16. Fickle Faith Falters

The Exodus

Jacob's descendants were all pumped up and ready to go. They had eaten their last supper in Egypt; they had marched to the shore of The Red Sea, happy to be free from their bondage.   However, when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid. Ex. 14:10.

Then, Moses gets all the blame and the people do not believe that Jehovah can save them. They grumbled to Moses: Didn't we tell you this would happen; it's all your fault.  They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? “Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’ 14:11+12

The Lord said, "Why do you keep calling out to me for help? Tell the Israelites to move forward." TCEB.  Now is not the time for prayer, now is the time for action.  Moses, after all your experiences in Pharaoh's house, haven't you learned yet that the staff in your hand is My method for delivering Israel?  Use it.  

Tell the children of Israel to go forward.  They are not to turn north, where there is a road; they must not turn south, where there is nothing in their way; they are to go the only way which they cannot go, straight ahead into the Red Sea."  Speak of moving out in faith!

We are thankful for the medical teams in our hospitals, and we thank the Lord for them, but then, when a loved one isn't cured, we find fault with them and with Him.  Faith comes easy right after delivery from the land of slavery, but then, when you are caught between the pursuing army and the Red Sea, that's where faith is really put to the test.

You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain
Oh, but the talk comes so easy when life's at its best
But its down in the valley of trials and temptations
That's where faith is really put to the test.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley
When things go wrong He'll make them right
And the God of the good times is still God of the bad times
And the God of the day is still God of the night

After they were safe on the other side of the Red Sea, everything was cool again.  So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians ... Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. Ex. 14:30-31.

Then, in their exuberance, they sang a long song of praise to Jehovah. Ex. 15:1-18.  Some Bible teachers call this, The Song of Moses, and there is a reference to The Song of Moses in The Revelation 15:3.  However, as far as the words are concerned there is very little similarity, but both speak of redemption, and in that sense they are similar.

I have written earlier that Moses and the early Israelites were polytheists.  In this song, there is another reference to that belief; they sang  Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Ex. 15:11.  For more evidence of this go to: 

http://spaceshiptheology.blogspot.com/2013/07/b-the-plurality-of-gods.html

Marah and Manna

However, their faith and praise did not last long, they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ... And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Ex. 15:22-23.  This statement does not mean that they had nothing to drink for three days, it means that they had no opportunity to refill their water containers for three days. When they finally arrived at Marah they found that the water was bitter.  The word Marah means bitter.

There will be another post on the "waters of Marah" later.

After they had travelled a month and a half, safely on the Eastern side of the Red Sea, they were hungry and the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.  And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! Ex. 16:2-3.  At this point I can imagine the Lord thinking, Well, if that is the way you feel about it, I can arrange for that happen.

the children of Israel said to Moses and Aaron, For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.  Exodus 16 is all about how the Lord provided manna for all the Israelites.  This manna, which means, What is it? became their main source of sustenance for the next forty years.  They complained about it but not even once is it recorded in the Bible that anyone ever said thank you for it.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? ... there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” Num. 11:4-6.  A spiritual lesson here for Christians is that if they spend too much time with non-Christians, the mixed multitude, people who are not members of the covenant, those people will drag the Christians down to intense craving for worldly pleasures.

From there they marched to Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” ... and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the Lord said to Moses, ... I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Ex. 17:1-6.

Again, no record of singing praises or of being thankful.  Just grab what you can, and complain.  Most of us are just like that.   When things go wrong it does not take us long to lose our faith in God and start complaining about our situation and our leaders.

Several times during the wilderness wanderings the Lord threatened to destroy the nation of Israel. Ex. 32:10. Num. 14:11; Num. 16:20. The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness. Num. 14:29.