Twice do we read of Israel despising the provision which God in His grace made for their necessities in the desert. The record of both instances, we have in the book of Numbers-the book of the wilderness. The cases, however, are distinct; and while both exhibit the evil of the flesh, it is in different ways that they develop this; and God's treatment of the one is distinct from His treatment of the other.
We have the history of the first in Num. 11. Israel had not then been long out of Egypt: and it was the recollection of Egypt which induced them to despise the manna. A mixed multitude, as we read in Exodus, 12:38, had accompanied them in their journey. Attached to the redeemed nation by the influence of circumstances and the action of motives natural to fallen man, they were strangers to the grace which had chosen Israel from among the nations, and to the hopes which were theirs as the chosen and redeemed of the Lord. To them, Canaan, and the presence and grace of that God who had promised it to His people as their inheritance, were nothing. All they wished, all they hoped, was to better their own condition by attaching themselves to this wonderful people. And when they found that they had but exchanged the indulgences of Egypt for the toil and travail of the wilderness, with provision, to them tasteless and unsatisfying, they regretted what they had done. And it was with them that the dissatisfaction and murmuring began. " And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting." Would that the evil had stopped there! But "the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all beside this manna, before our eyes." They too remembered Egypt. Once, indeed, the hard bondage they suffered there made them think little of the fish and cucumbers and melons. Their chains pressed so heavily that they could only groan for deliverance. Their groanings were heard and God brought them forth with high hand and with out-stretched arm. Then the joy of their deliverance filled their hearts, and they sang the praises of their Deliverer. But now they have forgotten the chains which made their food bitter to them in Egypt, and they have forgotten too, alas, that which at first so filled their hearts with gladness, the grace of their Redeemer and the wonders of their redemption, and they only remember the fish and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic which they ate in Egypt freely! Such, alas I is man. Such was Israel; and can we not, beloved brethren, say from our hearts, such have we proved ourselves to be as well? How common is such a process as this. First of all, the world's pleasures fill and madden the heart and make it insensible to the chains wherewith Satan binds and leads us captive at his will. Light from God breaks in; we become on the one hand conscious of impending judgment; on the other, sensible of the slavery in which Satan holds us. Of ourselves, from ourselves, there is no escape either from the one or from the other. The world's pleasures cease to entice us. The terrible realities of our condition engross our thoughts and all we can do is to groan for deliverance. That deliverance is vouchsafed. The blood of the slain lamb becomes our refuge from the judgment which hung over us; and the resurrection of Jesus assures us that the power of the Enemy is set aside forever; that he who had the power of death has no further claim on us. It proclaims, moreover, that God is for us, and enables us triumphantly to ask, Who can be against us. The joy of this takes the place in our hearts which the world once held, and we gladly leave all to follow the pillar of cloud and fire across the desert to the promised land. And there are those who follow to the end without ever so much as looking back. Caleb and Joshua were such in their day. Paul too, in his day was borne onward by an energy of faith which not only counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, when that knowledge first broke in upon his soul, but which enabled him twenty or thirty years after to say, I "do count them but dung that I may win Christ." And in this energy of faith he went forward to the end. But how rare is this. How common the sin and experience of the Israelites in the case under consideration. It may be that in the first place "false brethren" fall a lusting like the mixed multitude who accompanied Israel out of Egypt. But how ready is the flesh in believers to follow the example of those, who, while professing godliness, are strangers to its power. Egypt's chains no longer embitter Egypt's food. The joy of the first apprehensions of Christ and of the redemption He has accomplished no longer satisfy the soul. Some who bear the name of Christ return to this or that worldly compliance or fleshly indulgence; and how ready we all are to follow. We too remember the pleasures from which we have been' weaned; and while the heart craves for these the manna is sure to be despised. " There is nothing at all besides this manna, before our eyes." Time was, when to feed on Christ was all we wished. The first to be thought of in the morning, the last at night, and the only one of our hearts the day through. And all that we then felt needful to complete our joy was to be with Him where He is-not merely enjoying Him through faith by the Spirit, but beholding Him face to face, and dwelling with Him in the embraces of His love forever. But when the world's joys begin to be remembered, how different the estimate of Christ "Nothing at all but this manna before our eyes." But God has his remedy for failure like this in His saints. He has the answer of His grace, too, to the weakness of those who sigh to witness such failure, but lack the faith which would count on His unfailing resources to meet it. Moses sinks under the burden. "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me." In the people we may see the evil of the flesh, hankering after the indulgences of Egypt, and in Moses, the weakness of the flesh, its incompetency to bear the burdens which it has not faith to cast upon God. How differently does the Lord deal with these two forms of failure. The murmurings of the people are punished by the bestowment of that for which they lusted. "Say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" Moses staggered at this word, and spoke of the "SIX hundred thousand footmen," and asked if the "flocks and herds should be slain," or "the fish of the sea gathered together to suffice them." Even Moses has to be rebuked: "Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not." And so it was. The lusting of the people was punished, and the unbelief of Moses reproved by the outstretched arm of God. "A wind from the Lord" brought "quails" which lay upon the ground "two cubits high," and "a day's journey" on either side of the camp. The people gather "all that day, and all that night, and all the next day;" but "while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague." Solemn, indeed, is it when God chastens us by giving us the very things we lust after. Yea, and serious it is when our unbelief needs the reproof addressed to Moses-" Is the Lord's hand waxed short?" But with what condescending kindness was that reproof blended and administered! Moses had said, " I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me." It is true that he added, " And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." But the Lord passes by this petulance and vexation, and simply relieves His servant of the burden which so oppressed him. He leaves him to learn what his spirit and temper had been in the light of the grace which takes no notice of it, but compassionately provides for his comfort and relief. Seventy men of the elders of the people are to be gathered, and to stand with Moses before the Lord; and "I will take," says the Lord, " of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." Blessed God! how marvelous and gracious are thy ways! May we all learn to trust and to adore Thee.
We now turn to chap. 21. An interval of eight-and-thirty years has passed since the circumstances we have just reviewed. Eight-and-thirty years has Israel been wandering in the desert, until the generation which came out of Egypt have well nigh all fallen in the wilderness. It was their unbelief, as we know, which occasioned this; and numberless had been the proofs afforded in their conduct throughout this whole period that they were indeed a stiff-necked and disobedient generation. But how precious the display of the unfailing goodness and faithfulness of God. During all these eight-and-thirty years, the manna never ceased. They despised it-they murmured-they rebelled-they believed the false report of the eight-and-thirty spies, rather than the sure testimony of God; they refused to go up into the promised land; they would fain have made them a captain, and have returned to Egypt; they followed in the wake of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and murmured against the Lord, because of their destruction. In these, and alas! in how many ways besides, had they provoked the Lord to anger; but for all these years, every morning when they arose (save on the Sabbath days) their tents were surrounded by the manna from heaven, and they had but to gather and eat, and be strengthened and refreshed. But now, after the lapse of eight-and-thirty years, we again find the manna despised. It is not now, however, the recollection of Egypt. Most of those who now compose the assembly were children when they came forth out of Egypt; they have been brought up in the wilderness, and have known no other mode of life than that of subsistence on the manna, while they have moved from one station to another in the desert. The forty years during which they were to wander are nearly expired, and they are almost at the borders of the promised land. There is only the land of Edom between it and them (see chap. 20.), and if they may but pass direct through Edom, they at once reach the land of their hopes, and the toils and sorrows of the wilderness are at an end. But the king of Edom will not suffer them to pass. Nor are they allowed of God to force a passage. There is no way but to "journey from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom." They have to turn again into the wilderness. After wandering for nine-and-thirty years, they find themselves, as it were, beginning their wanderings afresh. They are where they were at starting. "And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." They could have done with the manna, as they thought, for the little time required to go direct through Edom; but to turn again to where they began-to begin the wilderness over again-to have all this dreary journey right round the land of Edom; this is more than they can bear: their hearts faint, and they speak against God and against Moses, "for there is no bread," they say, "neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." What a picture, beloved brethren, of our hearts. We thought the wilderness had been almost passed; there seemed to intervene but one little remaining obstacle; and might we have had our own way with that, as we thought, it might easily have been overcome. But God's ways are not as ours. We are not to force a passage through the land of Edom. Patience and subjection to God are to be exercised by passing all round it, though that involves the turning again into the wilderness, and beginning our wanderings, as it were, afresh. And to have all this journey to go over again, and nothing but Christ to feed on and to refresh us by the way-ah, the whole secret comes out there. The state of heart which can say (or feel, where it dares not say), " nothing but Christ!" as though he were not ALL, whether for this world or for the next-that state of heart needed to be brought to light and judged, and hence the having to compass the land of Edom, and enter on the wilderness afresh. We might have taken credit to ourselves for being well satisfied with Christ our heavenly food, had not the mandate to make another circuit of the desert put it to the test. But for this, we had not known that it was in our hearts jo loathe the food from heaven as "light bread," after subsisting on it for so many years. As it is, we have been brought to the painful consciousness of this, and have been cast on God for the remedy. What was His remedy in the case under review? "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people; and much people of Israel died." They had lost their appetite for the manna, and loathed it as light bread. They had spoken against God and against Moses; but now they come to Moses and entreat him to pray to the Lord to take the serpents from them. But (as another has said) the Lord had other and better thoughts respecting them. Had He simply granted their request, those who were already bitten must inevitably have perished. The people never thought of them. All their anxiety was that the danger which threatened themselves might be removed. "Take away the serpents," was their cry. We all know what the Lord's gracious provision was. A brazen serpent was erected, to which the wounded and dying ones might look and live. We are all familiar with the use made of this by our blessed Lord. "Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." It is the gospel of the grace of God for poor lost sinners. Israel, weary of the wilderness, and impatient of their continuance in it, had despised and loathed the manna. How was their appetite for it to be revived? The Lord sends fiery serpents among them, and they say, "We have sinned," and cry to the Lord. He, better to them than their own requests, does not take away the serpents, but sets up a brazen serpent, that whosoever is bitten may look to it and live. God's gracious provision for their daily sustenance they despise. Wounds and sorrows are the result, and they become glad of God's gracious provision for their healing and deliverance. And is not this, beloved brethren, the oft told tale of our declensions and restorations? Christ, as our daily food, our manna from heaven, is despised by us, and treated as light bread. The destroyer is let loose upon us, until we become glad of Christ as he was made known to us at first, God's Son, and the Gift of His love; but still, the Son of Man lifted up for dying sinners to look to and live. When we have lost our spiritual appetite for Christ, the Bread of heaven, we are made, in one way or another, to feel our need of Him as Savior, and to feel afresh the value of the blood He shed for the remission of our sins. How precious do we then again find Him to be to our souls Known afresh, in living power, as the Healer of our wounds, as our Savior and our Life, He is no longer esteemed by us as "light bread." How sad, that we should need to learn thus by our falls and by our wounds the preciousness of Him who surely should be above all price to our souls for His own intrinsic excellence, and beauty, and worth. But so, alas, it is; and while nothing becomes us but to hide our heads in the dust, surely we must acknowledge, to the praise of God's infinite grace, that it is better to learn, even by our wounds, to value Christ, the only One, in whom healing virtue resides, than to be suffered to go on, as alas! our wretched hearts would do, lightly esteeming dim. 0 that He might, in very truth, be our only sustenance and joy!
But there are depths of mercy and grace in the Lord's dealings with Israel, in this chapter, which we have not yet noticed. How often do our unbelieving hearts seek to limit the Lord's goodness, and measure what may be expected from Him by our own failure, rather than by His infinite grace. How common is the feeling, that when grievous failure has occurred, though there may be healing from the Lord as in the case before us, still no such aboundings of joy, or power in testimony, or victory in conflict, can be looked for, as might have been expected had there been no failure. And what is all this but unbelief? And what an answer to it all we have in the chapter before us. Not only was the manna which Israel had despised continued to them—not only was a brazen serpent set up for the healing of any who were bitten of the fiery flying serpents, but they are conducted by the Pillar which guides them to the place where a springing well refreshes and cheers them, and they surround it with their songs-" Spring up, 0 well; sing ye unto it." How sweetly does this tell of the springs of refreshing wherewith the Lord cheers and gladdens His poor healed and restored ones. His love is not satisfied with healing and feeding those who have despised His goodness, and brought wounds and stripes upon themselves; it is in His heart to refresh, to gladden, to cheer their hearts, and draw forth fresh songs of holy joy and triumph from their lips. Yea, and more than this. They come ere long to the borders of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. One after the other comes forth to withstand them; and they are not prohibited, as in the case of Edom, from forcing a passage through their territories. And what do we behold? These mighty kings, one of whom was celebrated in proverbs for his prowess, and the other a warrior of gigantic stature and strength, are as nothing before this company of pilgrims. God is on their side, and their enemies are destroyed before them, and they possess the land of their enemies. And all that followed in the wilderness was God's vindication of them by the mouth of him who was hired of Balak to curse them; (their renewed failure, alas! through the cunning of Balaam) but still their overthrow of the Midianites, and the division among the two tribes and a half, of the land of Sihon and of Og. Thus ends the wilderness. It ends in victory and praise. And I would leave it as a question for the consideration of my brethren, why it is we find such frequent mention made afterward of the overthrow of Sihon and of Og? Is it not that the Lord would have this impression of His own grace to be the one left full and fresh upon our hearts by this wondrous history? May it be so by the power of His own Spirit, to the praise and glory of His name!