With All Your Heart

** It should be noted that the next three posts have been heavily influenced by — and I have liberally borrowed from — Ray VanderLaan.


And so the tests come as Israel heads to God's mountain.

It's not long after the miracle of the Red Sea that the people are feeling a tad thirsty.  (And let's not be that harsh on them, shall we?  I can't tell you how many Bible studies I've sat through where everybody talks about how foolish the Israelites are.  Here's a good rule to follow: You don't get to critique them until you've walked in the Negev for a week; I spent a week in the 120-degree heat of the Negev, eight hours a day — and I complained quite a lot myself.  I complained and I still had water bottles, backpacks, lunch breaks, air-conditioned buses and a hotel room at night.)  They cry out to God.

Moses said in Deuteronomy 8 that God did this to them “in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Jews teach that this is the first test of the desert.  God wanted to test them to see (or experience) whether or not they would love Him with all of their heart.  In Hebrew thought, the heart can be representative of your will.  God wants to know if they will be obedient — if they will wait for every word that proceeds from His mouth.  The message is this: “I will give you what you need when you need it.  Learn to trust Me.  Do you trust Me?  Will you love me will all of your heart/will?”

But they are thirsty and they come to a well.  The water is bitter.  But the bitterness isn't just in the water.  They call that place by the well Marah, which is the Hebrew word for “bitter.”  But the root word connected to Marah isn't just bitterness.  The word also is used to speak of “defiant, stubborn rebellion.”  The people, after realizing the water is bitter, are left at a crossroads: Will they trust the story?  Will they wait on every word?  They decide to sit and demand sustenance.  They do not love God with their will and they do not wait on His every word.

And so God provides.  He has Moses throw a stick into the well and the water becomes sweet.  Then the Text says that God makes a law and a statute.  Now it is possible to read the next few verses as the law and statute that God makes.  However, it is also possible to see the statement of the law and statute as separate from those verses.  You could also read the verses as the test (notice the call in the words to LISTEN to the VOICE of God. “Every word that proceeds…”).  That means that we aren't told what the law and the statute would be.

The Jewish tradition (in the midrash) teaches that the law/statute was that Israel had to let the old, the weak, and the marginalized go first to the well to drink.

This is particularly interesting, because as soon as Israel leaves Marah, they arrive at Elim — which we're told has twelve wells and seventy palm trees.  Twelve is the number for God's community (think the twelve tribes of Israel).  And seventy is the number of leadership within that community.  I make a couple observations about God bringing them to Elim; remember that a test is an opportunity to show God what is in your heart AND to learn lessons about where God is taking you.

First, if they would have just “wait[ed] on every word,” they would have arrived shortly at a location that had clean drinking water and more of it.  How long did it take for Israel to get water for the whole community?  If they would have only waited, their job would have been much easier.  God's way is always the best way.  God says, “Please, learn to trust Me.”

Secondly, they learn about community.  If the midrash is correct about the law and the statute (debatable, I understand), then they had to learn about caring for the weak.  They also could have learned that the distribution of the water will go much quicker if we take it from the well and distribute it to others, not just stand at the well and drink for ourselves.

This seems to be pure speculation, until we read the next story.  The Israelites are now hungry.  They grumble against God again and He provides manna.  But He also gives them instructions.  They are now being invited to “wait on every word” again.  Will you trust God and love Him with all your heart/will?  He tells them that they are only to gather an omer (there is great debate about the amount of an ‘omer’; it can range anywhere from half of a cup to almost one liter).

Exodus 16:17 tells us that Israel did as they were told.  (This is significant, because I always get the impression that Israel fails every time; not true — they succeeded in this!)  We then learn that some gathered much and some gathered little, but when it was measured out, each person had their omer.  How could this be?  It could be because they gathered for the community.  Some were able to do more work and they gathered more and were able to share it with those who could not!  Israel learned — at times — from their testings.

But we often experience the same test in our lives.  We are invited to live by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”  We are invited to trust that God knows what we need and will give us what we need when we need it — at times, not a second beforehand.  It's one way that we learn to trust the story.

God asks: “Will you love Me with all of your heart?  Will you wait on My word?  Will you listen to and follow My words?”

This is our opportunity to let God experience our hearts and our love for Him.