In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. " (Exodus 16:2-4 & 21)

When the children of Israel were liberated from slavery in Egypt, they found comfort at the beginning of their journey back to the promise land. But it was not too long after that they started to blaspheme. Just for a little while, they forget who God was. But the Lord who is full of mercy and compassion is always ready to respond. So he put them to the test to see if in reality, they were going to hold onto the promise he made to their forefathers that he was going to take care of his people and make them the envy of the world. So as they cried out to Moses and Aaron in the wilderness saying in Exodus 16:3: “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Just how short human memory is! These were the same people who saw the hand of God during the red sea crossing, yet they forgot they had the greatest of providers and protectors in the corner.

And so God tested them to see in reality of they were going to abide by his laws. He promised to rain bread day in and day out so that people could eat to satisfaction, and he did just that. But as we continue in the book of Exodus and various places in the Bible, we come to see the same children forgetting once again that there is a God and this after he’d blessed them! Remember when they made themselves a golden god to celebrate? They forgot they had a God who was traveling with them and who was not a fabricated object, but a God of their own who was and still is capable of wonders.

What happened in the past did not stop there however, because it is so sad that even today, there are those who despite the fact that they have seen the hand of God, have chosen to turn their backs against him. Why do you turn your back against God my brother? Why my sister? For anyone who has never known God or seen his wonders, it can be justified and explained, but for you and me? How many times did you pray to be healed and God answered your prayer (s)? How many times you asked for food and he gave it to you? How about the visa you received when million others just wish and some die without ever coming close? How about when your child was sick and the Lord intervened? How about when you live in tents and did not have a country of your own and the Lord gave you one? How about when the Lord allowed you to come in his name? Why have you forgotten? Let me remind you that the Lord is master of everything, and what he makes of you, only he will decide. Therefore if you have seen, heard and witnessed, please don’t turn your back against him because his, is a punishment that takes both the physical and the spiritual. Yet again his, is a blessing that lasts for eternity.

Check out the previous articles
Jeremie et Francine se marient	Tribulation because of sin
Resolution 2009	Offer your bodies as living sacrifices
Balaam and his talking donkey	Get behind me Satan!

Reading: Mark 8: 32-33,