We have a tendency to elevate Biblical characters to the point of divine. With the exception of the characters that are divine, like Jesus, that would be a mistake. They’re human, just like the rest of us, complete with flaws, confusion, anger, and bitterness.
Moses is a great example of this. Perhaps it’s because we know so much about him or because he’s tasked with such a difficult mission (getting the people to Canaan), but it’s just so easy to relate to him. He makes the same mistakes we do, oftentimes for the same reasons.
Consider the predicament he finds himself in at the end of Exodus 5. The taskmasters have just made life more difficult for the Hebrews by telling them to meet their quota of bricks but withholding supplies necessary for construction.
Then, those same taskmasters take the foremen over Israel and beat them mercilessly, while the foreman take their complaint straight to Pharaoh. He rebuffs them, which forces the foreman to complain to Moses.
If you’re in Moses’ shoes, not only are you dealing with the guilt of watching your countrymen suffer, but you’re also struggling with the legitimacy of God’s promises. He had promised that He would deliver the people out of bondage. Where is He?
That’s why Moses takes his complaint to God in Exodus 5:22-23. Some take this scene as disrespect towards God, but to me, it looks exactly like what God has asked us to do in 1 Peter 5:7, to “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” You see other parallels in Psalm 74:1 and Psalm 89:46-49, where the psalmists bluntly asks God for understanding.
If there is any hint of disrespect in Moses’ voice, it failed to deter God. In Exodus 6:1, God tells Moses to see what He’s going to do to Pharaoh. How He’ll make a situation that appears dire on the surface into a scene of grand deliverance.
What we have to remember about Moses at this point is that he’s not that much farther along in his faith than anyone else. He’s been a shepherd fugitive for forty years; the burning bush was in the recent past. He hasn’t seen what he’s going to see very soon, so for the moment, he deserves our grace. Just like we deserve it from time to time, too.