Israel's Panic (Ex. 14:10-12)

5/5/2008 7:50 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time           Focus:  Israel’s panic

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 14:10-12

          Message of the verses:  “10 ¶ As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.  11 Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?  12  "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘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.’”

            These verses begin a disturbing trend that Israel begins here, and that trend is complaining when things were not going their way.  Hebrews 11:1 gives God’s definition of faith:  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  2 Cor. 5:7 tells the believer how to walk:  “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”  In Exodus 5:20-23 they told Moses to leave them alone so that they may continue to serve the Egyptians, yet this was not the will of God for them and so Moses began to confront Pharaoh as God had told him to.  In verse eight of chapter fourteen I read, “The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly.”  Israel was bold as long as things were going well for them, but when things began to fall apart they would take there eyes off of the Lord and put their eyes on the circumstances that surrounded them.  In this case they began to look at the army of Egypt, but did not see the Lord who was in the cloud to protect them and so this precipitated their groanings, which would only increase along their journey to Canaan and would eventually disqualify them from even entering the Promised Land. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One thing I wish to throw out here about my faith, which is what this SD is all about, and that is I would like to discover if my faith in God is too naive for there are times when I think that this may be the case.  Another word that I might use is credulous, or the opposite of shrewd.  I am speaking  particularly of  the investment that I made with Andrew Lech, yet there were 256 other people who invested with him too.  One of the many things that I am learning from this experience is that I need to be shrewder in my financial dealings, and not be as trusting as I have been in the past, not look for the impossible dream, which tends to be a flaw in my personality.  I am grateful, although I don’t always take advantage, of my wife, for she is diffidently shrewder than me.

            I do not want to be too hard on this generation of Israel, although if I read Scripture correctly it think that God seemed to be very hard on them.  The evidence against them is seeing the ten plagues to get them out of Egypt and the promises that were made to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that stated that God would not only do this but told them how many years they would be in Egypt before God would visit them and take them out of Egypt, so their was a large amount of evidence against them in not trusting the Lord. 

            What can I learn from this generation, and the mistakes they made, for after all that is one of the very reasons that all of their stories were recorded in the OT, so that I can learn from their sins, and mistakes, not just point my boney little finger at them.  I want to learn to have a great amount of faith in the Lord, but I don’t want to be too naïve, but rather more shrewd in my dealings.  I worship the One and only True God, and I believe with all of my heart that He is working all things out for my good and for His glory, and that He uses even my personality to bring things into my life in order to cause my faith to increase, to trust Him more, and to make me more like His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To yoke up with my Lord as He stated in Matthew 11:28-30, “28  "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  29  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  30  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’”  I pray that through all of the tests and difficulties in my life at this time that the Lord will use them to teach me contentment in Him, to trust Him more, and to be better and not bitter through life’s trials and tests.

Memory verses for the week:  Matthew 11:28-30

28.    Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

29.    Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30.    For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.