If you began this month to follow a daily Bible reading plan that is designed for reading the entire Bible in a year, you will have been reading about the people of Israel leaving Egypt and following Moses. In recent weeks, there have been a lot of discussions about leadership, as Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced his decision to resign as leader of the Liberal party. Immediately after that announcement, potential leaders were questioned about their intentions.
In November 2024, Donald Trump was elected to serve his second term as President of the United States, prompting supporters to sing his praises. For Christians, we welcome his endorsement of pro-life policies. We also know that no human can completely satisfy all the demands that come his way.
In the third chapter of the book of Exodus, we read the Lord’s words about the people of Israel: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey …” (Ex. 3:7-8). In following chapters, we read that God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea (Ex. 13:18). When Pharaoh drew near the people of Israel, they cried out to the Lord and told Moses “it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Ex. 14:12).
A little later, the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (16:2). God then rained down bread from heaven (16:4) and gave them water (17:6). Then Moses went up on the mountain for forty days and forty nights (24:18). After seeing the Lord provide food and water, as well as the Ten Commandments, you would think that the people would be patient in waiting for Moses to come back from the mountain. That wasn’t the case, though.
In Exodus 32, we read that the people of Israel told Aaron to “make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (v.1). Even though the people remembered that Moses had brought them out of Egypt, they referred to him as “this Moses” and were not willing to wait for him to return to them.
How about us? Do we grow impatient when we face delays? Do we question why things don’t seem to be “going our way”? It would be wise to remember how God showed the people of Israel that He was in control of their travelling route and their physical needs. In the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus told His disciples “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8). The Lord then taught His disciples to pray what we now know as “the Lord’s prayer.”
May we devote ourselves to knowing God’s Word and making His Word known.
By His grace,
Steve