.

• Can you remember the last nice thing you said about, or to, your pastor?  How about to your elders, or your children’s Sunday school teachers, or youth leaders, or the youth themselves?

• How about the last critical thing you said about them?  Can you remember that?

• It’s no longer “clergy appreciation month”, but it’s never too late or inappropriate to speak a word of encouragement to our pastor, our leaders, our teachers.  Maybe it’s time to make a phone call or send a card and tell them how much we appreciate them! 

Apparently, we in the US are not the only ones who complain. My husband passed along something someone sent him on e mail.  It was an actual answering machine recording from a school in Queensland, Australia.  

You know how they go, you dial the number, and then hear the options.  Here were the school’s options:

1.  If you are calling to lie about your child’s absence – press 1. 
2. If you are calling to make excuses for why your child isn’t doing his homework – press 2.
3.  If you are calling to complain about what we do – press 3
4. If you are calling to swear at staff members – press 4
5.  If you’re calling to ask why you didn’t get certain information that has already been enclosed in your newsletter or in several fliers that have been sent to you – press 5
6.  If you want to use US to raise your child – press 6
7. If you want to reach out and touch, slap, or hit someone – press 7
8. To request another teacher for the 3^rd time this year – press 8
9. To complain about bus transportation – press 9
10.  To complain about school lunches – press 10

• If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable for his or her behavior, class work, and homework, and it’s not the teachers’ fault for your child’s lack of effort, then hang up and have a nice day!

Sound familiar?

Well, the Israelites were in a complaining mood and poor Moses got the brunt of it!  

It’s ironic, isn’t it, that in only 2 months the Israelites are looking back at 400 years of slavery as, “the good old days”!   

When I read what the people of Israel are saying here, I think their attitude goes something like this:

·         “Okay, so the Lord freed us from Egypt, and parted the Red Sea, and provided water when we needed it, but what has He done for us lately!  Now we need food.  What is He going to do about THAT?”

Isn’t it just like human nature to forget God’s past faithfulness when we find ourselves in a new desert experience?  Suddenly “the good old days” of God’s past faithfulness are replaced with the “what has He done for me lately” attitude that is an affront to His goodness.

A desert experience can bring out the worst in us, but it can also be the very thing God chooses to use in order to encourage us to remember the “good old days” of His past faithfulness.

So which kind of “good old days” are YOU remembering in your desert – the “good old days” when everything was going well for you, or the “good old days” when things weren’t going well, but God was abundantly faithful?

·         I Thess. 5:18 Paul says, “Give thanks in ALL circumstances (even the desert experiences), for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Chapter 16:4-8; 11-12; 13-32

The people of Israel forgot God’s past faithfulness & grumbled over what He wasn’t providing now.  He heard their grumbling and knew it wasn’t against Moses, it was against Him!  Despite that – notice His abundant grace as He trained this people to obey and know Him.

• 1.    He would rain down bread from heaven (not fire like I would have done!) v. 4

• 2.     It would be there every morning  v. 4

• 3.     Each morning they were to gather as much as they needed – a certain portion (called an omer) for each person –  when the sun came out it would melt away  v. 21

• 4.      They were not to gather more than they needed or it would go bad by morning   v. 20

• 5.     Except on the Sabbath day.   Because God had declared that day a day of rest, He allowed  them to gather twice as much manna on THAT day because on the Sabbath there would be none.  That was the only day on which the manna would NOT go bad!    v. 24-25

• 6.      He also provided quail for them to eat in the evening.   v. 13

God provided manna for them every single day – except on the Sabbath – for every one of the 40 years they wandered in the desert!

So what was the Lord trying to teach the Israelites in the desert of want – when there was no food?

#1 He was testing their obedience.

• v. 4b  “In this way I will TEST them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”  Did they pass God’s test?  Some did. . . . but some didn’t. . . .

•  v. 19-20 Moses said: “No one is to keep any (Manna) until morning”.  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.”

• · V. 25-28 Moses said, “Because today is a Sabbath to the Lord, you will not find any (manna) on the ground today.  Six days you are to gather it, but on the 7^th day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.   
• Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the 7^th day to gather it, but they found none.  Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?”

#2  He was reminding them of His power, provision, and deliverance.

• V. 6  “In the evening you will KNOW that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt and in the morning you will SEE the glory of the Lord.”
•  V. 8  “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.”

# 3  He wanted them to KNOW Him

• V. 11  “The Lord said to Moses: ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.  Tell them, ‘at twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread.  THEN YOU WILL KNOW that I AM the Lord your God!”

You can bet it was no fun to be in a real desert, or in a figurative desert of deprivation and need – but God was there in the desert with Israel, working to train a people who would know Him, who would recognize His power, provision and deliverance, and who would trust and obey Him – not out of fear but out of love and faith.

Having fun in YOUR desert?  Probably not!  But, the important thing is:  What are you learning?

IT’S THROUGH GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO US IN THE DESERT THAT WE KNOW HE IS REAL AND PERSONAL!

God tested the people of Israel to see whether or not they would obey Him.  Could that be why YOU are in your desert?   If the Lord is asking you to obey Him in some area – maybe related to your walk with Him, or in a relationship where your actions have brought discord, or in an area of sin in your life that you just don’t want to give up – then will you OBEY?  

We can see from what happened to those who refused to obey God’s instructions regarding the collection of manna, that when they didn’t obey, they suffered the consequences and went to bed with an empty stomach!  If you’re feeling empty or God seems far away, maybe it’s time for you to obey Him.  That is how we experience His faithfulness and KNOW that He is real and personal!

Maybe God seems far away because you have forgotten His past demonstrations of power, provision, and deliverance in your life.  It might be time to make a list and thank Him.

The last thing to ask yourself is:  What am I learning ABOUT GOD here in the desert?  Ask Him what it is He’s trying to teach you.

Exodus 16: 32-35

The Lord instructed Moses to put an omer of manna in a jar and display it in the front of the Testimony, so that the generations to come could SEE the bread He had given the people to eat in the desert when He brought them out of Egypt. 

If the Lord has brought you out of a desert in your past, what did you learn about Him while you were there?  

Complaining is contagious, but so is gratitude, so how can you pass those lessons on to the generations of children, grandchildren, and spiritual children – God has given YOU so that they might thank Him right along with you?

EACH GENERATION IS RESPONSIBLE TO PASS ALONG AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO THE NEXT

Anytime is a good time to think of ways you can keep the memory of God’s faithfulness alive for those who come after you.

If you like to scrapbook, consider recording with photos and notes how God has been faithful to your family.

Make a video recording for your grandchildren including the history of how you came to know the Lord and what He has meant to you since.

Is the Lord WITH you?  Is He at work?  Does He intend that you be a light to those around you who don’t know Him?  Yes, yes and yes. 

It’s just that sometimes He uses a desert to do His BEST work. 

LESSONS FROM THE DESERT - Part 1 - Israel's "back story".

Have you ever been in a desert?  Years ago Jim and I went to Phoenix, Arizona on vacation – in August!  It was 115 degrees during the day and no one went out – not even to swim in the hotel pool!   



Because we couldn't stand the heat, we left a day early and drove north to the Grand Canyon.  On our way out of Phoenix there were signs everywhere to bring water – for yourself and for the radiator of your car.  The terrain outside of Phoenix was hot, dry, barren, and deserted.  Getting to the cooler and greener mountains of the Grand Canyon area was heaven!  



You may never have been in a actual desert, like the Sahara, or Death Valley or Phoenix in August, but you may have been in situations that FELT like a desert. 



You may have experienced a spiritual desert in which God seemed far away.  Maybe you did all the things you expected would bring you closer, like being in His Word, praying, going to church to be with His people, but He still seemed distant and silent.



You may have experienced an emotional desert through some situation that has depleted you of strength, like the death of a spouse, the moving away of a friend, an estranged relative, a divorce, or being home bound caring for an elderly family member, or weathering coronavirus social distancing with small children.  Maybe you can barely get out of bed, and life has lost its joy, and doesn't seem worth living.



You may have experienced a physical desert through chronic pain, disease, the limitations of an aging body, fear that robs you of sleep and gnaws at your stomach.



These figurative deserts can leave us feeling as dry, barren, deserted, lonely, lost, fearful and sorely in need of creature comforts as real deserts.  Is there anything to be learned in these desert places of our lives?  Is God THERE?



The answer is a resounding YES!   Even in the desert places, God is at work in and through you and your circumstances!



Sometimes God is the One who sent us into the desert in the first place - and certainly He's the One who allows us to be there - even if we venture there through some foolish and sinful decision of our own. But He doesn't leave us there alone.



The people of Israel knew what it was like to be in a literal and figurative desert, and it was God Himself who led them there.  But not without GOOD purpose.



In this blog and the next 3, we'll consider some of the experiences of Israel during their 40 years of desert wanderings, between the time God delivered them from Egypt, and the time they finally entered the land He had promised them.  There are some practical lessons there for us when we find ourselves in a desert time.



Let's begin with the nation of Israel's "back story" so we can find out how they found themselves in a desert in the first place and so we can understand God's bigger purpose for them.  



Before Israel was a nation, God began His purpose for them with ONE man:



Abraham - 

God chose to reveal Himself to an idol worshiper named Abram (later God would change his name to Abraham and so I'm going to refer to him as such)



God called Abraham to leave all that was familiar (family, country, customs) to go to the land He would show him.  Abraham went. 



Once Abraham was there, the Lord made some very important and significant promises to him:



These promises were unconditional.  In other words, GOD made the promises, not Abraham, and GOD would keep them, whether or not the nation that would come from Abraham obeyed Him.



 The following promises are taken from the book of Genesis:  



Genesis 12:

 I will make of you a great nation (Abraham was 75 at the time and had no children) 



All people on earth will be blessed through you (One of Abraham's offspring would be God's promised Redeemer who would bless Jews and Gentiles alike - I believe this person was Jesus)



 Genesis 13 and 15:

13:14-15 God told Abraham to look out to the north, south, east and west, as far as he could see, because all that land the Lord would give Abraham and his offspring forever

13:16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth 

15:4-5 Count the stars – so shall your offspring be

15:13 Abraham fell into a deep sleep and the Lord gave him a dream that contained both a prophecy and a promise,



Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own; enslaved and mistreated for 400 years



I will punish the nation they serve and afterward, they will come out with great possessions



ISAAC was Abraham’s son – God confirmed all of these promises to him as well



JACOB was Isaac’s son.  God confirmed the same promises he gave to Abraham & Isaac to Jacob as well.



 Jacob had 12 sons. 

Jacob's son Joseph was born in his father's old age.  Born to his beloved wife Rachel, he was his father’s favorite.  



His brothers were so jealous of him that they pretended to their father that Joseph had been killed by an animal when actually they had sold him to some traders who were on their way to Egypt and there he was sold as a slave.



God would use what these sons did to their brother Joseph to move His plan of redemption from one man, Abraham, to the family that would come from him, to his son Jacob, and build a nation from him - and He would use the "desert" of slavery to do it!



JOSEPH:

Although Joseph started out as a slave in Egypt, we read at the end of the book of Genesis that God’s favor rested on him.  Through an amazing set of circumstances orchestrated by God, Joseph eventually found himself as prime minister of Egypt – second in the line of authority to Pharaoh himself.  As such, he was able to store food in Egypt during seven years of plenty so that when the seven years of drought that followed came, Egypt would have sufficient food.



In Canaan, where Jacob and his family lived, food was running out, so  Jacob sent this sons to Egypt to buy food.  Through a series of circumstances Joseph, without revealing his identity to his brothers, and without being recognized, discovered that his brothers had changed their ways and were sorry for what they had done to him.



In Genesis, chapter 45 there is a very tearful and touching moment when Joseph finally revealed himself to his very repentant brothers and explained that what they had meant for evil, God had meant for good, the saving of Jacob's family.



Jacob’s family is invited by Pharaoh to move to Goshen where they and their flocks prospered until Joseph, and the Pharaoh under which he had served, died.  



Another Pharaoh came into power who did not know Joseph and what came to pass was the fulfillment of the prophecy the Lord gave to Abraham back in Genesis 15.  Abraham's descendants became slaves in Egypt for the next 430 years.   Until God intervened, just as He promised to Abraham.



Under the leadership of Moses, God would deliver what was now a nation of people - called after the new name God had given to Jacob - Israel.



You can read King David’s summary about this period in Israel’s history, in Psalm 105:8-25.



So what are some things we might learn from the desert experiences of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Joseph.



IN THE DESERT WHEN IT’S HARD TO SEE WHAT GOD’S DOING, WE CAN STILL TRUST GOD HIMSELF



Abraham was in a desert of WAITING, celebrating birthday after birthday, and watching the years go by while he waited for the son God promised, the son through whom all those promises would be fulfilled.  How did he cope with all those years of waiting?

Over in the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 11, it says of Abraham:

Verse 8  By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went.  



Verse 9  By faith, Abraham made his home in the promised land, he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob who were heirs with him of the same promise.  



Verse 11  By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age, was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise (that God would make a great nation of him and a Redeemer would come from his descendants).  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead (Abraham was 99 when he found out he would finally be a father of God’s promised son!), came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore!  (Those descendants would include all those who trace their physical ancestry back to Abraham, as well as those who, like Abraham, believe God - this includes both Jews and Gentiles who embrace Jesus as Messiah). 



V. 13 Abraham only saw ONE offspring of promise – Isaac.  He never saw his family become a great nation which would bless other nations.  The only actual land he would ever own in Canaan was the burial plot in which he buried his wife.



Abraham couldn’t SEE what God was doing, since for years he had no son to inherit these great promises God had made to him.  But he BELIEVED God would make good on them because he had learned through those desert years of waiting – that God and His promises were trustworthy. And God counted his believe as righteousness.



You and I may not SEE God’s big picture when we are in a desert of waiting – but we can BELIEVE as Abraham did, that God HAS a big picture in His will for you and He is working it out!



Isaac

 Was in a desert of continual disputes with neighbors over wells in the land of promise.  However, because he had the promise that God had given his father, and then reaffirmed to him, that the land would be theirs, instead of fighting, he exercised faith in God and kept moving from place to place digging new wells.  



Jacob

Experienced a desert of his own making.  Because he desired the blessings God gave to Abraham, of which his brother Esau, (the rightful inheritor as firstborn) was indifferent, he deceived Esau to get both his birthright and his father's blessing.  His deception and Esau's resulting murderous intent toward him, forced him to separate from his family for years.  He had to learn the hard way that God's blessings come to us in God's way. 



Joseph

Experienced a desert of rejection by his brothers, the loneliness of slavery, mistreatment  by Potiphar's wife, and then prison, before in the plan and purpose of God, the Lord elevated him to the high position in Egypt that would eventually save his people.  Joseph's life is the perfect illustration that in the desert, God can be trusted, even when everything seems to be going against you.



We don’t have any record of him doing so, but I wonder if Joseph – like us - ever questioned what the Lord was doing in his life.  I wonder if he ever asked why he was where he was – because it was a LONG time – first in slavery & then in prison – before Joseph was elevated to a position of honor.



More to follow in the next 3 blogs!  But before that, let's make it personal.

What kind of desert experience are you facing?

God has lessons for us in the desert times of our lives that can’t be learned when life is going well – when the grass is green, the breezes are sweet, there is just enough rain, you have plenty to eat and drink, and wonderful family and friends beside you.  



If you are going through a desert experience today, and had the opportunity to speak to any one of these men from Israel's history, they would all tell you, "Be encouraged, you are NOT alone.  God IS with you, and He IS trustworthy, faithful and true".



Don’t waste your desert experience by asking "Why?".   



Abraham never saw the nation God said would come from him and he never owned but a small plot of the land promised.  Isaac moved from place to place also seeing nothing of the fulfillment of God's promises to his father.  Jacob lived to see his beloved son Joseph again, but he was no longer dwelling in the land God promised.  Joseph lived for years, probably believing he would never see his family again - never imagining that God had a purpose in his being there - to save his family in a place where they could grow into the nation God saw them to be, the nation from whom Jesus the Messiah would come.



You may not see what the Lord is up to in the desert in which you currently dwell.   So, instead of asking, "Why am I here?", ask "What?"  



"What is it that you would have me learn while I'm here Lord?  Help me walk by faith in your faithfulness until you lead me out."



More to come. . . . .