Let us go on to see how the Lord comes in to deal with the flesh of His people (16:4-30). He deals with their flesh by showing them His glory (16:7, 10). According to the doctrinal understanding of many Christians, a fleshly person cannot see the glory of the Lord. It is significant, however, that we are not told that the Lord’s glory appeared to His people when they were at Elim. But His glory did appear to them when they were murmuring in the wilderness of Sin.
Consider this matter of the appearing of the Lord’s glory in the light of your experience. When you were having a wonderful and exciting experience at Elim, did you have the sense of the Lord’s glory, or were you simply carried away with your excitement? But at those times when you were murmuring and complaining, did not the glory of the Lord appear to you? I can testify that a number of times the glory of the Lord did appear to me when I was complaining, and this appearing caused me to be frightened. At Elim there is a great deal of excitement, but very little of the appearing of the Lord’s glory in a definite way. However, when we murmur against the Lord, often that is the time His glory appears to us.
As the children of Israel were following the Lord in the wilderness and seeking Him, their flesh and their lust were still active. We have pointed out repeatedly that the reason for this was that they were undernourished. They murmured against the Lord because they lacked the adequate supply of life. While they were murmuring, the glory of God appeared to them. In principle, we have experienced the same thing. As we were following the Lord and seeking Him, our attitude sometimes became negative, and we began to complain and murmur against the church or against the leading ones in the church. Often, when we have been complaining in this way, we have seen the Lord’s glory. The appearing of the Lord’s glory at times such as these is very frightening. The times when I have been the most fearful have been those times when the glory of the Lord appeared to me in the midst of my murmuring and complaining. The reason I complained was that I lacked Christ as my nourishment.
In their murmuring against the Lord, the children of Israel said, “Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the full: for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (16:3, Heb.). In our complaints we may say something like this: “Why did we ever come into the Lord’s recovery? What is going on in the recovery? Would that we had died in the denominations!” Often in the midst of our complaining in this way the Lord’s glory appears, and we are frightened.
In Exodus 16 we are told again and again that the Lord heard the murmurings of the people (vv. 7b, 8b, 9b). According to verse 12, the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.” Be assured that the Lord hears your murmuring. Furthermore, as you are murmuring, He is looking at you; He is observing everything that is taking place.
In 16:7 the Lord said that in the morning the people would see His glory. Verse 10 says, “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud” (Heb.). When the glory of the Lord appeared to the people, it caused them to stop murmuring. In principle, we have experienced the same thing. At certain times, because we were undernourished, our attitude has become negative as we were seeking the Lord. This shortage of Christ as our life supply caused us to murmur and complain. At those times, we saw the Lord’s glory inwardly and were full of fear. Like the children of Israel, we are often very eloquent in our murmuring and complaining, much more eloquent than when we testify for the Lord in the meetings. But the glory of the Lord appears to cause our murmuring and complaining to cease.
Would you say that the glory of the Lord appeared to rescue the people or to condemn them? The answer is that God’s glory appeared for the purpose of rescuing them by condemning them. This understanding also can be confirmed by our experience. Many times the Lord comes in to rescue us by condemning us. When we are undernourished and our attitude is negative, we may fear that the Lord may come in to slay us. Although we may complain against the Lord, we do not stop seeking Him. In the same principle, we may complain about the church or about the elders; however, we are not willing to give up the church life or to forsake the Lord’s recovery. A number of times saints have come to me with complaints about the church. When I asked them why they did not leave the church and go elsewhere, they told me that they could not find a better place. When I suggested that they stop complaining and simply be satisfied with the church life, they told me that they could not do that either. On the one hand, they would not be satisfied with the church life. But on the other hand, they would not give it up. Many times those who complain about the church in this way have a deep inner sense of the appearing of the Lord’s glory, and they fear that He may smite them. This is the appearing of the glory of the Lord to rescue us by condemning us.