by Eric Holter on October 5, 2006
“The sons of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
Exodus 16:3
It seems impossible that Israel would grumble so soon after seeing such a wonder as the parting of the Red Sea and the wholesale destruction of Pharaoh and the army of Egypt. Within three verses in the text (three days in real time for the Israelites) they go from the heights of praise singing and dancing, to grumbling against Moses for water. And then again, they grumbled about food, and then for water again. As an outside observer reading the story it’s easy to criticize Israel, but guess what? I do the same thing almost every day. Such is the blindness of unbelief. It will not be satisfied with the past works of God. It will not trust in the future works of God. At the moment of need it grumbles and complains rather than trusting in God.
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by Eric Holter on May 5, 2004
“I called out of my distress to the LORD,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me.
So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your Holy Temple.’ “
Jonah 2:2-4
Listen carefully my soul. What do you say when God, in his inscrutable ways, casts you into the deep? What happens in your heart when you feel expelled from the Lord’s presence? Whether you are engulfed as the result of your own sin, fleeing from the Lord like Jonah, or whether your trial is for no apparent cause, such as Joseph’s experience in prison, listen carefully to what your heart says in that day. O that you would say “Nevertheless I will look again toward thy Holy Temple!” Trials, whether self-inflicted from sinning, or purely from your heavenly Father’s perfect design for your holiness and purity, will come. Such times of affliction are appointed to you. What will you say when you are in such distress? Will you look toward the one who afflicts you, the one who casts you into the deep, and cry out to Him for help? Will you set your face steadfast toward His Holy Temple? Will you remember the Lord and look to Him to bring you up from the depths?
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by Eric Holter on April 5, 2004
“Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.”
“Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word.
But they grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. “
Psalms 106: 12, 24-25
What a contrast between belief and unbelief in the hearts of God’s people. When we walk in faith, believing in his Word, we sing his praises! Joy fills our hearts and we delight to be in His presence. “Whistle while you work” goes that simple song, but O how profound. His yoke is easy and his burden is light when we trust him and look to him to “act on behalf of the one who waits for him” (Isaiah 64: 4). The hardest of tasks lose their oppressive weight when we, like Paul, work hard, “yet not I but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15: 10). To work and serve “so as by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11) results in our singing and delighting in God’s praise and glory.
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