PRIME - Day 8

PRIME - Day 8

Read Exodus 15 & 16

These two chapters follow the Israelites journey through the wilderness after God totally delivered them from the Egyptians by drowning Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.  Chapter 15 is mostly comprised of the song that Moses and Miriam (Aaron's sister) chanted as they celebrated the great deliverance God had given them.  It's a song that declares God's strength and faithfulness to defend His people, and for a while the Israelites were riding high with emotions because of what God did for them right before their very eyes.

In typical fashion though, we see the Israelites getting back to their old ways of griping and complaining.  Near the end of the chapter, we see the Israelites upset after wandering in the desert for 3 days without finding any water. When they finally came across water, they couldn't drink it because it was bitter.  I guess parting and entire Red Sea wasn't enough for them to trust that God knows what He's doing when it comes to water.  Once again, God shows His faithfulness in spite of their faithlessness.  After Moses prayed, God instructed him to throw a stick into the water and as soon as he did the water became sweet and fit to drink.

As aggravating as these Israelites seem to be it's as if these events took place in order to cry out to every generation, "God hasn't brought you this far to leave you for dead!"

That's exactly what we see throughout chapter 16.  Once again we see the Israelites in need and beginning to grumble.  This time they want food.  It's obvious they weren't too optimistic about finding any in the middle of the desert.  Instead of praying and trusting God to provide as He already had, they began to complain again.  This time God had a plan to provide for them and teach them to trust Him everyday.  He instructed Moses on what He would do and what He expected the people to do as well.  He said he would provide two things for food:

1.  Meat in the evening

2.  Bread in the morning.

He told Moses that the people were to only gather what they needed for each day (about 3lbs of bread).  No leftovers!  He wanted them to learn to look to Him everyday for what they needed.

As promised the birds flew in that evening and the people were able to eat their meat.  The next morning there was thin flaky bread covering the ground that tasted like sweet honey.  God was faithful to His Word.  Still the Israelites didn't follow directions and tried to store up the food only to find it rotten by the next day.

This is how life is designed to work.  Looking to God everyday for his provision and listening carefully to his instructions.  His Word paints a clear picture to us that He has not brought us this far to leave us all alone.  He is prepared and willing to provide for us the things we need  and rain down His blessings when we follow Him closely.


                                                                                                             
-Brian