God Will Take Care Of You (2)

“Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” (Ne 9:21 AV)

The entire chapter of Nehemiah chapter nine is a rehearsing of the history of Israel from the promises of Abraham to the captivity of Assyria and Babylon.  There is particular attention spent on the wilderness wanderings and the book of judges.  The priests stood upon the steps of the temple and rehearsed the sordid history of Israel’s rebellion before their ears as a motivation to follow the LORD from this day forward.  While reading this chapter, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He drew attention to the patience and mercy of God.  This verse, although it is relatively early in the history of Israel’s rebellion, sets the tone for the character of God.  In particular, His faithfulness even in the midst of our lack of faith and poor attitude.

The generation spoken of above complained one too many times.  Their murmuring was not founded upon selfishness.  They did not complain because they had enough of the manna from heaven and desired a smorgasbord.  Even though they stated they wanted the leeks and garlic of Egypt, what they were really saying was they lacked the faith needed to see God’s mighty hand continue into the conquering of Canaan.  This all started when they were given the opportunity to enter the southern border of Canaan.  This happened rather quickly after the Exodus.  Yet, the recoiled at the report of the two good spies and favored the evil report of the ten faithless spies.  They rejected God’s call to a life of faith and would not go up and conquer the land.  Therefore, they were doomed to wander in the wilderness for forty years.  Because they refused to trust God, God used a new generation who would not be so hindered.

But herein is the lesson.  God still took care of them.  Even in the midst of their pointless wandering, God made sure they had food to eat and clothes on their backs.  Even to the point of providing those things in a miraculous way.  Their shoes never wore out.  I have a pair of shoes like that.  Allen Edmond shoes that are almost exactly like they were since I bought them twenty years ago.  But I don’t wear them every day.  God fed them. God clothed them.  But most importantly, God loved them in spite of how they treated Him.  This is the patience and love of the God whom we come to trust.  What a wonderful God we have!