Exo 16:1 | KingComments | STEP | The people cannot remain at Elim, however pleasant it may be. They have to travel, into the wilderness. After the redemption, the song, the trial at Marah and the rest of Elim, the real wilderness life now begins. It is one and a half months after their departure from Egypt. It is possible that the entire stock of food they have brought with them from Egypt will then be exhausted. There is no more food, and the people express their dissatisfaction about it to Moses and Aaron. The accusations are harsh. They blame Moses and Aaron. They present it as if they have deliberately brought the people into the wilderness to kill them there with hunger. They seem to have forgotten the slavery under which they sighed in Egypt. They only think back to “the pots of meat” and they think they “ate bread to the full” there. So foolish are the people of God – so foolish am I – when they forget salvation, when they no longer think about the experiences they have had at Marah and Elim. In the face of adversity in faith, we often forget what God has done for our benefit and long for the past pleasures and enjoyment of the world.

‏ Exodus 16:1

The People Grumble for the Second Time

The people cannot remain at Elim, however pleasant it may be. They have to travel, into the wilderness. After the redemption, the song, the trial at Marah and the rest of Elim, the real wilderness life now begins.

It is one and a half months after their departure from Egypt. It is possible that the entire stock of food they have brought with them from Egypt will then be exhausted. There is no more food, and the people express their dissatisfaction about it to Moses and Aaron.

The accusations are harsh. They blame Moses and Aaron. They present it as if they have deliberately brought the people into the wilderness to kill them there with hunger. They seem to have forgotten the slavery under which they sighed in Egypt. They only think back to “the pots of meat” and they think they “ate bread to the full” there.

So foolish are the people of God – so foolish am I – when they forget salvation, when they no longer think about the experiences they have had at Marah and Elim. In the face of adversity in faith, we often forget what God has done for our benefit and long for the past pleasures and enjoyment of the world.