Phoenix Road

Exodus 14:29-31 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Then an entire praise and worship set erupted. A whole chapter’s worth. As soon as the last chord was strummed, reality hit again. They walked three days without water. Not a punishment for anything, but surely for testing of their trust that they so boisterously proclaimed a few minutes before. When they finally reached water, it was as bitter as their coming complaints. Yet, Jehovah, their Companion and Saviour, shows His mercy more personally in His provision. From walls of water passage to wells of water consumption, He hears their cries again and provides. One month and one chapter later, the grumbling begins.

Exodus 16:1-3 “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.  In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

All with the very visible and overwhelming presence of God in the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Month two. Decades to go. And all but two of the grumbling children ever saw the journey through. Not because they grumbled, per se, but more because the grumbling showed they didn’t trust God (what got us into the eternal Desert of Sin in the first place). The very One who had walked them through the walls of water to their salvation. A salvation they actually despised because they decided they were more comfortable in slavery. They were to die either way, they surmised, so might as well be more comfortable. Forgetting all the while, that they were brought out of Egypt to worship God. Instead, they brought war to the one who fought for their freedom.

Conditions were not ideal, obviously. Hindsight is not judgmental to cry foul from this side of history. This is not at all to say, “Suck it up. This is nothing compared to what’s to come.” I’m sure that I would have been in the chorus of hunger stricken mobsters. Preferring slavery to salvation, known to unknown. We are not given their story to judge their lives, but to place a mirror to our own. So, in that, I wonder of today…Today was literally an eruption of praise and worship above normal, being calendared Resurrection Sunday. “He is Risen” is raised above all other words! Hosanna has saved us from the Desert of Sin! The greatest day in the history of all histories! We are led through the Sea of Reeds (Law) to our Salvation! All so true and to be proclaimed (but for more than just one day).

Not three hours later, we resume scrolling the headlines and are snapped back into reality of the hungry families to feed. Not even three days later and the boisterous songs of salvation and praise of Saviour are drowned by our own distraction. Distraction will happen and can’t avoided. But it can be re-directed. So we, even now, join the chorus of complainers. We don’t mean to, but here we are nonetheless:

“Why are we in this wilderness? Whose fault is it we are here? Some foreign king or our very own leader? We were ushered here in a hurry – we had no choice but to come here. It would have been much better to stay where we were – ignorant of other’s sufferings and comfortably fed and in our beds. True, we were slaves to so much, but we didn’t know any better. It’s how we were taught for hundreds of years. Couldn’t we have simply learned a better way to live without having to be uprooted and starved? Slavery is no day by the sea, but at least we were numb to it through centuries of conditioning. Now we are temporarily thrust into a much worse reality of pitch, black darkness. The worst part is – there’s not calendar. There’s no “arrival time.” How long are we expected to endure? If we only had a date and time of this horrible journey’s end, we could better endure. Maybe. Just let us go back to what we knew. You may be doing something new, but can’t you make a plan, give us a map, come along for the ride, and then everyone, including You LORD, will be a lot happier about this whole ordeal. We self-sustain and if not, we complain. In our food, our shelters, our health, even our churches/religions. Sure there was war and everyday deaths, but this is a dark we don’t know how to navigate. Better to sacrifice in common death than to plunge the entire earth into darkness – faithful and non-alike.”

And on and on we go – justified in our complaints. Even in scripture, when they complained, YHWH provided. I’m thinking it wasn’t the complaining He bowed to as if they controlled their circumstances. But His Mercy and Love, despite their despising. I’m thinking the complaining angered Him because they came accusing instead of asking.

Where is the song of celebration and praise from just a chapter before? Where is our song of praise from just this morning? Is our annual statement of Risen-ness a memorial, a mist, or memory? Again, not a harsh judgement. Not a comparison of disasters or distractions. There is much, much loss to be lamented. There is a very tangible, real onslaught of darkness, disease and death. Had it not affected us all in ways such as physically, financially, emotionally, etc – we would have chalked it up to “someone else’s misfortune” like a natural disaster distant from our shores. But here we all are, in the dark. Some more than others, and worse yet, feeling alone. I also quickly scroll the headlines and try to dispel the darkness with distraction. I am not above it all or calling to simply “think positive thoughts or pray harder” to change the dark to light. I am, however, looking for a different way to respond, despite the dark days.

The three day journey of the Israelites in the wilderness expanded into decades – with death ultimately denying them entry into their destination. All because of one thing: they didn’t trust Jehovah in the dark. With the very visible Light, by their side the entire time. They became so accustomed to the sight of the pillars of cloud and fire, of the Presence of YHWH Himself, they ignored and despised Him until He proved Himself in Provision and Power. Then, they would fall into complacency and bitterness again. He brought them out of slavery for one reason: their worship and relationship. Still, they ignored and despised Him unless He did for them what they complained about (as if they were the ones to be bowed to). They made themselves and their darkness their god. Hour by hour, day by day, night by night, year by year, decade by decade, generation by generation.

We’ve been in the dark for a few days with conditions that are difficult (see third world countries battling this disease ridden pandemic to get a true view of difficult). Not at all downplaying all that has turned to ash within a matter to days: death, despair, dreams lost and provisions in smoke. All are affected, and all are on the same road. Some darker than others, but there is not even an Egypt to return to. How then shall we respond? See still, the pillar of Fire as our salvation.

Was the cry of Hosanna for a few hours on the road or was the lantern of praise lit for the long road ahead – however long the journey may be? There is, by the way, no formula Jehovah adheres to. He doesn’t see our morning devotions drowning out our segregated grumbling as proper penance and release us to lighter days. The Light isn’t to bring us more manna for easier travels. The Light is to illuminate the Face of our Companion. He didn’t come to release us from slavery of ourselves to return to the bondage of self-sufficiency. He releases us for one purpose of our being: to be with Him, to trust Him, to love Him. He continues to care for each personally, be water or manna, out His Love alone. How much sweeter to trust in the One who provides the manna than to eat of the ash of our own understanding and grumblings which flow from distrust (be real in how you feel, don’t bury the heart. Lament, cry, scream, pray. But in it all, as King David, ask that He leads you to trust the Light more than the dark). Not on our own strength, but in humble thanks and light of His flame: each morning may we rise from the ashes of ourselves to Phoenix on His wings into the dawn.