Exodus 16:2-4 "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no."
Exodus 16:8 "And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD."
It is often easier for us to grumble than to be thankful. Rather than remembering the terrible conditions that God delivered them from, the children of Israel chose to focus on the one thing they thought they could feel good about. They decided it was better to be slaves with a full belly than to serve and trust God who brought them out with a mighty hand. The apostle Paul warned in Philippians against those whose god is their belly for they are mindful of earthly things.
The Israelites were careful not to openly blame God for their situation. Instead, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They thought to avoid the consequences of their complaint by trying to camouflage it. But God is not confused by our attempts at disguising our complaining.
God readily demonstrated to the children of Israel that He heard them. He would feed them in a miraculous manner, but He would also give them a simple rule to follow. They were to gather a certain rate, and they were to do it every day. As we will see later, the only exception to the daily gathering of provision was on the sabbath day. God was proving (testing) them for their learning. Moses faithfully told the Israelites that God knew who they were complaining against. Moses basically said “Aaron and I do not matter in this situation. God knows that your complaints are against Him.”
Dear ones, I pray that we may strive every day to be more thankful for God’s mercy. He hears our praise, and He just as surely hears our complaints. Stop looking back at the things God has delivered you from. There is nothing cooking back there that is worth eating!