Exodus attitudes

Hey readers! I was working on an assignment today for my Pentateuch class (Pentateuch = 1st five books of the Bible, fyi), and I came up with an interesting perspective that I've never heard before. This is what I got...check it.

It's interesting how much the Israelites grumbled and rejected God after all they had seen Him do for them in bringing them out of Egypt. They were so focused on the moment and themselves that they completely lost sight of God and His long-term plans for them, even after His continual reminders. It's also interesting to note that although God physically brought them out of Egypt, their mindset hadn't changed from when they were held as slaves. Let me explain further. I think their complaining could be attributed to them being so used to oppressions for such a long time that they couldn't get out of their rebellion-against-authority mindset even while God led them. They went out of their way to continue complaining, even after their original (and legitimate) complaints had been dealt with. I'd like to propose the idea that maybe this was because instead of seeing the differences, they saw the SIMILARITIES between God's authority and Pharaoh's: they both claimed authority over Israel, they both provided what Israel needed for survival (Pharaoh, obviously, less graciously, and more for the purpose of merely keeping them alive enough to work for him), and they both expected Israel to obey their commands, or there would be consequences. However, if this is why they were still complaining, they sure missed the DIFFERENCES between the main purposes of the two "servitudes," as it were: Pharaoh set them apart and lorded over them in order to build up his own people and nation, and didn't care about them at all, as long as they could do the work expected of them; God, however, set them apart and became their Lord in order to build them up AS his own people, His holy nation among the nations, and He most certainly cared for their well-being. He wanted them to become closer to Himself.

My friend Brian came in with a sweet application after hearing this, which I'm stealing and expounding on, haha. Basically, when we ask God to help us in our life situations, and He does, then that's great. We're out of Egypt. However, God doesn't change our mindsets outright. We may still gripe and grumble and lose sight of what God's already done for us if we don't remember to be thankful for it. Take the salvation He's given us, for example. We have no reason to complain about our life situations if we deserved eternal separation from Him in hell, and yet He gave His Son Jesus in our place. No reason at all.

In short: God's changed our situation, but have we changed our attitudes in response to His grace and love?

I think I'm going to use this for a Bible study on my floor soon.