-Narrator: God's Story: Wilderness
So part of God's story is about how God took care of his family in the wilderness, and
it begins like this!
For many years, God's family was stuck as slaves in Egypt. So,
God chose a guy named Moses to lead them out of slavery and into an amazing home
called Canaan or the "Promised Land" where they could be free.
From the moment the Israelites left Egypt, God made it clear that He was with his family.
He led them with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night!
He actually split the Red Sea in two parts so they could walk to safety, but the journey
from Egypt to the Promised Land was hard.
In fact, the Israelites didn't know where to find food and water
or when they would get to Canaan.
So just three days after leaving Egypt, they started complaining, "What are we going to drink?"
Now Moses knew that God hadn't freed them from Egypt
and parted the Red Sea just to let them die of thirst in the desert.
So he asked the Lord to help and God helped.
Then about a month later, they complained again,
"If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt!" they moaned.
"There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted!
"Now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us to death!"
They actually wished they could be slaves again.
Kids, have you ever complained about something instead of trusting God for help?
Well, guess what?
God had a plan His family never could have imagined!
In the morning dew covered the ground and when it was gone there were flakes of food
that looked like frost!
The Israelites called it "manna" which means, "What is it?"
Moses told them to eat it all and not to save any.
But of course, some people saved a little, just to be safe.
Remember, they were worried they wouldn't have what they needed.
The next morning the old manna was full of maggots, which are little bugs!
Yuck!
But the good news is there was also new manna.
See, God wanted them to trust him every single day.
What's really crazy though is on the sixth day of every week,
God did tell them to gather enough for two days.
That way, they had one day to rest; it's called a sabbath, and it's a day of rest.
So when they woke up on the seventh day of the week,
the manna they had saved was as fresh as it was when it first fell.
We don't know how that happened, but it did!
Well the Israelites kept traveling, following the cloud and fire,
eating new manna everyday, and getting a sabbath every week.
It might seem pretty clear that God was with them, but they weren't so sure.
At one point, they even said to Moses, "Is the Lord with us or not?
"Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us with thirst?"
The people had stopped trusting Moses, which really meant they had stopped trusting God
just because things got hard.
Moses knew God had a plan though and he asked for help.
Turns out, God had another miracle in store, God said, "Take your staff, strike the rock,
and water will come gushing out!"
And it did!
For about 40 more years God's family wandered the desert and all that time God kept on giving
them food, water, rest, and protection!
He even kept their clothes from wearing out!
God's family couldn't take care of themselves on their own, they had to trust God
but he always gave them just enough, just in time, and often in ways they could have never expected.
And that's the story of how God took care of his family in the wilderness.
So in case you missed it, here's the quick version:
God wanted his family to be free.
God led them with a cloud and fire.
He parted the Red Sea.
The Israelites got thirsty and complained.
God gave them water!
They got hungry and complained again.
God gave them food!
They got thirsty and complained again.
God gave them water again!
For 40 years, God gave them what they needed. All they had to do was trust everyday.
And that's a part of God's Story.