Lord! Why Do You Permit Such Evil?Muestra

Moses Questions God’s Plan

“Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?’” (Exodus 5:22)

The Lord God has heard the groaning of the Israelites, and He appoints Moses to lead them out of Egypt and back to their promised land, Canaan. This will not be an easy job. God warns Moses beforehand that Pharaoh will not let the people go—only after his country has been ruined by plagues will he give in.

And so it happens. When Moses tells Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh ridicules God. He does not obey God’s commandment at all, but makes the people work even harder. Therefore, they get upset and angry with Moses. Moses in turn is blaming the Lord: “You have not delivered your people at all!”

On the one hand, I can fully understand that Moses and the Israelites are disappointed and frustrated. Their situation is difficult enough anyway! But they need to trust God that He will bring this whole situation to a good end. When God intervenes, His enemies will resist and may make things worse at first. But He won’t leave His work unfinished. The rest of the book of Exodus tells how the Israelites are delivered indeed. The Lord fulfills His promise.

Are you sometimes impatient as well?