9 Mar. Moses complains to God
“Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, ‘Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your people? Is this why you sent me here? I went to the king and said what you told me to say, but ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.’”
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt. I will use my great power against him, and he will let my people go. Because of my power, he will force them out of his country.’”
“Then God said to Moses, ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name God Almighty, but they did not know me by my name, the LORD [YHWH or Yahweh]. I also made my [covenant] agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan. They lived in that land, but it was not their own.’”
“’Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are treating as slaves, and I remember my agreement. So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, ‘I am the LORD. I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. I will make you free, so you will not be slaves to the Egyptians.’”
“’I will free you by my great power, and I will punish the Egyptians terribly. I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God, the one who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.’”
“’I will lead you to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give you that land to own. I am the LORD.’”
“So Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to him. They were discouraged, and their slavery was hard.”
(Exodus 5:22 – 6:9)
Having had his request ignored by the king of Egypt – who then made the working conditions much harder for the Israelites – and having come under severe criticism by his fellow countrymen, Moses was greatly discouraged, and complained to God: “Is this why you sent me here? I went to the king and said what you told me to say, but ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.” (Exodus 5:22)
Just like us, Moses expected an instant answer to his prayers. He had done as the LORD said, yet God had apparently done nothing for his people! So, like we often do, Moses decided it was time to complain to God!
God, of course, sees events on a different time scale, and he set about reminding Moses of his covenant promise to his ancestors – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He reminded Moses that, while the Patriarchs had lived in the land of Canaan, they had lived there as foreigners. Soon would come the time when the Israelites would inhabit the land of Canaan as their own country.
So God re-affirmed his covenant promise to Abraham once again, and reminded Moses that the time was soon coming when, “I will lead you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give you that land to own.” (Exodus 6:8)
The photo shows a sphynx (half pharaoh, half lion) at the Mit Rahina Museum in Memphis, Egypt.
You can read more about Moses and his confrontation with the pharaoh @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/25-the-israelites-journey-from-egypt-to-mt-sinai/moses-is-called-by-god-at-mt-sinai