After the Red Sea: A redeemed people that didn't trust (or love) their God (Exodus 16-17)
The newly freed Israelites, after having seen God's mighty works in Egypt in rescuing them from slavery and delivering them through the Red Sea... You would have thought that they would be full of worship, praise, and love for God who did this deliverance on their behalf.
But it's not soon after, that they start complaining.
I mean, they complain (or "grumble") a lot.
"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.” - Exodus 16:2-3
"Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me" Exodus 17:2-4
It seemed that if there was an Olympic event for complaining, Israel would have won hands down.
There's something behind this complaining, however. They were complaining AT Moses, their leader, but really they were complaining ABOUT God.
They had seen God’s work, and they liked God as long as God did things their way. When God tested to see if they would trust Him and they would walk in God’s paths, in His ways, they started to question, to complain, and ultimately to rebel.
To the point that they said “It would be better for us to go back to Egypt!” (really? Didn’t you realize you were SLAVES!) and to the point that Moses feared that they were going to stone him and pick another leader (who would probably take them back to Egypt and back to the brick quarries).
As soon as they had to walk by faith trusting that God would provide, they quickly grumbled. They wanted the good life, but they wanted it on their terms. They wanted Heaven without God, and when God put them into a position where they had to trust Him and do things inside of God’s will, they complained.
They were freed and were positionally God’s people, but their heart was not His.
The writer of Hebrews talks about this, in reference to Psalm 95, which reads (in reference to Exodus 17):
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.” - Psalm 95:7-11
What would “enter my rest” mean? In context of the wilderness wanderings, this would be entrance into the Promised Land, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Israel, like Pharoah, hardened their hearts against God and pushed back against His ways, and as a result was not allowed to enter the land of Promise. They were not allowed to enter into the full rest that God had for them.
Centuries later, the writer of Hebrews talks about this same time when communicating with Jewish believers who were facing the temptation to give up on faith in Jesus because life was getting too hard for them. They faced the same temptation as the generation that left Egypt “Wouldn’t it just be easier to go back to Judaism and stop being so dogmatic about Jesus as Messiah?” some may say. They lost jobs, homes, friends, and are not living what in their mind would be “the good life” by any stretch.
They were, in a way, also in the wilderness, and facing the same temptation.
The writer of Hebrews writes this:
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” - Hebrews 3:12-14
Here it is: Do we believe God at His word and His promise of soul rest or not? Do we believe Him for our daily bread or not? Do we believe that Jesus and His ways are better than the trinkets and the philosophies of the world or not? Do we believe that when His word says something is true, do we embrace it or do we push back against it? Will we hold to our confidence in the providence of God and the testimony of Jesus when things get hard, or not?
You see, sin is deceitful. It promises that you can live the “good life” without God, or with a version of God/Jesus that you design to fit your desires. In fact, you can pursue all of the things of the world, seek its approval, do what it does, act like it acts… go to church every Sunday where you seek out encouragement with an uplifting message that “Jesus loves you” - and somehow God will be happy with the life that you crafted for yourself.
However, God’s rest is not in that life. God’s rest is in a life characterized by faith, which is a full-life confidence in the promises of God, specifically in the Gospel message and in the rule of God for our lives. The life that desires the world is still in slavery to it. God’s rest is when we hold fast to God as He IS, not as we want Him to be.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” - Hebrews 11:6
Where this hits me, is that I find myself in my work life where Israel found themselves in the wilderness. God has, I believe, marked out a path to work as a solo consultant and He is leading day-by-day. I’m not in “Egypt” (Corporate America) where I get “guaranteed” stuff (401k matches, bi-weekly deposits, subsidized healthcare… like the meat, garlic, leeks the Israelites got in Egypt), but instead living and working by faith that God will provide.
I am tempted to grumble too. This life, while it is “free” is not easy.
Sometimes I fall and in my heart I groan about my situation, and then try to “hustle” to get business outside of trust.
Now, the “hustle” of work is good, but it can become a bitter taskmaster too. I have learned that I am not my best boss, especially when I start looking to myself ONLY for my life and provision.
These passages have reminded me that God can be trusted. He did provide for Israel and didn’t let them die of thirst or hunger. He provided their daily bread.
He’s doing the same for me. When I work inside of that freedom, I have noticed that He has never failed to provide either.
However, it’s not about the gifts, it’s about loving and aligning my agenda with the Giver. He is where real life is, not the things.
It’s a lesson we all need. I mean... I need it every day. I need to rehearse the message of the Gospel (that I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and fully put my full hope in Jesus who paid my debt and promises to give me life) to myself daily, because without the work of the Holy Spirit, I'm just like those complaining Israelites, who hardened their heart to their gracious God. I’m thankful that God is gracious to me to soften my heart daily to Him in this way and believe that He is enough and He will care for us, and in that life trust, there is His rest.
Comments
Let's as leaders be those that create cultures of life and flourishing rather than environments that people feel the need to escape from.
In many cases, if we lack boundaries (I can speak this of myself), the taskmaster that we have to be the most concerned about is in fact ourselves.