Lesson 58 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Do  all  things  without murmurings and disputings" (Philippians 2:14).

Notes

Victory Soon Forgotten

The Children of Israel had, through the Lord, triumphed gloriously over the Egyptians who had pursued them to the Red Sea. All the horses and the horsemen had been drowned, and the Israelites could see with their own eyes how great had been the defeat of the ungodly. The Israelites had had a great victory celebration, and had sung songs glorify ing their Redeemer. But how quickly they forgot His providence!

Only three days after they had sung the song of Moses, "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? . . . glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? . . . Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation," they again became discouraged. Had they not just sung that God had led them out and had done wonders for them? Why could they not believe that He would continue to do His wonders for them? Just because the water they came to was not fit to drink, they thought they were going to die of thirst. We think they were foolish indeed not to trust God; but how many times the same thing happens to us. God will pour out a rich blessing upon us, and we feel we will never again doubt Him. But if we are not careful to study God's Word and pray much, we shall find soon that just a little discouragement will come, and right away we look at our trouble rather than trust God.

Our Examples

The story of the Children of Israel becoming a nation through a long trail of suffering and discouragements is given to us in the Bible as an example of what happens when people get their eyes off the Lord and look to their troubles. We shall find as we follow their history that whenever they lived to please God, He prospered them and gave them victory over their enemies; but when they lived to please themselves, and worshiped other gods, terrible afflictions, captivity, and even death came upon them.

God's Care

It really was a problem when about three million people were thirsty and there was no water fit to drink; but we read in our last lesson that God said: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD." Now God tells Moses to cut down a tree and throw it into the bitter water, and it will be made sweet. It is not hard for God to do the things that seem so big to us. They are just little things for Him. He wants us to think of them, too, as little things and let Him take care of them for us. He has told us to cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us ([1PE:5:7]).

Divine Healing

When the people had satisfied their thirst they were content for a little while. It was here that God promised them that if they would obey His Word and live for Him He would let none of the diseases of the Egyptians come upon them. He said very plainly, "I am the LORD that healeth thee," and He is saying the same today. If we live to please Jesus, we need only call upon Him when we are sick, and He will heal us. Not very many people today like to trust God to heal their bodies when they are sick; but God is just as displeased with His children today if they fail to trust Him, as He was with the Children of Israel when they murmured against Him.

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, there was not one weak or sickly one among them ([PS:105:37]). That itself was a miracle, because they had worked very hard for many years as slaves of the Egyptians. God would have kept them in that perfect health all the way to Canaan if they had not sinned against Him, but we shall learn of some terrible plagues that killed thousands of them at times when they disobeyed. It is a serious thing to disobey the voice of God.

Rest

Elim was a beautiful oasis in the desert, and here Israel camped for about three weeks, and rested. They seem to have had enough food to eat until this time; but when they took up their journey from Elim, they became worried about what they would eat, and began to murmur against Moses again. They should have considered how wonderfully God had supplied their needs up to this time, and trusted Him for more; but people forget so quickly the blessings of God!

For A Mess of Pottage

It was now a month since they had left Egypt where they had been beaten with whips, and had been forced to do more than they thought it possible to do. In just thirty days they had forgotten the cruel taskmasters, and could remember only the fleshpots, the melons and onions they had had to eat. They were willing to sacrifice their hope of an inheritance in Canaan for something to eat! They were like Esau who had sold his inheritance for a mess of pottage.

When the Children of Israel were hungry they murmured again against Moses -" and God heard them! We should be very careful not to murmur against any of God's children, especially His ministers, because when we do so we are really murmuring against God.

God in the Pillar

Aaron went out to tell the Israelites that God had heard their murmurings, and that He was going to send them bread from Heaven. As he was speaking, they all looked toward the cloud that had gone before them all the time they were on the march, and God spoke from the pillar of the cloud. He told Moses to tell the people that in the evening He would send them quails to eat, and in the morning there would be bread. He tried hard to impress upon these unbelieving people the fact that He was the Almighty God. The food came, just as God said it would.

Manna

The manna that fell on the ground was different from anything we eat. The Psalmist called it "angels' food" (Psalm 78:25). When the dew would lift, there would be the little white kernels, something like tapioca. It could be boiled, or could be ground into flour and baked. It had the taste of honey, and evidently contained all the vitamins necessary to keep them strong, because they lived on this food for forty years. Every morning when the dew went up, the ground was white with manna, so the people never again had to go hungry.

God said that He would prove His people through giving them this food, to see if they would obey His Law. But it seems there were some who disobeyed Him every chance they had. First He told them to gather no more than they could eat in one day; but some people were greedy and probably did not believe that God would send more the next day, so they took as much as they could. But it did not do them any good. The manna spoiled and bred worms. Then came the day before the Sabbath; and God told them they could gather enough for two days on that day, and it would not spoil. But again some people disobeyed and went out on the Sabbath morning to gather, when God had told them not to go out " and they found no manna.

The Day of Rest

God said He made the sabbath for man. He realised that a person cannot work all the time and live a healthy life. He ordered him to rest on every seventh day. Later God commanded: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). Our sabbath today is the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, and we must remember to keep it holy. How much happier our world would be if everyone honoured God on the first day of the week!

Was not the manna an unusual food? For forty years enough manna fell every day, except the Sabbath, to feed that great company of people. Another reason why we know it was supernatural food was that in spite of the fact that it could not be kept overnight without spoiling (except for the Sabbath), God told Moses to save a pot of it to show future generations what had kept them alive during their wanderings in the wilderness, and it did not spoil.

Our Manna

The Word of God is manna to us; it is food for our souls. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We cannot read enough of the Bible in one day to last us for a week or a month. We must read His Word daily, and get fresh "manna" every morning. That will keep us healthy spiritually, and make us grow to be strong Christians.

Questions

1. How long were the Israelites in the wilderness before they murmured for water? For food? Against whom did they murmur?

2. What did they want to do?

3. Why was the pillar of cloud important to them? Give three reasons.

4. What kind of food did God send? For how long?

5. How did God prove the people through the food?

6. What is our manna?