Second, did they see their livestock as their source of income?
40 years wandering in the wilderness, who needs an income and what was there to buy out there? Who were they going to sell their livestock to? Each other? What other Israelite would buy and animal if they weren't planning to use them for food ? If they did have cows to milk and chickens eggs, how badly were they starving?
. Perhaps they were preserving their flocks and herds for when they came into the Promised Land
If they had livestock they could have bred them. They were in the wilderness for 40 years....their existing animals would have died of old age by the time they got there if they didn't breed them. So why not eat them if they had them?
A case in point is the fact that the clothes and shoes of the Israelites did not wear out in the 40 years of desert wandering because God saw to it. The manna stayed fresh so long as the people gathered it up according to His instructions, and water came out of a rock for them
If he went to all that trouble providing a miracle for their shoes and clothes, why not provide them with a variety of things to eat for 40 long years or was his purpose to keep them alive so they could be miserable? Did he make the water he provided for them bitter so that it would keep them alive but they'd hate it?
We are not to worry about food because God knows what we need before we ask.
What's the purpose of "Making or Petitions known to God" then?
Rather, we are to seek God and His kingdom, putting Him first and trusting in His faithfulness to provide what we need.
Maybe that's why the folks at JW headquarters are doing so well. They certainly don't starve at Bethel or want for anything. They have hearty meals, tennis courts and swimming pools and and they all live in a resort out in the country. Good thing Jehovah is providing them with what they "need" because the Governing Body members I sat with for every meal while I was there, certainly wouldn't have stuck around if they had to eat oatmeal every day and sleep on mats on the floor or eat whatever the local JW's could spare for them. They wouldn't put up with having to travel by bus to make their personal appearances. They "needed" Lincoln Town Cars and they "needed" to travel in first class accommodations. Jehovah knows this and according to you, provides it for them, otherwise they'd be long gone.
