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God Provides Quail - The Book of Numbers · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And there went forth a wind from
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let
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  Speaker 1: them fall by the camp, as if it were a
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  Speaker 1: day's journey on this side, and as if it were
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  Speaker 1: a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp,
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  Speaker 1: and as it were two cubits high upon the face
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  Speaker 1: of the earth. Numbers 11 31. Lord, as I continue
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  Speaker 1: my journey to the promised future, Strengthen my mind, body,
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  Speaker 1: and soul so that I do not get weary leading
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  Speaker 1: myself and those called to be with me to our
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  Speaker 1: promised land. I thank you for assembling the right team
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  Speaker 1: that will help me execute with excellence the task set
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  Speaker 1: before me. As I look at the book of Numbers 11.4-11.35,
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  Speaker 1: when times get hard on my journey to my destiny,
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  Speaker 1: I will be careful not to look into my past
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  Speaker 1: and long for the things that brought me comfort. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: I will look forward with my eyes towards the prize
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  Speaker 1: and promise that awaits me in my upcoming season. I
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  Speaker 1: declare that I will not sacrifice my legacy for temporary luxury,
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  Speaker 1: because I know that doing so will only leave me
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  Speaker 1: with the pain of regret. So, I speak to my
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  Speaker 1: mind and declare peace over it. I will speak to
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  Speaker 1: my heart and command it to remember all of God's
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  Speaker 1: provision and deep love for me. I confess that I
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  Speaker 1: only want what you want for me, Lord. And thank
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  Speaker 1: you that you never disappoint. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for making prayer a priority in your life. To
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  Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life, stay tuned for the
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  Speaker 1: Bible in a Year. Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: God provides quail. In our last story, we learned about
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  Speaker 2: Israel begging God to stay in their presence and not
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  Speaker 2: to leave because of their stubbornness. God reestablished His covenant
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  Speaker 2: with Israel, and they built Him a tabernacle. In this story,
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  Speaker 2: we pick back up with the Israelites wandering the desert
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  Speaker 2: and their continued distrust in God's provision, as inspired by
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  Speaker 2: the book of Numbers.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year. In yesterday's reading, we learned that God
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  Speaker 3: led the Israelites into the desert again, headed towards the
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  Speaker 3: Promised Land. God instructed the Israelites in the building and
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  Speaker 3: setting up of the tabernacle, the place where his presence
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  Speaker 3: would dwell with them on the earth. And as we
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  Speaker 3: closed out the book of Exodus, God was leading the
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  Speaker 3: Israelites through the deserts, his presence once again appearing as
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  Speaker 3: cloud and fire to guide them and to tell them
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  Speaker 3: when to stop and when to go. Today, we'll enter
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  Speaker 3: the book of Numbers, and once again, we'll hear how
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  Speaker 3: the people continue to complain and express their lack of
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  Speaker 3: faith in God. Their impatience and distrust will wear on Moses,
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  Speaker 3: and God will see that he needs help. Leading these
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  Speaker 3: people is no small task. It is a great task. So,
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  Speaker 3: let's listen to today's reading.
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  Speaker 2: Moses continued to lead the thousands of people through the
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  Speaker 2: wilderness towards the promised land, and God continued to provide
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  Speaker 2: for his people. Moses and the Lord were close and
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  Speaker 2: spoke daily. However, the mantle of leadership began to wear
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  Speaker 2: on Moses. His eyes looked weary and his body was
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  Speaker 2: tired from tending to all the needs of Israel alone.
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  Speaker 2: The people of Israel began to moan in hunger. Like
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  Speaker 2: children needing food, they groaned and held their stomachs. Moses
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  Speaker 2: could hear their childish sounds from inside his tent. He
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  Speaker 2: got up from his tent and went out to find
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  Speaker 2: people grabbing him and complaining. When we were in Egypt,
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  Speaker 2: we had fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. Oh,
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  Speaker 2: that we would be able to eat meat again. For
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  Speaker 2: weeks we have had nothing but manna. They wailed in
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  Speaker 2: anxious complaint. Their childish weeping angered God and irked Moses
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  Speaker 2: as well. Annoyed, tired, and feeling overwhelmed, Moses snapped at God, shouting,
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  Speaker 2: Have I done something wrong that you would lay the
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  Speaker 2: burden of all these people on me? Am I their mother?
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  Speaker 2: Did I carry them in my womb? No! No! Yet
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  Speaker 2: you would have me breastfeed them all the way to
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  Speaker 2: the promised land. I cannot carry all these people on
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  Speaker 2: my own. It's too much. You should kill me now
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  Speaker 2: so I don't do something I am going to regret.
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  Speaker 2: God took Moses seriously, for his burden was great. Over
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  Speaker 2: 600,000 people were in his care. Issues of family strife,
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  Speaker 2: sexual abuse, fights and arguments over property plagued Moses daily.
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  Speaker 2: It was truly a burden too great for him to
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  Speaker 2: bear alone. So the Lord had Moses appoint seventy men
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  Speaker 2: out of the elders of Israel to be his officers
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  Speaker 2: to relieve his burden. All but two came to Moses' side.
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  Speaker 2: Moses gathered them all in his tent, and the Spirit
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  Speaker 2: of God descended on each and every one of them,
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  Speaker 2: even the ones who had remained at home. Joshua watched
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  Speaker 2: as even the two who had not come received God's
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  Speaker 2: Spirit and began to prophesy. Confused, Joshua yelled, We must
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  Speaker 2: make them stop! However, Moses had a smile on his
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  Speaker 2: face brighter than the sun. The wrinkles on his face
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  Speaker 2: lifted up as he laughed. Moses put his hand on
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  Speaker 2: Joseph's shoulder and said, Are you jealous for my sake?
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  Speaker 2: Don't be, for I would rather the entire camp be
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  Speaker 2: filled with prophets. Moses was elated, finally not bearing the
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  Speaker 2: burden of all these people alone. The next day, a
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  Speaker 2: tempest from the east sprang forth. The mighty winds raged
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  Speaker 2: and carried with it was a flock of quail. The
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  Speaker 2: quail ran through camp like a tsunami. For miles and
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  Speaker 2: miles there were quail. The people had complained greatly to
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  Speaker 2: God about having no meat, and now there was too
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  Speaker 2: much for them to eat. Yet with the quail came
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  Speaker 2: a price. A plague descended upon the people, sickness riddled
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  Speaker 2: the people of Israel for days, and the anger of
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  Speaker 2: God was made known. Their hearts had longed for Egypt.
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  Speaker 2: to return to the bitterness of slavery, all because they
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  Speaker 2: missed having meat. The wrestling match between Israel and God continued,
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  Speaker 2: as did God's mercy, discipline, and blessings.
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  Speaker 3: As we open today's reading from Numbers 10, Moses is
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  Speaker 3: leading tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of Israelites
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  Speaker 3: through the desert. God never failed to take care of them,
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  Speaker 3: to provide for them, but once more, the people began
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  Speaker 3: to moan and groan and complain. They grew tired of
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  Speaker 3: the same food every day, the manna, though it was
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  Speaker 3: supernaturally delivered from heaven each day. They began to see
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  Speaker 3: only the negative and forgot about God's miraculous provision. They
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  Speaker 3: started to think about the meat they ate in Egypt
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  Speaker 3: and wished they had never left. Their ingratitude offended God
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  Speaker 3: and its wearing on Moses. The constant complaints and quarrels
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  Speaker 3: among the people chipped away at him, and so he
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  Speaker 3: did what he would always do, and that is to
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  Speaker 3: go to God. He's tired, he's irritated, and he doesn't
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  Speaker 3: hold back. He asks God why he's bringing all this
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  Speaker 3: trouble on him. He then reminds God that it was
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  Speaker 3: God that brought them out of Egypt. Moses says he's
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  Speaker 3: about to snap and do something stupid. Maybe you've been there.
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  Speaker 3: I know I have in the past. We're frustrated. afraid
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  Speaker 3: and don't know what to do. It's chaos. So we
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  Speaker 3: can appreciate Moses' frustration. God doesn't chastise him or tell
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  Speaker 3: him he's not being a good leader. He comes to
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  Speaker 3: his rescue and instructs Moses to call 70 men to
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  Speaker 3: appoint his officers to help lighten the load. God tells
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  Speaker 3: Moses that the spirit that is upon Moses shall be
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  Speaker 3: upon them too so that they can lead others as
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  Speaker 3: officers and leaders of Israel. This is a great plan.
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  Speaker 3: It is the relief that Moses needed, lest he burn
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  Speaker 3: out completely. When we earnestly come to God for help,
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  Speaker 3: he always delivers, and he gives us the means to
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  Speaker 3: overcome our situation, as he did for Moses. But now
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  Speaker 3: God will deal with the ungrateful hearts of his people.
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  Speaker 3: He tells Moses that he's going to give them more
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  Speaker 3: meat than they can handle. Moses asks how God thinks
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  Speaker 3: he's going to do that. There are over 600,000 people.
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  Speaker 3: God's response is one that we should keep in mind
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  Speaker 3: when we think something sounds impossible. Numbers 11.23 says this,
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  Speaker 3: the Lord said to Moses, is the Lord's power limited?
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  Speaker 3: Now you will see whether my word will come true
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  Speaker 3: for you or not. God tells Moses to stay faithful,
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  Speaker 3: to keep watching. And that's a good word for us.
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  Speaker 3: When things seem unlikely, improbable, or even impossible, we need
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  Speaker 3: to turn our eyes upon the Lord. and see what
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  Speaker 3: God can do, because God's power is not limited. God
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  Speaker 3: can do anything but fail. Just as God promised, he
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  Speaker 3: sent meat. Quail came down upon their camp. They were
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  Speaker 3: up to their knees in quail. The people spent the
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  Speaker 3: day gathering it, and there was no way they could
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  Speaker 3: eat all of it. Clearly, there was no doubt that
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  Speaker 3: God would provide and did provide for his people. It
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  Speaker 3: is so very important that we never mumble or grumble
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  Speaker 3: or complain about God's provision. God will always take care
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  Speaker 3: of his children. We should not complain or doubt that.
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  Speaker 3: Imagine how different this story would have been if people,
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  Speaker 3: the people of Israel, had just trusted God and turned
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  Speaker 3: to him. But as we end today's reading, the people
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  Speaker 3: are overwhelmed with meat, and then a plague hits that
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  Speaker 3: wrecks havoc on the entire camp. And it's all because
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  Speaker 3: they forgot that their God can do all things and
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  Speaker 3: that he is faithful to provide for our every need.
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  Speaker 3: Dear God, thank you for today's reminder that nothing is
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  Speaker 3: impossible for you, that you can do anything beyond what
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  Speaker 3: we can even think or imagine, that you abundantly supply
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  Speaker 3: our every need. Lord, may we never grumble, but rather
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  Speaker 3: be grateful for all that you have provided for us
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  Speaker 3: and to give thanks for the multitude of blessings that
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  Speaker 3: you have given to us. Amen. Thank you for listening
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  Speaker 3: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack
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  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com app and make
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  Speaker 3: prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast,
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  Speaker 3: share it with someone you know, someone you love, because
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  Speaker 3: in someone's life in Jesus' name. And if you want
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  Speaker 3: more resources on how to tap into God's life, God's power,
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  Speaker 3: God's strength for successful Christian living, be sure to visit jackgram.org.
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  Speaker 3: God bless you.