Angelic Conflict part 132: Human history – Exo 15; 16; Job 40:1-5; Mat 6:33-34; Isa 55:1; Psa 78:24-25; Joh 6:26-42.
length: 63:29 - taught on Aug, 1 2013
Class Outline:
Title: Angelic Conflict part 132: Human history - Exo 15; 16; JOB 40:1-5; MAT 6:33-34; ISA 55:1; PSA 78:24-25; JOH 6:26-42.
Conflict amongst a group of people: Moses and the Exodus. Moses will be used by God to make a people (Hebrew) into a nation (Israel).
We transition from the opposition by a pagan ruler and people under religion (C2) to the opposition by the people of God against other people of God under arrogant self-absorption (C1).
Cosmic 1 was the attitude of satan at his fall while cosmic 2 was his invention to draw mankind to himself, after his fall and the fall of man.
EXO 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
EXO 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
EXO 15:24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
EXO 15:25 Then he cried out [loud call] to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
When this very tree began to grow did anyone know its purpose?
God has provided all solutions to all problems since eternity past. They are in existence and we who walk with God will walk right into them.
When they reach the bitter water there is right there a healing tree, but they don’t see it. They focus only on the problem and complain against Moses, and blame Moses (if they were honest they should blame God who called Moses). Moses, the spiritual man, doesn’t see the tree either, for how could he possibly know, but he asks God for the revelation and that humble man received it, and as he has done and will do several more times, that humble man will spare the destruction of Israel’s adult generation.
They don’t walk with God, but Moses did and he chose the proper solution of prayer - “Father, show me the solution, for I know it is around me and in my soul; reveal it to your servant.”
The heathen, the pagan, the religious unbeliever know nothing of the healing tree, and so how can their bitterness be made sweet? The Christian who has resorted back into the world of the religious or the self serving of selfishness has forgotten the healing tree and so has returned to bitterness as a dog returns to its vomit.
Only the Gospel and the word of God can stop this trend in any man.
The tree [Christ’s cross] turns bitterness into sweet, refreshing, thirst quenching satisfaction.
EXO 15:26 And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer."
It must be an awful thing to live an unafflicted life on earth. Some may say it must be a very delightful thing. I have no doubt it may be from some aspects; but a person who has had no sickness, how can he have a sympathetic heart? The one who never needed comfort from God would not know how to comfort another child of God. If you never had any trials, I should suppose that you would become harsh, and never tender; I am afraid some would grow brutal, coarse, hard of heart.
This being understood, we really do agree with a previous passage:
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance
“grumbled” [vs. 24] - lun = to grumble or to murmur. “mur - mur”; two little baby sounds or a double groan. No thought, but the cry of a brute.
The Hebrew verb lun in the Niphal, carries the thought of being obstinate or stubborn, from the idea of remaining or persisting in a negative sense.
In Exodus the word occurs here, two and a half months later when food was scarce and said that they wished they had never left Egypt where they sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. (forgetting slavery) God heard it and sent manna.
EXO 16:1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.
EXO 16:2 And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
EXO 16:3 And the sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt [last plague], when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."[be careful what you wish for; this will happen in 40 years]
They have been away from Egypt but a little under three months.
We can easily remember better times while simultaneously forgetting other things to which we were concurrently in bondage.
The grass is always greener over the septic tank. We can remember the grass and forget what was underneath.
Do they recall the freedom to work and earn at whatever they chose that they lost to the state, which subsequently forced them to labor at the Egyptian Public Works Department? Do they recall being harshly treated by taskmasters? Do they recall having to obtain their own straw while still being forced to make the same number of bricks? And since they could not make the same amount they were brutally treated without any sign of future relief but through Moses.
In our pilgrim journey through life, we live on promises and not explanations. When we hurt in adversity, it's a normal response to ask "Why?" but that is the wrong approach to take. For one thing, when we ask God that question, we're assuming a superior posture and giving the impression that we're in charge and God is accountable to us. God is sovereign and doesn't have to explain anything to us unless He wants to.
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?
Asking "Why?" in adversity assumes a superior posture to God and also assumes that if God did explain His plans and purposes to us, we'd understand everything perfectly and be content.
Like children, if God gave us the answer to one “Why?” it would be followed by another and another and another. The finite can only please the infinite by means of faith.
We see Job frustrated with God and repeatedly saying, "I'd like to meet God and ask Him a few things!" But when God finally comes to Job, Job is so overwhelmed he doesn't ask God a thing!
JOB 40:1 Then the Lord said to Job,
JOB 40:2 "Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who reproves God answer it."
JOB 40:3 Then Job answered the Lord and said,
JOB 40:4 "Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to Thee?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
JOB 40:5 "Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
Even twice, and I will add no more."
EXO 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.
EXO 16:5 And it will come about on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
EXO 16:6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, "At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt;
EXO 16:7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?"
EXO 16:8 And Moses said, "This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord."
In other words, “We’re just doing what the Lord commanded us to do, so if you’re going to complain, complain to Him.”
They are more concerned with their appetite than they are with the Lord’s glory:
Matt 6:33
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
In prosperity some draw nearer to God and others away. In adversity, or in times of going without, some draw nearer to God and others away. God brings both the sunshine and the rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous.
EXO 16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, 'Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.'"
EXO 16:10 And it came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
EXO 16:11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
EXO 16:12 "I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, '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.'"
EXO 16:13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
Some suppose it to be the Katà of the Arabs, a kind of partridge which is found in great abundance in Arabia, Palestine, and Syria. These fly in such dense masses that the Arab boys often kill two or three at a time, by merely striking at them with a stick as they fly (Burckhardt, Syr. p. 681). But in spring the quails also come northwards in immense masses from the interior of Africa, and return in autumn, when they sometimes arrive so exhausted, that they can be caught with the hand (cf. Diod. Sic. i. 60; v. Schubert, Reise ii. p. 361).
So it’s not just manna on the menu every night. They have meat as well. And the manna was ground into flour and baked into cakes that had a buttery honey taste.
EXO 16:14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.
EXO 16:15 When the sons 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, "It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
EXO 16:16 This is what the Lord has commanded, 'Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'"
EXO 16:17 And the sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
EXO 16:18 When they measured it with an omer [about 2 quarts], he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.
Logistical grace support is for all believers. All of God’s people will have enough.
And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
They camped by tribe, so it is likely that the tribe pooled together their manna so that everyone, even those who gathered too little, had enough.
EXO 16:19 And Moses said to them, "Let no man leave any of it until morning."
Manna, like doctrine, must be gathered every day if we are to be sustained every day.
You who listen to doctrine every day know what it is like to skip a day. Though sometimes it cannot be helped it still will malnourish the soul that day. If this neglect occurs in big chunks of time; days, weeks, months then the soul will starve and reversionism will result. Think about what your health would be if you ate once or twice a week.
This also represents living one day at a time. Tomorrow’s manna would be there so don’t fear and store up today what is needed for tomorrow. “Give us today, tomorrow’s bread,” i.e. reinforce to us that tomorrow’s needs have already been accomplished by You.
Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Enjoy what God has given you today and do not worry about whatever needs you may have tomorrow.
EXO 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
If we obey God’s simple instructions we will have capacity for blessing, but if we disobey, we only hurt ourselves and obtain discipline.
EXO 16:21 And they gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.
You had to get up early to gather. God has a lot to say about the sluggard who turns like a hinge in his bed. If they slept in they would go without.
Jesus, the day after He fed the 5000 on the Sea of Galilee:
Seven times in this discourse Jesus refers to Himself as coming down from heaven.
JOH 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
The crowd looked for Him in the morning, but He wasn’t there but across the sea in Capernaum, which He walked across the night before. They came over in boats to find Him because He could feed them and they desired to make Him King of Israel.
JOH 6:27 "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal."
They clearly hear the word “work” and completely miss the word “give” because they are hardened by legalism.
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
JOH 6:28 They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
JOH 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God [not of man], that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
JOH 6:30 They said therefore to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?
JOH 6:31 "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'"
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