Numbers 11:4-6(NKJV) Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.
Psalms 106:15(NKJV) And He gave them their request, [so they ate meat, quail and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving] But sent leanness into their soul.
They got what they wanted, but at a high price. With this meat came leanness. This leanness made them unfit to endure, unable to pass God’s test, and ultimately, they never entered His PROMISED LAND!
The wilderness reveals the motives of the heart. In the wilderness God wants us to know Him.
Daniel 11:32b(KJV) …but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
In the wilderness God wants us to know Him.
1 Corinthians 10:3-5(MSG) Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
Why was God not pleased with them? Because their focus was on themselves, not on God.
The Highway of God
Isaiah 40:3(NIV) A voice of one calling: in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
The wilderness is the location of God’s highway. It is in the wilderness that the way is prepared. It is the way or road to the high or exalted life – the way God lives and thinks.
Isaiah 35:6&8(NKJV) ..for waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert …. A highway shall be there [in the desert] and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
God is not looking for an outward form of holiness; He wants an inward change of your heart, for a pure heart will produce pure conduct.
Matthew 23:26(NKJV) …first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish [the heart], that the outside of them may be clean also.