The Israelites seem like ungrateful complainers. Am I? (Exodus 14-17)

14:5

The servants had a change of heart once the Israelites left. “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” This happens sometimes. We make a good choice that benefits someone else - then the natural man creeps in and we start to feel jealous.

Often, there aren’t worldly benefits to taking the high road. It often puts us at a disadvantage. We can’t let our low-road voices in our head overpower the good intentions we previously felt.

14:11-12

Too often, when things go wrong, we start looking around for someone to blame. Our natural selves don’t like taking responsibility for problems in our lives. Our brains like to be the heroes of our story. We can never be the bad guy.

The Israelites were happy to leave Egypt. But, as soon as it looked like trouble, they immediately blamed Moses. “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

We should be steadfast on the path we’ve chosen. If trials show up, we must resist the temptation blame someone. This is especially true in a marriage. We must not blame our spouse when something bad happens. I would never do that Marci. :)

14:13-14

Moses reminds them to have faith. “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” We’ve got to maintain our faith in the Lord regardless of the circumstances.

The people viewed their situation as impossible. How would they possibly survive an attacking army? Do we ever look at our situation and believe it’s hopeless? We must know that the Lord is always with us.

As Moses said, “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” The Lord was willing to provide a solution for the Israelites. He will do the same for you. So, when we’re tempted to murmur, we should ‘hold our peace’ and have faith.

14:19

Instead of the pillar of fire and cloud ahead of them to lead them, it moved behind them. “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.”

Sometimes, as we are attempting to move forward, we need someone to watch our backs. As we do the best we can with our eyes forward, we need an assist. We need protection from the Lord from those things that we can’t focus on.

God wants us to learn from the past but he doesn’t want us living in it. He doesn’t want our attention continually backwards. We must move forward - knowing that we will be supported and protected.

14:20

This is interesting. “And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.” I’m guessing that there were simply two sides to this barrier.

But it does make me think of how some people view the gospel as the path and others view it as a stumbling block.

I’ve watched someone read the same general conference I’ve read and be totally offended while I’m inspired. I consider commandments liberating and others consider it bondage.

It’s amazing how two people can look at the same thing and perceive two completely different meanings. We must all realize that we live with biases that we may not even be aware of. The goal is to see things as God sees them - which requires an open mind and humility. I’m working on it.

14:31, 15:2

After the Egyptians were buried in the sea, the Israelites were believers again. “And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.” We can’t be fair-weather-believers.

Job would have believed and feared the Lord even if the Egyptians massacred everyone. We can’t be a vending machine of faith where God deposits coins of blessings to receive our faith.

If everything in our lives goes sideways, our faith should remain.

In their case, they love the Lord until they don’t. Immediately after their salvation from the Egyptians, they were grateful. “The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” It’s great that they were praising God. They just need to work on praising him when God DOESN’T do what they want.

15:24, 26

However, after THREE DAYS of being in the wilderness without water, they murmured. “And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” In fact, they had water but the water didn’t taste good. So, bad tasting water makes their faith disappear. We don’t want to be like them!

However, we are sometimes. If you’re reading this on a computer or phone, you’re in the top 1% of wealthy humans. Do we constantly feel the gratitude for everything that we have? I don’t.

16:2-3

After a MONTH AND A HALF, the people were hungry and…murmured. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

They wished they could have died in Egypt with full stomachs than to be delivered and hungry. Ungrateful. We cannot be this fickle in our faith!

16:4

The Lord is very forgiving of all people. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” The Lord must have been very familiar with their level of faith and was willing to deal with it.

It’s a good illustration of how merciful and loving our Heavenly Father is. When we are ungrateful and needy, he is still willing to bless us and take care of us.

16:18

It’s very interesting that the Lord didn’t want them to stockpile the manna. “And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.”

What is the purpose of this? I think it’s to make the point that we are all, daily, reliant on the Lord.

Also, we can’t stockpile scripture study. We can’t say a bunch of prayers at the beginning of the week. We shouldn’t fast for 3 days once a quarter.

For us to stay on the covenant path, it requires daily spiritual replenishment. We should view scripture study and prayer the same way that we do food. Just as our physical bodies require food everyday, our spiritual body requires study and prayer everyday. We should view our scripture study as manna from heaven.

16:26-27

The delivery of manna supported the sabbath day. “Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” Why was it so important that they didn’t gather on the sabbath?

We need the sabbath. It’s so easy to get distracted by EVERYTHING that is in front of our face. Our work and entertainment and social life want our attention. We can get off course by taking our eye off of the goal of eternal life. We need a weekly reminder of what is actually important. Without the sabbath, the natural man would have an easier foothold in taking over our life.

17:2-3, 6-7

In Rephidim, there wasn’t water. Of course, they began complaining. “Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” They really seem spiritually dim.

Rather than simply criticize the Israelites, we should see if we can recognize these tendencies in ourselves. How many times do each of us need to learn a lesson over and over to finally get it?

God relies on repetition to teach us. We don’t get things the first or second or third time. It’s just our nature.

God is merciful. He blesses the people once again by directing Moses to smite the rock. “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” Again, the Lord is merciful.

Moses uses this as an opportunity to make the point about God’s love for them. “And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?”

If we know that the Lord is with us, we view every trial and challenge we face in a different light. Our perspective changes from complaining to seeing God’s hand in everything and appreciating the growth that every challenge brings.

This plan of salvation is a beautiful thing if we see it.