“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)
If you have taken the journey of parenthood, do you remember when your kids went through their whiny phase? If you don’t nip this in the bud as a parent, what starts as a fairly natural phase can become a personality trait that sticks with them to the eventual frustration of everyone around them, but that’s a conversation for another time. What is it that prompts a kid to whine? The same thing that tempts us to it: not getting our way. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army heading toward them, they felt like they hadn’t gotten their way…and they were terrified. Their response should have been a major red flag for Moses, but that’s only really visible thanks to hindsight. Israel had a great chance here to demonstrate great faith in the God who was in the process of rescuing them. Let’s talk about what they did instead and why it is a warning for us.
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