If you are like me, one of the most difficult things to accomplish as a follower of Jesus, is to do nothing. We live in a world where we must have constant perpetual motion or we will get run over by the guy working hard right behind us.
There are several instances in the Bible where the Lord has told His people to do nothing. Just wait, and watch.
When Israel had recently been delivered by the Lord from their terrible 400 years of slavery in Egypt, God took them on a long and difficult journey through the desert. Every day that God’s people awoke they found that every provision and blessing they could possibly need in their life, was already provided for them by the Lord.
While on this journey, the Lord provided what they needed, by supernatural means. The Bible records that even the clothes and shoes that they wore did not wear out in all of their forty year journey.
Deuteronomy 8:4 “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.”
Nehemiah 9:21 “Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear out And their feet did not swell.”
For the entire period of 40 years that they were in the desert, they lacked nothing.
How is it that the Book of Deuteronomy could claim that their clothes did not wear out in those 40 years? Have you ever had a T shirt last for 40 years? Some of us have perhaps a T shirts or two that look like they are 40 years old. Most guys have at least one old t shirts that they hold on to way past the point of reasonable.
You know what I mean, a t shirt that is only held together by a few cotton molecules. But hey, that is when they start to get so comfortable. When your wife finds these old shirts in the clothes drawer and tosses them out, it is like losing your best friend!
Ladies, ever have a pair of sandals last for 40 years? I have a few pairs of cowboy boots that have lasted for 40 years, but they have been resoled about 10 times.
Shoes and clothing just do not last for 40 years. How is it that these 2.5 million people in the desert had their clothing last for the entire 40 years of their sojourn in the desert without wearing out? Simple, the Lord made them last for 40 years.
Now carefully consider what this means. Is the Bible actually claiming that the Lord caused their clothes to last for 40 years by supernatural means? This would be a completely unnatural event that goes against all the laws of entropy and science known today. The natural process of the Universe is that everything is wearing out over the process of time, clothes are no exception.
It cannot be that clothes should last for 40 years, unless an outside force acted upon them from a supernatural origin.
This is what is truly defined as being “A Miracle”.
But why would the Lord do that for a bunch of people who complained night and day, and failed to just trust Him?
Deuteronomy 8:2-5 “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.”
And why does the Lord “Chasten” his sons and daughters?
Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
A second interesting statement here in Deuteronomy chapter 8, regarding the physical health of those 2.5 million people crossing the desert for 40 years:
Deuteronomy 8:4 “… nor did your foot swell these forty years.”
If you read through this verse quickly and are not paying attention, then you might miss something that is stated here that is extremely interesting:
“Your feet did not swell”
There is a condition called “Rickets” in which a person who has not had a sufficient supply of vitamins D, contracts this disease.
The legs and feet swell. In fact in severe cases where there has been a lack of Vitamin D from childbirth on, there were catastrophic changes in the bones and legs themselves.
Imagine a child born out there in that desert at the beginning of the 40 year journey, not having enough Vitamin D. They would have developed legs that were bent and deformed.
And yet the Lord boasts here that none of these who He led through the desert had legs or feet that were swollen, because He supplied all of their needs!
We do not read anywhere in the Bible that these 2.5 million people had a supply of milk or cheese while out in the desert for 40 years. What was their source for vitamin D? It had to have come by supernatural means.
And yet the Holy Spirit includes this little verse that says that “Their Feet did not swell” for those entire 40 years. Do you know what that means?
Even though they did not have any normal source for vitamin D or other vitamins and minerals that the human body needs, the Lord provided the vitamins that they needed. He did so without the help of mans ingenuity or wisdom.
Several years ago, one of the men who was in charge of providing all the supplies for the Army during their battles, read this story here in the Books of Exodus and Numbers. He read with interest how the Lord had provided for all the needs of the 2.5 million people crossing the desert in Arabia.
He was intrigued by this story, because providing the needs of 2.5 million people in a desert was no small task. He had a little bit of experience in these matters, because he was in charge of providing all the needs of the men and women in the army, while they lived out in the desert.
This Quartermaster of the Army made a few computations about what kind of supplies a group of 2.5 million people would need to survive in a desert environment. Remember that in the desert there are no natural resources to get supplies from.
According to the Quartermaster of the Army, It would take more than 1,500 Tons of food per day to feed 2 million people. Most of us cannot conceive of the amount of food that this would require.
This need for food alone, would require 2 Freight trains that would be over one mile long. These two trains would each have more than 100 freight cars in each of the 5,000 foot long trains. Over 200 freight cars just to carry enough food to feed 2 million people, every day.
At one point it says in Numbers, that the Lord fed them Quail everyday
Numbers 11:31 “Now a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp…”
To feed a family of five with just one quail per person per day, would require 750,000 quail to fly into Israelis camp Every Single Day just to feed this many people.
Imagine The water that it would take in the desert, to quench the thirst and take care of the necessities of 2 million people.
The Quartermaster of the Army computed that in order to supply the needs of 2.5 million people with water, it would require over 11 million gallons per day.
This would mean that 18 additional 100 car freight trains, carrying 1,800 tanker cars each, filled with water, would be needed every single day.
Where did these people get the wood that they would need to cook their food, out there in the desert where there are no trees?
Have you ever been camping in the desert? Then you know how hard it is to find any wood at all to build a fire with. It is estimated that it would take over 4,000 tons of wood per day, just to supply enough fuel for these people to cook their food.
This need for firewood would add two additional 100 car freight trains.
And as if these statistics are not amazing enough. Listen to this: When you add up all of the needs of 2.5 million people every day here is the daily supply needs for this many people:
The Lord had to deliver to these people, the equivalent of nearly 2,500 railroad cars of food, water, firewood and other needs every single day of their 40 years in the desert. How did He do it?
Perhaps we should not be so afraid that our God is not able to supply all of our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.
Despite the amazing care that the Lord gave these 2.5 million people, they always found reason to complain against their God. It seems to be a fact of life that the more blessed we become, often the more we feel inclined to complain.
As the entire camp of Israel found themselves at the edge of the Red Sea, they discovered that they were hemmed in on every side by obstacles and danger.
To the right and to the left were steep mountain ranges with jagged peaks over 10,000 feet in elevation. In their forward view, the Red sea at over 5,000 feet deep was perilous and uncertain for crossing. Behind Gods people, the horrendous sounds of Pharaoh’s vicious army of chariots fast approaching. who’s wheels were equipped with the razor sharp edges of metal blades.
What were God’s people going to do? How would they get out of this impossible predicament?
The Lord told them the answer to their questions of fear: “Do nothing”, “Stand Still”, and “Watch”.
Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.”
Imagine how you would feel if you were standing there watching Pharaoh’s army tearing through the mountain range, on their way to kill you where you stood.
With no way of escape, would you have the courage and the trust to just “Stand Still?” I think that it is safe to say that most of us would fell the instinct to run as fast as we could for the mountains.
The command from the Lord “Stand Still” is the most illogical, unwise decision that we could imagine. Yet, as God’s people did just stand still, that is when the Lord moved in His great power and destroyed the enemy. As Pharaoh sends his chariots into the same route across the Red Seas that Israel had just gone through, the water closes in on the horses, men and Chariots and destroyed them all.
Recently, scientists have discovered this shallow “Land Bridge” near the Nuweiba Peninsula of the Red Sea. Underwater, in the sand and silt, they have found hundreds of skeletal remains of men, horses and the wheels of hundreds of chariots.
Very often, the Lord requires us in a difficult and frightening situation to simply “Stand Still”. In these uncertain moments the Lord is saying to us:
Don’t just do something, stand there…. Wait upon the Lord and He shall renew your strength.
Psalms 27:14 “Wait on the LORD, Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”
It is for certain that just as those 2.5 million people found themselves in a desert for 40 years with no visible means of support, that the Lord protected them, provided for them, and delivered them. Even so, He most certainly will do the same for you today, if you will trust Him… AND WAIT
Rob Robinson
