April 25 elevate review

This week we took an overview of three points of crisis for Moses and the Hebrews.

The first crisis occurred about three days after the celebration of getting through the Red Sea.
They had traveled and were thirsty, and came up over a hill to see a beautiful lake filled with gorgeous looking water. As they ran down to drink they discovered it was bitter, it was un-drinkable and so another opportunity for them to develop their relationship with God was given.

The main thread that we wanted to pull out of these stories is that a relationship with God involves individuals communicating with him and in that communication developing a relationship of trust. This is not unlike any relationship that we develop with each other. The more we know each other the more we trust each other, and during times of crisis based on what we know we can ask for specific help.

In this particular crisis but people turned to Moses. Well to be more specific they turned against Moses and demanded that he find them water.
This is the first of many "lies" at the Hebrew people were going to have to learn to overcome. The lie that they believed was that authorities must provide for the people.
The lesson they needed to learn was that God would supply their need in his timing and in his way and they needed to go to him not to Moses.

Moses was given a plan by God whereby he actually threw a branch into the water and the water became sweet. One of the lessons I think God was trying to get through was that he does listen, and in this case he specifically listened to Moses.
In the next chapter we see that they have been traveling about a month, and now were running out of food.
This is a normal event in traveling with that many people for that amount of time in a desert. This opportunity was for them to turn to God and ask him to supply what they would need in order to continue on the journey that he was leading them on.
Don't forget they saw a cloud of God leading them by day and a cloud of fire keeping them warm at night to remind them that God was with them and was available.
The Hebrew people turned to Moses and complained. They complained that they were taken out of Egypt so that God could kill them in desert. They remembered that he didn't although they worked very hard at least they had food and a place to sleep every night.

This is not unusual for any one of us when we believe God needs to do more on our behalf. This is where God becomes "the great needs meeter" and whatever needs I have God better meet them.After several meetings Moses and Aaron told the people that God would supply quail every night and a soft breadlike substance every morning.
They were not to take more than what they needed for each day except on the day before the Sabbath. This day they can take twice what they needed because the Sabbath was to be a day of rest.

The concept of"rest" was foreign to slaves. They were used to producing seven days a week 24 hours a day. They were used to a philosophy that said the more you work the more you get the more you get the happier you will be.
God was trying to break them of this production consumption philosophy that is so prevalent even in today's world. By allowing millions of people in the desert to sit still and not have to produce one day every week he would show the world that was watching they were trusting their God to take care of them.
I have no doubt this was a very weird concept and for some very difficult to participate in. The Bible says that some one out on the Sabbath to pick up their food and there was none there. God was and is serious about being trustworthy within our relationship with him.

The next opportunity came with the lack of water again. This time the people turned against Moses.
Even with the pillar of fire at night keeping them warm,the cloud during the day giving them shade, manna every morning, and quail at every night, they still had trouble believing that God would take care of them.
They went after Moses because Moses was their leader, and leaders are supposed to take care of the people. They grew up in a culture in which a leader was in charge of everything. A pharaoh was not only the political leader but also a god to supply whatever he wanted to supply the people with. The Hebrews were used to being told by a godlike figure that it was their job to produce so the Egyptians could consume and it returned the Egyptians would allow them to live eat and drink the supplies they gave them.
Over the years they stopped going to God and began trusting in human leaders. Even when daily evidence of God's presence they still had trouble believing and trusting God enough to speak to him directly.
They went to Moses more than once because after the first complaint Moses did not produce water instead he challenged the Hebrews asking them why they would test the Lord.several days later still very thirsty Moses under threat of death asked God (some would say accused God of not supplying water) but either way he got a plan from God. He took his staff and walked up to the cliff and struck the rock. The clip split wide open and a huge river of water poured out. His river flowed down the desert allowing tens of thousands of people to fill their bottles water their livestock, and be restored to life.

Our challenge is much like there's. Are we going to develop a relationship with God in which we trust him to provide. Or are we going to demand of God that he meet our every need.

The difference can be very subtle, as it is with most Lies.