Kelly had us visiting the Israelites of antiquity as they camp on the outskirts of the Promised Land. They have been miraculously brought out of slavery in Egypt by the hand of God. Think plagues, Pharoah, Red Sea parting, pillars of cloud and fire, thousands of drowned Egyptian soldiers, and manna in the wilderness. If I may say so, these folks have seen the hand of God move on their behalf in mighty and spectacular ways.
In Numbers chapter 11 we find the Israelites COMPLAINING about their food situation. Let’s listen in to verses 4 through 6. “So the children of Israel also wept again and said ‘Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.’”
So, manna in the morning, manna at noontime, and manna at suppertime was becoming boring. I will give them that. I would be bored with the same thing to eat all the time. What Kelly pointed out and what hit me like a ton of bricks is that, in the midst of their current complaints, the Israelites romanticized the captivity and enslavement of Egypt. They forgot how atrocious their conditions were in Egypt and the horrible things that happened to them there. Kelly puts it this way:
“Where in the world did ‘at no cost’ come from? The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 470 years. The Egyptians killed their baby boys. They were forced into hard labor, their taskmasters doubled their workload, and they were groaning before God. Were the fish, the melons, the onions, and the garlic really ‘at no cost’”? p.104
She goes on to say, “Isn’t it interesting that they remembered how good the garlic was but failed to remember the Red Sea drying up? That coming-out-of-Egypt thing was great, but apparently it didn’t hold a candle to those leeks.” p. 106
How often do we forget about the price that we paid in a certain difficult season? Do we ever tend to look back on a situation using rose-colored glasses? How often do we forget how wonderfully God has worked in our lives in the past when we are in the midst of a difficult situation in the present? Sometimes it is easier to continue worshiping our false idols rather than do the work it takes to cross into the Promised Land of freedom and single-mindedness toward God.
As you and I struggle to be free of our idols, Satan will try to make them appear as if they really weren’t so bad after all-and perhaps they were even good things. Don’t believe it!! It is a lie!! Remember what they cost you. Remember that God has something better for you.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5: 1
