A COVENANT BEGINS
God was still speaking with Moses up on the mountain. He was beginning to spell out the details of the covenant that He was making with the people of Israel.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our chronological, ongoing/on-line bible study held every Thursday in this blog which we have called COME AS A CHILD. The scripture reference for today’s study can be found in Exodus Chapter 34. If you missed last week’s lesson you might want to review it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/covenant-of-god/
A GOD OF WONDERS
This is a very important moment in time. The first thing mentioned is that the people of Israel will witness God doing wonders that have never been done in any other nation of the world.
God thought this fact was important enough to mention the very first thing; so let’s just ponder it for a bit.
Just what wonders does history record that God did for Israel?
Which of these things are uncommon to any other nation?
THE WONDERS GOD PERFORMED OUT OF LOVE FOR ISRAEL
For starters let’s just review some of the things we have already studied.
THE WONDER OF RELEASE FROM BONDAGE AND SLAVERY
God brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage and slavery.
Have you ever heard of another nation that simply walked away from being enslaved?
Nor have I. I know of some who fought hard to change their status and circumstances, and of some who are still overcoming many barriers; but have you ever heard of any other nation being held as slaves who were told to leave, take bounty with them, and not ever return, all in one single day?
This is one of the wonders that God did for the nation of Israel that no other nation has ever experienced.
THE WONDER OF PROTECTION IN IMPOSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES
Next we might consider the crossing of the Red Sea.
I would call that event mission impossible; yet wonder of wonders; it happened.
Have you ever heard of any other nation escaping their enemies by the fact that the waters of the sea opened up to let them walk across the floor of the ocean on dry ground; and then closed back just as the last person of the group stepped onto the other shore?
Not even to mention the fact that their enemies were destroyed as they escaped to the other side.
I doubt you will ever hear this tale told from the lips of any other nation; only the nation of Israel.
This one feat alone proves that God was with them and sustaining them.
THE WONDER OF MANNA FROM HEAVEN
We might consider how God rained down the manna from Heaven to provide three meals a day for them as they lived in the wilderness.
Have you ever known of any young, struggling nation that did not have to struggle in strife for food supplies? Not Israel. They did not have to grow one crop. No digging in the ground and struggling to make food grow for them. It was almost like the curse of the original sin in the garden; that of having to toil in the ground in order to grow food, was temporarily removed from them.
God just fed them.
They were NEVER hungry.
They had all the food they needed every day for 40 years without ever having to do one thing to provide it for themselves. No grocery bills – ever! Can you imagine what that would feel like?
No one labored any more than the gathering up of the food in a bowl for six days a week; and they were even commanded to rest on the seventh day. Can you imagine being handed every single meal every day of your life for six days of the week, and being told to not even gather on the seventh?
No struggles.
No strife.
No worries.
No hunger.
They never went hungry; not even once.
God was surely with Israel in the wilderness; and you will never hear of another nation being sustained by their God in this way – never. Israel has been unique in this sense. If you look at that one tiny little country on the corner of a continent of the map of so many totally different types of populations today, you can only shake your head in wonder that God has sustained them through everything.
All these years God has protected them and the hand of God is still placed over them for protection today.
It is a great wonder!
The covenant is still at work and God is still keeping His promises!
THE WONDER OF WATER FROM A ROCK
Not only were their needs for food supplied supernaturally; but the children of Israel were also given water from a rock.
This again is something unheard of.
What other nation has been provided water from a rock for their thirst by their God? Only Israel!
How many third world countries suffer today simply because of a lack of water? Many missions have been formed by caring people to help provide; but Israel did not need for anyone to come and help out. This was God keeping His covenant at all times; in all circumstances. God never failed to sustain His chosen people.
THE WONDER OF THE CLOUD AND THE FIRE
Who else, or what other nation has been safely led to the place they were to inhabit by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night?
Have you ever heard of something such as this from any other nation from the history books? Me either. Israel is very unique in the way that God sustained them.
God proved His covenant over and over for them by performing these awesome wonders.
NO SWELLING FEET; NO ROTTING CLOTHES
There are so many other things that God performed as wonders.
For instance did you know that not once, even with all the walking through the desert heat, did the feet of those Israelites swell?
Nor did the soles of their sandals wear thin; nor did their clothes wear out.
Is this not a great wonder?
Do any of the readers of this article today have any clothes in their closet that have lasted them for forty years without tearing, splitting or rotting? The Israelites NEVER needed new clothes.
THE WONDER OF ALL NEEDS BEING MET OVER AND OVER AGAIN
God fed them.
God watered them.
God protected them.
God sustained them.
God provided clothes and shoes for them.
Each night they had a warm, dry place to lay their head.
Each morning they had the strength and energy to follow the cloud that was leading them.
They NEVER wanted for anything.
Can you imagine living with all of those things instantly provided today?
A GOD OF TRUTH; NOT FALSEHOODS
False illusions are painted today by dreamers who want a Utopian, socialistic government that would probably place us in reality closer to the category of being more like the Israelites when they became the slaves of Egypt; instead of them in their time of freedom and deliverance.
However; there IS a way of government that DOES provide all that is needed.
It is called The Kingdom of Heaven and it is ruled by God Almighty.
It is the place where the glory of a covenant making God is lived out through His covenant keeping people.
It is a place where truths are revealed and falsehoods are dispelled.
It is a kingdom where love has allowed every good and righteous thing to be written inside the hearts of every citizen of the kingdom.
It is a place of freedom, love and peace.
It DOES exist with a covenant keeping God.
REMEMBER THESE FACTS WHEN YOU SAY THE WORDS
Next time you say the pledge of allegiance to the flag of America and you pronounce the part where you say “one nation under God,” stop and think of Israel; because in the days of Moses, when great wonders were being performed by God daily; that was just the case. They actually were one nation under God and they actually wanted for NOTHING.
A GOD WHO DESERVES OUR THANKS
This is something to ponder in the present tense as we all bow our heads and give thanks to God over our modern-day Thanksgiving dinners.
All that we have – God has provided.
One thing in all of the above facts concerning Israel still holds true for us today. Absolutely any blessings that we enjoy in our homes and our lives today come from only one source; and that source is God and God alone.
A TIME FOR REMEMBERING GOD’S GREAT WONDERS
This season we celebrate a time for being thankful and we realize it is a time for remembering His great wonders and the way He has promised always to look after and deliver His people.
If you belong to Him; you are just like those children of Israel; you are dependent on Him for your every need.
If you belong to Him; just as He was for Israel; He will be faithful to provide.
Today we are so very blessed in that we can look back and be thankful, as well as look forward being thankful for a covenant keeping God who has provided all that we will ever need.
He sent that to us in a package called Jesus Christ.
It all started with way back in time; with this covenant that God spoke out to Moses as they communed up on the top of the mountain of God.
Every word that God spoke of in this covenant was full of wonder; and the words of wonder multiplied on down through history and time and we still can hear the echoes of that great covenant today through each generation that follows the words of the covenant; and to each person who chooses to become one of God’s covenant keeping family.