Blinded to the Miraculous
Not that I will become too accustomed to God's presence and in so doing, take Him for granted....
Not that I will give up on truth for some new thing ...
But that I will, through ungratefulness, despise the blessings of God.
Reading my Bible the other night, I found where Israel despised God's blessings.
The time? After four hundred years of bondage.
The place? Just outside of Egypt.
The setting? Surrounded by manna, a heavenly food, that was provided daily.
The problem? Familiarity with the blessings of God.
The incident occurred just two and a half months after their miraculous deliverance from the hand of Pharoah. The Israelites cried out, "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" (Ex. 16:3). God, in his masterful benevolence, answered their cries, telling Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day" (Ex. 16:4).
What a beautiful miracle. No longer would the people need to hunt for food; remember, they couldn't plant anything as they were nomads at this time. After a long day of walking, they could relax and eat the meal God laid upon the ground for them after the dew fell. The people were delighted at first.
However, time and time again, the people of Israel kindled God's anger with the same transgression: unthankfulness.
In Numbers 11, the complaining frustrated the Lord so much that those on the outskirts of the camp were consumed by fire! That says a lot about those of us who sit on the outer borders of our churches, too busy criticizing rather than diving into the ministry of the church!
Anyway, it is further in this same chapter that we find the children of Israel rejecting manna, the life-saving fare that had served them so long. They cried, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes" (Numbers 11:4-6). In asking ”who shall give us,” they were not asking one another. They knew they were in the same boat. If they were not asking for man to give them these things, what were they saying? Could they have really been bidding for a different god—one who would acquiesce to their requests? Did they dare?
Oft times, we find that their argument included a comparison of life with Moses and God Almighty versus that of bondage in Egypt; how many times have we compared our life in the church with that we had out in the world? Although it might seem to be simple words, any time we begin to prefer a life in bondage, we need a spiritual check-up!
The Lord, in his anger, commands Moses to tell the people: "Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" (Numbers 11:18-20).
Indeed, it would seem that they had put out a bid for another god, or at least tempted Jehovah with their question, for here we find that God says they have ”despised” Him! Could our lack of faith and our complaints be viewed as despising God and His provisions??
Even Moses doubted God's ability, reminding him how many men travelled together. God's response: "Is the Lord's hand waxed short?" Wow, there’s nothing like looking an almighty God in the face and saying, “Well, I don’t think you realize the magnitude of what we’re trying to accomplish here. I mean, really, you can’t feed all these people…”
I would have to say that I would have been more cautious complaining about the manna after a portion of the congregation was purged, yet as I look back into my past, I know there must have been times I did despise the blessings of the Lord unknowingly.
How many times have we despised the bills that come with the home he blessed us with? Or have we despised the advice of our pastor who God set in place to watch for our souls?
In this instance, the people got what they wanted but found it an empty triumph. While the book of Numbers claims the meat rotted in their mouths, it doesn't seem to simply be the taste that was affected. Psalm 78:25-31 reports:
"Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel."
Apparently, there is always a price to pay when we choose our way over God's ....and when we despise the miraculous.
In Numbers 25, we see another type of ingratitude. The children of Israel had been commanded to keep to their own kind, not to marry those who did not believe in God. The bible says the "people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab." This whoredom was both physical and spiritual. Not only were the Israelites inter-marrying with non-believers, but they were committing idolatry with them as well. Rather than appreciating the blessing of the pure women within their nation, they despised the holy in favor of those who prostituted themselves in their own temples. Temple priestesses of many of these faiths were, likewise, prostitutes. A plague ensued ... until one man decided to end the foolishness.
"And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand" (Numbers 25:6-9).
Similarly, a lack of gratitude for the miraculous lead to a lack of belief in the city of Nazareth in the New Testament. Matthew 13:58 tells us, "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
I wonder, would we see more divine moves of God if we appreciated the blessings we already have? If we could keep the blessings in proper perspective, would we not have more faith to see our mountains moved? Have we been blinded to the miraculous?
