Reflections from February 18, 2011

I find it extremely interesting that immediately following the glorious miracle that God performed to save the Israelites from the Egyptian army, they start complaining. All of what we read today is about their complaints! First, we read about their hunger, and that they would rather be in bondage with their pots of meat and baskets of bread than to die of hunger in the wilderness. However, God provides for them, just as He has done every step of the way. Why they can't see that is amazing. God gives them quail in the evening and bread in the morning. But, He instructs that on the sixth day, they must gather for two days in order to follow the Sabbath, a day of rest. But some did not follow God's law and tried to gather food on the seventh day. God says to Moses in Exodus 16:28-30:
"'How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day."
God is definitely serious about His laws being kept. If someone wanted to get more than he needed, it turned moldy with worms and stank on the second day.

Another round of complaints when the Israelites were in a different location; they complained of thirst. Instead of showing His wrath, God showed kindness and how He cares for His children, but also to show them that He alone is God. He instructed Moses in Exodus 17:6,
"Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink."
But with these types of complaints, still after what God has done for them, Moses had to wonder, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

A good day for Moses was when he was reunited with his family; his wife and sons and his father-in-law Jethro. After a brief time of greetings, and rejoicing, Jethro heard first hand from Moses all that God had done for them. Jethro did not complain that there was hunger, danger, thirst, or talk about any calamity they had faced including having to go to war with the Amalekites, he simply rejoiced in what God had done for them saying in Exodus 18:10,
"Blessed by the Lord, who had delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of the Pharaoh, and who had delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians."

We will face difficulties in our life; some great, some minor. Above all, we need to know that God is among us, guiding our way every day. Some days are tests to see if we'll keep His commandments. Some days are just nuisances where life has problems. Some days are glorious where our enemy is defeated. In each situation, we need to know that God is our God, and that He is with us, and that no matter what the situation is, He is worthy of our praise.

Blessings to all