Focus Chapters:
- Exodus 16-19
Standout Verse(s):
Exodus 17:2-3 NLT
So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”
But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
Observation (s):
- Every problem that the Israelites experienced caused them to look back. In that moment, they saw only the good of the past and forgot the horrors they had experienced in Egypt. These horrors included their children being murdered!
But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
Application:
Many of us have had an Egypt bondage situation that God delivered us from. We also have our wilderness experiences that we have to go through to get to the promised land. For me, it was the journey I had to undertake to be whole as an individual, after enduring an unhealthy relationship.
During our wilderness experience, it is very tempting to look back at our Egypt experience and forget all the negatives that God delivered us from. As we wade through the wilderness, it is often very tempting to see the good aspects of Egypt and totally overlook the bondage and cruelty that we had endured.
Yes, in Egypt, we were guaranteed a safety net but that safety net came at a high cost. It came at the price of our happiness and peace of mind. It came at the cost of our spiritual, physical and mental well-being. It came at the cost of trading in or neglecting our other relationships and death of our futures. Isn’t that a cost too high? Yes! The wilderness experience is hard and not smooth but when compared, the cost and collateral damage from your Egypt experience is higher.
Don’t look back! Trust God to provide and ease your path.
One Response
Amen! Not going back to Egypt, would be like Lot’s wife and look back either cause looking back might cause us to turn “pillars of salt”. Good stuff!!