Glaring Truth

Exodus 16:2 (The Voice) - “As soon as they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron.” 

Exodus 16:6-9 (The Message) - “Moses and Aaron told the People of Israel, “This evening you will know that it is GOD who brought you out of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the Glory of GOD. Yes, he’s listened to your complaints against him. You haven’t been complaining against us, you know, but against GOD.”

Moses said, “Since it will be GOD who gives you meat for your meal in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, it’s GOD who will have listened to your complaints against him. Who are we in all this? You haven’t been complaining to us—you’ve been complaining to GOD!” Moses instructed Aaron: “Tell the whole company of Israel: ‘Come near to GOD. He’s heard your complaints.’”” 

As I read through the Old Testament I am certain of at least one reason why God wants me to read it over again. He needs me to see a glaring truth. I am an Israelite. I, honestly, used to read the stories of the Israelites, especially after they left Egypt, with my nose up in the air saying, in my most snobbish voice possible, “how could they?”. Now, as I read it with eyes and heart anew, I see that to read about the life and faith of an Israelite is to read about the life and faith of Kim Polston. As I am beginning to understand this truth there is one characteristic I see the biggest resemblance in. In Exodus Chapter 16, the Israelites sit and murmur, grumble and complain. About what you ask? They were hungry. I think it would be safe to say hangry. And even though I am known to get hangry from time to time, that is not where I resemble the Israelites most. The characteristic I share is to complain without realizing where my complaints are really aimed. So, instead of us asking “what” the Israelites were complaining and grumbling about, we should be asking, “to whom”? The Israelites are complaining, grumbling, murmuring and rebelling, they believe, to Moses and Aaron. They have set their frustrations onto Moses and Aaron as if they are the ones that placed them in the situation they were in. As if they were the ones that were directing their steps out of the wilderness into the promised land. The truth is, it has nothing to do with Moses and Aaron. If the Israelites believe that God is Sovereign over all then they must understand the truth that Moses points out to them in verse 7. “Who are we in all this? You haven’t been complaining to us - you’ve been complaining to GOD!” The painful truth is, if I believe God is the Author and Creator of all things, Sovereign over all, then I have to accept what Moses says as well. Each and every time I grumble. Each and every time I complain, I am doing so towards God not towards the person or circumstance I am aiming my attack. I am saying to God that I don’t trust Him. That I don’t believe Him to be faithful. That I don’t believe He has my best interest at heart. No matter what name I put in front of my complaint. No matter what circumstance gets my grumblings. It’s ultimately towards God. As I read what Moses said and evaluated my life through that lens, it hurt. To think about all the times I complain and to see how that reveals, at heart, a lack of trust that no matter what, God wants all things to work out for my good and His glory. Had I stopped reading at that verse, I think I would have been crushed under the weight of it. But thankfully, there was more! Something even bigger God wanted me to see. I didn’t have to read much further to find it. Exodus 16:9, (Moses to Aaron), “Tell the entire community of Israelites, “Draw near to the Eternal. He has heard your complaints.” All that the Israelites had done up to then was to grumble and complain to Moses and Aaron. It even tells us in verse 2 of this chapter that “the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron”. The entire community complained. The thing is though, for 2 million people to, in unison, stand and complain to Moses and Aaron means that they first complained to one another. All it took was that one person to complain and then like wild fire, it spread to 2 million. That got me thinking. How often am I that first person? How often do I spark the fire of complaint? To grumble and complain to others about the different situations and circumstances I find myself in doesn’t accomplish anything more than to create dissension and bitterness. Complaining to others spreads frustration and, as the Bible tells us all here, a rebellious heart. Verse 9 shows us a better way. Draw near to the Eternal. The Lord heard the complaints of the Israelites and even answered them, but He is telling us here, instead of going to one another, we must first go to Him. That will be what brings about resolution. Not dissension. God understands that it will be hard at times for us to trust He is working and will work all things for our good. He knows in those moments complaints will arise. He’s not saying don’t complain. But where are we taking our complaints? Do we first turn to a friend, our husband, or even a perfect stranger? Or do we first take our complaints to the One that is Sovereign over all? Let us be women that “Draw near to the Eternal” with our complaints and grumblings so that He may turn them into His plan and purpose and then “we shall see and know that He is the Lord our God.”