complainers

And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.

Numbers 11:1

 

I hate to see this. Israel’s track record to this point in the Book of Numbers has been good. But just under a third of the way through the book, the story takes a rough turn. One of the features of the Book of Numbers is its recounting of Israel’s grumbling, complaining, and rebelling against God. And this chapter records the first few moments of that part of the story.

 

There complaints start out as a very generic kind of griping. They complain about their misfortunes. Undoubtedly there were murmurs about desert life, about being forced to eek out a nomad’s existence. And God chose to get their attention through a fire that consumed the outward edges of the camp… perhaps where the grumbling originated. And this got their attention. Moses interceded with God and the fire was quenched.

 

The second episode shows that they did not learn their lesson. They missed the perceived smorgasbord of food that was theirs in Egypt. Of course the tradeoff was slavery, which they neglected to mention in their sinful reminiscing. God again was upset at them, but graciously provided more quail than they could handle. During their feast, a plague breaks out (could it have been some kind of food poisoning?) before they have even finished eating (the text is very direct - “while the meat was yet between their teeth”). So a second episode of complaining has resulted in judgment. Has Israel learned a lesson yet? Wait and see.

 

Watch where you complain. God can quickly show you that your perspective is short-sighted by taking you a place you never wanted to go. I know this thought has my attention right now. I think I will look for ways to find praise for God in my present circumstances. When things aren’t as I want them to be, it is time to be drawn to worship, not whining!

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,discipleship,christianity

More grace for grumblers.

And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

Exodus 17:7

Again, in outstanding deference by God, Israel’s contentious nature comes out and God’s grace answers the cries of His people. So many generations ago, Jacob had wrestled the Angel of the Lord and been renamed Israel - “strives with God”. And the nation of Israel, now freed from Egyptian slavery and under God’s leadership under Moses in the desert of Sinai has lived up to that name. First they doubted God over food. Now they are fighting with Moses and God over a perceived lack of water. God came up with a novel plan to shut them up.

He led Moses to a large rock. Now in my opinion that had to be the opposite of what Israel was looking for. In the desert, you look for water by looking for green, for palm trees, for an oasis that shows water is there. Instead, a dry barren rock becomes a flowing stream when God instructs Moses to strike it with his staff and show Israel just how much God can do.

But there is a vivid reminder that more than just water was seen at the rock. Moses renamed it Masseh - “testing” and Meribah - “quarrel” because of the events that led to God’s provision at that location. It was a place of simultaneous blessing and painful reminder of Israel’s repeated lack of faith in God and trust in the leadership of the man Moses whom God had provided.

Leaders will always have their Masseh moments where people will test the strength of the leader’s faith. Moses did the right thing. When people grumbled against him, he cried out to God. He knew that God was the real leader of this people. And there are those Meribah episodes as well, when an argument against God seems to be all the leader hears. The leader knows better, but the people need to hear from God. And that is where this episode lets us know that God will know just what to do. Israel never really looked at a rocky outcrop in the desert quite the same way again! God could make of the dry desert stones a stream of water to care for His children. That is the lesson of grace for grumblers!

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Providence,Complaining

Complainers

The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Exodus 16:35

One of the greatest miracles of the Exodus was God’s grace at this moment in the story. Israel turned against Moses and God’s choice of him by grumbling against his leadership over the issue of not finding food in the wilderness. This really was an issue of not trusting God who had miraculously delivered them from Egypt and destroyed the armies of the most powerful nation in the region. They doubted that God could feed them and slipped into accusation, unbelief, and grumbling.

I think God had a plan to feed them all along. And I think it is clear from the miraculous manna that He was going to use a plan that would be bring worship of Him from the people. The rough part of this whole story is the spiritual ineptness of the Israelites. God gave them miracle bread. He even provided enough on Fridays so that they would not need to gather manna on the Sabbath. He told them to collect double on Friday, and they still went on on the first Sabbath only to find that God kept His word! They were a difficult people for Moses to lead. They were a difficult people for God to instruct.

But God was faithful. And entire generation would be cared for in this way with manna from heaven. God was showing a nation His grace. And even though they found themselves in a resource-poor desert environment, God brought them water and food daily. They had their needs met. And it was miraculous. They should have been drawn to worship and not to complaining!

God will work with complainers, though it is clear that He would prefer that complaining end. He gave the grumblers more grace than they ever deserved, even then they presumed upon it! But God was merciful to the complaining generation. He knew they were rescued slaves. And He kept being faithful to them, even as they struggled to be faithful to Him. God loves people, even complainers, with great love. There is thus hope for me, for I can be just like these people. I can get full of the wants of this world. I can get faithless. I can be deceived by my own forgetfulness and focus on just myself. And God will faithfully draw me back with His love and provision.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Manna,Complaining,Provision,Grace