Hungry and Free
Exodus 16:1 – Later, they left Elim, and the whole congregation of the Israelis came to the desert of Sin, which lay between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 – The whole congregation of the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert.
Verse 3 – The Israelis told them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the cooking pots, when we ate bread until we were filled – because you brought us to this desert to kill this entire congregation with hunger.”
They were complaining. No one was dying of starvation but they did not like feeling hungry. No one does. Voicing their complaints, they began to compare what they had to where they now were. What did they have before? Enslavement and full stomachs. What did things change to? Freedom and hunger.
Their complaints turned completely irrational as they wished that God would have wiped them out while they were in Egypt – at least then in Egypt they would have died with full stomachs. Do you ever long for the ‘good old days?’ How quickly we forget about the challenges of the past as we deal with today’s troubles.
There’s a lot of fear out there today. What the Israelites of old were doing back then in their complaining is not anything different than what we can be guilty of right now. It’s very easy to get sucked into conversations that complain about our present politics, pandemic, economics, environment, religion, society and so much more. We long for the days of old when cheap food and gas were to be had in abundance and when we could travel the globe freely, forgetting that we complained back then too! “Where is the promise of His coming?….” Now that the signs of Jesus’ return are happening in rapid succession we’re crying out ‘Whoa!!!’ I’m not ready yet!!
We know things will get worse before Jesus comes again, but let’s not abandon ship in panic because of what’s happening all around us! God knows what we need! Exodus 16:4 says – The LORD told Moses, “Listen very carefully! I’ll cause food to rain down for you from heaven, and the people are to go out and gather each day’s portion on that day. In this way I’ll test them to demonstrate whether or not they’ll live according to my instructions.
That’s our challenge. Learning to trust God so that we’ll live according to His instructions. Let’s lay all our fears to rest with Jesus and trust Him to take care of us. Today let us seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that He will add to our lives everything that we need including eternal life!
Where two are gathered 