Heralds Digest

  “ They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. ” Psalms 78 : 30 - 31 NKJV Right from the Old Testament, the futility of human craving for sign and wonders in believers’ relationship with God has been fully established. Unfortunately, the carnal nature and fleshly appeals remain the satisfaction of human needs and the goods in the heads, rather than the pursuit of godliness for the hearts. For example, not until fire was brought down from heaven to consume the sacrifice on the repaired altar, the people cannot respond to Elijah’s invitation to identify the true God. It implies that the cravings in human heart apparently respond to the carnal flow of goods from God. Whereas, Elijah operated with critical conviction on the manifestations of God, even before the fire came down: he mocked the prophets of baals and gathered the peop...

  “Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭78‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In every human and carnal context, salvation is measured by the physical metrics of the likes of food, health, and material supplies. The experiences of the children of Israel with GOD in the wilderness are guided by this familiar context. And even though they did not believe God for their sustenance in the wilderness, God rained them food supplies from the cloud and water supplies from the rock. Unfortunately, these strange supplies of human carnal desires still regulate human relationships with God today. We are readily attracted to the mountains and hills where supernatural manifestations of our material and physical needs are handed out, without an inner quest for the salvation of our souls. Even those who had claimed an initial encounter of salvati...