Day 1115: Grumbling against God - Exodus 16 vs 1 - 10

1-3 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. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 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.” 4-5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

6-7 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, 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.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. Exodus 16:1-10 English Standard Version

The Israelites had been travelling for a month since leaving Egypt and it's likely that their supplies were running low. There was probably much complaining in the camp one to another before the complaint was brought to Moses and Aaron. But eventually Moses and Aaron were accused of having brought them into the desert to die of hunger. They had forgotten the slavery they had been in, and said it would have been better if God had killed them Egypt while they still enjoyed meat and bread.

Grumbling can spread like wildfire, and it was not just a sin of the Old Testament Church. The New Testament calls on Christians today to “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15) And in another place it says: “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” (James 5:9) Discontentment can be like a virus that quickly infects others.

And so God stepped into the frame and tells Moses that He is going to 'rain bread' from heaven to the people. But, says God, I will also test them to see whether they would walk in His ways or not. What would the test be? (vs 4-5)

The bread God sent would only fall on six days, and on the sixth day they'd be given enough to rest on the seventh day. As Moses was yet to give the 'ten commandments', we see that the idea of a sabbath rest goes back to creation, when God rested on the seventh day.

But God did something more. (vs 9-10)

He showed the people something of His glory. In Exodus 24:17 we're told that “the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” We don't exactly what God did, but it must have awesome. Would that Churches today had more of a sense of God’s glory, as then there'd be far less grumbling. For when we grumble and complain, there is the danger that we grumble against God, and not just man. So Paul writes to the Ephesians saying: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4:30-31)