By Ife J. Ibitayo
For Part 1 on “Hope or Hopelessness”, click here; Part 2, “Between an Army and a Watery Grave”, click here; Part 3, “Bitter Sweet”, click here; Part 4, “Worth the Wait”, click here. Lastly, for Part 5, “Spies and Lies”, click here.
The long days of the Israelites’ divinely-ordained road trip ate at them. After weeks of consuming manna for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the people complained to Moses, “‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna’” (Numbers 11:4b-6)!
The Food They Used to Eat
Egypt clearly had its perks: homes to live in, luxuries to enjoy, and delicious food to munch on. But by maximizing the good, the Israelites neglected the horrific aspects of Egypt. Egypt had been the source of their suffering, oppression, and decades of slavery.
For all of us sequestered away in lockdown, we’ve lost access to some key joys of life. We miss hangout nights with our pals, glorious getaways to faraway locals, and coffee breaks with colleagues. But as we lament our current circumstances, we may be making the same mistake as the Israelites. When God plucked us out of Egypt and placed us in the wilderness, He may have rescued us from the bad influences we used to surround ourselves with or the expensive trips we financed with credit cards and Hail Mary prayers or the gossip we inhaled as we sipped our cappuccinos.
The Food They Were Eating
More than neglecting the bad God rescued the Israelites out of, the Israelites neglected the good the LORD provided for them in the wilderness. Manna was bread from heaven, a consistent source of sustenance in the middle of a barren wasteland. The LORD fed the Israelites faithfully day by day for the forty years they were unable to feed themselves (Exodus 16:35).
We also may be sniffing our noses at our God-given bread from heaven. We’re lucky to be able to spend our isolation alone together, with sophisticated communication technology to bring our far-flung loved ones one click away. We’re fortunate to have an advanced infrastructure that allows our children to receive a modicum of education from the safety of our homes. And we’re blessed that almost half of America was able to transition to working virtually at such short notice.
The Food They Would Eat
Lastly, the Israelites forgot where they were going. The Promised Land was a country flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 13:5…), a land of “wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates and olive oil” (Deuteronomy 8:8). It was a bread basket even deeper than Egypt (Deuteronomy 11:10-12).
The LORD God gives good gifts, and He adds no sorrow with them (Proverbs 10:22). Even though He may have taken us away from the luxuries of Egypt and is leading us through the waterless desert, He will deliver us into a better country. In this new homeland, we’ll be free to live and eat without the shackles of our past slavery.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten– the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — My great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will My people be shamed.”
(Joel 2:25-26 NIV)