少儿圣经故事:摩西的故事(7)/Story of Moses(7)

（单词翻译）

??“But I want the blueberry one, not the strawberry!” “Why do I have to be the shortest one in my class？” “Why can’t I have it？All the other kids have one!” Do you ever say things like that？That is called COMPLAINING, and how quick some of us are to complain when things don’t go our way!

??No one likes to hear other people complaining, but oh dear, today you and I have to hear it! We would like to just skip over this part of the true history of the people of Israel, but it is true, and it is part of the story.

??Remember last time how the people of Israel were celebrating by the Red Sea？They had seen the wonderful power of God in bringing them right through the middle of the Sea. And by His power He had delivered them from the Egyptian army. How they sang and praised God!

??But how soon they forgot Him! For three days as they traveled through the wilderness¹ of Shur, the Bible tells us they found no water. And when they did reach Marah where they found water, what a disappointment! The water was so bitter they spit it out again! No wonder, for the word Marah means bitter.

??What were the people to do？In Exodus² 15：24 we read, And the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink？” Wouldn’t you and I like to ask THEM a question：“Why are you complaining to Moses？” Could Moses provide water for over 2 million people？Was it Moses who opened the Red Sea？Was it Moses who destroyed their enemies？You and I know they should have asked the LORD to give them water!

??Poor Moses! They were blaming him for not having water to drink. But Moses knew where to get water! Exodus 15：25 says, And he (Moses) cried to the LORD...” Of course the Lord could provide the water! God’s Word says the LORD showed Moses a certain tree, and Moses took that tree and threw it into the water, and immediately the water was turned from bitter to sweet! God gave some instruction to the people while they camped there at Marah：“If you will diligently³ listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do the right things, if you will listen and keep His commandments, then I will not put on you any of the diseases that I brought on the people of Egypt. And remember, I am the God that heals you.”

??Oh, but now that pillar of cloud is moving! What does that mean？The people of Israel are packing up their tents and moving on. This time the pillar of cloud led them to a place called Elim, where there were 12 wells of good water and 70 lovely palm trees. This is called an oasis⁴. I’m sure the people of Israel would liked to have stayed there for a long vacation! But the cloud is moving again, and so must they.

??Now the people of Israel have found themselves in a wilderness again. They were getting tired and hungry, but there was no food to eat. Can you guess what they did？Oh, how I dislike telling this part of the story, but Exodus 16：3 tells us the people again complained to Moses, “We wish we had died in the land of Egypt. At least we had plenty to eat there. But now you have brought us all out here in this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Had these very ungrateful people forgotten how cruel Pharaoh had been to them in Egypt？Had they forgotten the Lord’s wonderful provision of water and rest at Marah and Elim？We can surely see God’s patience, for even as He heard their complaining, He was planning His provision for their hunger. Moses told the people what God had showed him. “This evening you will know that God is the One Who brought you out of Egypt, and tomorrow you will see how great God is. Even though you’ve grumbled⁵ and complained to me, you are really speaking against God. In the evening, God will send meat for you; in the morning, He will give you bread. God is going to test you, to see if you will obey His law or not. He says you are to gather a certain amount for each person. You are not to save any for the next day. Every morning you will gather a fresh amount. But on the sixth day, you are to gather twice as much per person as you did the other days. That is so you can keep God’s commandment to rest on the seventh day.”

??How patiently and wonderfully God was providing for His people! No money needed, no far distance to travel! The people SHOULD be so thankful and content, knowing they had such a wonderful Father taking care of their every need! .

??The people of Israel SHOULD have been so thankful and content, for that very evening the sky was filled with thousands of quail⁶, a bird that is even more tasty and delicious than chicken. God brought them right to the people! Umm, imagine with me the delicious aroma⁷ coming up from the campfires that evening in the wilderness! But I wonder if we had been there if we would have heard any “thank You, dear Lord” prayers before they ate! Do YOU thank God each time for your food？Let’s make that a good habit!

??The next morning when the people of Israel looked out their tents, what a surprise for their eyes! The ground was covered with white, but it wasn’t snow, and it wasn’t frost. “What IS this？” the people asked

??Moses. He answered, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” The Bible tells us this strange new bread looked like tiny white round things on the ground, and it tasted sweet like honey. The people called it manna. The Bible calls it “bread from heaven.” Link：This bread would give the people physical life. Many years later God sent another kind of bread from heaven which would give people everlasting⁸ life.

??Gospel：John 6：35 says Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life：he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst. Jesus as the perfect Son of God is the only One Who can give us life that lasts forever. Jesus says whoever believes on Him will have eternal life in Heaven. That person will never need to look for other ways or things to get to Heaven. Is everyone in the world going to Heaven？No, we are all born as sinners, doing, thinking, and saying things that do not please God. That sin causes us to be going the very opposite way of our Creator God and His holy and perfect Heaven. Can being good or going to church give us life forever in Heaven？Can we pay enough or pray enough to get life forever？No, but Jesus said when we believe about our sin, and what He did for us, and we ask Him to forgive our sin and save us, THAT’S when we have that bread of life! The bread that gives us everlasting life in Heaven! Link：Manna was also a bread from heaven, but it only gave physical life to the people of Israel. Day after day they looked out their tents, and there it was, fresh and good and plentiful⁹ and FREE! All they had to do was gather that certain amount per person every day, and on the sixth day gather twice as much, so they wouldn’t have to go out and work on the seventh day. God commanded that the seventh day should be for a day of rest and worship.

??Can you believe some of those people still disobeyed God？Yes, some people showed their greediness by trying to save manna over for the next day, but the next morning they had the miserable¹⁰ task of taking that smelly, wormy mess out of their tents! For you see, during the night the Bible says the leftover¹¹ manna bred worms and caused a stink¹²! And then there were those who disobeyed by going out on the seventh day to pick up manna. But there was not any to be found, for God did not send it on that special day of rest and worship.

??God instructed Moses to take come of the manna and put it in a special container. This would be a reminder¹³ to future generations of God’s care for His people. Our lesson today ends with Exodus 16：35, “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years...” Every morning for the next 40 years the Israelites would have fresh bread to eat, provided by their loving and faithful God. Do you think they will learn to be content now, and not complaining all the time？??The greatest way God has shown His care for you was in sending His Son Jesus to die for your sin. You can never be truly content until you admit your sin to God, and believe on the Lord Jesus. God’s Word says in John 6：47 “He that believes on me has everlasting life.” Jesus is that bread of life sent from Heaven. When we believe and ask the Lord Jesus to save us from our sin, He does save us, and gives us that everlasting life in Heaven with Him someday.

??“我想吃的是那种蓝色的草莓，不是红的这种！”“为什么我是班上最矮的？”“别人都有，为什么我不能？”小朋友，你有没有说过这样的话？这叫做“抱怨”。当事情没有照着我们的意思的时候，我们常常就开始抱怨起来。

??没有人喜欢听别人抱怨，可是，我们今天不得不来听！我真想就把这段以色列人的历史跳过去，不讲了！可是这确实是真实的事。

??还记得吗？上次讲到以色列人在红海边庆祝。他们看到是神的大能把他们带过红海。也是神的大能救他们脱离埃及人的追赶。所以以色列人向神歌唱，歌颂神对他们的看顾。

??但是他们很快就忘记了这些。 他们来到书珥的旷野，在旷野走了三天找不着水喝。他们都渴坏了！ 他们到了一个地方叫玛拉，在那里找到了水。

??唉！ 真令人扫兴！ 那里的水是苦的。他们喝了一口就吐出来。 怪不得呢！ 原来，玛拉的意思就是苦的。

??那怎么办呢？出埃及记15章24节说：“百姓就向摩西发怨言说：“我们都渴死了，喝什么呢？”我真想问他们一个问题：“你们为什么向摩西发怨言呢？”难道摩西能给这两百多万人水喝吗？是摩西将红海分开的吗？是摩西把埃及人摧毁的吗？我们知道以色列人应该向神要水喝才对。

??可怜的摩西！ 以色列人因为没有水喝就责怪他。但是摩西知道到哪里去找水。出埃及记15章25节说：“摩西呼求神。。。”当然，神会给他们预备水喝！ 圣经说神指示摩西一棵树，摩西把树丢在水里，水就由苦变甜了。当他们安营在玛拉的时候，神给他们定了一个规定：“你若留意听神的话, 又行我眼中看为正的事, 留心听我的诫命, 守我一切的律例, 我就不将所加与埃及人的疾病加在你身上, 因为我是医治你的神。”

??看，他们前面的云柱动了起来！ 这是什么意思呢？原来，云柱动的时候，以色列人也要收拾起他们的帐篷，开始出发了。这次，云柱领他们到了一个地方叫以琳，在那里有十二股清凉的泉水，七十棵可爱的棕树，真舒服！ 原来这里是一片绿洲。 我想以色列人一定想在这里放个长假。可是，他们前面的云柱又动了起来， 他们又必须启程了。

??以色列人又走在旷野里。现在，他们又饿又渴，但是没有吃的。你能猜出来他们干了什么吗？我真是不喜欢讲这一段故事，可是出埃及记第16章3节告诉我们，以色列百姓又向摩西抱怨，说：“哎！巴不得我们早死在埃及。至少我们在那儿有吃的, 你将我们领出来，到这旷野，是要叫我们都饿死啊.”难道这些不知感恩的人忘记了埃及法老是怎样残酷地对待他们的吗？难道他们已经忘记了神在玛拉和以琳给他们水喝和对他们的看顾吗？虽然，神听见他们的抱怨，神还是预备供给他们。我们真是看到神对以色列百姓的忍耐！神通过摩西告诉百姓：“到了晚上，你们要知道是神将你们从埃及地领出来的。早晨, 你们要看见神的荣耀。你们的怨言其实不是向我发的, 乃是向神发的。”摩西又说：“晚上神必给你们肉吃，早晨必给你们面包得饱。但是，神要试验你们，看你们是不是遵守了神的吩咐。神说你们每一天要按着各人的饭量拿吃的，不要留到第二天。每天早上都取新鲜的面包。但是，到第六天, 你们要拿双倍的食物，这样，在第七天，你们就可以按照神的吩咐来安息。

??神是多么耐心地照顾他的百姓，为他们提供所需要的！这些百姓应该多么地感谢神，知道他们奇妙的天父在照顾他们的每一个需要。那天晚上，有好多好多鹌鹑飞来，遮满了天空。你知道吗？鹌鹑肉比鸡肉还好吃呢！是神把这些鹌鹑带来给他的百姓。想想看，从营火中飘来的那香喷喷的味道。我真想知道如果我们在那里的话会不会听见有人在吃饭前祷告说：“亲爱的神，感谢你”呢！小朋友们，你有没有在每次吃饭前感谢神的丰富预备呢？让我们来养成这个好习惯！

??晚上，他们吃了香喷喷的鹌鹑肉。第二天早晨, 当以色列人从帐篷向外看的时候，奇妙极了。他们看见四围的地上有白色的东西，又不是雪，也不是霜。以色列人看见，就彼此对问说：“这是什么呢？”摩西对他们说, “这就是神给你们吃的面包。”圣经告诉我们这奇怪的面包是小小的，圆圆的，吃起来象蜂蜜一样甜。以色列人管它叫吗哪。圣经称它是从天上来的粮食。这粮食让人吃了身体可以存活。许多年以后，神从天上降下另一种粮食，使人可以得永远的生命。

??约翰福音第6章35节讲到：耶稣说, “我就是生命的粮, 到我这里来的，必定不饿；信我的，永远不渴。”作为神完美的儿子，只有主耶稣能够给我们永远的生命。主耶稣说，我们相信他就能够在天上有永远的生命。我们再不需要寻找其它的方法去天堂。因为相信耶稣是唯一的方法。有人问：世界上的每一个人都可以去天堂吗？不是！我们生来就是罪人，我们的所做，所说，所想都不讨神的喜悦。罪使我们站在神和圣洁的天堂的对立面。有人问：如果我们努力作个好人，或者去教会能使我们得着永生吗？如果我们付很多钱，或做很多祷告，能使我们得着永生吗？不能！可是主耶稣说，当我们知道我们是罪人，相信他为我们所做的，恳求他饶恕我们的罪并拯救我们，我们就有了生命的粮！这粮就带给我们永远的生命！

??吗哪也是从天上来的粮食，但是，这粮食让以色列人吃仅仅是为了使身体存活。每一天，当他们从帐篷向外看的时候，都有新鲜的吗哪赐给他们，而且是不要钱的。他们只要按着各人所需要的来拿，到第六天，他们要拿两倍的食物，这样，在第七天，你们就不用出去劳力。因为神吩咐他们第七天要来安息和敬拜神。

??简直不敢相信，以色列百姓中还是有人没有听神的话。有人贪心，留下吗哪到第二天。哪知， 到了晚上，剩下的吗哪就都生虫变臭了。第二天早晨, 他们只好把臭臭的吗哪拿到帐篷外。神吩咐他们在第七天要来安息和敬拜神。可是还有人在第七天出去收吗哪，他们却什么也找不着。因为神没有在这一天赐下吗哪。他们在第六天已经收了两倍的食物。

??神吩咐摩西取一些吗哪，放在罐子里。使后人可以看见神是怎样照看以色列人的。我们今天的故事就结束在出埃及记16章35节：“以色列人吃吗哪共四十年。。。”在往后四十年的每一天早晨，信实的神都赐给以色列人新鲜的粮食。你认为以色列人从此有没有学会知足，不再抱怨了呢？??小朋友们，神以各种方法看顾你！ 最奇妙的方法就是赐下他的儿子耶稣为你的罪死。只有相信主耶稣，承认你的罪，你的心才能够真正地满足快乐。神在约翰福音第6章47节说：“信的人有永生。”耶稣就是那从天上降下来的生命的粮。当我们相信并恳求主耶稣把我们从罪中拯救出来的时候，他就愿意拯救我们，并赐给我们在天上永远的生命！