"What Is This?” Cries Of Disgust & Delight Series

“What is this?” That’s a question tourists to the Caribbean island of Antigua ask when handed a serving of pepper pot—a salty stew of okra and pig’s snout. This national dish of Antigua is not often an instant favorite for many visitors. But for homesick Antiguans living overseas, to find pepper pot at a dinner party would cause them to cry with delight: “What is this?”

“What is this?” can either be a cry of disgust or a cry of delight. The next time we get a dump of snow, will you say with a grimace: “What is this?” as you trudge outside with your snow shovel? Or will you chirp with delight, “What is this?” as you shout hurray for another day off from school and the freedom to hit the powder at Snow Bowl—that is until you get stuck in traffic on the way there and snarl: “What is this?”

“What is this?” is also a question we ask God—often with disgust because we think God should treat us better. As we continue the sermon series, Moses: Made for More, we’ll see how the Israelites felt this way. How did God deal with their attitude? He patiently turned their cries of disgust into cries of delight. In so doing, God showed the Israelites that they, and we, are indeed made for more—to experience his grace so that we may escape his judgment. (Read portion of sermon text.)

In our sermon series last week, we heard how God pulled off one of the greatest miracles of all time when he parted the Red Sea. A couple million Israelites crossed over on dry land and escaped the Egyptians. What followed was a beach party during which Moses led the Israelites in a victory song. He cried with delight: “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation… You will bring [us] in and plant [us]on the mountain of your inheritance—the…sanctuary...your hands established.” (Ex. 15:2, 17)

Like Dorothy and her companions in the Wizard of Oz who skip down the Yellow Brick Road with delight as they sing: “We’re off to see the Wizard!” the Israelites must have had a spring in their step as they paraded off the beach and continued their journey to the Promised Land. But what they thought would be a walk in the park turned out to be a marathon through the desert (Reed Lessing). Israelite cries of delight morphed into disgust just three days later when an expected watering hole offered no drinkable water. “What are we supposed to drink?” the Israelites grumbled.

Do you see any parallels between what the Israelites experienced and Jesus’ life? Just as God declared Israel to be his beloved firstborn by delivering them from Egypt through the water of the Red Sea, he declared Jesus to be his beloved Son at the Jordan River as Jesus stood in his baptismal water. Then where did Jesus go after that high point of being introduced as God’s beloved Son? Out to eat at a fancy restaurant with his disciples? Lead a parade down the main streets of Jerusalem? No. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness where, for the next 40 days, he would go without food while being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4)! That’s also where God led Israel after the Red Sea—into the wilderness for testing!

It’s that way with our lives too. We experience high points with our baptisms, confirmations, and at especially uplifting worship services like Christmas and Easter. But then we quickly go back to the humdrum of life where we experience one challenge after the next. This is all part of God’s plan. At Marah, which means “bitter” to describe the water and the Israelite attitude, we learn that “There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for [Israel] and put them to the test.” (Ex. 15:25b)

The wilderness journey for the Israelites is what Spring Training is for baseball players. Through the challenges they would experience, God would exercise the Israelites’ faith in him so that they would learn again and again that they could fully trust God to do what was the best for them. And what did he do for Israel at Marah? God showed Moses a piece of wood he was to throw in the water to make it drinkable.

The Israelites moved on from Marah and found an oasis at Elim with 12 springs and 70 palm trees. The Israelites enjoyed a couple weeks of respite here before heading into the Desert of Sin. But again, it didn’t take long for Israel’s good mood to turn sour. The Israelites ran out of food this time and so they cried with disgust: “What is this?” Had Moses and Aaron brought them out into the wilderness to die of hunger? “We were better off in Egypt where we sat around pots of meat and ate our fill!” the angry mob exclaimed. But weren’t the Israelites forgetting something? They had been slaves in Egypt. How much sitting around had they really done? Not a lot I should think, because the Egyptians weren’t afraid to whip lazy slaves.