In The Desert

In The Desert Numbers 20 2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses … “4 Why did you bring the LORD's community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!" …

In The Desert 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

In The Desert 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (NIV)

What Is It? The Gathering of the Manna, James Tissot, ca. 1902

Detestable Food!

The Good Ol’ Days "I was thirty-one years ole when de surrender come. Dat makes me sho nuff ole. Near bout a hundred an' three years done passed over dis here white head of mine. I'se been here, I mean I'se been here... I'se been here so long dat I done forgot near 'bout as much as dese here new generation knows or ever gwine know. Tempe Durham, American Slave: North Carolina Narratives 14 (1): 284-290, 1938

The Good Ol’ Days Freedom is all right, but [we] was better off befo' surrender… Tempe Durham, American Slave: North Carolina Narratives 14 (1): 284-290, 1938

We Was Better Off The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. (Exo 2:23) Forced Labourers of the Semitic Race Stamping Out Bricks Tomb of Rekhmara at Thebes, TIMEA, 1878

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts 1830

Pharoah’s Army Engulfed by the Red Sea, Frederick Bridgman, 1900

The Giving of Laws on Sinai, William Brassey Hole ca. 1900

The Gathering of the Manna, James Tissot ca. 1900

Enough! Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. (Num 21:6 NIV)

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For now we see through a glass, darkly…

"If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Something Wrong My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Finding Nemo, 2003

Why Snakes? Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. (Num 21:6 NIV)

Why Snakes? 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made… "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:1-5 NIV)

The Cure The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses … (Num 21:7-8 NIV)

Anti-Venom Moses and the Brazen Serpent, Esteban March, ca. 1650