The Israelites Grumble, Part 2 - Exodus 5:21, 14:11-12, 16:2-3, 17:3 (Covered in cell on 31 Jan, together with Exodus 3 & 4 and Part 1)
In Part 1 of this study, we looked at what we could learn from the Grumbling Israelites' mindsets. This time, our focus is on Moses' attitudes and actions throughout the passages.
Imagine you're leading a huge group of people out of a land in which they'd been oppressed for 400 years. Getting them out here wasn't an easy process - it cost you a lot of sacrifice and effort to finally set them free. How would you expect them to feel towards you and to treat you?
Perhaps some gratitude would be nice. Instead, Moses had to endure the people blaming and cursing him for bringing them out of Egypt every time the Israelites met a problem. In Exodus 17:4, Moses cried out to the Lord: "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
Moses most probably felt really discouraged and frustrated with the people. After all, he had put in so much effort to get them out of Egypt, only to hear them say they didn't WANT to be saved! What's amazing to me is that he never gave up. Moses' obedience even when the Israelites didn't support him showed that he wasn't leading them out just for their gratitude or out of his own good heart, but solely because he was obeying God.
Some questions these chapters provoke:
1. When the people we're sacrificing our all to bless don't reciprocate/thank us but instead turn around and grumble against us, are we going to give up?
2. Are we doing things for man (to fulfill a sense of duty, or even for people we love) or for God?
If Moses' motivation for his mission had been to "do good" or to make the Israelites happy, their reactions would likely have destroyed his will to persevere.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."
We do what we do not for the applause of men, but for God :)