From Elim to the Desert of Sin
In the previous post, we learned that God knows our situations and our needs and that there is no need to be anxious. We saw this in how God provided twelve springs and seventy palm trees in Elim to satisfy Israel's thirst for water. This story of Israel's journey reminds us to trust in God's provision.
Lamentably, the generation of Jews during Moses' time had a short memory. After less than two months, it appeared that they had already forgotten what the Lord did to Egypt to deliver them from the bondage of slavery. Not only their thirst for water but their hunger for food exposed the true status of their hearts as a nation. Instead of praying, they kept grumbling. They did it in Marah and now they were doing it again in the Desert of Sin.
In this article, I just want to share with you three things about grumbling hoping that these lessons will serve as a warning for us not to follow the same mistake that the generation of Moses did.
It is part of basic human nature to complain and grumble when hungry.
Read how Moses described the complaints of his generation:
If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.
These people never learned the lesson the Lord wanted to teach them at that time. After witnessing the power of God through the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the miracle in Marah, and God's provision in Elim, when they were hungry, their immediate response was to complain.
Perhaps, we are thinking that Israel at that time was still a young nation and would later mature after several years. Sadly, even after several generations, this attitude of national grumbling remained. The same mindset and attitude afflicted the Jews during Isaiah's day and finally resulted in the fall of Israel to the hands of the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC, and Judah to the hands of Babylon in 586 BC. Amid distress and hunger, instead of crying out to God, they became enraged and cursed their king and their God (Isaiah 8:21).
If we analyze the content of their complaints, we will see the height of ingratitude.
If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt!
Why this complaint exposed an ungrateful heart? In Mighty Acts of Judgment, we learned that the act of laying the hand of God on Egypt was an act of judgment. It was a display of anger due to an offense committed against Him. What made such a statement ungrateful is that the Jews of Moses' time seemed to imply that they would rather prefer to die like the Egyptians who were afflicted by plagues rather than suffer hunger in the desert. They never appreciated the display of God's grace by delivering them from the land of slavery.
Furthermore, in Change in Mindset, we also learned that when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, they feared Him, and put their trust in him and Moses his servant (Exodus 14: 31). However, their complaint shows that such fear and trust were just short-lived. It did not last even for two months.
Such is the situation of the human heart. We are so unreliable. This is not something unique to Jews of Moses' generation. This kind of ingratitude is common among men regardless of age and time.
Grumbling, instead of solving a problem, aggravates the situation and it is a clear indication of ignorance of God.
In the narrative, the word "grumbling" has been repeated seven times; "bread" and "food" are mentioned more than five times, and the phrase "You will know" concerning the knowledge of God has been emphasized three times. This tells us that food or bread or the lack of it can be an occasion to expose a nation's knowledge of God. Grumbling amid wants is a clear indication of ignorance of the highest kind - the ignorance of the knowledge of God.
Nevertheless, despite grumbling and ingratitude the Lord provides.
The whole section from verses 13 to 24 tells us of the Lord's provision despite the grumbling of His people. The Lord provided with quail and manna. This is shameful on the part of Israel of Moses' time. Imagine, despite their ingratitude the Lord still provided for them. This is grace. They didn't deserve such a display of favor, but God did it anyway.
Conclusion
We learn in this article that when people are hungry, the basic instinct is to complain. However, such an attitude doesn't help solve the problem and exposes one's ignorance of God. The good thing is that God does not respond to us in the way we respond to Him. He remains gracious for He knows that we are weak and prone to wander away from the right path.