Daily Devotions
Exodus
"Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22
Text: Exodus 16 : 8
THE NATURE OF COMPLAINTS
Moses had to deal with the problem of a complaining spirit! This could not go on indefinitely! This evil must be dealt with! Did the children of Israel understand just what they were doing when they kept complaining as they did? Did they know that they were in fact complaining against the Lord Himself (Exodus 16:7,8)! Surely to lodge a complaint against the Lord was nothing short of sin! Did Israel think that their complaint was only against Moses and Aaron? They were wrong! Who were Moses and Aaron but mere servants? To complain against men is not a big problem. But to find that one is complaining against God Himself, that is another matter entirely!
THE PROMISE OF PROVISON OF FOOD
Would God not have made provision for the children of Israel as they made their way to the Promised Land? Had He not faithfully provided all this while, and in the most wondrous way too! Surely He could and would provide sufficiently!
“Also Moses said, ‘This shall be seen when the LORD
gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning
bread to the full; for the LORD hears your complaints
which you make against Him. And what are we?
Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.'”
EXODUS 16:8
1. “Meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full”
Could the children of Israel believe that the Lord was able to perform this miracle? To feed 2 million people with meat and bread even on one occasion is staggering! Would God continue to provide in this manner each and every day? That would take great power on God’s part. It would also take some faith on the part of Israel to believe that what God had promised could be kept!
2. Challenge to cease complaining against God
The children of Israel had complained again and again! But each time, God had shown great understanding and mercy. He had overlooked their sin and had continued to show His boundless grace and power to a people who should have known better than to complain! God would provide marvelously once again! But surely Israel must understand that to maintain a complaining spirit would be untenable! Could they realize how grave an error it must be to complain against the Lord!
3. Focusing on the Promise of the Lord
Would Israel not be better served if it tried to concentrate energy on the promises of the Lord, rather than to feed the spirit of complaining? The latter yields absolutely nothing concrete! The former holds great promise of blessing from the Lord! Israel just must lift up its head and look to the Lord in faith and trust! He can and will provide!