Theological Commentary: Click Here
Relationship
with God is always an interesting proposition.
After all, how many times do we argue with God that He should bless us
because we are worthy and we are trying to follow Him? How many times do we cry out that our
circumstances are unfair and ask God to save us? How many times do we expect God’s provision
without even asking?
Two things
happen in this chapter in Exodus that can help us to think about our
relationship with God. First of all, the
people once more grumble and complain.
God has taken care of every single need up to this point. They have no reason to think that it will
discontinue. Yet they come and
complain. They come and make demands
upon God. They come expecting God to
solve their problem without pausing for meaningful relationship with God.
This is
human nature, especially in those moments when life is difficult. We get presumptuous. We get demanding. We expect God to save us. But do we stop to think whether or not we
deserve it? How many of us truly deserve
His love? What about His grace? Do any of us deserve it? The fundamental answer to these questions is
that we do not deserve it. God does not
owe us anything. Yet He desires to
give. He desires to save us. We are not deserving, but we do receive. We receive, like these Hebrew people
demanding water, because God loves rather than because God owes.
Take the
battle with the Amalekites. Did the
Hebrew people win because they were superior?
Clearly not. When Moses’ arms
were raised, the Hebrew people won. When
Moses’ arms lowered, the Amalekites prevailed.
That sounds like a pretty evenly matched battle to me! The reality is that they prevailed because
God empowered them to prevail. It wasn’t
that the Hebrew people were deserving.
It wasn’t because God owed it to the Hebrew people. The Hebrew people prevailed because God
desired to benefit them with His grace.
I’m guessing there was something to the unrighteousness of the Amalekites
mixed in there, too.
We all
benefit from God’s love. We all benefit
from His grace. We all benefit from His
mercy. We all benefit from His
provision. None of us deserve any of
it. Yet, we benefit anyways. God loves us for no other reason than because
He desires to love us.
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