Can God Furnish A Table in The Wilderness Part Two

Can God Furnish A Table
In The Wilderness? Part Two

The Psalmist’s words which serve as our text are those spoken by the generation that came out of Egypt en route to the Promised Land only to find themselves wandering aimlessly for 40 years in the wilderness. This question was not asked in faith but in unbelief, as so many questions asked today by millions of Christians are asked the same way. The Old Covenant is more than a historical part of the Bible. Its stories and admonitions hold many warnings for the New Covenant believer. We just finished a two-part journal on the dangerous sin of murmuring and complaining – an earmark trait of an unbelieving heart. This journal wants to look deeper at the causes of unbelief – both then in the nation of Israel and those today in the hearts of modern believers. I know that sounds like a contradiction but one can be saved and operate in rank unbelief and, like Israel of old, miss out with God. The root of all unbelief is a hardened heart because of sin. Sin is certainly the problem and the cross the remedy; it is faith in CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED, however, which unlocks that remedy! We should regard the solemn warnings in the Old Testament against sin, and against the danger of apostasy, as addressed by the Holy Spirit to “us” today. In fact, these warnings are as applicable to us as they were to those to whom they were at first addressed; and we need all the influence of such appeals, to keep us from apostasy, as much as they did.

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: Ps 78:19-20- Yea, they spake against God; they said, can God Furnish a Table in the Wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

Hebrews 3:7-13 - Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: [9] When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. [10] Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. [11] So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) [12] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The Day of Temptation

As we pick up part two of this message, let's look at the term, "the day of temptation." The Holy Spirit through Paul called this time of testing not only the provocation, but the “day of temptation,” meaning Israel put God to the test by asking, Is the Lord among us, or not?” and “can He put a table out here in the wilderness,” and meet our needs. Instead of trusting God in the midst of adverse circumstances, they demanded that He show His hand in order to demonstrate to them that He was in their midst to help them. This was very similar to Israel demanding a sign from Christ to prove that He was the Messiah, when in fact, there were signs of every description all around them.

Likewise, there were abundant signs regarding Israel in the wilderness. For instance, the Manna fell every single day, except the Sabbath. This was at least one miracle a day. As well, God over and over again, provided them with water, and even other types of food, in essence, “setting a table in the wilderness”; however, unbelief simply cannot see what God is doing, irrespective as to the abundance of evidence.

Ps 78:19-20- Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

The sad fact is, the modern Church is very much in the same mode of unbelief. It does not at all see what God is doing, but rather claims things to be of Him, which obviously aren’t, and denies that which is actually of Him, claiming the opposite.

The Church is in terrible condition, when it doesn’t know what is of God and what isn’t, and regrettably, this is where the modern Church finds itself. Of course, there are exceptions to this statement, but not many! The idea is, Israel tempted God in the wilderness, and did so sorely!

The Bible says they temped and tried God ten times (Num.14: 22). They did not hearken to His Voice; therefore, instead of entering the Promised Land at once and taking possession of it, they remained in the wilderness for 38 more years, until all that generation of unbelievers had died, and all that generation of the men of war was consumed. Of those who were already full- grown when they came out of Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua survived to enter Canaan, the place which God had prepared for them. Their tempting Him was a constant insult flung in His face, and we might quickly add, the face of the all-loving and all-powerful God. They refused to trust His goodness: they despised His goodness. Their hearts were evil and full of unbelief, and they fell away from the Grace of God. They sought to test God in order to approve Him. The Truth is, God did not need proving: it was they who needed the approval of God

Numbers 14:22 - Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Hebrews 3:9-10 - When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. [10] Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways

After 40 years of miracles, Israel was unchanged! Think about that. They were basically unchanged even after 40 years of miracles, which means that the generation which went into the Promised Land, was really no better than the ones who had perished in the wilderness. Through unbelief and rebellion, these people were sorely provoking God as are millions perhaps today. We are ALL guilty of that at one time or the other in our lives, make no mistake. When we refuse to believe neighbor, we provoke, tempt and prove God. Considering the condition of the modern Church, and especially the erroneous direction of many Preachers, and in fact, entire religious Denominations, let the reader understand the seriousness of the hour we live!!

And when we operate this way without repenting, then God releases judgment upon us, no matter what modern preachers proclaim saying the Day of Grace has caused judgment to be suspended.

The reader and/or Believer should not think that just because this is the Day of Grace, that all judgment has been suspended. In fact, it is the very opposite. In reality, there is more judgment being poured out upon the world today, than even in Old Testament times. The Holy Spirit through Paul plainly said:

Acts 17:30

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

The meaning of that verse is simple: “And the times of this ignorance (Old Testament Times) God winked at (and because they had precious little light); but now (this Day of Grace) commandeth all men everywhere to repent”( Acts17: 30).

I wander how many numbers of Preachers are staring judgment in the face, even though they little think so. Many have sadly desecrated His Word; they have repudiated the Cross of Christ, which Faith in that Finished Work offers fallen man the only means of Salvation. They have desecrated the Name of the Lord, by claiming things to be of the Spirit, which in reality are of the flesh, and even of demon spirits; and then denying what is really OF God and labeling it of Satan.

Neighbor, hear this writer; unbelief and rebellion tempt God more than anything else. When we say “unbelief,” and “rebellion,” we speak of unbelief in what Jesus did at the Cross, as it regards the answer to man’s dilemma, thereby, rebelling against God’s Way. John speaks of this in his gospel concerning the work of the Holy Ghost in our hearts and lives:

John 16:7-11 - Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [8] And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: [9] Of sin, because they believe not on me; [10] Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; [11] Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

There is no higher form of rebellion when man rebels against the Cross of Christ, God’s supreme answer in the form of the giving of His Son for the sins of man.

Saving faith speaks of our faith in the Cross and the work of the Holy Spirit. I heard it stated several years back that about half of the Church world, has attempted to preach the Cross, at least somewhat, without the Holy Spirit. In other words, they have rejected the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is always accompanied by the speaking with other tongues. We’re not remotely stating one has to speak in tongues to be saved, don’t get us wrong. But any movement that denies the work of the Holy Ghost as it relates to the experience of Acts 2:4 might as well deny the Holy Spirit Himself. We can’t just have part of what He does in our life and reject the other. The same Holy Spirit that saves us is the same Spirit giving the utterance through another language! You can’t separate the two.

Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The same Spirit of God that convicts the sinner is the same Spirit of God interceding through the believer with “groanings” which cannot be uttered! You can’t separate the two!

Yes, the Holy Spirit does a work at salvation. None of us would be saved if He didn’t! We can’t call Jesus Lord EXCEPT BY THE HOLY GHOST. (1 Cor. 12:1-3) But once we get saved, the work of the Holy Spirit is just beginning! Many put faith in Christ then leave that faith at the door when the Holy Spirit seeks to move the believer into a deeper walk of consecration, power and grace.

When we preach the Cross without the Holy Spirit, we are left with nothing, which characterizes a rather large part of the Church world including many Baptists, Presbyterians, and mainline denominations. Then another part of the church world actually claims to believe in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as accompanied by the speaking with other tongues, which makes up as well about half of Christendom, for the most part is attempting to preach the Holy Spirit without the Cross. The results are fanaticism, and attributing to the Divine Spirit that which is actually of the flesh, and to be frank, even of demon spirits. In other words, the Holy Spirit cannot be scripturally preached and proclaimed, without the foundation of the Cross of Christ.

There you have the two main camps of Christianity, especially Americanized Christianity. One preaches the cross without preaching the Holy Spirit. The other preaches the Holy Spirit without allowing the Cross of Christ to be its foundation!

No matter the amount of religious machinery, if the church is not preaching the Holy Spirit then NOTHING IS BEING DONE FOR GOD! I don’t care how “big” the church is or how busy the members are with all the programs. It’s not about a “Pentecostal” experience neighbor; it’s about a BIBLICAL experience and preaching the WORD OF GOD! For this reason to be frank, Satan little opposes this sector of the Church, simply because they are not going to cause him much trouble anyway He turns his full brunt of attack toward those who are Spirit-filled.

The attack we speak of has taken many directions; however, its greatest direction and intensity has been the devil getting the church to forsake the Cross of Christ. Hear this writer and hear him good. You cannot embrace the Cross of Christ and humanistic psychology at the same time. You cannot embrace the demands of denying one’s self and then embrace the “gospel” of self-esteem at the same time! You cannot embrace the demands of the cross in what it requires that we lay our lives down for others and walk in love to the point of turning the other cheek then embrace a “militant,” message that says church folks are to “stand up” and be counted. The two don’t mesh and never will mesh!

The leadership of every major Pentecostal Denomination in the United States and Canada, at least of which I am aware, has opted totally and completely for humanistic psychology as the answer to man’s dilemma. In doing so, they have completely repudiated the Cross, which alone holds that answer. Of course, they would deny that they have repudiated the Cross, but to state it again, it’s impossible, and I mean literally impossible, to accept both ways, especially considering that these two ways are diametrically opposed to each other.

Psychology and self-esteem come from the hearts of wicked men, which constitutes “earthly wisdom,” while the other one comes directly from God. James calls earthly wisdom “sensual and devilish.”

James 3:15-17 - This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. [16] For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. [17] But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

It is an abomination when the editors of the Pentecostal Evangel, the weekly voice of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal Denomination in the world, recommend in that Magazine, 12-step programs as the answer for mankind. It is an abomination in the eyes of God, when the Leadership of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tenn., the second largest Pentecostal Denomination in the world, is headed up by a practicing Psychologist who requires ALL their ministers to have psychology courses as part of their résumé’s before they pastor. Neighbor, that is not just two isolated cases. The entire denominational and Charismatic world has opted out for such and it’s damnable in the sight of God!

Humanistic psychology is the vehicle with which the church worships its new idol – SELF. The message of the Cross basically declares man’s “SELF” DEAD and SINFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We cannot have it both ways and as Israel of old perished because of unbelief in God, we are precariously close to doing the same today in the modern church world.

To be associated with that which espouses gross error, even though one may not agree with that direction, makes one a part of the sin being committed. In other words, it’s not possible for one to absolve oneself of culpability and responsibility, if one is associated in any manner with such erroneous direction. In the Charismatic world, the situation if possible, is even worse. Not only do they espouse, at least for the most part, the world of humanistic psychology, but many of them openly repudiate the Cross, actually referring to it as “past miseries.” Or they say, as did one of their late leaders prior to his death, that the Cross was the greatest defeat known in human history. Such terminology shows a gross ignorance of the Word of God, which would be laughable were it not for the fact, that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of so called Christians, are following these pied pipers, and I might quickly add, following them to spiritual oblivion. In these circles, we have displays of all types of manifestations, purporting to be of the Spirit, when in reality, it is of the flesh, or even of demon spirits.

That means that a great segment of the Church is following demon spirits, thinking it’s the Holy Spirit. What a travesty and horror. However, the real tragedy is to hear modern Church proclaim its own condition as being in the greatest state ever known by the so-called Church. Laodicea did the same, yet they were wretched, poor, blind and naked!

Rev. 3:17-21

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: [18] I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. [21] To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Modern church has become bigger than ever and richer than ever. More people are attending Churches today than ever before, with more money coming into the till than ever before. However, the Truth is, a 500 pound man might be big, but he’s definitely not healthy. In fact, he is sick, and so sick, that he could die at any moment. The Truth is, despite the influx of human bodies and money, and to be sure, money is the driving force of this religious engine, there are fewer people being saved today than in the last several hundreds of years.

There are almost no Believers being baptized with the Holy Spirit anywhere. Despite all the hype, almost no one is being truly healed. As well, victorious living in Christian lives is almost a thing of the past. In other words, most of professing Christendom is walking in spiritual failure and defeat. Why you may ask? Because we have stopped preaching the Cross and rejected the moving and operation of the Holy Ghost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I realize those are not words that people enjoy reading; however, they are the Truth, whether we like them or not. The problem is, the modern Church anymore, little knows what is of God and what isn’t of God. It worships idols thinking it’s worshiping the Lord. It accepts manifestations which obviously are of the Devil, thinking they are of the Holy Spirit. Thus, if a repudiation of the Cross is the greatest tempting of God, and it definitely is, then where does that leave the modern Church? As far as the True Church goes, the Lord is about to take out those watching and waiting for His Coming at the rapture. As far as the Apostate church goes, things are about to turn ugly!

In fact, the greatest judgment of all is about to come upon the modern Church. In a very short period of time, the Rapture is about to take place. With the True Church taken away, the horror of the Great Tribulation is going to burst upon the apostate Church. To be sure, at first it will seem as if it is the greatest moment in history. All the voices that cried out against the apostasy of this age will now be gone. The Antichrist will be acclaimed by Israel, at least at the beginning, as their Messiah. The false Church will fall in line, proclaiming the same identical thing; however, after a short period of time, the Antichrist will show his true colors, actually turning on Israel, which will be in the midst of the Great Tribulation Period. Then the Judgment of God is going to be poured out upon this world as never before, which is characterized in Revelation, Chapters 6 through 19. In fact and as previously stated, the Church has already entered into the last great apostasy.

The preaching and teaching of the Cross is and always has been the dividing line between the True Church and the apostate Church. To be sure, that has always been the dividing line; however, I believe it is going to be more pronounced now than ever. If the Message of the Cross is rejected, that individual doing the rejecting will go into apostasy. There is no other way. If it is accepted, it will mean life, as it always has meant life. However, it’s not going to be quite as cut and-dried as I have just stated. To accept this Message of the Cross, one is going to have to go against most of institutionalized religion, as well as about every other brand. There’s not going to be any such thing as “closet Christians,” in other words, those who secretly believe in the Cross. The Believer is going to have to come out and boldly take his or her stand.

To take such a stand, is going to mean the loss of friends, even of family, and in reality, of most all things; however, to do so, will gain Christ, which is everything. But due to the fact of having to take such a stand, many will fall by the wayside. Please read these words very carefully, for that which you are reading, is far more than instruction, but actually a prophetic Word from the Lord.

When Your Fathers……….Proved Me..

The short phrase, “Proved Me,” refers to the fact, that instead of trusting God in the midst of adverse circumstances, Israel demanded that God show His hand and demonstrate to them that He was in their midst. Actually, they insulted Him over and over, especially considering, and as stated, that He was performing miracles for them even on a daily basis. Again, I wish to emphasize the fact, that unbelief cannot see God, irrespective as to what He is doing. And what do we mean by unbelief? The Greek words translated “tempted” and “proved,” are “peirazomai” and “dokimazo” respectively. They are an interesting contrast. “Peirazomai” means “to put to the test to see what good or evil may be in a person.” “Dokimazo” means“ to put to the test for the purpose of approving the person if he meets the test.”

The Greek here is “put Me to the test to see what evil or good there is in Me when they put Me to the test for the purpose of approving Me should I meet the test.” What crass unbelief is shown in such a procedure. What an insult it flings into the face of an all-loving, all-powerful God. Those to whom Paul was writing, in this instance, Christian Jews, are warned not to take that attitude toward God, and the same warning goes to us presently. While it is true that they were being bitterly persecuted because of their professed Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the idea is, they should trust God in the midst of it all and not harden their hearts against Him (Wuest).

As it relates to us today I turn to the so-called Word of Faith movement that has probably done more presently to hurt the Work of God, than anything or any movement in the Body of Christ. For one thing, most, if not all, of its preachers and leaders repudiate the Cross, or else greatly reduces its emphasis. Also, many within its camp claims that if one has enough Faith, that one can forego all difficulties, problems, hindrances, etc. Consequently, one’s consecration, or faith level, is judged by the model of car they drive, the price of their clothing, and lack of problems. I would hope that one could see that such direction has absolutely no similarity to the Biblical account of the Child of God as given in the Word of God. However, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people follow this perfidious teaching, simply because they think it’s an easy way to“ get rich,” etc. Irrespective of these claims, and all the attempts to confess away all problems, adverse circumstances always come sooner or later to the Child of God. In fact, the Lord orchestrates all such things, in order to prove and to test our Faith.

To be sure, the Lord knows all things. He knows the past, the present, and the future, which means that He already knows how we will act; however, these“ tests of Faith” are given and allowed, for our own benefit. How can we learn to trust God, if there are never any problems to overcome? But when these problems come, as they always do, the followers of this perfidious teaching, having been told that such will not come if they have the proper confession, etc., many times, get discouraged and simply quit. They are called “Faith drop-outs” by many in this same movement. No! They are not drop-outs, they are casualties of teaching that is awfully wrong! In effect, the modern Faith teaching is very similar to what Israel did in the wilderness, as it regards “proving God.”

To be certain, they were not proving Him in a positive way, but rather in a negative way. They were like petulant children who were stamping their feet, demanding that God do certain things, etc. As stated, they were not at all unlike the modern teachers and leaders in the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit declares that Israel "saw My works forty years," yet still did not believe God even though God was doing great and mighty things for them, on a constant and in many cases DAILY basis. This means, that for 40 years they tempted God, proved Him, and provoked Him. Forty years was a long period of time to walk with the Lord, and to see God’s miraculous hand upon them; yet they remained unchanged. It is all of an 11- day journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-Barnea. Yet we read that 40 years later on the first day of the month, Moses spoke God’s commands to the Children of Israel. This means, that it took them 40 years to make an 11- day journey! Why? Because of their presumptuous wickedness. They had tried the Lord, proved Him, but had forgotten His goodness and His great power. In other words, they constantly looked at the circumstances instead of looking at God. All of this was an insult flung in the face of the all-loving and all- powerful God to tempt and to prove Him. The words they used, as stated, denote a putting to the test in order to see if the God Who brought them out of bondage had evil or good intentions for them. This means that they refused to trust His goodness, over and over again, reading evil into that which He did. They despised His goodness. Their hearts were evil and full of unbelief, and they fell away from the Grace of God.

They sought to test God in order to approve Him. God did not need proving: it was they who needed the approval of God. And friend, the same is true today. How dare we as the modern church remotely think we can demand God do anything??? Most of our "confession," is based not upon true Biblical faith, but upon an arrogant heart gripped with the spirit of unbelief and error.

The short phrase,“ And saw My works,” proclaims the fact, that there was no excuse for their behavior. They had seen the wonders at the Red Sea, the descent on Mount Sinai, the supply of Manna, etc.; and yet, even while seeing those works, they rebelled. And let us remember, Paul is not addressing this to unbelievers, but rather those who pretend to follow Christ, i. e.,“ Christians.” We must allow these admonitions to be warnings to us. If Israel could lose her way, even as the entirety of a generation did in the wilderness, despite the fact that God was performing for them the mightiest miracles the world has ever known, where does that leave us presently? Millions of Christians at this very moment, and I think I exaggerate not, are saying in their hearts, that if they could see God do the great things now that He did in those days, they would certainly believe Him. In other words, whether realized or not, they are finding fault with God presently.

First of all, God is doing great and mighty things presently, even greater now than He did then. Unbelief sees what it wants to see, and Faith sees what it wants to see. As Believers, we must ever remember the following: Our relationship with the Lord must never be based on Him giving us an abundance of material things, or withholding those things. Neither must it be based upon physical situations. In other words, whether we are physically sick, or physically well. While all of these things are very important, and while God definitely does supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory, and while He is definitely the Healer, those things must never be the main emphasis. The main emphasis must always be that our hearts are right with God. If I’m in the center of God’s Will, it doesn’t really matter what else happens. Look at this situation: Paul and Silas were definitely in the direct center of God’s Will, when they went to Philippi to establish a Church. For their trouble, thank you, they were rewarded with a beating that almost killed them, being thrown into prison, with their hands and feet made fast in the stocks, and with the pain being excruciating to say the least!(Acts 16).

I am persuaded that if most Christians presently were put to such a test, that many, if not most, would find themselves cursing God. As stated, much of this spirit can be laid at the feet of those in the modern Faith Ministry, who have taught a false message of faith, which in reality is no Faith at all! I've actually heard some of these modern new age gurus dressed up as faith instructors insinuate that Paul didn't have the right type of faith that would have delivered him from such things as being thrown into jail. (How stupid can you get?)

And as we close the first part of this two-part journal, we ask you the reader- “What do you see?” Do you see circumstances, difficulties, problems, hindrances, etc.? Or do you ignore these things, and instead, see the Lord in His great power to save, and to keep in the midst of adverse temptations, with Him doing great and mighty things? Faith must always be tested, and great Faith must be tested greatly. Once again, it is not that He might know, for He already knows, but that we might know. And to be sure, we will find that our Faith is never quite as strong as we think it is, hence the necessity of it being tested.

And neighbor, even though Israel sarcastically asked, "can God furnish a table in the wilderness?," we can answer that question with a resounding "YES!" In the next journal we will look at that question more in depth as to how God did just that in the face of Israel's unbelief. Neighbor, take these words seriously today. This was a hard journal to write because it has stated some tough things that most may not want to hear. Regardless of your denomination, the time is close that we as the Body of Christ come together IN CHRIST and ask God to release His Spirit in these last days so that ALL who will come, will be saved, baptized in the Holy Ghost, delivered and set free by the power of God before the day ends, the trump sounds and the Lord returns to Earth. Neighbor, it's getting late and it's harvest time!

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This journal is part of a current six-sermon, ongoing series on the wilderness failures of Israel and their warnings to us today:

The Sin of Murmuring (Wilderness Part Two)

Can God Furnish A Table in the Wilderness Part One

Can God Furnish A Table in the Wilderness Part Two

The Generation of Unbelief

The Generation of Unbelief Part Two

From the Archives:

Samuel's Voice To Israel

Israel and the Mountain of Darkness