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| Photo by Sergey Pesterev (Wikimedia Commons) to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever. Psalm 136:16 (NIV) |
Israel's exit from Egypt was an spectacular event. With such a grand display of YHWH's power, one would think that the faith of the Israelites would be immensely fortified and the nation would be on a roll to glory. But to our disappointment, what follows that great event were accounts of Israel's unbelief. Because of YHWH's displeasure, they wandered aimlessly around the desert way too long than they should. In fact, none of the mature men who experienced the Exodus, except Joshua and Caleb, survived long enough to see the land promised to the patriarchs.
Their prolonged stay in the wilderness meant a difficult life for the area does not provide sufficient resources to sustain long-term community existence. The wilderness juncture was marked by grumbling, rebellion and unbelief. They grumbled about food and water. They unreasonably opposed God's man Moses. They refused to engage in battle as they trembled in fear when they should have been emboldened by God's promise to fight for them. Perhaps the episode in the wilderness narratives that most clearly shows their idolatrous hearts is when they used the gold they've taken from Egypt to make a molten calf. They held a feast in honor of the golden calf and attributed their liberation from Egypt to it!
Being holy as he is, YHWH always expressed his displeasure whenever the people did grievous sins. But even in all these, God did not terminate his steadfast love. He still accompanied them in the wilderness. He supplied their needs. He gave them manna. He gave them quail meat. He gave them water to drink. He led them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Their clothes and their sandals have not worn out for 40 years!
In the wilderness juncture, we learn that YHWH is merciful. He was merciful to a people living a difficult life through the desert. Though it was their own fault why they wandered in the desert for too long, their suffering was alleviated by God who is by nature merciful. His mercy is often mentioned in the Scriptures along with his other excellent moral attributes. No less than Moses, the appointed leader of the people, proclaimed: "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). The aspect of mercy has always been in God's work of redemption. So in the New Testament, we read that his regenerating work in Christ flowed out of his nature as being "rich in mercy" (Ephesians 2:4). Salvation is never because of any obligation on the part of God to reward undeserving sinners. It was always God freely acting in mercy, grace, and love to rescue the undeserving.
Much more could be written about the wilderness but I don't want to make this post unnecessarily long. I would like to end this post with a passage where Jesus alluded to a scene in the wilderness to describe his saving work. He said, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15, NET2). By alluding to Numbers 21:4-9, the implication is that the whole sinful world is afflicted with some kind of a spiritual venom. Do not ever think that the ancient Israelites were especially aberrant and that we are better than them. No! We are all depraved and worthy of death. You may not feel it, but a deadly venom flows in your blood stream and it will only end in death if you will refuse the cure. And the cure, the anti-venom, is Jesus Christ. Whoever puts his trust in Jesus will be spared from death. There is saving mercy for sinners in the cross of Christ. There is mercy in the wilderness.
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