I often think that change and the future are two things that strike fear into a person’s soul. It is the uncertainty of not knowing what lies ahead. For in the familiar there is security. We have all experienced it I am sure. There are times when our relationships suddenly seem to be uncertain along with our friendships, our jobs and many more things I am sure that we can all call to mind.
The Israelites had been led out of their slavery and into the wilderness looking for the Promised Land. At first they set off full of optimism and eagerness but as the time passed by they began to lose their faith and suddenly started looking back to the good bad old days. They began to draw comparisons and they began to wonder if they perhaps were not better off in their bondage. At least they were fed and that to them seemed to be worth a lot. They began to be trouble for their leaders and little pockets of renegades were everywhere talking out against Moses and God.
Why was it that they were like this and why did they want to go back to being slaves. We must remember that they were in a desolate place. There was very little round about them and food was certainly scarce. They could not see any way out of the route they were taking. To them all that lay ahead was dusty ground, thirst and hunger. We only have to ask ourselves how would we have thought and what would we have done? Would we have turned back to that which was so familiar, knowing that at least we would survive? But when we look at the situation that the Israelites were in we can see several important issues that stand out to us.
1. We must trust in God to bring us through.
2. God will nourish us.
3. He will deliver us to the Promised Land.
We must trust in God to bring us through. The Israelites had seen many signs when God had shown his might and power to Pharaoh as he tried to persuade him to let his people go. God had protected them from death when the angel of death passed over them. The river had run red with blood.
He had led them through his servant Moses and yet still they doubted him. I always find it hard to believe something without actually seeing it, I suppose that is the policeman in me always wanting hard evidence, yet if I had been in their shoes I know that I would have been totally convinced by all that I had seen. For proof had been before their very eyes. Yet now all that seemed to be forgotten and doubt was in their minds. There are some people in this life that we know we can trust and there are others that we know we are unable to trust. The comparison that I am trying to make is that if a person says something is right and we trust that person then we will accept it without question, yet if the person who says it is one who we do not trust then we will tend to question it and look deeper before accepting it. I believe that the people who Moses was leading did not really know God at all and by not knowing him they did not trust him. I am sure that they did not really want to be back in slavery but instead they just wanted their plight to get easier. When we are with familiar things then we feel comfortable and secure. Moses did believe everything God had said. He knew that they would eventually be brought to that destination which had been promised to them. His job was to convince the others that were he was leading them was in the direction of God.
What we have to try and remember is that when the going gets tough for us then that is the time that our faith must remain firm. It is all too easy to suddenly forget God and start to try to rely upon our own inner strength. When trouble times are upon us then this is the time when we must have time with God. It is important to have time in prayer and conversation with god bringing all our concerns to him so that we may be helped. Only this last week I read where the archbishop of Canterbury has been quoted as saying that people are turning to other means to unburden themselves. Instead of other means we should be coming to God to receive his blessing and his love that is so freely offered to us, yet is so very often thrown back in his face.
God will nourish us. God has already provided all that we can ever want to us. We have food to eat and water to drink. We have clothes to wear and relatively speaking the majority of us are quite well off. God sent manna for the Israelites to eat but when he sent it he gave them instructions that they must only gather enough for that day. This again was to put them in some way to the test. God was seeing if they would firstly obey him and secondly if they would trust him. He was seeing if they believed in him and if they believed that they would be fed again the following day. There were some who would have gathered more than they needed thus showing their lack of faith only to find it rotten and full of maggots the following day. But there would have been some who would have trusted God and within that trust grew their faith. He then predicted to the people that when twilight came they would have meat and as night began to drop he filled their camps with quail. Who could predict this only God?
In John 6:35 Jesus said “I am the bread of life he who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” This was a promise that Jesus gave to the people that followed him. He was talking of both a physical and spiritual feeding. Jesus is the bread of life, which God sent from Heaven. He was there to feed the people and to satisfy their hunger. As bread must be eaten to sustain physical life then so must Jesus be invited into our lives to sustain our spiritual life. God gives us an invitation to come to him and when we take up that invitation we begin to live in Jesus and life starts to be filled with all kinds of wonderful things. Each time that we say the lord’s prayer we ask God to give to us our daily bread and each time that we take the sacrament of Holy Communion we are taking bread and wine that represent the body and blood of Christ. Bread has played a very important role in the lives of people. It has been a staple diet that people have had for many centuries. Jesus likened himself to those things around him that were familiar to the people he was addressing. Two of the several “I am” verses that Jesus uses are I am the good shepherd. I am the bread of life. Both of these phrases were two of the most important things around 2000 years ago.
He will deliver us to the Promised Land. To be delivered and saved we must first repent of all our sin then turn and follow God. It is that simple. Or is it? As we read of God’s promises to the people it all seems so easy to do. It is almost like they are some super human race that could believe at the drop of a hat. Were they naïve or is it that we are sceptical, because we have grown up in an age where we seem to question everything and everyone around us. When the Israelites set off out of Egypt they were heading in search of that wonderful land that flowed with milk and honey. The land that was to be called their own was given to them by God. It was to be a place that was happy and contain all that they would ever need. But to know what that Promised Land is we first really need to go through a time of desolation. For it is during that time of hardship where we learn to appreciate the land of plenty that is to come. Each one of us here has our own special vision of what that wonderful land is like. To me it is a place of great beauty and peace. To you it may be something totally different.
For the way to secure entry into this Promised Land is by staying true to the teachings of God. We have to be able to resist the temptation of sin, we have to follow him closely and when we consider all the pitfalls in this life we can see what a great task this is. Although the Israelites had doubts in their mind and did not think that they would see their destination they still continued to search out this place. For 40 years they searched and all the time they hoped that the next day would be the day that they would see the land, which they had so desperately been searching for. Forty years is a long time and when God felt that it was the right time he gave them their destination. It was a goal that had not been easy to reach and still today we have a similar task ahead of us. But to reach it we find that it takes a lifetime. It is a lifetime of loyalty, dedication and discipleship. There is no easy way of getting to the Promised Land, no free passes and no quick fixes. The entry price is high and membership is for those true to God.
So if our goal is to reach the Promised Land then we certainly have to follow God and ask for his guidance in all that we do and say. When the times are tough turn to God. As we turn to him we will be welcomed and we will be fed with good things to eat. We will also be fed spiritually by his written word, which will satisfy us all. When we are able to partake in these great privileges then we will be getting closer to the Promised Land, which was so hard to find. I pray to God that we may all, one day, be able to arrive at that place we all seek and then and only then we will come face to faced with God where we must account for our lives. Will we be able to justify what we have done or do we need to change now so that we begin to be more worthy to our Lord. The choice has been given to us, but I know where I want to arrive at and it is that land which I believe is so beautiful and pure. Amen.
