Saved, In Need of Grace (Exodus 15:22-17:16)
Right after Israel’s right response to God’s mighty works in their midst (outpouring of praise), we get examples of another, sadly too frequent, response. They grumble and complain having immediately forgotten what God just did.
First, they come to an area with no drinkable water. Instead of saying, “What exciting miracle is God doing to do next?” They gripe and moan about their impending death. Then, in the Wilderness of Sin, they fear they will starve to death. In both cases, God intervenes and cares for them in miraculous ways. But we do not see any more praise. The people grumble at every obstacle.
And, even worse, they don’t do as God instructs them. When He says to only collect what they need, they get more. They don’t trust Him and instead set some back for the future. It rots. Then., when He tells them to indeed save more (for the Sabbath), some go out on the Sabbath anyway.
All in all, we see God’s people are still rebellious, grumbling, people who do not trust Him as they should. And before we judge them, we ought to ask if we are any better. Do we trust God? Do we do what we know He wants? Some would say that we would do better if we had seen a sea parted, or bread dropped on us from the sky. But the truth is that we would not. The Bible is clear. We are all weak and frail, and our faith is pathetic. As we head from the Passover to Mt. Sinai, we need this reminder. Israel was not chosen for their merits, and those of us who have trusted in Jesus are not any better.
God saves us in spite of ourselves, and we need His help to be the kind of people He wants us to be!
First, they come to an area with no drinkable water. Instead of saying, “What exciting miracle is God doing to do next?” They gripe and moan about their impending death. Then, in the Wilderness of Sin, they fear they will starve to death. In both cases, God intervenes and cares for them in miraculous ways. But we do not see any more praise. The people grumble at every obstacle.
And, even worse, they don’t do as God instructs them. When He says to only collect what they need, they get more. They don’t trust Him and instead set some back for the future. It rots. Then., when He tells them to indeed save more (for the Sabbath), some go out on the Sabbath anyway.
All in all, we see God’s people are still rebellious, grumbling, people who do not trust Him as they should. And before we judge them, we ought to ask if we are any better. Do we trust God? Do we do what we know He wants? Some would say that we would do better if we had seen a sea parted, or bread dropped on us from the sky. But the truth is that we would not. The Bible is clear. We are all weak and frail, and our faith is pathetic. As we head from the Passover to Mt. Sinai, we need this reminder. Israel was not chosen for their merits, and those of us who have trusted in Jesus are not any better.
God saves us in spite of ourselves, and we need His help to be the kind of people He wants us to be!
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