Beshalach: attribution

At Masa and Meriva the newly liberated and victorious Israelites ask if Gd is with them. They have just seen a battle that involved the intervention of fiery clouds  and the selective parting of the waters of the sea. What did they mean?

There were certainly Divine  level interventions, but they did not clarify the goal , or even the next step in the mission.   These were communicated by Moshe. Therefore,  when problems arose - like a lack of potable water and no source of food,   people turned to Moshe with blame.  In our parsha, Moshe informs the people that the attribution is incorrect.  Gd has been the director.

This contrasts with the first sentence of the parsha: "When Pharoah  sent... "The preceding story of plagues and the next bad judgment, leading the Egyptian army into the seabed,  emphasize the role of Gd hardening Pharaoh's heart. It seems more appropriate to credit Gd with the expulsion.  ultimately, only the human master can emancipate his slaves.  It is noted that  Pharoah expelled Israel despite all the hardening.

As I look at the spectrum of religious belief and practice, the question of attribution is central. Not only  in terms of events, but also  in how we imagine the system  originated. The Orthodox belief, by definition,  is that the laws we obey are the laws given to Moshe.  Circumstances have demanded interpretation by the authorities,  the Rabbis. But these modifications are details.  Unfortunately, 
the modifications divide the faithful  into battling factions.