Do You Grumble And Complain

Do You Grumble and Complain

Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

We all know the too familiar story of sitting in traffic and the frustration of having to wait. Maybe you are asking yourself, how many times I have to eat leftovers this week. Your child is asking for another pair of shoes to go with the five others that fit and are not worn out.

Why is it so easy to grumble and complain? How can we have the proper perspective to make us grateful instead of grumpy people? Let’s look closer at this ancient story found in scripture to get our answer. Many years have lapsed but the human hearts reading this timeless truth are still the same.  

1.      Not grateful for what we have

If you have never read the Bible all the way through, I will encourage you, at minimum read it through yearly. We are forced to grapple with these truths by reading the Bible annually to see our human nature reflected in its pages. The historical recounting of Israel’s desert wanderings found in Numbers 21 has a huge back story that we can’t miss to understand the context of the text I presented to you.

Israel had been brought out of slavery by the mighty hand of God, striking Egypt with ten plagues and bringing Israel across the Red Sea to watch Pharoah’s army drown right in front of their very eyes. A few months later, after all they experienced- at the hand of one true God- they began to ask for another God to worship from Aaron while Moses was up on the mountain. Aaron made two golden calves to worship. They chant that these were the gods that brought them out of Egypt. It goes from bad to worse.

They scout out the land that God promised they would possess, and they become fearful and speak against the two Joshua and Caleb, who trust God and His promises to give the land. Because of this stubbornness, Israel circled in the desert for forty years, longing for more variety of food and unending wells of water, and a variety of drinks. When we get to the bronze Serpent, the broken side of human nature is on full display.

They did not trust God. They did not want to worship God. They were not grateful for what God wanted to give them if they trusted Him. They were not appreciative of what God was providing for them through giving them Manna every morning to eat. When we are not thankful for what we have around us at this moment that God has graciously allowed us to have and steward- we will automatically grumble.

The traffic jam will get under our skin versus being thankful that we have a car at all that is cool in the summer and warmer in the winter that runs properly. Leftovers will be a drag if we are not thankful that we can keep our food in a cool metal box to preserve it until we can get home to eat. Our kids will complain about not having the right color shoe to go with their outfit when they are not thankful for the other shoes that prevent their feet from getting blistered and cut from the asphalt and rocks they walk on.

Before you make yourself better, then the old Israelites look long and hard at what you should be grateful for today before you begin to complain about what you don’t have for tomorrow. The second thing Israel let slip their hearts and minds is what I will cover next.          

2.      Not grateful for what we have been freed from

How easy we quickly forget things when we get caught up with the worries of life that God wants to help us through. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5) Israel was so quick to forget the slavery that God brought them.

Christians quickly forget today what circumstances God has brought us through. Like me, your life is full of past mistakes that His grace has forgiven. We can look at life rightly and have the gift of repentance and faith daily. Grateful hearts remember what we are freed from and the one who gave that freedom.

No matter how bad it is, we cannot allow the here and now to rob us of the truth that He will never leave us or forsake us. This was Israel’s problem, Christian, don’t let that happen in your life. The problem you face today is tiny compared to eternity in heaven that cannot be taken from you; remember where you have come from and where you are going. Please don’t forget that you have eyes watching everything you do and say. Even if you don’t have kids, your co-workers,  family,  and friends watch you. What are they seeing? Finally, there is one more point I will discuss Israel was ungrateful.

3.      Not grateful for our healing

If you read the whole historical narrative in Numbers 21, Moses was commanded by God to fashion a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and all who were bitten by the serpents would be saved from certain death if they looked upon it. God did not have to be gracious to a grumbling and grumpy group of people like Israel; however, He gave them the grace they did not deserve. This bronze serpent should point us to a better healer.

This is a special type that pointed to the better antitype Christ being hung on the tree of Calvary. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John12:32)

Jesus is the better bronze serpent. He has healed us from our sin debt against God, freeing us from addictions, lust, habitual anger, outburst, etc.. We need to remember what He has brought us out of and not forget the broken pieces of our lives that He put back together to make us whole. When we are grateful for the healing that He has brought into our lives, the freedom that He has given us, and what we have currently, we don’t have time to get mad in a traffic jam or when we have to eat fantastic food the second time. Then our kids, co-workers, and family see patterns that can convict them of their lack of thankfulness as we live our lives with grateful hearts for what He has done and currently gives us.

4.      Contemplating the harmony of types in the Old Testament and New Testament

We see four types in the Old Testament that find their fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament. There are plenty more but make sure that you are not forcing anything upon the text that is not placed there by the original author.

·        Moses

Moses was a type of prophet to his people; he gave the people the word of God, he spoke face to face with God, and he led the people and warned the people of the blessings of following God and the curses that would certainly come upon them when they disobeyed His word.

Jesus was a better prophet; instead of talking mouth to mouth with God, he was God and revealed his will to man and kept the law of God perfectly. He called all men to repent and believe in Him through faith as the long-awaited Messiah that Moses prophesied. “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)

·        Bronze Serpent

The bronze serpent was explained in the above article.

·        King David

King David was a type of King that had an eternal throne that his blood would not abdicate. King David died and was buried with his fathers, but there was the truer antitype coming who would sit on his eternal throne forever.

“And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.” (2 Samuel 7:16-17)

Jesus is the one who sits on David’s throne forever. It will never be a rogue regimen to form a coup against His kingship. He will not abandon His position as eternal King.  

·        Melchizedek

Jesus Christ is the better Melchizedek. He is a priest that intercedes on behalf of His people. He enters the presence of God on our behalf, interceding for us. We enter the throne room of God with great boldness because of the blood that was spilled on our behalf. He also says in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:6)

I hope these types in the Old Testaments have encouraged you to read the Old Testament to see how beautifully God has made His word. It is worth us spending our lives studying and understanding. Until next month go out and proclaim the gospel to see a life transformed.