There is nothing worse than going on a trip with a bunch of complainers! They complain about their accommodations, about how hot or cold they are, how bored they are, and very often, about the food. The food tastes awful, the cooks don’t know how to prepare it, there’s no variety, and they wish they had this or that to eat. Traveling with complainers can certainly ruin the whole trip. This was what Moses was having to deal with in our Scripture passage today.
As our passage opened, we immediately read that the people were complaining. Throughout the whole journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Hebrew people complained. They complained about not having enough to eat, not having enough to drink, and that God only brought them out into the desert to kill them. God then miraculously provided them with manna to eat each day, but now they were tired of that and wanted something new and different to eat (vs. 1-6). They wanted the food that they ate in Egypt. They were turning up their noses at the food God gave, wishing for onions from Egypt!
When people continually complain, it displeases God. Complaining is also contagious. One person’s complaint can lead to another one joining him, then three or four, and more and more. When we start hearing someone complain, it’s best to get away from them before we are tempted to join in. Complaining shows we are not satisfied with what God gives us. It shows a lack of faith and trust in Him. It signifies unbelief, and unbelief will lead to spiritual death. When sin continues it will be judged.
God destroyed those on the outskirts of the camp, those who dwelled far away from the tabernacle, where God dwelt. The farther away we are from God, the more likely we are to fall into sin. Those on the outskirts of the camp were the complainers, who listened to words of unbelief, who desired the things of Egypt and the world. Those who were closer to God were not destroyed.
God will bless an obedient spirit, and He judges a complaining spirit (I Corinthians 10:10). We cannot grumble and honor God at the same time. Instead of looking at what we don’t have, and start yearning for it and complaining that we lack it, like the Israelites were doing, we need to instead look at what God has blessed us with. The manna came every day, with enough that no one ever went hungry. Yet the Israelites had grown to detest the manna, God’s gift, something that one psalmist described as food of angels (Psalm 78:25). They forgot that manna was God’s gift to them. Complaining poisons the heart with ingratitude. God has to judge this.
As our Scripture continues, we read that Moses, too, was displeased with the people’s complaints. He was weary with the load and burden of leading these people by himself (vs. 10-15). The people’s constant complaints were tiresome, and on more than one occasion they had even threatened Moses’s life. Then Moses started to complain to God. He prayed to God, telling Him that these weren’t his people, he wasn’t their father. He told God that he couldn’t supply their needs, and that this burden was too much for him.
The people complained and Moses complained. However there was an important difference between the two. The people complained to each other about God, about Moses, and about their provisions. Their dissatisfaction fed off of each other, increasing their complaint. Moses took his complaint to God, who he knew could help him. Moses prayed about the burden of leading the people, that it was too great for him alone. The people just complained to each other, getting each other all worked up into a rebellion. Rather than being a murmurer and complainer, Moses reacted in prayer, bringing his honest emotions and upsets to God. He prayed about his problems, and the Lord honored that. God answered him by giving him 70 elders to help deal with the burden of the multitude of people.
Our lesson here should be to be satisfied with what the Lord has given us, rather than looking at and complaining about what we don’t have. Be thankful and grateful with what He has blessed us with. And if we do have a legitimate complaint, take it to God in prayer as Moses did, rather than murmuring and complaining with each other, as the Israelites did.
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