Exodus 17:1-7
Doubting God’s Provision
Do you wake up grumpy in the morning? No, just let him sleep! (That’s an old joke.) I went to the dentist this week, and I heard a patient in the cubicle next to me grumbling about the fee. She said, “Two hundred bucks for one tooth extraction! And it’s only a minute’s work?” My dentist patiently replied, “I can pull it out slowly if you want.”
That story is made up, but did you catch this true story in Reader’s Digest? Arthur Bundrage approached a bank teller in Syracuse, New York five years ago and demanded $20,000. When he got home, he discovered he’d been shortchanged. Outraged, he stormed back to the bank to tell them what he thought of their service. And that’s when he was arrested. (Andy Simmons, “The Funny Art of Complaining,” in Reader’s Digest)
All of us from time to time find ourselves complaining, grumbling, murmuring. We’ve long since moved past the simple suggestion, the constructive criticism. Truth be told, we’re fed up, and we’re going to let everyone know it. If you’ve ever felt that way, you’re in good company. The Israelites left behind 400 years of slavery in Egypt, but because of their grumbling and their distrusting in God, he allowed them to wander in the desert for 40 more years before they would enter the Promised Land. Today’s story doesn’t occur in the 39th year of wandering, as you might expect. No, it’s just a few months into their new life as a nation that they complain. And as we look at their complaints, along with God’s response, we can learn some things about ourselves and about our God. First, we learn,
1. When we complain, we forget God’s past provision. We forget all the many times God has come through for us in the past. That was certainly the case for the Israelites. In less than six months, they had witnessed God bring the ten plagues against Egypt and then part the Red Sea to deliver them from bondage, closing it back to destroy the Egyptian Army. God led them by a cloud at day and a pillar of fire at night. Just in the chapter before, the Bible records God supernaturally purifying a water source for them (Exodus 15:25). Shortly after, as their food supplies ran out, he provided meat (16:13) and bread (16:15) from heaven.
But like us, when they complained, they focused on what they didn’t have instead of remembering what they did have. Alphonse Karr notes, “Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” Is the glass half empty or half full? Consider the words of Benjamin Franklin, who said, “Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy.” We, among all people on earth, are most richly blessed. We have plenty of food, clothing, shelter, health care, and freedom. Americans are among the world’s richest in resources, but also suffer the most depression, see the most doctors, take the most psychiatric meds. Our present complaints minimize past blessings. But if we took the time to count our many blessings, we might see that God has taken care of us before and he no doubt will again.
When we complain, we forget God’s past provision, but also...
2. When we complain, we put God to the test. In the story, the people quarreled with Moses their leader, but he wisely discerned the true target of their wrath, in verse 2: God himself. The wilderness time was a test from God to see if the Israelites would learn to depend on him. God talked about this in the previous chapter, Exodus 16:4, where he said to Moses concerning the manna, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” God was putting them to the test. But in their complaining, they decided to put God to the test. I wonder: How many of our complaints are not really directed at our neighbor, at the management, at our family members or friends? How many ultimately are directed at God? After all, the buck stops there. Perhaps we too are putting God to the test.
The wording here is actually legal in nature, carrying the idea of making a charge or bringing a lawsuit. These people are taking Moses and God to court for not properly caring for their needs. Moses even fears the death penalty as he talks about a possible stoning. And God shows up to face his accusers, with the elders serving as witnesses. Sadly, it’s not the first time the people have complained against God, and it won’t be the last time.
When we complain, we accuse God of not properly doing his job, as if we were better trained in the divine responsibility of caring for all the people on earth, as if we know best what is best for us. It’s as if the clay has become the potter, the created the Creator. And God could say to us, as he did to Job, “Where were you when I created the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4). Pastor and writer John Piper reminds us, “Do all things without grumbling. Why? You have a sovereign God who is on your side, who works everything together for your good.”
God expects us to believe that. God’s word never lies. Lastly,
3. When we complain, we minimize God’s miraculous provision. Complaining, grumbling, murmuring—these are all the opposite of walking by faith, trusting God to provide. You see, it was God who led them to this place, with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And as the saying goes, “Where God guides, God provides.” God would have gladly responded to a polite prayer request as much as a harsh complaint, and Moses probably would have named the place something more positive than names like “testing” or “quarreling” (verse 7).
As it was, God still provided for his people, but I wonder if their sour attitude made them less grateful for water coming from a rock. They missed a blessing that day. They still got their water, but they missed receiving it with a good attitude and growing closer to the God who guides and provides.
God provided miraculously that day in more ways than one. The New Testament describes the rock that produced water as a figurative Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). Like the rock, Jesus too would be struck to become our provision. Jesus himself said he would offer “living water” that would forever quench our thirst (John 7:37). As he promised the woman at the well, he alone fulfills our deepest needs.
The Apostle Paul warns us to learn from the Israelites’ mistakes. He says in 1 Corinthians 10:9-11, “We should not test Christ ... And do not grumble ... These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.”
Max Lucado writes, “God had resources they knew nothing about, solutions outside their reality, provisions outside their possibility. They saw the scorched earth; God saw heaven’s breadbasket. They saw dry land; God saw a covey of quail behind every bush. They saw problems; God saw provision. Anxiety fades as our memory of God’s goodness doesn’t.” (Max Lucado, Every Day Deserves a Chance)
What complaint could you turn into a trusting prayer? Give that need to God. Pray about it, leave it with him, and don’t worry. Trust that God, who created you, knows how to meet your needs.
Let’s seek to live out Philippians 2:14-15, which says, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”
Let us pray: Father, we don’t want to test you, but so often our complaints reflect an ungrateful heart and a lack of faith that you will provide. Help us to catch ourselves when we grumble, and to quickly repent, ask your forgiveness, and turn that complaint into a faith-filled prayer. Help us to know without a doubt that you are present and that you will provide for our needs.
And Father, thank you for providing Christ our Rock, who was struck on our behalf, taking our sin upon himself, all without a single complaint. Thank you for forgiving all our sins through his blood shed for us. For someone here not yet a believer, please help him or her to trust their life to you right now, as they invite you to come in and take charge. In Jesus’ name, amen.
