“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:26-27)
Fear seized close to four million Children of Israel that left Egypt for the Promised Land when Pharaoh changed his mind about their release. As an afterthought, he had factored in the economic loss that would come upon Egypt. But it came too late. There was no turning back.
If an elite army was at your heels, you would have equally done the same, or worse. Mark you, it was not just any kind of panic; their fears were justified because their lives were in jeopardy; it was like being between the mountain and the deep blue sea - between life and death. The very thought of having to be recaptured and enslaved again and having to relive the Egyptian experience all over, was both daunting and traumatising.
They challenged Moses: “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11-12)
Very often what we see colours our judgement of events and their outcomes. We can understand the state of mind of the Israelites since they had not yet witnessed God’s handiwork. Moses had only mentioned this deity called God to them. There was nothing yet tangible that they could have held on to. Even after Moses had assured them; “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14) some of them would still have been sceptical.
Not all of us can hear from God and so we must listen to those through whom God speaks. God reassured Moses: “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.” (verse 18)
The instruction given to Moses was; “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” (verse 16) And so they found themselves on the other bank of the Red Sea even though the Egyptians gave chase to their detriment. None survived! Horses, chariots and soldiers all drowned.
What life-threatening thoughts have dominated your mind of recent? Is it the high prices of commodities? Taxi fares? The cost of fuel? Increased theft and violence? The rising spate of road accidents? The concerns of the Israelites bordered on genuine fears for their survival and rightly so, because they had just embarked on their long journey into the Promised Land. For them, this was just the starting point and yet they had been met with such adversity.
It all boils down to trust - which sometimes needs time and circumstances for its growth. Sadly, the wilderness experience did not turn out to be easy for the Israelites as the challenges multiplied. One would have thought that after scaling the first difficulty, which constituted enough proof that God was an ally and One whom they could have trusted.
Well, the setbacks did not just rain, they poured. The obstacles came in droves. Firstly, there was no water when they were thirsty. They grumbled; “What are we to drink?” God provided twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. Imagine they were not just given water to drink; God blessed them with a dozen springs.
Next it was food. This is what they had to say: “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.” (Exodus 16:3) For this God rained bread from heaven for them that would be collected every day. It was forbidden to stock up on this provision except on Fridays for Saturday - Sabbath. When they saw this angelic food, they called it ‘manna’ which means ‘what is this’? However, they had to eat that food for forty years - which meant being fed on manna throughout their entire journey in the desert. Occasionally, quail [sea food) was added to their diet. Yet, they complained from start to finish.
God invited Moses to come up Mountain Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Because he stayed away for forty days, they again complained: “As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him?” (Exodus 32:1b) For this reason, they built a Golden Calf that they began to worship. They were out of Egypt but the practices they had learnt in Egypt were still a part of them.
How long would it take for us to believe that we are God’s ‘treasured possessions’ and therefore He would literally bend over to guarantee that we lack nothing? All it takes is for us to believe. It will require a certain state of awareness and confidence in God’s word to repeat what Apostle Paul affirmed: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
We are reminded that: “Surely the hand of the Lord is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. But [our] iniquities have separated [us] from [our] God; [our] sins have hidden His face from [us], so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)
Concretising a strong and constant fellowship with God will nurture closer ties that will remove any lingering doubt of His ability to come to our rescue. As we build trust and confidence in His Word we would begin to walk in the light of His countenance.
