Grumbling, Provision and Guardrails, and the Importance of Testimony

We are going to continue to see how God’s people respond to difficulty. As we look at this, it is my hope that we will evaluate our own lives and how we respond.

The Pattern of Grumbling (v. 1-9)

Last week when we looked at the grumbling of the people to Moses, I opted to place our focus on the forgetfulness of the people. While that same forgetfulness is still present in chapter 16, I think it is important to look a little deeper into the accusation that is made by the people against Moses and Aaron. As I pointed out last week, they might be addressing this complaint to Moses and Aaron but they are the chosen leaders of the people of Israel, God’s people, so there is an implied complaint against God here.

But if we look into the actual accusation in verse 3, there is a troubling assumption of intent on the part of Moses and Aaron. In verse 3, the people claim that these two leaders brought the people into the wilderness with the purpose of killing them with hunger.

As outside observers, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

If we analyze this complain and why they would assume the intent of death to the entire people, it can only be for two reasons. First off, we don’t have any reason to believe that they didn’t truly believe this even though it was a ridiculous claim based on the past behavior of Moses and Aaron. The other more likely explanation is that they are projecting their frustration and saying something that they truly didn’t mean.

How often do we take out our impatience with God or our frustration with life in general on those that have our best interest in mind. It seems to me that this is what is going on with the people of God. They are hungry and afraid despite the fact that they have no reason to believe that God would not provide for their physical needs. Yet, they deflect their fears on the two humans beings who were truly acting according to the commands of God with their best interest in mind.

I want to warn us not to lash out against one another in the midst of our grumbling. It is far easier to deflect frustration on another human who is undeserving of it.

Because of the grumbling, the Lord assures Moses that He was going to provide the people with “bread from heaven” and gives specifics, which we will talk about shortly, about how they are to interact with the provision. It is a small side note, but I think we can understand that there is frustration in Moses here because of the continued grumbling of the people based on verse 6. “You shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt” is almost as if to point back to what the Lord had already done to them. Yet, there is a great deal of patience shown here while it was not deserved. Moses and Aaron then go to the people and explain to them what is about to happen and tell them to come near.

It is when the people come near to the Lord, that God provides for their need. I want to repeat that for you this morning. It is when God’s people come near to Him that He provides for their need.

Next, we look at

The Provision of God and the Guardrails He Places for Us (v. 10-31)

Both bread and meat in the form of quail are provided by the Lord. But there specific ways that the Lord informs the people that they are to consume the food.

First, they were only to collect as much as they would be able to eat themselves. We are told that they should collect an omer which was about a gallon.

Next, they were not to leave it over until the next morning. This is an instance where we find out that there was greed among some of the people and showed that they were not willing to be fully dependent on God.

Quickly on dependence on God, there is great value on fully trusting God to supply for our needs. I always think of the evangelist and orphanage director, George Müller, who notoriously never solicited donations for the orphanage and always relied on the Lord. When I hear that story, I think about how much stronger his faith must have been and how fervently he prayed when there was a need. Do we actually believe that we are dependent on the Lord? He has supplied us with our greatest need, salvation. How much more able is He to provide for the other needs that we have. Yet, we do as Jesus commanded, and pray that the Lord would provide us with our daily bread.

Third and finally, the people were commanded to gather twice the daily amount on the sixth day so that they might

The Lord has given so much to us but there are always ways that we are to enjoy these things. He has blessed us with finances but there are ways outlined in His word that we should and should not enjoy that wealth. We have been given friendships but there are bounds placed on those friendships. We have been blessed with power in certain areas of life but not in others. Why?

God is omniscient and knows, even in the midst of testing, what will help us most to succeed. God puts guardrails in our lives to keep us on the straight and narrow. Just as there are those metal guardrails that keep us safely on the road, He does the same for you and I in our lives. In this case, the Lord causes the bread to go bad and have worms in it in the night. He also gives them allowance on the sixth day so that they might rest on the Sabbath. Yet, the people still go out to gather these resources. Because they gathered enough and there was not manna or meat, they were able to rest on the seventh day.

It is because of this that I would remind you that God not only provides what we need but also provides restrictions so that we might live in the way that He has commanded us to live. This is why there are certain sins that have negative effects on our lives. They keep us from sinning against the Lord and living in a way that runs counter to His commandments.

So, how should we move forward when we think about the provisions of God? Well, the Lord gives instruction for the people to keep a

Testimony for Coming Days

It is fascinating that what was once a perishable item in bread is kept in a jar. This was the menu for the people over the next forty years. At any moment they might grumble about how they have to eat the same thing each and every day, they were to be reminded that that food was a direct result of the provision of the Lord. If they whined about

As we grumble at minor inconveniences, it is my prayer that we look at the testimony of those who came before and understand the richness of the blessings of God. There is always value in looking backward as we look to move forward. We should do this with ourselves as well. Grumbling about the difficulties we face today, consider where you might be without your salvation.

Testimony of preaching at Cumberland Camp.