Imagine. You’ve just witnessed the Supreme Power of Almighty God judge Egypt with mighty ‘signs and wonders.’ You watched as God drowned the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea. You follow close behind the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who appears as a great ‘pillar of cloud’ by day and a ‘pillar of fire’ by night.

Now, imagine that six weeks after being freed from slavery in a foreign land that you, your family, and friends begin to complain against the two men God used to free you. Complain about what?

And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then 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! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Exodus 16:1-3

Seriously? That’s their concern? Did they learn nothing from what God did for them? How would God respond to their complaining?

God Supplies

The human ‘sin nature’ is powerful. Remember what God said about people immediately following the Flood that covered the earth?

… although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.’ Genesis 8:21

God was right. Even after proving that He is the Only True God by defeating every Egyptian ‘god,’ judging the nation of Egypt, and freeing the children of Israel from cruel slavery, how did they repay God? They complained about the food.

It was obvious that Israel had a lot to learn before they could ‘reign’ with Him. Remember the Rules for ‘Basic Spiritual Training?’

  1. Believe in the Only True God (Monotheism)
  2. Fear God and Obey Him
  3. Worship God and Serve Him
  4. Listen to God and Trust Him
  5. Love God and Devote Your Life to Him

How would God teach people whose imagination of their hearts were ‘evil’ from their youth?

Fortunately for all of us, God is loving, compassionate, and understanding. He knew the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), so God was prepared to continue training His people. His response was supply them with ‘bread from heaven.’

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. Exodus 16:4-5

Did you see what God was doing? He was ‘testing them, whether they will walk’ in His Law or not. Testing is part of many types of training. If you want to join the military, be prepared to be tested. If you want to attend college, be prepared to be tested. If you want to become a Black Belt in martial arts, be prepared to be tested. The Hebrew word translated ‘test’ in Exodus 16:4 is nasah ( נָסָה) and means ‘to examine, prove, try, put to the test). Part of Israel’s training to reign would include a series of ‘tests.’

As Moses and Aaron were telling the people how God would respond to their complaints, ‘behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud’ (Exodus 16:10). God told Moses to tell the people, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ Notice that God is still working with the people to believe that He is the Only True God even as He testing them for obedience to His Word.

God supplied the people’s nutritional needs morning and evening –

So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who arein his tent.’ Exodus 16:13-16

There is more to the story, so feel free to read the rest of Exodus 16 on your own. Also, take a look at the first seven verses of Exodus 17. That details how God responded to the people’s complaints about drinking water. As you read through the ‘wilderness’ story of the people of Israel, you’ll find that they often ‘complained’ about one thing or another. How God responded to their many complaints gives us insight into both His Character and how He trained Israel to reign.

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You can download the first 13 chapters of this series here.

Next Time

In the next part of our series – Train to Reign – we’ll see how God taught Israel to come together to fight as an army for God against His many enemies.

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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