Who Do You think You’re Talking To?
Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey,
They cried out and God saw, heard, and gave heed to their cry!
But then came His answer, low and behold, it wasn’t how any of them thought it should’ve/would’ve/could’ve been done. Go figure!!!
We haven’t changed much…
When you read the story (please do) in Eodus, of our ancestors, read it with an eye toward Israel’s (we are grafted in) response to God’s intervention and deliverance of His people.
I know we, who are so much more informed and thoughtful, will have plenty to say about their lack of trust, their grumbling, their fear, their disobedience, their opinion that God should have taken away every ounce of suffering – IF He indeed loved them. After all, we have the benefit of 20/20 (and the Covid experience in the year 2020) vision. We also have the benefit of God’s WORD, telling us and showing us with every detail, His great and powerful love, from the people He provided to lead them, the path He set before them, the provision of EVERY NEED (needs they didn’t even know they had!).
One might question, “Why did He draw things out?” One might answer that, “The benefits of delayed gratification, are beyond our human nature”. Just in letting Pharaoh have opportunity after opportunity, Pharaoh proved his unbelief and in the end suffered complete loss while playing what he considered an easy game of besting “god”. Not only did Israel leave, they took with them valuables that the Egyptians FORCED on them to get them to go, not to mention the lives Egypt loss in the process while Israel suffered NO LOSS.
Indeed, Israel was happy to go… and follow… The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Exodus 13:21-22 I imagine they were singing praises to their God! WE WOULD BE!! Until… just like them… “things” happened they just didn’t ask for.
NO SECURITY – NO WATER – NO FOOD… they praised God as they asked for His provision… nope – they GRUMBLED against Moses and Aaron (the leaders God provided). The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, “ Would that we had 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 kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:2-3 And of course, dramatized the consequences of trusting and obeying.
Dramatic Grumbling! Isn’t that what we do too? Oh, admit it! Even the best of us (spoiler alert… there is no best of us) at worshipping, trusting and obeying God, have within us our old nature of giving the knowledge of evil a place in our life so that we might whine, grumble, blame and place on evil’s altar all those “things” we do not like! I’ll admit it, just the other day I texted, “I’m tired of this crap!”
Not the same thing? Moses said, “ … for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we (and Mary, what is this crap?)? Your grumblings are not against us (or even crap) but against the Lord.”Exodus 16:8
He hears! (He reads!!)
So, Who do I think I’m talking to? It’s just a LITTLE TEXT… not a big deal!
“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. Isaiah 58:2
Yes Lord, “At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9
Really?! And yet… when times are tough and I don’t FEEL God answering or caring enough to give me His best… ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Why Lord?! I do it for You!!
“You do it for you”… come on we all have ulterior motives… “Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.” Isaiah 58:3… “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? Isaiah 58:5
Who do we think we are talking to? That which is known about God is evident within them us; for God made it evident to them us. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they we are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20
He sees us… He hears us… He reads us… He gives heed to us! So I have come down to deliver them from the power of (evil), and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey… we don’t deserve it and we cannot earn it!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? 1 Corinthians 2:16 Yes, we are to ask, seek and knock – and keep on asking, seeking and knocking. But first KNOW WHOM YOU ARE TALKING TO and might I just add.. KNOW who you are not!
You think you know what you need. You definitely know what you want. But do you know our God, who is GOOD ALL THE TIME? And do you know that ALL THE TIME (in every circumstance, in every detail, in every moment), OUR GOD IS GOOD!
But just as it is written, “ Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man , all that God has prepared for those who love Him .” 1 Corinthians 2:9
He is Whom you are talking to!!! He still goes before us in a pillar of cloud by day to lead us on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give us light that they might travel by day and by night.
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.