Grumbling against God
Exodus 16-18
Grumbling against God, Exodus 16-18. Think about that the next time you are ready to complain about your circumstances in life. Do you really want to find yourself against the Lord?
1 They set out from Elim, and
all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of
Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second
month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole
congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in
the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we
had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by
the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out
into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
6
So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you
shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because
he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you
grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the
evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the
Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we?
Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”
Exodus 16:1-3 & 6-8, ESV
Grumbling against God
Exodus 16-18
Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord. It will be a long 40 years for Moses as he leads the Children of Israel through the wilderness. Already, the children of Israel are grumbling about their circumstances, and Moses is feeling the overwhelming pressure of leadership of such a great number of people. God, however, reminds Moses that when the children of Israel are grumbling, they are really grumbling against God Himself.
You
know how it is--we do the same thing; rather than blame ourselves, we find someone else to
take the blame: our spouse, our children, our parents, our boss, etc.
That
is exactly what the Children of Israel have done. They have just left
Egypt and have seen the amazing power and glory of God displayed before
them, first, in the land of Egypt, and second, at the parting of the Red
Sea. Yet, here they are grumbling against God! This time, the problem is
food!
Would
that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we
sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us
out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Is anything too hard for God, the Creator of the Universe? No!
God, again, provides for the Israelites by sending them food from heaven. Each day, they receive enough for that day only--quail in the evening, and bread from heaven (manna) in the morning. On the sixth day, God sends enough for two days, so that they will not need to gather food on the Sabbath.
What
do we grumble about? We could make a never-ending list, couldn't we?
But, who are we grumbling against? Are we really grumbling about our
boss, spouse, children, parents, etc.? Just as Moses told the
Israelites, so, too, we must realize that in reality we are grumbling
against God!
Think
about that the next time you are ready to complain about your
circumstances in life. Do you really want to find yourself against the
Lord? The Christian's life is not an easy road, but, by the grace of God,
it should be a road of peace. The greater our faith is, the closer we
become to Christ, and the less we complain.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Let us find ourselves praising and worshiping this wondrous God we serve, rather than finding ourselves grumbling against God!
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