In Exodus 17:4, after the Israelites yet again doubt and question God, Moses cries out, “What am I to do with these people?” I’m sure that’s a sentiment all of us have been able to relate to, at one point or another!
This is the last of three stories in a short space of time, in all of which the Israelites – after having been rescued by God from slavery in Egypt – grow disillusioned by their living conditions out in the wilderness, on the way to the land God has promised them. They complain that God has led them out only to die, and that it would have been better if they’d stayed. That’s not a complimentary picture of God’s chosen people, and yet God (faced with the same question Moses asks: what is He to do with His people?) doesn’t give up on them. He provides for their need and continues to lead them.
In this series on Exodus, we’ve been seeing how everything in this story points to the gospel. So this event is a lesson for us! So often we, like the Israelites, fail to appreciate what we have from God and feel as if the things of the world – the things that used to enslave us – are better by comparison. But just as He did for the grumbling people in the wilderness, God has mercy on us and provides us with what we need, even when we don’t deserve it. What a good God we have!
James.