Exodus 13:17-17:16

Judges 4:4-5:31

John 6:25-35; 19:31-37

Revelation 15:1-4

Have you ever thought what it was like to be in the caravan of Hebrews leaving Egypt? What conversations took place amongst this group of sleep deprived people? Were they celebrating the faithfulness of Yah displayed before them in the last months? Did they recognize the mighty hand and outstretched arm Who freed them? Was the conversation about the unmerited favor the Almighty had shown and how amazing His works had been on their behalf? Or were they looking at the road Moshe was leading them on and raising complaint to the longer path he selected? Were they backseat drivers giving him directions to turn and go through the land of the Philistine for the shortcut to the “Promised Land”?

Having lived a few years now and being in ministry for over twenty years, I think I can answer the above questions with a bit of accuracy. If Will Rodgers is right in saying, “people change, but not much”, the Hebrews were doing a pretty good job of forgetting about the miracles of their past leading them to second guess the path to their future. Sound familiar?

We can read the reason the Hebrews were not allowed to go the easy way Home, was because they would not have made it. They would have cracked under the pressure of war. As I meted last week, it was the journey which would prepare them for their destination, not the other way around. The steps before them would be about testing their hearts, proving them and weeding out those who refused to bring their inner man out of Egypt.

This week we see a theme which will plague the Hebrews for the next forty years, “Let’s go back to Egypt, the way is too hard, Yah cannot deliver us out of this one, why did we not just remain as slaves in Egypt.” This theme will cause the vast majority to die in the wilderness and never set eyes on the promise. Are we doing much better?

With that question in mind, consider the following statements. “I sure miss the music we used to have in church”, “I miss the fellowship”, “I miss decorating for the holidays”, “I miss …you fill in the blank. Any of those statements sound familiar?

Truth is that there were some things about Egypt that were good memories for the Hebrews the same as there were things about our past experiences which were good. Their problem, as well as ours is that as time goes on people tend to remember the good of the past and forget the pain. The Hebrews forgot the slavery and only remembered the good produce. We can fall into the same traps, but this is the wrong thought process for people of covenant. It should not have mattered how good or bad life was in Egypt. When it was time to go home, it was time to go home. Our thoughts need to be the same. Wars, earthquakes, financial ruin and political upheaval do not need to occur to turn our hearts toward home. It should only take His whisper of “It’s time.”

My question is this. Are we hearing His whisper today? Are your spiritual ears tuned to hear the whisper if it is spoken? Which direction is the door of your inner man’s tent facing, Egypt or the Promised Land? Are we today celebrating the miracles happening around us which point to deliverance or further entrenching ourselves in Egypt? What will happen the day our deliverance comes and we find ourselves walking away to find out we are not being allowed to walk the easy path we desired, but rather the difficult road for our own good? How about when we are brought to the edge of a sea of impossible passage, where will we turn?

Please allow me to give some help for all the above questions. How easy will it be to leave? This depends on how deeply you are entrenched in Egypt today. How much will you complain about the journey then? More than likely you will complain about as much or maybe a bit more than you complain about it today. Will you leave celebrating the miracles of redemption or whining and complaining at each step? To quote a statement from past teachings, “You will perform like you train.” In other words, if you baby yourself spiritually, emotionally and physically today, that will be the life you have chosen for your future.

Is there a key to “making it” and not coming up a step short of His promise? I think so. The key is found in Exodus 16:32. In this verse the Hebrew people are told to store two quarts of manna. Keep in mind that manna dissolved in the evening, but these two quarts would remain. (I wonder where these two quarts are today.) They were to place this manna before their eyes as a reminder of His daily faithfulness to them. How do we keep our inner man walking forward toward His promises without complaining or testing Him? Find your manna of His faithfulness in your life. Find a way to put that manna in front of you. Talk about your manna. Share the story of your manna with others, especially your family. Allow the manna of His faithfulness in your past to become what propels you into His faithfulness of your future! (Click to Source)