King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: February 04, 2020
Chapters: Exodus 16-18
Message: Bearing Temptation
Hello My Friend,
We often think of temptation as being enticed to do something sinful, temptation is also God’s way of proving or testing His people to see if they are going to follow His Law. God will never tempt us with sin, so, for example, you are ever tempted to take some money from someones wallet that had been dropped in a store, then that is not from God, that is Satan. Just like God proves us we can also prove Him, test His abilities, but we need to be careful, proving God by using demands, conditions, or out of contempt as that would prove fatal. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” – II Peter 2:9-10.
“But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,” Believe it or not, there are many people who go to church, and hang around faithful Christians for the sole purpose of feeding their flesh. They really have no desire to follow the Law of God, but they will hang around them as long as they are given things. And the second you stop feeding them, they disappear or even worse, start rumors about you not being a Christian. You can imagine what Moses was dealing with, from the second the Israelites stepped foot out of Egypt they heard nothing, but murmuring and complaining from them, even after they miraculously walked across the Red Sea on dry land. It has been about six seeks since they left Egypt, and here they are murmuring once again.
“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.” – Exodus 16:2-4,8,10-12.
“and when we did eat bread to the full;” Do you see who was doing all the complaining? God’s people. I do not know what they expected, perhaps to step foot right into land that was literally flowing with milk and honey. Forget about the way the Egyptians treated them, they would rather live as slaves, having their bellies full. “I will rain bread from heaven for you;” They wanted bread, God gave them bread. God will always provide for His people as long as they have some faith, and are willing to make a little effort to receive them. I was recently told by someone that they do not believe God provides you with everything you need. I responded by telling them that that was their first mistake. We cannot expect God to provide for us when all we do is complain about the things we lost out on being enslaved to sin. “whether they will walk in my law, or no.” You see, this is the temptation that God uses, He will provide for us to test our faithfulness to Him. “for that the LORD heareth your murmurings” God does hear our murmurings, and He will prove us accordingly, and that is what He did with the Israelites, and they still failed to follow His Law. They were instructed to take enough bread for the day, not leave any overnight, and gather twice enough of Friday and Saturday, but some broke both rules.
“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.” – Exodus 16:27-28,31-35.
“How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?” You see, they could not even follow one simple command, fully knowing what God was capable of. Do you realize, and we all have been guilty of this a time or two, how much we lose out on when we fail to follow one simple command? And there is another thing, they are not thankful, not once do we hear of them thanking God for literally sending them bread from heaven. “called the name thereof Manna:” Manna means; What is is? So, it is called, What is it? “Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations;” One portion of this was gathered, placed in a container, then placed in the Ark, which we will read about later, and it is still there. “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years,” God provided for them the entire time they spent in the wilderness, which was actually mostly desert land. God will always send bread to feed us, sometimes it is physical food, but we also need food for our mind and spirit as well, which He provides also. Our spiritual food is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, He is the living bread, and the only one who can feed our spirit (John 6:49-51).
As Israel continues their journey to the promised land, God continued to prove them. Why? Because they continued to fail in trusting and obeying Him. This time, God takes them to a spot with no water, and yet as soon as they realized there was no water, they did not just murmur, they attacked him.
“Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” – Exodus 17:2-7.
“wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?” Anytime, Christian or not, people attack the man of God they are attacking God. What was their temptation? That is answered here, “saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” This is what I was talking about earlier, we cannot prove God with contempt. “And the people thirsted there for water;” This is a great reminder that Jesus is not only the Bread of Life to our soul, but the Living Water as well. Since our flesh is eighty-five percent water, we are capable of surviving seven days without food, but only three days without water. God knows what we need, when we need it, and let me tell you just how detrimental it is on our body when it is lacking water. Dehydration can literally kill us, that includes dehydration to our spirit. We need Jesus daily to not only feed on Him, to drink on Him as well, with Him we will never thirst (John 4:14). Now, it has only been two months since the Israelites left Egypt, while camping out in Rephidim, the people of Amalek started a war with Israel because they wanted the land they were resting on for themselves. Moses instructs Joshua, one of his faithful followers, who would actually be their leader after Moses, to put an army together.
“And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” – Exodus 17:9-16.
“to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.” Everytime the rod of God was raised, Israel was winning, but everytime Moses got tired and his arms were lowered, Amalek was winning. Let me tell you, as long as we lift Jesus up, we never lose, but we do get tired, and often bring Him down. When that happens Satan attacks and we start to lose. “and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands,” Moses had help to keep the rod up, we too need help to keep Jesus lifted up. I have an amazing church family, that holds each other up, and together we win. It took Moses’ father-in-law to teach him that. As they now were in Median, and at Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, and the mount of God, which was where Moses spent forty years. Remember, this was where God first met with Moses through the burning bush. Jethro brought Moses’ wife and kids to him as he had sent them back there when all the plagues were going on in Egypt.
“And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.” – Exodus 18:17-22.
“why sittest thou thyself alone,” You see, the man of God is the shepherd to Jesus’ sheep, which we are, we cannot expect him to do everything because he is only one man, while we are many. This is why he needs helpers, which are God fearing, knowledgeable in the Law, and willing to serve. And we cannot do everything by ourselves, we will wear ourselves out and then others will not get the help they need. “and they shall bear the burden with thee.” When we come together we are able to bear each others burdens together, then we will find that Jesus is right there with us, rooting for us, and will even give us rest from them (Matthew 11:28-30). Temptation comes in many forms, we need to learn to discern whether it is something from God or Satan, always remember that no temptation from God will lead us to sin, it will always be to prove our faithfulness. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” – I Corinthians 10:13.
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that you are always with me, and will always provide for me. I admit that I am not always grateful with what You have already blessed me with, and sometimes forget them when faced with the next challenge in life. Forgive me where I failed You, You have proved to me time and time again that You take care of every need and also will give me the strength I need to lift Jesus up above me through every temptation that comes my way, whether it is You proving my faithfulness or Satan enticing me with sin. I also know that I cannot do everything by myself all the time, I need my church, family, friends, and those You send my way to help me carry the burden, and without them I will tire and lose this battle. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me Your power and strength to face every battle, let me not be too proud to seek the help of others, fill me with Your mercy and grace, and also let me be a helping hand to someone who may need my help. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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