Have you ever stopped to think how we as a body of followers of Christ today are very much similar to the children of Israel described in the books of Exodus-Judges?
Think about it for a second….
What was the problem to begin with? The children of Israel were held captive in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh. Like many of us in the past, held captive by our sins & wickedness.
Now God loved the children of Israel so much that He sent a man by the name of Moses along with his brother Aaron to set them free. The same way He loves us so much that He sent his one & only son to die for our sins.
Pharaoh repeatedly refused to let the children of Israel go no matter how many times God sent Moses & Aaron to command that he do so. Deep inside Pharaoh knew how mighty the children of Israel truly were & didn’t want to let that go. Kind of like the enemy when you think about it, he did everything in his power to keep us lost because he knew that once we found Jesus we were never coming back (piece out Satan).
After the constant refusals by Pharaoh, God makes His dominance known by striking the land of Egypt with Plagues. When you look at the text, you realize that everyone one in the land was affected except for the children of Israel. The children of Israel were covered by the grace of God & protected from all the wickedness around them. The same as He has promised to protect us in the evil & troublesome times of the world.
HERE IS WHERE IT GETS REAL.…
What did the Children of Israel do shortly after being rescued from the hand of Pharaoh? They questioned God’s ability (Exodus 16:2-3). What do we do more than often when faced with stress, worry or adversity, we question God’s greatness & power over the situation at hand.
When you look at in the book of Numbers:9:21-23 where it speaks of the children of Israel journeying whenever God commanded & at whatever time He commanded. This is like us today in the sense that nothing gets accomplished the way it should be running ahead of God’s “go”. When we sit still & listen to His voice, things seem to work much better & in order (easier said than done, trust me I know, I struggle with it way too often). That’s why we often find ourselves in a state of disorientation, we run ahead of God & try to make a way ourselves.
Many times the children of Israel had little faith in God’s ability or lacked patience such as in Exodus 32:1-10, Numbers 11:4-6, or Numbers 20:1-5. Through all these times, God showed mercy on the children of Israel & His love remained, just as it does towards us today. We often cry, beat ourselves up, & mope over something that is not going the way we plan or as quickly as we wish, but we never stop & think if in fact our wants equal up to what God desires for us.
We serve the same BEAUTIFUL, NEVER CHANGING, FOREVER LOVING, ALL POWERFUL, MOST WORTHY God that covered the nation of Israel.
In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus tells us to not worry about what we will eat, drink, or the clothes will put on our body. For God knows our needs & when we seek His kingdom all the rest will be given unto us. Therefore we must focus on the day being fully submerged in His presence & do not worry about the things of tomorrow.
