The Complaining Complex

The Israelites, having been led by Moses out of Egypt according to God’s careful instructions and miraculous actions, still were stuck in a limited human way of thinking. The provisions they had brought from Egypt were running out, and they wondered how they would survive in the vast, barren desert which stretched before them. It’s not like there was a 7-11 every so many miles where they could buy food and ice for their coolers. What were they to do? Many began to grumble and complain to Moses about God. Despite their attitude, God miraculously provided quail each night and manna each morning.

We pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” But as Martin Luther says in his explanation to that petition: Doesn’t God give daily bread to us without our asking, and even to unbelievers? We even see in our text this week that he miraculously provided for the Israelites despite their bad attitude. It goes to show that life doesn’t depend on us, but on God -- and that is definitely a good thing. As Luther says, we pray that we would realize we receive from God all that we need in this life with appreciation and thanksgiving.

We can’t survive without daily bread from God. We thank him every day. Even more important is “Living Bread” that he also provides. Without Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and providing for our eternal salvation, there wouldn’t be much point to daily bread, except delaying the inevitable--death. Join us this week as we continue to look at the life of Moses and how God graciously provided for his chosen people then, and continues to do so for us today.