Welcome back to A Closser Look! Today we’re journeying to a land of drought, a place of salt, sand, and uninhabited land; desert, or as some know it, the wilderness. I’ve recently had the chance to experience the desert’s extreme temperatures and dry air, in a controlled and tempered manner. We never lacked water and air conditioning was always close by. We were travelers visiting the desert terrain for the first time. The excitement of a new environment can often draw some of the sting out of the diversity of discomforts. For us, the desert was a place of exploration, but for our story today, the desert is a place of decision and ultimately, life or death.
Jeremiah 17:5-6 “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.”
Jeremiah 2:6 “Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?”
I can imagine wandering in that desert. The arid heat, lack of water, and seemingly no sure direction would seem as though one was walking in the shadow of death. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, would find themselves ultimately choosing between the comforts of Egypt or the promises of God. Our story begins in Deuteronomy 1, where what should have been an eleven’s day journey reached the brink of forty years.
Deuteronomy 1:2-3 “(There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;”
God brought them out of bondage in Egypt to bring them into the promised land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 6:20-23, Exodus 3:8, Leviticus 25:38). Yet, they doubted that the God that had the power to free slaves from bondage could deliver them to abundance also. Desperate, in faint of heart, they were gifted deliverance only to lose faith in the one who delivered them.
In Exodus 15:1-21, Moses and the children of Israel sang a triumphant song of deliverance to the LORD:
In short, it would have gone like this: I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously/ The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation/the Lord is his name/ Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power:/thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy/ Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?/ glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?/ The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Deuteronomy 6:20-23 “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? 21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22 And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: 23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.”
Exodus 3:8 “And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”
Leviticus 25:38 ” I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.”
In Exodus 16, we see this declaration of victory, swallowed up by the sound of their own stomachs.
Exodus 16:2-3 “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Even though the Israelites lacked faith, the Lord remained faithful still. In Nehemiah 9:21, we see that the Lord sustained them for the forty years they wandered tirelessly, to the beat of the desires of their own hearts, and empty stomachs.
Nehemiah 9:21 “ Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.”
In Exodus 16, the Lord rained bread from heaven for them (v.4), and the glory of the Lord was seen in all the clouds of this barren wasteland (v.10).
Exodus 16:15 “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”
The bread from heaven was called manna. Manna means, “what is it?”. It’s interesting as you begin to look at manna as it is mentioned in Scripture. In John 6:30-35, Jesus tells us that the manna in the wilderness is a picture of Christ, the bread of life! Manna speaks of the “mystery of godliness,” the mystery of God manifested in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16).
John 6:30-35 “They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
1 Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Attributes of Manna
| Small (Exodus 16:14) | Speaks of Christ’s humility (Philippians 2:6-7) |
| On the ground (Exodus 16:14) | Speaks of the humility necessary to receive Christ’s salvation |
| Round (Exodus 16:14) | Speaks of Christ’s eternity (John 8:58, Revelation 1:8) |
| It was a gift given (Exodus 16:15) | Speaks of Christ’s grace in salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16) |
| White (Exodus 16:31) | Speaks of Christ’s purity and righteousness (Romans 5:12, Matthew 1:20, Hebrews 4:15) |
| Sweet (Exodus 16:31) | Speaks of man’s responsibility to taste Christ’s salvation (Psalm 34:8, 119:103) |
| Must be received early (Exodus 16:21) | Speaks of the urgency of receiving Christ’s salvation (Isaiah 55:6) |
When you realize that the manna is a picture of Christ, it becomes clearer that the Exodus is not just a portion of Israel’s history, but a portrait of the Christian life! Just as easily as the Israelites veered off the path God had laid before them, we too can fall prey to the pleasures of this world and the lusts of our flesh.
Portrait of the Christian Life
Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”
The sobering thought concerning manna is that it was never meant to satisfy, but only to sustain them as they found their way through the wilderness. We find out later on, that God allowed them to hunger so that they would realize their need wasn’t for physical food, but for God’s voice. Matthew 4:4 says, “that man doth not live by bread alone but by every word of God”! The same is true for us; God’s voice satisfies our soul (Psalm 63).
| Egypt | World |
| Israel | Believer |
| Pharaoh | Satan |
| Bondage | Sin |
| Moses | Deliverer |
Deuteronomy 6:20-25 “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? 21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22 And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: 23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.”
Our Exodus (salvation) was not simply for Jesus to take us to His home when we die; but to make us His home while we live! After our Exodus (salvation) there is a wilderness to go through. The purpose in the wilderness is threefold:
- The Exodus is where God brings me out of Egypt, the wilderness is where God brings Egypt out of me!
- The Exodus deals with the enemy without (Satan), the wilderness deals with the enemy within (you/flesh)!
- The Exodus is what puts me on the way, the wilderness determines whether I will go all the way!
Discipleship Note: God never intended for a believer to journey through the wilderness alone! Discipleship is someone living in Canaan being used of God to deliver a lost person out of Egypt and then taking them by the spiritual hand and walking them through the wilderness until they make their entrance into Canaan.
2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years and in the end, only two made it into the promised land, Joshua and Caleb (Joshua 14:6-15). We see in Joshua 14, that it was because they followed the Lord’s voice. Their trust in Him never wavered. If we truly want to live an abundant life in Christ, we must follow Him wholeheartedly. We must desire Him, just as David did in Psalm 63:1-7.
Psalm 63:1-7 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”
The Lord’s mercies are new every morning; (Lamentations 3:22-23) He is faithful and compassionate towards those who wait for him and to the soul that seeks him (3: 25-26)! Rather than waiting on the Lord, the Israelites sought the desires of their past led by the sounds of their stomachs, rather than the echoes of God’s voice. John 10:27 says that the Lord’s sheep hear his voice, and he knows them, and they follow him! Israel journeyed forty long years, when they could’ve arrived in eleven days. Follow His voice (His Words), not the sounds of the world, or the thoughts of your own heart.
Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living.
A Closser Look 