Read the Word:
Numbers 11:4-15
Meditate on the Word:
Have you ever noticed that complaining is contagious? Once one person starts complaining in a group, others seem to quickly fall into it. In almost every place I have been employed, this seems to be the purpose of gathering in the breakroom. People would gather to complain about the boss, a co-worker, their families, the weather, or anything else. Complaining hung as a cloud in the room and everyone seemed to catch it.
The Israelites were not so different from us in this way. Notice who, in verse 4, starts the complaining. The CSB translates this as riffraff; other contemporary translations use rabble. The KJV poetically says, “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting.” The point is clear. People who were generally unsatisfied with the good thing that God had provide them (manna) wanted something they considered to be better (meat). Their complaining stirred up the whole camp. The complaining of the whole camp led to Moses complaining to God. It was like a storm that kept building over the camp.
The root of their complaining is the same as the root of our complaining: a lack of gratitude. We do not complain about things for which we are truly grateful. Let us be reminded, when we are tempted to complain, that we are complaining against God and what He has given to us.
Pray the Word:
If you have been guilty of complaining, confess it to the Lord and repent.
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