Have you been sent to die in the wilderness?
“Is it because there
are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?”
Exodus 14:11
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read that. I didn’t laugh
because I was mocking the Israelites, or at their unsteadiness and doubt. But
it was because I heard God speak to me through those verses;
“Oh you poor kid, have I not promised to you? Have I not
told you? Have I not remind you for the umpteenth time, that with my mighty
hands, I will deliver you? That I will have my way executed in your life
because that’s what you chose from the beginning? Have you not already seen the
things that I have done in your life? Have you forgotten the fulfilled promises
in your life?“
As I lay in bed, I recalled the story of how Moses was
leading the Israelites out of Egypt. What started off as 70 Israelites
migrating to Egypt, ended up as 6 lakhs men (excluding women and children)
after 430 year. They were slaves to Pharaoh over those years. The kind of
slaves who were ill-treated, over worked, and had no rights over anything. But
on the other hand, they were God’s children, whom He never forgot. One fine
day, God sent Moses and Aaron along to deliver these people from the Egyptians.
After a whole episode of prayers, signs and wonders, the Israelites were
finally on their way out of Egypt, on their way to the promise land.
Even before leaving Egypt, the Israelites were complaining
to Moses to let them be as they were, as slaves. As soon as they left, Pharaoh
came chasing after them. And when they
saw this, the Israelites feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to
the LORD. They said to Moses, “It is because there are no graves in Egypt that
you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in
bringing us out of Egypt? Is it not that we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us
alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to
serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. ” Exodus 14:10-12.
Every one of those words were pointed to towards God
directly and not at Moses. These are the people who’ve had first hand experience
and were privileged to see God’s miracles. Moses and Aaron performed miracles
and sign through God in front of Pharaoh. When there was harmful things that
was happening throughout Egypt, it had affected everyone right from the palace
to the workers, but it didn’t affect anyone in Goshen, where the Israelites
lived. When there were deadly plagues in Egypt, the Israelites were untouched
by it. No frogs, gnats, swarms of flies, plague of the livestock, boils,
hailstorm, locusts, darkness or even plague of the firstborn affected the
Israelites. But they saw with their own eyes how the Egyptians suffered with
these things.
We, people of today’s day and age, are all just like the
Israelites of those days. The moment something looks as if it is not working for
us, we immediately think it’s working against us. When there’s a vague sense of
uncertainty, all the miracles become misty. All the promises are long
forgotten. It may not be as verbal and real as going through slavery, wilderness etc. But that's the gist of it.
To all those who are in such a situation, be reminded of
just one thing: God is faithful.
“The Egyptian whom you see today, you
shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to
be silent.”
Exodus 14:13,14.
I am the LORD. I
appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the
LORD I did not make myself known to them. I am the LORD, and I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with great acts of judgement. I will take you to be my
people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring
you to the land that I swore to give Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I am the
LORD.” Exodus 6:2-8
PS: This is a note to self on the 28th of May
2015 at 1am (Malaysian time), and to all those who need it and would care to
read it.
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