GOD IS CRADLING YOU — SEEING THE TRUE GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

What is it in human nature that causes us to see an amazing outpouring of God’s power and love, something that, in the beginning, we celebrate with deep gratitude and great fanfare, and then to find ourselves doubting Him and our very core beliefs? Some time ago, Michael and I wrote a blog about the “downhill climb.”

The heart of this, touched upon last week, is that mountaintop experiences are, many times, followed by the descent from that emotional and spiritual summit into a discontent that can make us forget the elation we felt from a high, a spiritual experience we thought was unforgettable.

When we last left Moses and the Israelites, they had seen the power and protection of God in a way so dramatic, that we would think nothing could ever erase this image from their minds. God had parted the Red Sea and delivered them, just as the Pharaoh and the Egyptian army had them cornered and, from the world’s view of power, hopeless in their predicament.

Michael describes this deliverance so beautifully:

“God is cradling you, protecting you, moving you out of harm’s way.”

Once delivered, Moses and the Israelites initially saw God as He really is and began to sing an epic song about Him. To fully appreciate what this was like, we need to remember how many people were in this chorus.

So, altogether, there were, men, women and children, about two million souls! The acoustic echo throughout the desert was symphonic, glorious, triumphant:

“Who among the gods
is like you, LORD?
Who is like you —
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?

In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed
in your strength, you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.

Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.”
(Exodus 15:11,13,20) NIV

(Miriam was, of course, also, the sister of Moses. She was that same sister who had watched over baby Moses as he lay in a basket on the Nile. Now, they were reunited in a setting of victory.)

What could ever diminish such a song! What could ever alter such a mood! They sang with two million voices! They danced with the intoxication of triumph and faith in the future guidance of this amazing God. They were having one of the greatest mountaintop experiences in all of Scripture. Who could even imagine that these two million Israelites and Moses, himself, could be about to begin the downhill climb, could, most accurately, be described as having one foot on the mountain and the other on a banana peel!

And yet, in actuality, this is exactly where they were. For, after this grand celebration,

“Then Moses lead Israel from the Red Sea and went into the Desert of Shur. For three days, they travelled in the desert without finding water…So the people grumbled against Moses…”
(Exodus 15:22, 24) NIV

When they arrived at Merah, there was water, but it was bitter.

“Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and the water became fit to drink.”
(Exodus 15:25) NIV

God further sent them to an oasis, called Elim. There, they stayed for a few weeks. It was a paradise.

“…there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped near the water.”
(Exodus 15:27) NIV

In paradise, all was well and everyone was happy. But this paradise was not the Promised Land; it was an oasis, a temporary resting place, after which they must be on their way.

Yes, how well we all do paradise in life. God gives us vacations in many different ways — literal vacations as well as hiatuses from life‘s problems. However, it’s the rare life that doesn’t have to eventually be homeward bound, on our way.

Michael has often written about life’s journey, the paths on which we find ourselves. He writes,

“The day you are born is the day you start your journey to God. Let God pick the path. Then you will get to Him the best way you can.”

And on this journey to God, the only trip that will matter in one hundred years, He just does not bestow on us permanent residency in the oasis. In paradise, we are only passing through, in transit in a world without challenges. And so it was for the Israelites.

“The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.”
(Exodus 16:1) NIV

Passover had been the tenth day of the first month, so they were about one month out of Egypt. And what was their state of mind?

“In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘IF ONLY WE HAD DIED BY THE LORD’S HAND IN EGYPT! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
(emphasis added)
(Exodus 16:2-3) NIV

Long forgotten were the days of slavery and beatings. Long gone were the songs to God after the safe crossing of the Red Sea.

And how did God react? After he turned bitter water sweet at Merah, He gave them the oasis of Elim. After this grumbling, God gave them what we call manna: (Exodus 16:3) NIV

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are going to go out each day and gather enough for that day.”
(Exodus 16:4) NIV

So, God’s provision was immediate. He did not scold them; He provided for them with Heavenly bread. But there was a caveat — it was daily. In other words, it required trust on the part of the Israelites. God provided while giving them a lesson. As Michael says,

“The Bible teaches us about God and is always a lesson in that way.”

My Grandmother used to say, “Life is so daily.” As a child, I had no idea what she was talking about. Now, I know exactly what she meant. We want God to give us the five-year plan. God “gives us this day our Daily bread.” Our choice becomes whether to begin to establish faith in Him or to be in a constant state of anxiety about whether He will come through.

Michael says,

“When you believe in God, you’re at your best.”

Having peace that God is dependable and worthy of our trust, brings us just this — our best life.

Michael also says,

“Love is the key to God.”

How completely this is shown. God’s love for the Israelites is patient and provides for their needs.

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.”
(Exodus 16:11-12) NIV

God is so long suffering because He is good and because, unlike us, He does not operate from a lack of knowledge. What was the most egregious fault of the Pharaoh in his treatment of the Israelites? He did not allow them to worship God. Time and again, the LORD told Moses to tell the Pharaoh to “Let my people go so that they may worship me!”

These Israelites were seen by God as a People who had been spiritually deprived — for hundreds of years! God knows where we are spiritually. He knows whether we are at a spiritual level to be accountable for our “grumbling.” God is fair. We would say in today’s parlance that He is “cutting the Israelites slack,” since these Chosen People have not only been badly mistreated physically, they have been utterly deprived spiritually.

There is a fascinating passage back in Exodus, Chapter 13:

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God lead the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.”
(emphasis added)
Exodus 13:17-18) NIV

What an amazing insight into God! He would rather put us in dire straits, our backs up against the Red Seas of our lives than have us be faced with fighting a battle we are not yet ready to fight!

If we are in a battle, it is surely because God knows we are prepared to fight it. He won’t send us to that fight, whether it is a mere skirmish or a world war, unless He knows we are fully able and completely ready to take it on.

Are you in a battle right now? God has readied you. Victory is yours for the taking.