Numbers 13 and 14
Most Bible scholars believe that the Exodus journey, where the Israelites fled under Moses from Egyptian slavery to the land promised to them by the LORD should have taken around 11 days. Now, you hear that, and you start thinking how? How does an 11-day hike turn into a 40-year trek? We’ve all managed to take a wrong turn at times in our travels, resulting in running a little bit behind but God’s chosen people took it to a whole new level.
So, what happened? Easy…these people got to witness first-hand the LORD’s determination to save them from Egyptian oppression and deliver them to a land “flowing with milk and honey”; a land that they would inhabit and make into a powerful nation. They saw how the LORD humiliated Pharaoh through ten devastating plagues, plagues that brought Egypt to its knees, and yet… The people refused to trust God and if there’s anything that can turn an eleven-day walk into a 40-year trial, there it is. A total and complete lack of trust in God.
Nothing God did for them was enough. If you’ve ever been on a long road trip with a young child who begs to know every 30 seconds, “When are we gonna get there?” in a high-pitched, ultra-whiny voice, well. Put yourself in Moses’ shoes. Instead of dealing with a small child, he’s dealing with thousands and thousands of very difficult adults.
The griping starts at the shoreline of the Red Sea, the journey out of Egypt has just begun. Going against his word yet again, Pharaoh musters his entire army to pursue, capture and return to Egypt the Israeli slaves. The people see the massive attack force coming their way and the complaining towards the LORD commences. What does God do to quell the griping? Not a big deal. He simply parts the Red Sea, makes a way for His people to cross to the other side on dry land, and then, just as Pharaoh is closing in on them, the LORD releases the sea, and Pharaoh and his men meet with a watery demise.
You would think that the people would take that as the defining sign that things are without a doubt going to work out in their favor but…you’d be wrong. The complaining persists. It persists even when they gripe about being hungry, and the LORD feeds them. It persists when they gripe about not having enough to drink and the LORD sends fresh water gushing forth from a stone.
Think about this. How many times have you, in your life, been faced with a trial, an insurmountable challenge, an ongoing sin, some awful situation, and Jesus lights a path to rescue and you reject it? You refuse to get sober. You refuse to end the dysfunctional relationship. You refuse to make a change to the people and places in your life who draw you away from Jesus and deeper into destructive behaviors. Why does this happen time and again? Our money here in the US proclaims, “In God We Trust”, but clearly, we don’t. Look at us.
We’re every bit as stiff-necked and rebellious as the Israelites were with Moses. And what makes that even crazier is that God has, since that time, sent us Jesus! We have a Savior who died on a cross so that we could place unflinching trust in the fact that He came to see to it that not one of us would ever have to die a death of sinful condemnation.
But we refuse to trust. We refuse to trust because we love our sins too much. We’re so prideful we don’t see a need for Jesus’ presence in our life, we have everything under control, thank you. We see the promises of Jesus as simply too good to be true. Like the Israelites you’ve probably to some degree witnessed His ongoing love and protection, but you still dismiss Him out of hand.
And in time a life that was meant to be marked more by joy than torment turns into a decades-long slog in a vast, unforgiving wilderness. Not trusting Jesus makes no sense. I challenge you to crack open a Bible, turn to the Old Testament Book of Numbers and read chapters 13 and 14 and see for yourself the pointlessness of rejecting Him. Take some time and read the Book of Exodus and see how God continued to bless and love His people even though they turned on him again and again.
In John’s Gospel Jesus implores us to “Trust God, trust in Me also.” Why? Because when we do we get to live with the blessed assurance of a place being held for us in Heaven. We get to live with the realization that our sins are forgiven. We receive the strength to resist conforming to the ways of this world and instead see ourselves transformed by the mighty power of Jesus’ grace and mercy.
Every day, every minute of every day we’re issued a choice: 11 days or 40 years? And if today you find yourself clanking around in the dark, I pray that for you the choice is easy, and you simply cry out to Jesus.