"You Shall Know That I Am the LORD Your God"
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February 22, 2015 |
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 "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'" (Exodus 16:12).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go, even as Egypt was being afflicted with various plagues. But, after the plague of the death of the firstborn, he told the Israelites to leave quickly.
Everything was done as God had said. The sons of Israel now left Egypt and set out for Canaan. Counting only male adults there were 600,000. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock (Exodus 12:38).
Now let's look into their journey for Canaan with Moses. By delving into the incidents during the journey, I urge you to put yourselves in Moses' or the Israelites' position and check if you would act according to the will of God.
1. God parted the Red Sea and attested to Moses
From the moment the Israelites left Egypt, God moved ahead of them, guiding them with a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire at night.
But Israel's peaceful march ended in a short time. Pharaoh took six hundred special war-chariots and all charioteers of Egypt to chase after them (Exodus 14:7). It must have been a fearful view. Before them was the Red Sea and from the behind, the Egyptian army was chasing them. The Israelites, struck by terror, began raising complaints against Moses.
This proved that they still didn't believe in God. They came out of Egypt because God heard their cries when they were suffering from slavery. Moses didn't forcefully bring them out. But God did not rebuke the Israelites who had such little faith, but He showed a great work of His power through Moses
First, the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. Then, during the night, the side of the Israelites had light, but there was only the cloud and darkness on Egyptian side. The Egyptian army could not march forward in the complete darkness.
Finally, Moses stretched out his staff as God commanded him. By a strong east wind that blew all night, the vast sea was divided, the dry land appeared, and the people were walking on the dry land in the middle of the sea. When they finished crossing the divided Red Sea, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea again. Then the parted Red Sea returned to its normal state. In an instant, the whole Egyptian army was buried in the water.
Moses' sister Miriam and the women also danced with timbrels in their hands, giving glory to God. (Exodus 15:20-21). The Ten Plagues in just themselves were amazing, but God confirmed that He was with the Israelites and attested Moses once again by parting the Red Sea.
2. Moses fasted and prayed for the people
The fifteenth chapter of Exodus describes the incident at Marah. After they had crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites went into the wilderness. Not being able to get any drinking water, they arrived at a place called 'Marah.' They finally found water, but the water there was too bitter to drink. They had witnessed the Ten Plagues, and they had crossed Red Sea on dry land just three days before, but they again began to pour out their complaints without showing faith. Through faith of one person, Moses, God changed the bitter water into sweet water.
When they complained about food, God gave them manna. When they wanted more than manna, God sent quail to them so that they could enjoy eating meat. Again when there was no water, not even the bitter one, the people complained. God had Moses strike a rock and water came forth.
Through faith of only one person, Moses, God forgave all the Israelites and in His mercy sent the works to save them. Even after that, however, the people of Israel still could not show faith when they faced difficulties. The sympathetic concern that Moses had each time cannot be expressed with words. He had to pray on behalf of the people who did not have the faith to pray. At the same time, he had to teach them the truth and plant faith in them. Moreover, he was put in a desperate situation where he prayed for the people of Israel offering his own spirit.
It was when Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments. He fasted and prayed for 40 days to receive the Ten Commandments for the Israelites. But they were impatient when Moses had not yet showed up. They made a golden calf and were giving sacrifices before the image of the calf and enjoyed themselves eating and drinking. God was grieved over such evil acts they committed and was going to destroy all of them and form a great nation through Moses.
But Moses was pleading with God to save the people of Israel, offering his own spirit (Exodus 32:32). Through his desperate prayer, God forgave the people once again.
3. Miriam became leprous because she criticized Moses
Even though they had seen many works of God, they didn't have faith, so they complained against Moses and grieved God whenever faced with difficulties (Psalm 78:40). Although they were freed from the difficulties thanks to Moses' faith, they even criticized Moses saying he was unrighteous when something didn't agree with them.
For example, when Moses married a Cushite woman, his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam criticized him. Numbers 12:2 says, "And they said, 'Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?' And the LORD heard it." They meant they had the authority to rebuke a wrongdoing of Moses because they were also prophets of God. God did not forgive Miriam and Aaron for criticizing Moses, for he was faithful in all God's household and was a man after God's heart. God poured His wrath on Miriam and Aaron who criticized Moses, and Miriam became leprous.
After Moses prayed to God to heal her, God healed her.
4. The reason why God showed the powerful works to the Israelites
While they were marching towards the Canaan Land, the Israelites saw many signs and wonders, but they continuously contested and complained against God and Moses, the man of God. However, God was patient with them; He just showed them so many powerful works so that their faith could grow.
Then why did God perform so many powerful works before the Israelites through the faith of Moses? This is because God earnestly wanted them to grow in faith through seeing the power of God. God guided them to know and believe in God through experiencing the works of the almighty God and to obey with their heart.
Also, when He performed a great work, He said, "You shall know that I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 16:12). Here, to know God is to cast off all sins and evil and resemble God who is Light. And, it is to obey the will of God with perfect spiritual faith. Only such persons can enter the Promised Land, Canaan.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God protected the sons of Israel from the Ten Plagues, parted the Red Sea, sent manna and quail, and guided them with the pillars of cloud and fire. By His grace and power, the Israelites—God's elect—could enter into Canaan which stands for the holy dwelling place.
In order to enter the sacred place, we should cast off dirty and filthy sins and evil and achieve sanctification of our hearts. Also, we should believe God from heart and only give thanks and rejoice, though in hardship, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become God's true children and enter New Jerusalem the most beautiful heavenly dwelling place.
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