BE SATISFIED

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law. They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them. He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. He divided the sea and led them through; He made the water stand up like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? True, He struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can He also give us bread? Can He supply meat for his people?”

When the Lord heard them, He was furious; His fire broke out against Jacob, and His wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in His deliverance. Yet He gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; He rained down manna for the people to eat, He gave them the grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of angels; He sent them all the food they could eat. He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.  He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents. They ate till they were gorged — He had given them what they craved. But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths, God’s anger rose against them; He put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.

Psalm 78:9-31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Are you satisfied with your life?

It can seem like an easy enough question until you take a minute or so to let it sink in. You ask yourself again, “Am I satisfied with my life?” And you think about it a little more.

So how would you eventually answer it? I think in our humanity we have a tendency to long for something more than what we have, sometimes a great deal more. It can be hard for us to be satisfied with what we have and where we are in life.

I say this because the world offers us a lot, so much more than what we might currently have. So instead of just giving thanks for what God has given, we tend to violate the commandment that tells us not to covet. In other words, we fail to be satisfied, sometimes so much so that we never seem to get enough, even if we have an abundance. The world always has us grasping for greater things and this too often takes us from God, the greatest thing we have in life now and forever. And this can have dangerous consequences because God doesn’t take kindly to His people when they become ungracious.

Point in case of this was the Israelites who God had delivered from Egypt’s oppression, wrestling them free from Pharoah’s rule and captivity and delivering them into the wilderness for their journey to the Promised Land.

You’ll recall that while the people were in the wilderness they began to grumble about not having the kind of food they craved. God had been with them and guided them along by a cloud during day and fire by night. He brought them water from a rock, just another display of His miraculous power, but rather than give thanks to God and trust that He would care for them in the future as He had in the past, the people instead decided to complain and covet more from God. Look at these words from the 78th Psalm:

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law. They forgot what He had done, the wonders He had shown them. He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. He divided the sea and led them through; He made the water stand up like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? True, He struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can He also give us bread? Can He supply meat for his people?”

Surely if God brought water from the rock, He could give them anything they wanted. This is how the people reasoned. God stopped being the God Almighty who deserved all the people’s honor, glory, and praise and became the God who would deliver everything on demand. Surely He would give Israel whatever they asked. At least this is what they thought. And instead of praising God and thanking Him for all He had done, instead they chose to speak against Him.

In other words, they decided it was a good idea to challenge the Lord Most High.

So how did God feel about that? Look at the remainder of the passage:

When the Lord heard them, He was furious; His fire broke out against Jacob, and His wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in His deliverance. Yet He gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; He rained down manna for the people to eat, He gave them the grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of angels; He sent them all the food they could eat. He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.  He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents. They ate till they were gorged — He had given them what they craved. But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths, God’s anger rose against them; He put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.

God wasn’t happy and being the object of His wrath is not the place anyone should want to be. If God had a list, Israel was on it and in a bad way. Scripture tells us they didn’t believe in God nor trust in His deliverance, even though they knew first hand of what He had done.

So what did God do?

He gave them more food than they could deal with and the people in turn gorged themselves on the manna and quail. And while the quail meat was still in their mouths, the Lord brought His judgment upon them and put to death the sturdiest of them. They didn’t get a chance to fully savor what they had coveted before they perished. God indeed had sent a stern warning then and He continues to send a stern warning through this account today.

Friends, don’t think that God only reserved His judgment for the Israelites. The truth be known, He has brought His judgment down over and over and over again since the Old Testament days. Just think about all the people who coveted money or power ahead of God and ended up with it to their destruction and demise. There are more than a few instances of this.

God’s word is clear. Do not covet.

Instead, be grateful for all God has done for you and pray for His will to be done in your life. For we serve a God of goodness who will provide for His people in accordance with His perfect timing. We have no right to question or challenge Him. We are obligated though to give thanks to Him for all that He has done, all that He is doing, and all that He is yet to do.

Know and trust He is always working for our good. Won’t you praise Him today and forever more, being satisfied with what He has done for you?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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