“Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt. There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.””Exodus 16:1-3 NLT
A month out from leaving Egypt and things really started getting dicey.
I remember driving on the old Route 66 from Long Beach, California to Bullhead City, Arizona. Once we left Barstow, California there were signs that read, “No services for the next 100 miles.” No water, no food, no gas – NOTHING. Even as a kid I thought it was a creepy to cross the desert.
A month out from leaving Egypt and things really started getting dicey. I remember driving on the old Route 66 from Long Beach, California to Bullhead City, Arizona. Once we left Barstow, California there were signs that read, “No services for the next 100 miles.” No water, no food, no gas – NOTHING. Even as a kid I thought it was a creepy to cross the desert in a car with no air conditioning and it would give you 2nd degree burns by sitting in the seats or touching the metal handles on the door.
The Israelites averaged 20 miles a day, so it took them 5 days just to get out in the middle of NOWHERE. Just think about it, a month into their journey they had traveled 600 miles! That’s like walking from Los Angeles to Las Vegas!
The Hebrews were worried about the same thing anyone crossing a desert would worry about – WATER and FOOD. God miraculously provided water by turning the bitter water sweet at Marah. They also found water oasis of Elim, where “they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.” Exodus 15:27 NLT But after a month of wandering they were wondering where they would find food.
There is no mention of them asking Moses about a plan and there is no mention of Moses having a plan! The plan was complete and total dependency on God. Oh, but the people did have a plan – “the whole community of Israel” had a plan – COMPLAINT ABOUT IT. They לוּן – luwned: To lodge, to remain, to dwell, to abide, to grumble. Interesting word here. Its root word is to “abide all night.” Wow – they sure were constantly abiding right? In the negative moral sense, they were obsessively grumbling in unbelief! What does excessive whining, complaining and grumbling do to the human soul? IT SOURS IT!
Psychologists call it “looping complaints.” And it does the following:
▪️Keeps our brain stuck in threat mode
▪️Reinforces negative emotions
▪️Reduces problem-solving energy
▪️Drains relationships
▪️Becomes habitual
Like petulant children they said, “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt.” It became so bad that they fantasized about the past saying, “we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted.” Really? That was what they experienced as slaves who were worked to death and harshly mistreated?
Overall it is estimated that Israel experienced thousands of supernatural occurrences If you count every miraculous act of provision. But they could not see them, they only saw their needs, their fears and the lack of control.
That said, I have learned a lot from the generation that was delivered from Egypt, but never set free from the trauma of their enslavement. Being a bit of a negative person myself, I have to constantly check my perspective and ask if I’m only seeing the things going wrong around me, or can I see the hand of God working miracles on our behalf.
Do I only see pots of meat & bread of the past and feeling like grasshoppers looking forward? Or, in faith that pleases God can I have peace. Can I feel peace. It’s a pretty dark world if we lose perspective in thinking that the enemy is winning rather than seeing God’s perfect will being carried out and being able to celebrate the wins!
If I look at the Exodus from God’s perspective, it was a miraculous journey of adventure and faith. A sea splitting open. A pillar of fire, and a massive cloud forming ahead. Water from a desert rock, food floating down from heaven each morning and birds bringing takeout each evening. What an adventure to experience as a child or teen that had little-to-no memories of Egypt.
Prayer
Dad,
Seeing Your hand in history helps give me a proper perspective to understand what life could be like if I saw you in all things. I can’t control any of it anyways! What I can do is believe and have faith in your wisdom, your justice, grace, peace and love. In that I can find true wonder to see the miraculous.