3-29-16. Numbers 11:1-15. Rather Than Complaining, Give Thanks To Jesus-my devotional

Numbers 11:1-15                     Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 11:1                      3-29-116

“Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.”  (NIV)

Part 1: The Bad Fruit Of Uncontrolled Complaints (1-9)

Verses 1-15, “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the Lord had burned among them. 4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” 7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. 10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

According to this passage, the Israelites were prone to complaining, true complaining. If you want to review some of the events where the Israelites complained here is list of where to find them. (Numbers 11:1, 11:4, 14:1-4; 16:3, 16:41, 20:2-3, 21:5.) I say, true complaining, because it was verified by God. (1) He called it complaining and he was very upset about it. Let’s dig a little deeper into what was happening here.

The people started to complain first about their hardships. Proof that the peoples’ complaints were not just a “healthy discussion”, is that God was not pleased with it. Verse 1 reads, “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” Most likely the fire came down from the Holy of Holies, striking down the complainers, exactly as it did to Aaron’s sons in Leviticus 10:1-2, “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” (NIV) If God is not pleased then we need to step back and ask ourselves, “why?”.

It was because of their complaining. They complained about their hardships into which they were led. They needed to be willing to pay the price to become a free nation in the Promised Land. The people had cried out to God to rescue them. He rescued them by a great deliverance. They entrusted their lives and their future to God. God was leading them through Moses. There was no turning back. It was moving forward with God or complaining and rebelling and dying in the desert. If they returned to Egypt, half of them would die on the way back and the other half would become slaves. If I was leading my own family through the desert, and faced with the same complaining coming from those I loved, I would become angry. I would become angry for their sakes, in order to save their lives. I could not just let them sit down and die because they did not like the hardships. The Israelites had no options. They had to buck up and take it and be willing to pay the price. Certain victory was before them and certain destruction was behind them, if they chose to turn that way. And so God’s anger was an expression of God’s love.

Those called by the Lord, sometimes complain about their hardships involved in carrying out their mission they are called to serve. Jesus did not promise a bed of roses when he whispered into our hearts, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” He promised all kinds of other great things, the greatest of which is knowing him, bearing fruit that lasts and spending eternity with Jesus in heaven. But while we live in this fallen world there will be trouble. Living as a disciple of Jesus is never a cake walk. Those who think differently will not be able to follow Jesus very long for hardships will come their way and they will not be able to accept that. We need to be able to embrace the hardships that come, with thankfulness. God will give us grace to bear up under them. We need not complain, but rather see what God is accomplishing through it all. See the goodness in it. Trust God in everything, even in the hardships. Be thankful. Think of the consequences if you turned back on your spiritual journey. Where would you be? Surely there is spiritual victory ahead.

How did God’s wrath and anger about their complaining abate? Moses prayed to the Lord for the people. Look at verses 2-3, “When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the Lord had burned among them.”  The people were crying out. I do not think they were crying out because of repentance. They were crying out because they were suffering under the wrath of God. They wanted some relief. And so they came to Moses, asking him to intercede for them. God heard their cries and Moses’ prayer and abated with his wrath.

I must admit, these people are in a much better spiritual condition than some people are today. So many people today complain against God. They suffer, yes, but a lot of it comes from their distance from the Lord. They have a broken relationship with God. Their sins lead them into health problems where they can hardly walk. Their sins lead them into broken relationships where they find themselves all alone. They suffer endlessly, until they are racked in pain and on death’s door, until their loved ones are led astray, until their communities are like rubble, but they refuse to cry out to Jesus. They would rather die in a lump of pain, tears and loneliness, than cry out to God. I know of someone who has been obsessed with dying for two decades. Why? The Book of Revelation tells the same thing. Despite of intense suffering, the people refused to repent and come to Christ. They raised their fists to him in defiance right to the bitter end. How can people be like this? Why not just humble oneself before the Lord and come to him in humility. He will forgive and grant eternal life. He will raise us up out of the muck and the mire. The fact that the people came to Moses, crying out is a great thing.

Moving on from complaining about hardships, they started to complain about the food. Some people learned their lesson and turned their complaining into praise and constructive discussion. But there were others who continued on in their complaining. Look at verses 4-7, “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” Every morning the Israelites drew back their tent doors and saw a miracle from God. The ground was covered with white, fluffy manna. It was food from heaven. The rabble began to complain. “The rabble” refers to the mixed crowd of Egyptians and others who had followed Israel out of Egypt. Look at Exodus 12:38, “Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.” (NIV) It seems kind of harsh to call them “rabble”, but maybe that is problem with translation. Anyway, at first the manna was delicious, but soon it wasn’t enough for some.

I don’t think that the manna was all that bad. Look at verses 7-9, “7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.”  With a little imagination, they could do a lot with the manna. Spice it up a little! Use your culinary imagination. But I concede, even if a person could have filet mignon every single day, they would get tired of the food eventually. But let’s look at how God saw this.

They were ignoring the grace given them. The people of Israel had been delivered from bondage by the almighty power of God, but they forgot God and complained about the food God provided. Dissatisfaction occurs when our attention shifts from what we have to what we don’t have. Feeling it was their right to have more variety, they forgot what they already had. They complained to Moses about as they reminisced about the delicious food they had in Egypt. The people of Israel didn’t seem to notice what God was doing for them, that is, setting them free and making them a holy nation and giving them a new land. They seemed to have forgotten about the whips of the slave masters that they needed to endure in order to eat that former “delicious” food. They complained because they were so wrapped up in what God was not doing for them.

An atmosphere of disrespect was created by unrestrained complaining. The people were very self seeking. They wanted their way, even it meant breaking relationships with God and Moses. They didn’t care about how much destruction ensues from their conflicts for they felt they were justified because of their hardships. There is little to no “give and take”. This type of atmosphere threatens the wellbeing of the entire community and must be checked. And so God was going to checked it.

They didn’t trust God to fill their need. Instead they demanded meat and they stopped trusting God to care for them. How often do we think we know what is best for us and complain about what God deems best. God knows us more than we know ourselves. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows all the curves in the road ahead of us. He knows our deepest needs. We are so short sighted. We just have to trust him. We must never let our own unfulfilled desires drive us to forget about God’s gifts, gifts of grace, forgiveness, eternal life, and life in this world, which include our work, family and friends and so much more. God’s will for his people is that they be thankful in all circumstances (1Th 5:18).

Part 2: Moses Took His Complaints To God (10-15)

Moses reached the end of his rope. He could endure no longer. Look at Verse 10 and 11, “Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?”  The peoples’ complaining was directed at God, but also towards his minister, Moses. Moses lost it. He forget his duty as a mediator and Moses started to complain too. But God responded positively to Moses, for he was submitted to God. God responded well to Moses because Moses took his complaints to God. The people complained to one another and got no where fast. Moses took his complaint to God, who alone could solve any problem. Moses knew this and God responded favorably to his cries. The people must take their complaints to the only one who can do something…God himself and he will respond favorably.

Prayer: “Lord, you delivered me from the darkness and into your wonderful light. You are leading me to yourself and eternal life in your kingdom. How can I complain about the hardships on the way? You provide the best for me. Thank you. I trust you and I follow you.”

One word:  Jesus is leading us along the best path. Trust in him.”