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Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God
In 1 Cor. 10:10 the Christian is commanded to not grumble (NASB). Taken incontext (1 Cor. 10:1-11) the passage is telling us not to follow the example of thechildren of Israel in the things they did of which grumbling against God was one andwhich thing seemed to be a national pastime. If you read the book of Exodus yousoon learn they were continually grumbling against God. They were a dissatisfiedand unhappy lot and their dissatisfaction was with God. There are some people who cannot be made happy or so it seems. The children of Israel under God's guidance with Moses being his spokesperson have been broughtout of Egyptian bondage with the promise that they are headed to a land of milkand honey that God will give them (Ex. 3:16-17, see also Ex. 6:6-8). Those of ageare all aware of this mission they are on and aware of the promise of God.When God says he will do a thing that thing is certain to come about for Godcannot lie (Titus 1:2) and he has the power to do all things (see Gen. 18:14, Jer.32:27 NKJV). The promise, however, was not unconditional as they later found out. They had to trust and obey neither of which they did. They had a sure thing goingbut blew it through no one's fault but their own. I stop here just long enough to saythere is a lesson in that for us if we will heed it.Were the children of Israel happy in Egypt? The Bible says, "The Egyptianscompelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitterwith hard labor." (Ex. 1:13-14 NASB) They had enslaved them (Ex. 1:11). This doesnot sound like a good life to me but I point this passage out for you need toremember it. To hear the children of Israel tell it later in the wilderness on theirway to the Promised Land you would have thought Egypt had been a Garden of Eden. Yet, while there they were not so enthralled with it. The grumbling against God began at the Red Sea (if not before for an argument canbe made that it began even before the first plague based on Ex. 6:9). At the RedSea the Holy Spirit said through the Psalmist that the children of Israel "rebelled bythe sea, at the Red Sea." (Psa. 106:7 NASB) They looked off into the distance andsaw Pharaoh's army, became terrified fearing for their lives, and said to Moses, "Is itbecause there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in thewilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Isthis not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that wemay serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve theEgyptians than to die in the wilderness." (Ex. 14:11-12 NASB) They did not yet see God as being their Savior nor did they throughout the course of their earthly lives. They did not trust him for deliverance. They were grumblingand complaining. The lack of faith will do that to a man who does not trust in Godfor salvation.
 
After the end of that crisis they came to be in want of drinking water at Marah andthe Bible says, "the people grumbled at Moses." (Ex. 15:24 NASB) Since Moses wasmerely God's man and had no inherent power of his own a complaint against Moseswas in reality a complaint against God as Moses will make clear a little later. But,again God comes to their rescue and resolves another crisis for them even thoughthey are displaying a lack of trust in him. These things are being pointed out toestablish a pattern one sees with the children of Israel – a distinct lack of faith inGod despite his promise to bring them into a land of milk and honey. If he is goingto bring them into such a land he is surely not going to let them die in thewilderness. Can they not see or understand this? They then come to the Desert of Sin. They have not yet arrived at Sinai. Here thecomplaint is this: "The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled againstMoses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, "Would that wehad died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat,when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to killthis whole assembly with hunger." (Ex. 16:2-3 NASB) Did I not tell you earlier thatto hear the children of Israel talk you would have thought they were living in theGarden of Eden back in Egypt? This would not be the last time you would hearthem talk like this either.Moses soon lets them know they are really grumbling against God, not himself. Hesays, "Your grumblings are not against us (Aaron and Moses – DS) but against theLord." (Ex. 16:8 NASB) "What are we, that you grumble against us (Aaron andMoses – DS)?" (Ex. 16:7 NASB)Are the children of Israel on the verge of starvation? Hardly! They brought out of Egypt with them large herds and flocks. The Bible says, "a very large number of livestock." (Ex. 12:38 NASB) Also they have not been in the wilderness or desertthat long at this point in time. Besides faith would have and should have told themby now with all of the prior experiences they had had with God that he wouldprovide and care for them. Did it? To ask is to answer.One cannot grumble against God and think that God will not hear it (a lesson for ustoday). Moses said to them, "The Lord hears your grumblings which you grumbleagainst him." (Ex. 16:8 NASB) He hears ours too. God himself testified, "I haveheard the grumblings of the sons of Israel." (Ex. 16:12 NASB)God decides to provide for them the manna from heaven, "I will rain bread fromheaven for you," (Ex. 16:4 NASB) but also decides to use it as a test to see "whetheror not they will walk in my instruction." (Ex. 16:4 NASB) That instruction dealt withthe manner of collection (an omer per person – Ex. 16:16 - with twice as much onthe day prior to the Sabbath – Ex. 16:22), its frequency (daily except for theSabbath), and its storage (none to be left overnight save for the night prior to theSabbath – Ex. 16:19, Ex. 16:23). Did they obey? No!
 
Some left manna overnight (Ex. 16:20) while others (or some of the same) went outon the Sabbath to gather (Ex. 16:27) even though none was to found and they hadbeen told ahead of time this was not to be done. That is why they collected doublethe amount on the day prior to the Sabbath. The children of Israel neither believed God nor obeyed him. Why go out on theSabbath to gather when you have been told by God's spokesperson, "on theseventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none?" (Ex. 16:26 NASB) Would you go outif you believed God? Why leave the manna overnight when God's spokesperson hassaid unto you, "Let no man leave any of it until morning." (Ex. 16:19 NASB) Onealways has to bear in mind as well all the miracles of God that he has alreadyperformed before the eyes of these people both back in Egypt and also at the RedSea and at the waters of Marah. Will nothing convince them to trust in and believein God?God saw clearly what was going on. He said to Moses, "How long do you refuse tokeep my commandments and my instructions?" (Ex. 16:28 NASB) He was speakingof the children of Israel rather than to Moses as an individual.Is there a lesson for Christians living in the twenty first century in this? If onestudies the Bible carefully, both old and new testaments, he will find that obediencewas always directly associated with faith. Commonsense tells us as much. Whywould you obey if you do not believe? Disobedience is just the natural consequenceof a lack of faith. This was the plague the children of Israel suffered from one couldsay almost from the get go. It is also a plague many who claim to be believerssuffer from today.Why are some who claim to be Christians and saved disobedient to God's commandto not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24-25); why do somego through life claiming faith but never submit themselves to being baptized (Acts2:38); why do some claiming faith never open the pages of the Bible to read it (2 Tim. 3:16-17)? A man does not have faith in God (of the kind God is looking for)without obedience, neither back in the days of the children of Israel or today."Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction." (Rom. 15:4NASB) We often disobey because we do not believe enough to obey. A commonidea is God said it but we do not believe he meant it enough to punish us forviolating the command. I have listed only 3 examples in this paragraph but thenumber could be vastly expanded. The children of Israel's lack of faith eventually caught up with them to the point thatthey were denied entrance into the Promised Land. "And to whom did he swearthat they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we seethat they were not able to enter because of unbelief." (Heb. 3:18-19 NASB) Theinspired writer clearly ties faith in with obedience in this passage. Faith is the forceor the engine that drives obedience. You obey when you believe.
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