Lookahead: Did the people have selective memory erasure? Or, for that matter, how about OCDC? Did they genuinely forget the torment of slavery that they had suffered when they were satisfying the cravings of the flesh? Or was it merely a matter of focus. Manna was perfect—for all their needs. And yet their focus changed from perfect manna to highly imperfect meat. If they still considered themselves to be enslaved—but now under new management—they would have been subject to any and all worldly distractions.
As I mentioned in the introduction to this series the Hebrews had a real Kingdom Opportunity in the wilderness. [Note: In this context, “Kingdom” connotes righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, which is how the Apostle Paul defined the Kingdom (Romans 14:17).] I.e., the people were given a perfect opportunity to have a very happy life, to enjoy a lot of inner and outer peace, and to experience safety and comfort on the way to their destiny. God had worked miracle after miracle to deliver them from slavery; and had proven time and time again that He was an infinitely powerful/caring Father God. Now He was leading them through the wilderness in a spectacular fashion, providing all the sustenance they needed, keeping them 100% healthy/whole, protecting them from any enemy they might meet. So why did they not avail themselves of this Kingdom Opportunity?
It wasn’t like the majority of people were actually God fearing/worshipping, except for a few stiff-necked unruly rebels. God had to dispense with an entire generation of Hebrews to produce the Israelite army that was needed to go into the Promised Land. So a solid majority of perhaps 99% of the people failed to avail themselves of this Kingdom Opp. Why does this matter? Well, it’s possible that 99% of the people today do not avail themselves of the Opp.
Could it be that God wasn’t expecting the Hebrews to be Kingdom Occupiers (KOs) at this wilderness stage of the game? He had just given them the Law and they would be going through national spiritual development over the next centuries. Perhaps they couldn’t handle the truth at that stage? But I keep going back to the intense supernatural experience. The people witnessed astonishing plagues followed by the splitting of the Red Sea. How could they not totally surrender to God and pledge to serve him on every level? None of the fake gods had ever done anything/spectacular. And yet the people weren’t permanently impressed—why?
I think it was a case of several contributing factors. Here are some theories;
- Egypt/Slavery had ruined them—the people did not understand Who God was. (Their frame of reference was the Egyptian fake gods—because that’s the image they chose when they crafted one out of gold.)
- The Hebrews mistakenly applied perceptions about the Egyptian fake gods to the LORD. Those fake gods were viewed as being highly unpredictable and arbitrary—doling out punishment at the slightest whim—demanding torture and death. The people believed that sooner or later they would get punished whatever they did. In Romans 1:21-24 Paul talked about a generic downward spiral that I believe applies here. The people started out by rejecting God’s glory and authority; then they began to worship the created thing rather than the Creator, and it went downhill from there leading to major sin and death.
- Or the Hebrews mistakenly applied perceptions about their taskmasters in Egypt to the LORD. And now He was establishing a new regime at Mount Sinai and giving them yet another set of rules to follow. Perhaps they feared him in a phobic/terror-struck way, instead of fearing Him in reverential awestruck way. (Only the latter type of fear will produce love. Perfect love casts out the former type of fear.) And in fact, after God’s first substantive Glory demonstration on Mount Sinai, the people demanded that Moses be the human-in-the loop between them and God going forward.
- Here’s what Jesus had to say about having a human in the loop (which was a perfect summary of the wilderness folks): I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I had come in my father’s name and you do not accept me, but if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him. How can he believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God. John 5:34
- Egypt/Slavery had ruined their sense of trust—they had lost it after waiting for deliverance for decades. I’ve heard several pastors preach that the Hebrews couldn’t kick their slave mentality after 400 years in Egypt, i.e., God got the Hebrews out of Egypt, but He couldn’t get the Egypt out of the Hebrews. What if their memories of a non-responsive, absentee God were actually enslaving them and keeping them out of the Kingdom. They perceived it as abandonment and kept waiting for a repeat!! So their image of God was of Someone Who wasn’t 100% trustworthy.
- Perhaps in the wilderness they spent a lot of time waiting for the other shoe to drop, as a result. And were reluctant to trust Him. What if the Golden Calf incident was all about Moses’ absence? They were very quick to say, our deliverer has disappeared, and our God has abandoned us (again); we’d better get a new, replacement god ASAP. ☹ Maybe it was a case of Moses hitting a raw abandonment nerve that had never healed.
- Egypt/Slavery had ruined their sense of taste —with worldly temptations like tasty cuisine. Was the meat all that good? Or did the taste of manna become boring to their palates? A case of familiarity breeding contempt? (And yet going back to Egypt for familiar meat was a guarantee of slavery ☹. As Pastor Steve Furtick says, “Familiarity versus freedom?”)
- The Passion Translation, in one example of its remarkable terminology, referred to a “realm of the spirit.” Jesus was speaking about how to worship God: “For God is a Spirit, and He longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore Him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 One could say that in the realm of the spirit, manna was perfect, but in the realm of lustful flesh it eventually became boring.
- And isn’t it true today that we often “lust after” food that isn’t good for us? Case in point, in the massive freezer section at the grocery store I recently discovered a vegetable medley that seemed like an answer to a dieter’s prayer—single digit calories and sat. fat barely registering on the meter. It was delicious to the point of creating a craving, but when I incorporated it in my diet, my weight started creeping up. I realized that this new side dish was loaded with carbs! In fact, it’s like I had carb radar: out of all the frozen vegetable preparations in the freezer section, I had unknowingly navigated to the one brand that was the worst for my slimdown.
- The people had selective memory erasure…or OCDC. Did they genuinely forget the torment of slavery that they had suffered when they were satisfying the cravings of the flesh? Or was it merely a matter of focus. Manna was perfect—for all their needs. And yet their focus changed from perfect manna to highly imperfect meat. If they still considered themselves to be enslaved—but now under new management—they would have been subject to any and all worldly distractions. It would be easy for their focus to swerve off the matchless supernatural properties, and unlimited potential, of the Manna. The more they focused on the meat, the more undesirable Manna became to them.
- The Egypt-experience turned the people into consummate rebels. Had the majority become reprobate? I don’t think so. During the 40+ years, we often saw the people acknowledge God, repent and/or sincerely pledge to obey the law. So they weren’t beyond redemption. It probably was just a matter of not being strong enough in the spiritual sense. As a result, they weren’t able to experience the glorious existence of KOs. And that case could apply today as well!
To be continued…
Cross-Denominational Bible Study 