Did you know Moses lived through a pandemic? He did! It was terrible. Moses and the Israelites were in lockdown in a place where there were no grocery stores. In fact, their bread and protein needed to be delivered to them 6 out of 7 days a week. There was a shortage of grain, figs, grapevines and pomegranates, and even melons were missed.1 They couldn’t shop for clothing or shoes, never got to swim or farm, and not only was there no bottled water but often there was no water at all. But water was brought in when needed, especially if the people in lockdown were verbal about it2. At one point, Moses’ wife, 2 sons and father-in-law came to visit and stayed for a while. 3 That was a nice break—but it was a full 40 years until the pandemic was declared just an epidemic4 and they were able to leave and enter a new land, one that had been promised long, long ago.
The pandemic? Caused by the virus of little faith. The scientific name would be ‘lack of trust in God.’ The length? 40 years, one year to represent each day spent spying out the land. It doesn’t sound fair, but the Israelites had just seen God deliver them from Egyptian plagues, as well as the death of the firstborn, parting of the Red Sea, and a pillar of fire to separate them from certain death. All that, and within 6 weeks they were grumbling and complaining and acting like spoiled children (Ex. 16:1-3) All that and they didn’t trust God when 10 out of 12 men thought the future looked too scary – too unknown. Their new normal was too unsettling.
There were government helps though, from the highest court in the Universe. The ‘power that be’ had manna and quail delivered daily; on Saturday a double portion so they all could rest on the Sabbath. (Ex. 16:11-32) It was free of charge. There wasn’t anywhere to swim, being the Desert of Zin, but God brought water out of a rock when needed (Ex. 17:3-7; Numbers 20:5-12) Walmart and Amazon weren’t options; but Alpha and Omega saw that they could wear their shoes and clothing.5 The visit of Moses’ wife and children was uplifting. In fact, much to my surprise, I even heard from Exodus 18:24 that Moses’ father-in-law had some creative ideas that helped things run smoother in the new living situation. In fact, Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said! Just imagine! Wisdom from a father-in-law!
40 years later, the Pandemic was simply an epidemic. There were still traces of the virus of little faith and lack of trust, but all those initially infected had died off. Sad, but true. This new life was seen with new eyes; they called it a land flowing with milk and honey.
Future generations would look back on the pandemic and wonder why the people grumbled so much. Strong believers would look back and say, “Ha. I would have known that God would eventually bring deliverance.” It makes me think though; I wonder how we would fare should we be asked to live through a pandemic? What if we had to trust God for income, no family visits, loss of employment, shortages of some foods, no shopping for shoes and clothes, and resting on the Sabbath. Hmmm. I wonder.
1 Numbers 20:5, 2 Numbers 20:8-11; Exodus 17:3-7, 3 Exodus 18:5, 4 Numbers 14:33,34, 5 Deuteronomy 29:5; 8:4; Nehemiah 9:21