1 Corinthians 10

No matter how great the miracles or the provision, God’s people need to guard themselves against idolatry.

Miracle in the Desert

What Moses did is almost overwhelming when you think about it. Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding two or three million people requires a lot of food.

According to the Quartermaster General in the Army, it is reported that Moses would have to have had 1,500 tons of food each day. Do you know that to bring that much food each day would require two freight trains, each at least a mile long?

Remember, too, that they were out in the desert, so they needed firewood to use in cooking this food. This would take 4,000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day.

And just think, they were forty years in transit.

And oh yes! They would have to have water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day and a freight train with tank cars, 1,800 miles long, just to bring it!

And then another thing! They had to get across the Red Sea at night. Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights. So there had to be a space in the Red Sea, three miles wide so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to get over in only one night.

But then, there is another problem…each time they camped at the end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 750 square miles long … think of it!

Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt? Probably not! Moses believed in God and God took care of these things for him. Now do you think God has any problem taking care of all your needs?

'...casting your care upon him, for he careth for you…'-1 Peter 5:7

Let's assume that the Israelites numbered about 3,000,000 people, which is what many Bible scholars estimate.In that case, do you know how much manna was needed to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness? One scholar has estimated that they needed 4,500 tons of manna every day! If this is true, and if you take into account that God fed His people every day for 40 years, this means 65,700,000 tons of manna supernaturally appeared on the ground over a period of forty years!

It would take at least 90,000,000 quail. That's right - if each Israelite ate only one quail a day, in one month it would amount to 90,000,000 quail. If they ate two quail a day, the total num­ber needed to feed them all for thirty days would rise to180,000,000 quail. Two cubits deep which equals 3 feet deep for 20 miles! That's how many quail it took to feed that crowd of three million Israelites in a thirty-day period. Needless to say, this was an incredible supernatural provision of God!

Keep in mind that God's people were in a dry, arid wilderness. It was a barren place -a desert! The only available source of water was bitter and undrinkable; there was no natural source of water to nourish that huge crowd of people. And consider the amount of water it would have taken to adequately nourish 3,000,000 people and all the animals in the hot temperatures of the wilderness. It would have required up to 15,000,000 gallons of water every day just to meet their basic needs for existence!

Water was especially crucial in that extremely hot climate. Both people and animals needed much more water than they normally would. Without water, they would have dried up and died in the wilderness. But because there was no natural source of water, it had to be provided for themsupernaturally.

So God told Moses to strike the rock (seeExodus 17). When Moses obeyed, water began to supernaturally flow from the midst of that rock. And once water started to flow, it continued to flow and flow and flow, providing all the water needed by the people of God. One week's supply would equal approximately 100,000,000 gallons of water!

Mercy compared to Grace!

Hesed’- God’s divine love and nature of mercy.

The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, Vols. I–VI Chapter 10

Besides, God will not suffer you to be tried above the strength he gives you; but as the trial comes, he will provide you with sufficient strength to resist it; as the trial comes in, he will make your way out. The words are very remarkable, ποιησει συν τῳ πειρασμῳ και την εκβασιν, “He will, with the temptation, make the deliverance, or way out.” Satan is never permitted to block up our way, without the providence of God making a way through the wall. God ever makes a breach in his otherwise impregnable fortification. Should an upright soul get into difficulties and straits, he may rest assured that there is a way out, as there was a way in; and that the trial shall never be above the strength that God shall give him to bear it.

Hebrew Language

Causative or Permissive?

How then, do we reconcile the earlier verses of Deuteronomy 28? Does God give sicknesses and kill in the Old Testament, but heal and give life in the New Testament?

Here is the good news:

Dr Robert Young, author of Young's Analytical Concordance and Hints To Bible Interpretation, points out that in the original Hebrew (the Old Testament was written in Hebrew), the verb is in the permissive rather than causative sense.

So, Deuteronomy 28:27 should have been translated something like, "The Lord will allow/permit these plagues to be brought upon you..."

The original Hebrew of these scriptures was in the permissive tense, but because the English language has no corresponding permissive tense, the verbs were translated in the causative tense.

The concept of permission or allowance is expressed through various verb structures and moods, including the imperative mood, subjunctive mood, and the use of verbs like "may," "might," "can," "let," and "allow". 

There is thus no contradiction. The God of the Old Testament and New Testament is the same God that "healeth thee" -- Jehovah Rapha. (Exodus 15:26) He does not change. (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8)

Sicknesses, accidents and deaths come from Satan (John 10:10), not God. God may lift His hand of protection and allow these things to come upon His children, but He is not the instigator of them. God is not the author of confusion but of peace. (1Corinthians 14:33)

Neither is God a child-abuser. He does not chasten or child-train His children with such horrible things. He chastens them with His Word to their spirits. (See With His Word, to our spirits.)

We are Redeemed from every type of sickness.

Under the Old Covenant system of law, God blesses His people if they obey His laws, but allows terrible curses to come upon them if they don't. (Deuteronomy 28:1,15)In Deuteronomy 28, there are 11 verses of blessings (verses 3 to 13) and 53 verses of curses. (verses 16 to 68) Since there are more curses than blessings here, it behoves the Christian to study what these curses are, lest he calls something a blessing whenit is a curse!

One of the curses is:

Deuteronomy 28:61

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

Notice it says "every sickness, and every plague". This means that any and every sickness or disease is a curse, never a blessing as some Christians believe. So, if you say that your sickness is a blessing from God, you are contradicting Deuteronomy28:61,

which implies that any sickness is a curse. But praise God that because of Christ's work on the cross, we have been redeemed from the curses of the law, including Deuteronomy 28:61.

Galatians 3:13

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for

it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

In other words, healing is part of Christ's redemptive work. Healing is part of the

atonement. (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24) (See Health and healing.)

So, how can we say that God chastens His children with diseases? If that were true,

God would be going against the work of His Son! Neither can we say that God

chooses to heal some and not others because the fact is that healing is offered to all

through the cross. If we say that God is willing to heal only some people, it is like

saying that God is willing to save only some people.