An incident from Numbers 11, in
which Israel complained against the Lord’s provision as he brought them from
Egypt to the Canaan, the Promised Land, is instructive. They had grown weary of the journey and
the manna, the divinely supplied food that was given to sustain them. In their
complaining they expressed a longing to return to Egypt. In Egypt, they said,
they had “fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.” But, of course,
in Egypt they also had slavery and servitude. Somehow their current
circumstances blinded them to that part, so much so that they remembered the
foods they now craved as costing them “nothing.” Remarkable! This rejection of
the future the Lord had for them caused his judgment to fall on them.
A similar type of grumbling happened in the ministry of
Jesus. God had sent him as the Bread of Heaven, the true bread that the manna
foreshadowed. By feeding on him Israel was to be sustained until they reached
the greater Canaan, eternal life. Yet, like their ancestors in the wilderness,
they complained about God’s provision. They rejected the Bread of Heaven and
chose instead to feast on the fare of their spiritual Egypt.
The problem with the malcontents, Old Testament and New, was
that they had lost sight of the goal that Yahweh had for them. As a result,
they ended up on the wrong side of God’s history. His plan was moving forward
toward Canaan and all the complaining in the world wasn’t going to stop it. The
first generation died in the wilderness, never partaking of the land that
“flowed with milk an honey.” Those in Jesus day remained dead in their
trespasses and sins, never partaking of the wedding feast of the Lamb.
If we are going to make it through our
journey we need to keep our eyes on the goal God has for us. We cannot allow
trials that might attend our walk to turn our eyes back to Egypt as though what
we had before is better than what we will possess. Egypt was servitude and the
delicacies it offered made for a banquet of bondage. God has promised and God
will provide. Resist the voices from within and without that would tell you
otherwise.
