We’re So Hungry
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lead not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Read: Exodus 16-17:6
After seeing God’s power displayed over the mighty Egyptian Army when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, it is difficult to understand how anyone could doubt God and His plans, yet that is exactly what the people did. The journey to the promised land involved hundreds of thousands of people crossing desert lands, so it is no wonder that water and food quickly became an issue.
Wanting to ensure the most work out of their slaves, the Egyptians would have provided for basic needs. Now, after only three days and heading away from Egypt, the people were thirsty for water, and the only water they found was bitter. God provided Moses with a piece of wood (various Bible versions use the words “tree” or “log”) to place in the water and miraculously turn it from bitter to sweet. Soon after this, the people are led to Elim, where water is plentiful.
(Exodus 16:1-3) Over a month into the journey and further into the desert the people stopped to camp in a place ominously named the “Dessert of Sin” where they consider their lack of food and once again grumble and pine for Egypt.
The pillars of cloud-by-day and fire-by-night (Exodus 13:21) seem to be still leading Moses and the people on this journey. Now, at this point in time, the glory of the Lord became apparent to the people in a cloud over the desert (Exodus 16:10).
But more was to come from the sky. God provided meat (quail that flew into camp each evening) and bread (manna: wafer-like flakes that landed on the dew each morning) for the people. God laid out strict instructions for the amount to be gathered, and anyone gathering more discovered that the extra would simply rot and fill with worms.
But once again some of the people did not listen to God. They did not gather extra manna on the day before the Sabbath Day. On the Sabbath, they came to gather manna, but there was none. They really wished they had obeyed God.
For many years, God provided manna and quail for the people. If they obeyed God, they did not have to be hungry.
To help them remember this in the years to come, God told Moses to put some of the manna in a jar to keep in their packs as they traveled on to the Promised Land. That manna did not rot. In fact, it stayed in the jar for many years.
Questions:
- What did the Israelites complain about in the desert?
(They didn’t have anything to eat or drink) - Why did the Israelites want to go back to Egypt?
(They remembered how they had food and water in Egypt) - What did God do to make the bitter water sweet?
(He told Moses to throw a piece of wood in it) - What did God provide for the Israelites to eat?
(Manna in the morning and quail at night) - Why did God send extra food on a certain day each week?
(So that the people could rest on the Sabbath, a special day of the week, instead of collect food) - What happened when the people tried to collect more food than they needed on other days?
(The extra food would rot and have worms in it) - How did God show the Israelites that He loved them while in the desert?
(He provided food and water for them and gave them a day of rest)
Main Point:
The Lord took care of His people in the wilderness, and He will take care of us today.
Crafts
Make a collage with pictures cut out of magazines.
Make sure the pictures are of the things that God provides us with.
