Discontent In the Wilderness

Folks, this morning I’m going to leave John 15 turn to Numbers 11. I’m going to talk to you about a hard topic today

But I want you to know that I love you very much and that this isn’t meant to thump anybody over the head

But it’s something that I think we need to be reminded of, because I need to be reminded of it

So, if this is a message that we need to hear let’s let Scripture humble is and for the Spirit to renew us

Numbers 11. Actually starting in chapter 10, verse 33.

Reading from NLT

33 They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the Lord, with the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and rest. 34 As they moved on each day, the cloud of the Lord hovered over them. 35 And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would shout, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!” 36 And when the Ark was set down, he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel!”

The People Complain to Moses

11 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped. 3 After that, the area was known as Taberah (which means “the place of burning”), because fire from the Lord had burned among them there.

4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. 5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”

Skipping to verse 10

10 Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. 11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? 12 Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? 13 Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! 15 If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”

God tells Moses to appoint elders to help lead the people

Down to verse 18

18 “And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. 20 You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

21 But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ 22 Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?”

23 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”

So Moses went out and appointed 70 elders to help him lead

And then this happens in verse 31

31 Now the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quail flying about three feet above the ground.[f] 32 So the people went out and caught quail all that day and throughout the night and all the next day, too. No one gathered less than fifty bushels[g]! They spread the quail all around the camp to dry. 33 But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the Israelites traveled to Hazeroth, where they stayed for some time.

God leads forward. Grumblers look backwards

The ark set out and the people followed it.

When the ark and the pillar of cloud stopped, the people stopped and made camp

The ark was always in front. God was always in front

We read this a number of times.

Exodus 13 says that it was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of cloud by night so that they could travel by day or by night

Even at night. In the wilderness. God was leading them forward

It was always in front. And when it moved, the people moved. God was in absolute control, and He always went forward toward a new land.

God is a directional God, a missional God. And He moves forward!

We don’t ever read that God lost His way

He never had to reverse course or backtrack.

He always lead forward and I believe that He still leads this way.

The people, however, always looked back. And they grumbled because things weren’t like they used to be.

Never mind that they were slaves back then. That didn’t seem to matter much. But they remembered “the good old days”.

Folks, I am concerned about something:

That is, our tendency to talk about the good old days

“This is the way that we used to do it. There was nothing wrong with it then. Why don’t we still do it like that?”

These are the songs that we used to sing. Why don’t we sing them anymore.

Things sure were nice when we had John and Perry in charge. These guys that we have now are pretty young

Our service order isn’t the way it used to be. I liked it better the way we used to do it.

Now, please don’t hear me say that any of the things that I’ve named here are bad things

They aren’t bad at all!

I love old music. In fact, my family will tell you that I love listening to choral music from 5-600 years ago. I love old American music and music history. I love some of the old hymns that we sing

John and Perry, Leon and Don, did a great job at leading Fairview. They served faithfully for many years, and God used them in tremendous ways and don’t hear me saying anything different!

Service order: It was OK the way it was. Nothing sinful about the way we used to do it.

My concern is not necessarily with these specific things and others. It is with our attitude and mindset.

It is the “Looking backward mindset” that we tend to have

And I’m as susceptible to this as anybody is. Heidi and I have caught ourselves having the “Things were better in Mozambique” conversation many times.

And again, looking back and remembering the blessings of the past is not bad. In fact, it’s great!

We remember what God did and how great He was then, and will continue to be

But it only takes a blink of an eye to make that subtile little shift in our thinking and start saying, “Things sure were better back then.” or “Things are better over there.”

At that split second, you take your eyes off where He is leading us now, turn 180 degrees around and start focusing on where we’ve come from.

And maybe you say, “I’m not looking backward and wishing for the good old days.”

Well maybe not, but I think in our culture is a desire to be unbothered and untouched and unchanged

Kind of like we escaped the persecution and hardship of Europe, found this new and better country,

And we settled in here and breathed a big sigh of relief and said, “Now, nobody bother us. Let us be the way we believe we should be

And, yes, for the most part, we have striven to be people who are faithful to God and to His word. And that’s good.

My desire for us is that we are a people who are defined, not by who we have been in the past and where we have been in the past, and not even by where we are now.

But that we are a people who are defined by an expectation of where God is taking us now!

I want you to listen to this from 1 Peter 1:3  All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad.[b] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

Now we live with great expectation!!

That means we look forward, expecting God to lead us forward

In trials, we don’t say, “Man, I can’t wait for things to get back to the way they used to be”

Instead, we say, “Lord, lead me though this trial. I want to be found faithful in this test. Because I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side!!”

Grumbling can become a habit, a way of life

We see at the beginning of the chapter that the people started to grumble about their hardships.

And the anger of the Lord blazed against them. This word “blazed” is literal because God literally sent a fire against them which consumed part of the outlying part of the camp.

You would think that the people would sit up and take notice and say, “Man, we had better stop this! We’d better start seeking God and looking forward to where He is taking us!”

But they didn’t. They immediately forgot it and went right back to grumbling.

Because it become such a habit and a way of life.

This is why I’m talking about it this morning. It’s because I want to caution us to not let it creep into our way of thinking and talking

The people so quickly forgot what God thought about their discontent and went right back to it.

And how quickly this happens for me.

It can become such a part of my way of thinking and speaking that it just seems “natural” to dwell on my own unhappiness.

Grumblers think that God’s blessing is a reward for their discontent.

This is a very serious thing

Look at what happened here

It says that a wind sprung up and blew in quail by the millions. It was a massive flock

Commentators sort of disagree on exactly how large this flock was, but it was epic!

And the people went out and for two whole days and a night, they gathered quail to eat.

Finally! Meat!

But their victory was very short-lived.

Because while the meat was still between their teeth, in their mouths, before they had a chance to swallow it, the Lord’s anger, again, was kindled against them and He struck them down with a very great plague!

This is a picture of our God that makes us tremble (or maybe it should, at least), and maybe makes us scratch our heads a bit.

How could our God who is loving and merciful, after He blessed them, how could He do such a thing?

I don’t pretend to have all the answers here, but here’s something to think about

God, in His lovingkindness and infinite wisdom, may indeed respond to our grumbling with blessing.

He may, indeed, choose to give us what we long for and what we are looking backward to see

He did it here. They wanted something better to eat, something like they used to have back in Egypt,

never mind that God was already providing them with manna, the bread of heaven!

and He gave them. In vast amounts. In a way that proved who He is. In a way that only God could do!

But here’s the thing: God’s blessing, however it comes should always result in worship. It should always drive us toward Him, Whether it’s in praise, or in confession for our sin (as was needed here)

I think about Peter in Luke 5, after Jesus filled two boats with fish.

The first thing on his mind was to get back to shore so that He could worship and confess that he was worthless and sinful

And that he didn’t deserve the presence of Jesus, much less such an incredible blessing

We don’t read that this happened here in Numbers 11

Instead, what I think happened here is that the people took God’s provision and blessing as a sign that they were right to grumble

They took it as a sign that they were right and God was wrong

They took it as God’s way of saying, “Oops, sorry. Messed up there. You’re right. You had all that good stuff back in Egypt and I’ve brought you out here in the wilderness where food is scarce. What was I thinking anyway?”

They basically said, “About time you held up your end of the bargain, God! Thanks for nothing!”

When God sent quail in overwhelming numbers,

instead of running out to gorge themselves, they should have fallen to their knees in worship and in confession of their sin

When their ungrateful, grumbling hearts were revealed, God’s blessing turned into a curse and they were punished again

This ought to make me and you tremble a little bit or a lot. Because I recognize in myself that tendency to say to God, “God you owe me!”

Look at what I’ve endured for you! look at what I’ve endured because of where you have led me

And then when He blesses me, I say, “Yeah, but I deserve it. God owed me that one!”

And we consider His provision as justification for my grumbling and discontent.

What is our tendency? What are we waiting on? What is it that we tend to grumble about?

This has been a challenging year in many ways. And we are weary

But can I ask us to examine our response?

Are we looking back and constantly thinking about the way things used to be.

Has negativity become a habit for me or for you?

Are we just waiting for God to give us what we want so that we can be justified in our grumbling?

Let’s be poised and ready. Ready to move forward when He moves forward and be ready to worship when He blesses.