God brought his people - the Hebrews, his first-born son the Bible calls them - out of Egypt, out of the bitterness of bondage and slavery. He brought them miraculously across the Red Sea and led them into the unknown, the barren wilderness of the Sinai.

Here, they would be tested to be shaped and molded into the people God wanted them to be. A few days from the Red Sea, they were tested by thirst. They grumbled and complained. They hadn't learned yet that they could live by every Word that came from the mouth of God, including the Word as to when and where they would find water. 

At Marah, they found a well. But the water, like their spirits, was bitter. But God purified the water and made it sweet, and he began to do the same to his people. This people that he had brought out of Egypt now experienced God slowly taking Egypt out of them. 

We've come to a place in the traditional wilderness of Sin. It has nothing to do with the English word, sin. It probably comes from the same root that Sinai comes from. We've come to that place because that was the next place Israel came after Marah. I think it would be worthwhile just to review briefly what we learned at Marah. We learned that God said (Deuteronomy 8), "I led you in the desert these 40 years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart whether or not you would obey my commands."

Testing, we noted, is how God knew what was in their hearts. If you recall at Marah, I said, "What do you mean? God knows everything." 

The answer is no, don't think of know as a Westerner. In the West, know is what I have here (in our heads) - two plus two, I know is four. True. In the East, know is to know experientially. 

So God said, "I want to know (experientially) what's in your heart. I know what you're thinking. I know what you're feeling. I want to see it in action." So he put them into test situations, where they were required to put into action what was inside. "I want to see it happen." And at Marah, you remember, what they lived out wasn't exactly what he desired. But they did learn. And God sent another test, "another opportunity for me to know what is in your heart, for you to practice what you claim to believe."

So when they got here to the wilderness of Sin, it says they were hungry. Let me just read you a short bit of that passage (Exodus 16). "The whole Israelite community set out from Elam and came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elam and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt." Exactly one month - Passover is the 14th day, they left the night of the 14th. Now the 15th of the next month, they're here. 

"The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said, 'If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt. There we sat around the 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."

There's a hint in that passage that it isn't quite so simple that the rest of the Bible develops. The question is, were they really hungry? You're first reaction is, "Yes." But that's not what they say. They say, "We remember the meat pots and all those vegetables. Remember them?" Were they hungry? We don't know for sure, but I'd like to suggest that not too far from here, like a three days' walk, they're going to have flocks and herds yet. So they're certainly not starved. And I'd like to suggest, sometime you read Psalm 78, because in Psalm 78, the Psalmist says that they tested God by demanding the food they craved, saying, "Can he spread a banquet for us in the desert?" 

There's a little more in that hunger complaint than meets the eye. It's a group of people saying, "Okay. We learned something about the water over there in Marah and Elam. Now, we're here. It's about time we had something better to eat." That's how it comes across. 

Now, intriguingly, in this test-- and the Bible calls it a test-- there's no reference to God being angry. It's almost that he said, "Okay. It's time for another test. Let me ask you to put into practice your total dependence on me. So here's how we'll do it." He said, "Tomorrow, there will be quail." They fly through here anyway at certain seasons of the year, because it's on the flyway of their migratory route, so he must have arranged conditions exactly right so that a whole lot more than usual showed up. That's all that's said of the quail really. There will be another quail story later.

Then God said, "When the dew falls tomorrow and that dew begins to dry, you look. In that dew will be bread from heaven." He could have made the bread come out of the rock, he could have made the bread come from anywhere else, but it was pretty clear he wanted them to know where that bread was coming from - him. And he said, "Go out and pick up just enough." And he said, "On the sixth day, you can pick up double, because on the Sabbath, I want you to stay in your place." 

A side here would be why didn't God send manna on the Sabbath day? The Western answer tends to be he didn't want them to work on the Sabbath day. I think that's true. I'd like to suggest that because God doesn't work on the Sabbath day, so he wasn't going to send them manna. That's his day of rest too. That's why we rest on the Sabbath day. I think that's a far stronger way-- but anyway, God said, "I will test them to see whether they will follow my instructions or not. I heard you complain about food. I gave you food. Now, put your faith in action. Show me your faith by your works. Let me know (experientially) what's in your heart."

This time, apparently, most of them passed. There were a few who tried to collect extra. There were a few who hoarded some and tried to keep it overnight. The result being, of course, it got maggots in it. And there was some anger on Moses' part and God's part for that failure to keep instructions. And that certainly means that test, they didn't all trust God the way they were supposed to. But it appears that they did follow his instructions.

Now, they picked it up and they said, "What is it?" If you say that in Hebrew, sort of in a - I wouldn't say slang but in ordinary language - you might say that they said, "Manna?" "What is it?" So they called it whatchamacallit - what is it - because that's what their first reaction was when they saw it.

That was God's second test - the test to see, "When I provide, when you're hungry, will you follow my instructions exactly? Will you be a partner that knows it's not about you? It's about me. It's not your qualifications; it's what I provide. Will you trust me totally and lean on me for your strength?" There's the test. 

Is there a hint of community being taught here too? The answer is yes. God said, "Go out and pick up an omer of manna." Now you run smack dab into a problem when you investigate that. Because we don't know what an omer is. If, as most scholars think, it comes from an Egyptian word - measurement - it would be between half and three-quarters of a cup. Now, I've watched you guys eat. And most of you are probably bigger than the typical Israelite was. But half to three-quarters of a cup, we're not going to have a weight problem here in the desert. The point being that God, again, didn't spread in front of them-- he gave them plenty. In fact, he said there's going to be more than you need but don't pick up more than you need. So maybe part of that test was, "Will you trust me enough just to use what you need?"

The Bible says when they went out and collected it, those that collected a lot had just enough and those that collected a little had just enough. The text indicates they were being sensitive to the needs that everyone else had and were only picking up what they needed. So there may be a hint here too if we look at testing as not only God saying, "Put this into practice. I want to see what you claim to believe. I want to see it practiced." But it may also be God saying, "I want to train you. I want to train you in lots of things - obedience." That's in the text, no question. "I want to train you in thinking as a community too. So, not more than you need. Everyone should have what you need and no more."

So, this test here in the wilderness of Sin, good or bad? In some ways, they sin. They complained. They grumbled. They got on Moses. They wanted a banquet out here in the desert. God was not pleased.

On the other hand, when he gave them their instructions, it trained them and they found themselves at a slightly more mature level as God's people than they had been before. So in that sense, we can say, "God is accomplishing his purpose in training," which is not just convicting people of sin, but training people to be the community or the partner that he wants them to be.

Now, Israel is going to continue. But the next test, they run into a more difficult issue and the response to the test is going to be different. Maybe that's because they had to walk a ways first. So come with me. Let's go see the next time God tested them. Come.

We've been learning that when God picks a partner - Moses, for example - it isn't Moses' qualifications, though God uses them. It's God. And he needs his partner to be absolutely and totally dependent on that in order for that partnership to work. Because God is going to be the one who works in and through. So when God picked Israel to be his witness to the nations, they were not only in Egypt, but Egypt was in them. 

We've been walking with them, watching God slowly test them. Sometimes they sinned, but each time God begins to mold them and to take Egypt out of them.  So far, from the Jewish point of view I think, you would say it had been a heart issue. They were not wholeheartedly committed to God. So God had to discipline them and teach them - painfully in some ways - that they need to love him with all their heart. Then, they continued on to a place called Rephidim, and when they get to Rephidim, apparently a place where they expected to have enough water, listen to the story that unfolds (Exodus 17). "The whole Israelite community set out from the wilderness of Sin, traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, 'Give us water.'"

Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test God?" Now, we've moved testing to a different place. It's one thing that God would put you and me in difficult and even painful situations so that we would have a chance to be trained and molded and we would have a chance for him to know - that is remember - experientially see our obedience in action. But for us or for the Hebrews to test God? And say, "God, unless you give us water, we're not going to follow anymore. We aren't going to believe anymore. We want out of this partnership." It comes close to that. Testing God? That's not the partnership.

"The people were thirsty and grumbled against Moses. They said, 'Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and our livestock die of thirst?'"(Exodus 17)

"Moses cried out," - ze'akah (to cry out). He's in trouble. "What am I to do with these people, Lord? They're ready to stone me." The crisis here. Now, I love God's answer.

"Walk in front of them Moses." Moses is being asked to take a step of trust here too. 

"They're going to stone me."

"Why don't you go stand in front of them? Do you trust me or not?"

Now, that test becomes, in a sense, a test of the soul. Because in the Jewish mind, in the Eastern mind, your soul is your life. In a sense, what they're saying in this test is, "God, if you don't come through and give me proof you're here and are willing to act, I'm not ready to give you my life."

In fact, if we continue, the story ends by saying (Exodus 17), "They tested the Lord, saying, 'Is he among us or not?'" Stop and think about that. 

"Look, Hebrews. Here's the cloud."

"I know, but is he among us or not? Prove it. He promised, in Egypt, he would go with us."

"I know."

"Make him prove it."

"That mountain over there, I saw a burning bush," Moses could have told them. And he said, "I will go with you and the proof is we'll come back to this mountain. We're almost there."

"I know. Make him show us." 

That didn't sit well with God. It's one thing for this partnership, where God takes people like the Hebrews or like us and says, "Let's partner together and you be my witnesses," knowing that it's going to be God's strength and our total dependence on God that is going to make this partnership work. It's a very different thing to say, "God, I won't until you do your part."

So Moses said, "Why do you quarrel with God? Why do you test him? Why? Hasn't he proved himself for almost 40 days? Why? How can you question him? Where has he failed you even once? Wait here."

Moses walked all the way to Mount Sinai. Did you know that? The rock he hit, the Hebrew word literally means cliff. He walked up to the mountain of God and he hit it. Because God told him to. And water came running out of Mount Sinai. And as the people stood watching, it came running past where they were camping, running out from the mountain of God. 

"You doubt me? Look where this water comes from." That was no ordinary rock he hit. That was the mountain of God. And I wonder if, in the picture, God isn't saying, "Moses, those people deserve my judgement. But I am patient and slow to anger and merciful, so hit me. I'll take the blow." You don't hit the mountain of God, certainly, without him telling you.

Each test, we noted there's a hint that God wants them to learn community. I think there's an even stronger one here. The very next thing that happens, the very next story is down one of these canyons, come the Amalekites - fierce desert warriors. And do you know who they attacked? The poor and the weak at the back of the-- where would you find the poor and the weak in God's community? Would you expect them to be right in the middle where everybody stands around them and says, "Here's my arm. Let me carry that. Here, let me help you. Here, [inaudible 00:25:54]." 

You judge the strength of the community in your church by where you find the weak. They're not a community yet. So they failed the test. But do you know what? Up until this point, they camped, they went, they walked - plural. In the very next story, Israel comes to Mount Sinai and she camped (Exodus 19) - singular. Out of this, she becomes a community. Painful testing is no fun at best. But in it, God trains his people. So have you been in a time of pain and struggle? That's a foolish question. We all live in the wilderness. But in those situations where God tests us, what he wants is for us to seize the opportunity in that struggle to say, "God, this is how committed I am. I am so committed that at this moment, in this pain, I want you to know experientially what is in my heart." Pain may be God's way of asking us to show him the depth of our commitment by obedience. 

Three times, he put Israel through that test. Did they succeed or fail? Well, each time there were some who didn't do what God wanted. But each time through the experience, they matured, they grew, and they learned what obedience was. Soon, they'll be ready for an even bigger step to become the bearers of Torah.

So pain is pain. But in testing, it has purpose - like the birth of a child. In Deuteronomy, Moses tells them there is going to be one more. He doesn't call it a test, but he puts in the same list with the other tests. I almost hesitate to tell you, because it's going to be the test they almost never pass. It's by far, the hardest test of all. He says, "When you get there and you've got it all - houses you didn't build, wells you didn't dig, farms you didn't plant, and you're doing great - you'll never pass that test. You will forget me in an instant. You will say, 'I did this, and my power and my mind and my talent did this.'" 

You see, in the West, we always assume pain is how God tests. He does this. That's not the hardest test by far.  Do you know what the toughest test is? When everything is wonderful. 

The reason I hesitate to tell you this is because that's exactly the test you and I live with every single day. So should you pray for testing? I think it's going to come, pray or not. Some will be the pain of Marah and Sin (desert of Sin) and Rephidim. And some will be the wonderful middle-class lifestyle - the two cars and the vacation home, all the clothes you want and so much food in the cupboard you say, "I don't know what to eat." 

In every case, God says, "I want to know what's in your heart. I want to see it in action. Show me." And I think sometimes, it would be easier if the tests were here than to the beautiful land to which we go. Yet, through it all, God says, "I want a partner. I want you to be my witnesses. I want you to be my hands and my comfort to the hungry and the poor and the lonely. I want you to tell them about my Messiah that I sent you. I want partners." And he hasn't given up on us. So when the testing comes, pain or not, pray for the strength of obedience.

Last modified: Thursday, August 27, 2020, 12:18 PM