Lessons from the Wilderness - 2/13/05 - Exodus 15+
Turn with me in your Bibles today to Exodus 13. As we have been looking at the Old Testament together, we are reminded that these lessons in these first books of the Bible are very relevant for us today. This was the Bible that Jesus knew and read; the Bible of the disciples; the Bible of the early church. The lessons we learn are not just about people of another century and another culture, but the life lessons we learn are lessons for us today, in Owosso, about what it means to follow God with our whole hearts, to be Fully Devoted Followers of Christ.
We saw in Genesis how God chose to enter into a close relationship with man. Those who followed Him saw him lead them, guide them, and deliver them. We came to Exodus, and saw how God brought deliverance to the people, and led them out of Egypt. We talked about the OT law, all the rules and regulations, and how the law saved no one -- Hebrews 10:4 tells us “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” -- rather the law teaches us that we are all sinners in need of a perfect sacrifice, a savior, Jesus Christ, the sinless, spotless lamb of God.
After coming out of Egypt, we see one of the most significant periods in the whole history of the Jews: 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. This wilderness wandering will be referred to again and again throughout the rest of the Bible. And it is during this time of wandering that the Jews learn some of their greatest lessons. God often uses times of being “in the wilderness” to teach us. Jesus - John the Baptist - Moses - David - Elijah - each of these men of God learned much through their time in the wilderness. And in just the same way, God wants to teach US when we go through times of testing, times of trial, times of wandering and uncertainty.
In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul writes about this time in the wilderness. He says, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.” The cloud he refers to here is the pillar of cloud which was the visible presence of God with his people. Throughout the whole 40 years of wandering, God always had a visible presence with his people. The “sea” was the Red Sea, parted by the miraculous power of God. Paul writes that all 4 million of these Jews enjoyed the presence and power of God displayed in their lives. But as we know the end of the story, everyone over 20 years old died, with the exception of 2 men. Paul continues on, in verse 6
“Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
So, the lessons learned from the Jews wandering in the wilderness are lessons for us, today, that we are to learn. We want to take a look at just a few of them this morning.
I. The Lesson of Timing - The first lesson we can learn from times of wilderness wandering is this:
We need to follow God, even when His leading does not fit with our agenda.
As we look in Exodus 13:17-18 - When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.
The verse starts out “When Pharaoh let the people go” and we remember that it took a long time for Pharaoh to agree. God sent 10 plagues to show his strength over the gods of Egypt. In Exodus 3:19-22 God had already known that Pharaoh would not let the Jews go. God knew that He would need to exercise his strength.
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. The Philistines lived just to the north of Egypt, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Directly to the West of what is today Israel. The area that is known as the Gaza Strip. The trip through there would have been about 200 miles. This was the scenic route, the short route, the route along the Sea. This is the way anyone on their journey would have chosen. But this was NOT the way God led the Jews. Instead, He led them through a much longer route, a route down through the wilderness, taking 2 months to come to Mt. Sinai, in the bottom of the Sinai peninsula.
The way of the Philistines was the LOGICAL choice - but it was NOT God’s choice. Why not?
Verse 18 gives us the answer. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea.
God know that the Jews were not ready yet to engage in any battles. GOD was ready. His power was great enough. But their faith was not. They do end up having battles - but only later after God has built their faith through trust-building exercises.
**Maturity takes time. Often we want to grow without the time and effort and exercise that builds faith. We want God to give us everything we need - but He knows that our faith grows by learning through lesson after lesson to trust him.
That’s what Romans 5:3 reminds us - we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Today you may be questioning God’s timing - you may want to take the direct road to get to the bottom of a problem - but that might very well be the WORST possible road you could take, because you might miss all of the lessons God had prepared for your growth along the longer road through the wilderness.
God’s concern was not how fast his people would be going to the Promised Land. His deepest concern was that they would be the right people once they arrived. If was through the wilderness lessons God built the faith of these Jews to be able to go in and possess the land He had prepared for them. God is not in a hurry. Good things take time. Moses spent 80 years in preparation to lead the Jews out of slavery. Our goal should not be to “get out” of the wilderness, but to follow God.
Verse 18 says they might change their minds and return to Egypt. This would be turning their backs on all that God had for them, giving up, abandoning their faith. Often God gives us “wilderness times” to prepare us so we WON’T give up our faith when we get to a battle, but that we will be prepared to face it in the power of God because we have learned through the wilderness times that God IS Faithful.
From the Jews, we learn the lesson of timing.
We need to follow God, even when His leading does not fit with our agenda.
Is there anything in your life that God is doing that doesn’t seem to fit your timetable? If He going too slow to please you? It may be that there is a very specific purpose to the delay, even though you might not see it for some time. Trust God’s timing!
The second lesson we learn is . . .
2. The lesson of Trust - look with me in Exodus 15:22-27. Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
It took the Jews 3 days to get to the Red Sea. They cross the Red Sea, and travel 3 days in the desert. And in those 3 days, they have forgotten the power of their God. For some reason they fail to remember that their God cares about them. They are fine to travel in the desert without water for those three days, but it is as they are faced with finding water that is bitter - water that they can’t have - that they turn against Moses. Often discontent comes only after we see what it is we can’t have.
You can be find driving a ten year old vehicle until you see your neighbor’s new cadillac. Then suddenly your beat-up old van with 150,000 miles suddenly becomes bitter to you. you can be fine wearing K-mart clothes, until you see that everyone else at school is wearing designer labels. You can be fine with you nice wicker basket until you visit your best friend who has a whole Longaberger basket collection in her kitchen.
Discontent often comes when we are faced with things we COULD have but DON’T have. Because what really happens is we end up BLAMING GOD for what we don’t have! And what we ultimately end up doing is saying, “God, you don’t care about me! Because if you did love me, you’d give me -- whatever . . .”
Does God care about these Jews? Sure! He just sent a deliverer and turned Egypt upside down to rescue them and bring them out of bondage to a place of promise. But this is also tied to the timing issue. When God doesn’t work in the way WE want him to work in the timing we want, we think he doesn’t care about us.
What does God do? He first has Moses cure the water so they can drink it. Moses takes a branch and throws it in the water. I don’t believe there is anything magical about the branch, but it was simply a step of faith, a step of obedience for Moses to follow. When Moses is obedient, God performs the miracle and makes the water good. But I think the key is looking at verse 27. What is right on the other side of the test? An oasis with 12 springs and 70 palm trees.
God brings us to the Marahs of life - times of testing - times of disappointment - times when things don’t work out good - to test our hearts. That’s what we see in verse 25. God was setting up a test, to test the faithfulness of the people. But when we come through the Marahs of life God has a Palm Springs right on the other side. The pathway of blessing is through the obstacle of trials. And in those trials God wants to learn if we can trust him.
We move on to chapter 16, and we see this aspect of TRUST is tested once again. The people come to Mt. Sinai one month after leaving Egypt. They have traveled in this desert wilderness for a month. And the people are wishing they were back in Egypt where they had plenty to eat. Can they trust God to provide? Of course they can. But they don’t. They grumble and complain.
Look in 16:4 - Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “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.
Look down in verse 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.’” That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, “No-one is to keep any of it 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. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
God is teaching the Jews the lesson of TRUST. First, they can trust Him to provide for them - he gives them water to drink, food to eat, manna and quail, morning and evening. But the greater test is that they need to trust him EVERY DAY!
God tells the people to gather up an OMER - which is about 2 quarts, a half gallon. He says gather up enough frosted flakes for everyone in your household to eat TODAY. But don’t try to hoard it or save it up for tomorrow. Why not? Because God does not want us to find our security in ourselves, but in him.
In Matthew 6:11, in the model prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples to say, “Give us today our daily bread.” We need to look to God each day. Trust is a daily exercise for us. It’s not good enough to say, Yes, I trusted Christ for salvation. or Yes, there was a time in the past when I had to trust God to get me out of a tough situation. Trust is a daily event. It is to be a part of every Christian’s life every day! Exodus 16:5 reminds us that once again, God is TESTING his people of whether or not they will trust him. Every time we trust God, He always proves himself faithful. God never fails.
In Deuteronomy 8:2 Moses looks back years later and writes, Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
The lesson of TRUST is a lesson to show us what is in our hearts. Trust is not about paying the bills or about having food to eat. It’s not really a lesson about where we work or what we wear or what kind of car we drive. Trust is a lesson of what is in our hearts. Do we have hearts that are committed to relying on God to provide for all of our needs. Do we have hearts that every day honor God and turn to him.
Our muscles grow as we exercise daily, as we walk or run or ride or do our Pilates workouts on a regular basis. Our muscles don’t just pop up one day, they develop gradually. And faith is built the same way. Every day, as we look to God and trust him, our faith grows.
From the wilderness, we learn the lesson of timing, the lesson of trust, and third, we learn
3. The lesson of Thankfulness. - And this lesson is tied in with trust. When we trust God to provide, we need to be thankful for what he does provide. And the Jews failed this lesson miserably. But you know what, so do we. One of the hardest lessons we learn is to be thankful for what God provides.
In Exodus 15 we saw that even though Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, when they see something they want that they can’t have they turn against Moses. They’re ready to lynch him. They want to go back to Egypt. Here in chapter 16, in verse 2, it says, In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round 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.”
The whole group is grumbling, griping, complaining. If they took a vote, they would surely have gone back to Egypt. What Moses doing the right thing? Of course! But the popular opinion was against him. The people stir each other up. They want something different.
Discontent is a deadly disease. Because it not only destroys you, but it destroys everyone you come into contact with. “One bad apple spoils the whole barrel” the old proverb says. or to use a biblical proverb, Gal. 5:9 - “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” All it takes is a few discontent people to get everyone else discontent.
Look at how ridiculous this discontent is. In verse 3 they moan, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted” - They say “if only we were dead, we could have anything we wanted to eat! It makes no sense. But discontent never does make any sense.
What is discontent? What is grumbling? Look in verse 6 - So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “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, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 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.”
When it comes right down to it, grumbling and griping is not about dissatisfaction with someone or something, but is ultimately discontent with God. The people grumbled against Moses, but they were really unhappy with God. And often we show our discontent with how God is or isn’t working and showing his hand by complaining to others.
Their grumbling was really a lack of thankfulness. Instead of thanking God that they were no longer slaves in Egypt, they complained they had to travel in the wilderness. Instead of thanking God for bringing them through the Red Sea, they complain that they’re not still in Egypt. Instead of thanking God for the oasis he provided, they complain because they have to leave the oasis. Grumbling is when we fail to give thanks to God for what he has provided, when we want something different that what God has provided.
In chapter 17 we see the people grumble again, this time for water. They demand Moses give them water, but they never ask God to provide, and knowing he can and will provide, they do not look for God to provide. Often our discontent comes because we demand from God instead of asking from God. We get upset and we tell God what we want and we tell him we want it now. Instead, the godly approach is to ask from God and look for him to supply our every need.
The final lesson we will look at this morning, is
4. The lesson of Taking Risks - and there are many more lessons we can learn from the Jews. There are many more lessons God will teach us as we go through wilderness times. As we continue to read through the Old Testament, we constantly want to look for lessons we can apply to our lives today. Look with me in Numbers 13. The book of Numbers is another book recounting the things that happen during the times of wandering in the wilderness. Here in chapter 13 we find the pivotal decision in the wilderness. The Jews get close to the border of the promised land, and they send out scouts to explore the land. Moses tells them in verse 18 - See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”
The scouts go in for 40 days, then report back in verse 27 - “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Let’s put this into proper perspective. There WERE giants in the land. The land WAS inhabited by strong armies. But the people have forgotten that God already told them this. And He also promised that HE would drive them out. Back in Exodus 23, when Moses receives the 10 commandments, God told Moses these people were living there, but that HE would drive them out little by little.
What we see here is once again a problem of FAITH. And in our lives as well, often God calls us to exercise faith to trust God to help us accomplish the things he calls us to do. What we usually face is a battle between FAITH and FEAR. Fear robs us of joy and the potential of walking with God to new and exciting places. Faith leads us on an exciting journey of daily trust in God. The scouts see themselves as “Grasshoppers.” And in verse 32 we see that mentality spreads and pretty soon everyone else sees themselves as helpless, defenseless grasshoppers.
Our society today is filled with people who have an “inferiority complex.” Our society is one of attack, of put-downs, of insult. We grow up thinking of ourselves as of little worth, little skill, little value to God or anyone else. We feel like grasshoppers. But that mentality is contagious. The Jews go from their slave mentality to a grasshopper mentality. Compare that to Caleb.
In verse 30 we see Caleb’s mentality. He wants to go take the land right away. Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
What we saw back in Genesis is that God will continually throughout our lives call us to step out in faith. It takes risks to follow God. If we are going to learn from the times in the wilderness, we need to learn to take risks.
Attempt something so great for God that it is doomed for failure unless God is in it.
There are two key mistakes we make in taking risks and following God. They are the two opposite extremes of following. First is the mistake of not moving when God says go. God brought the Jews to the land and said - it’s yours, take it. But they balk and fear and don’t want to follow. Notice verse 9 of chapter 14 - Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Failure to follow God and take risks is really rebellion against God.
The other mistake is to foolishly move ahead of God. In chapter 14, God strikes down dead the 10 spies who spread a bad report and caused the Jews to grumble. God tells them to head back into the wilderness, that they will wander. And in verse 40, we see they again don’t want to go with God. Early the next morning they went up towards the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the LORD promised.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.” Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up towards the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Both extremes are sinful - failing to take risks in following God, and taking foolish risks by going ahead of God. Our goal for each day should be to step out in faith, believing that God WILL guide us, and whenever and to whatever he calls us, we need to take whatever risks are necessary and follow.
Today, as we consider these lessons from the wilderness, remember that these lessons are not about Jews who lived 3000 years ago, but these lessons are for us, today, in 2005, here in Owosso.
*have we learned the lesson of TIMING - to follow God even when his agenda does not fit with ours
*have we learned the lesson of TRUST - we can be content with what we have and trust God to
provide us with everything we need.
*have we learned the lesson of THANKFULNESS - to not grumble and spread discontent to others
*have we learned the lesson of TAKING RISKS - that we need to be willing to fearlessly step out in faith to whatever God is calling us to do.
Let’s pray.
