Complaining Along the Journey

Main Point: Frequently our complaining is offensive to God and his provision for our lives.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing. —Philippians 2:14

“The overarching complaining narrative in Numbers illustrates that the Israelites didn’t want to be Godly, they just wanted to be happy.” —Daniel C. Calkins

Numbers 11 - Complaining About Their Food

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” —Numbers 11:4-6

“The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ” —Numbers 11:19-20

Numbers 12 - Complaining About Their Leaders

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. —Numbers 12:1-3

(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

God said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” —Numbers 12:6-8

Numbers 14 - Complaining About The Challenges They Face

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” —Numbers 14:2-4

“I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.” —Numbers 14:35

Numbers 16 — Complaining About Their Role

They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” —Numbers 16:3

As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. —Numbers 16:31-33

Complaining is an emotional rejection of God’s will for your life.

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. —Philippians 4:10-13

My complaining is more about my inward condition than my outward circumstances.

Takeaway: Contentment > Complaining

Discussion Questions

1. By nature how much of a complainer are you? Have you grown in that area? Are you trying to grow in that area?
2. In some places in scripture (Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes) God seems to be ok with complaining. In other places, like Numbers, he is definitely not accepting of it. What’s the difference?
3. How is complaining an emotional rejection of God’s will for your life? What would it look like to embrace his will in a more healthy manner?

Table Discussion Question - What’s the last thing that you really complained about? Why? Looking back now is there anything you wish you would have done differently?