The Twisted Perspective of Grumbling (W.o.W. Rewind)

 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

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The Israelites are complaining about food in the dessert! They are sick and tired of eating manna every day. They begin to look back on their time in Egypt longingly. They begin to crave the food they had there. In fact, if you look down in verses 18 to 20 you will see that these people actually said “We were better off in Egypt!” and “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ‌‌They preferred the meat of slavery to the bread of Heaven. 

This story shows us a common strategy our Enemy uses to get us to grumble. He distorts and twists our perspective to make us see things the way he wants us to. When the Israelites complained ahout the manna, they weren’t remembering the hardships of their slavery. They weren’t remembering the feel of Egyptian whips on their backs. All they were remembering was the food…the fish and the onions and the cucumbers. In other words, they were remembering only the very, very few positive elements of their time in Egypt.

‌‌And at the same time they were forgetting all the positives of their current situation. They were forgetting that they were getting Manna for free. It was just sitting on the ground waiting for them each morning. They were forgetting that the manna tasted pleasant. It tasted like something made with olive oil. ‌And ‌they were forgetting that God was taking them to a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, where they’d get to eat all those delicacies again and more to boot. In other words, they were forgetting all the many positives of their current situation, and were thinking only of this one negative.

The Enemy will try to do the same to you. He has done it to me many times. He will trick you into looking at your life from His twisted perspective. He will make you forget all the positives and focus only on the negatives. Don’t let him do that to you or you’ll start to grumble against God. Make sure you are seeing the whole picture. Ask God to help you to get your eyes off the negatives and help you see all the good things He is doing and has done for you.

One last thing, all of this was possible only because the Israelites had grown tired of God’s blessings and had begun to take them for granted. There’s an old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Every single day, the Israelites were witnessing a miracle. Every day God was performing a miracle to feed them in the desert, and they grew tired of it. They lost the awe of what God was doing for them. They lost the gratitude they should have felt for God’s provision. And they began to hate what they should have been thankful for.

‌‌Don’t take the Lord’s daily blessings in your life for granted. Don’t let the Enemy cause you to hate what you should be thankful for.

Grumbling on the Edge of the Promised Land

That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 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?” 

Numbers 14:1–3

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God's people were grumbling on the edge of the Promised Land. Everything they could have ever wanted was right there for the taking, but they couldn’t see it. They were grumbling when they should have been rejoicing. They were weeping when they should have been celebrating. And all because they lack faith.

They are complaining about things that haven’t happened yet! They are grumbling about made up problems in imagined futures. They’re saying, “We know what’s going to happen if we go into the Promised Land. The people there will defeat us. And this will be our fate: the men will die by the sword and the women and children will be taken captive and live as slaves to these pagans. We’d be better off dead than to let that happen. We’ve got to get out of here!

Here are a few applications from this story for our lives. First, don’t waste your time worrying about made up problems in imagined futures. Matthew 6:34 says, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” That’s good advice. 

But the people of Israel were not only worrying about how tomorrow’s battles would go, they were actually grumbling against God for what they predicted would happen.‌‌ Which brings us to a second application. Don’t blame God for imagined outcomes. Don’t blame Him for something He hasn’t even done yet. ‌‌Sometimes God allows a problem or challenge to enter your life because He has a plan for it to be your next great victory. So even if all you can see is defeat, trust God and fight the urge to blame Him for things that haven't even happened yet.

The Twisted Perspective of Grumbling

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 Israelites are complaining about food in the dessert! They are sick and tired of eating manna every day. They begin to look back on their time in Egypt longingly. They begin to crave the food they had there. In fact, if you look down in verses 18 to 20 you will see that these people actually said “We were better off in Egypt!” and “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ‌‌They preferred the meat of slavery to the bread of Heaven. 

This story shows us a common strategy our Enemy uses to get us to grumble. He distorts and twists our perspective to make us see things the way he wants us to. When the Israelites complained ahout the manna, they weren’t remembering the hardships of their slavery. They weren’t remembering the feel of Egyptian whips on their backs. All they were remembering was the food…the fish and the onions and the cucumbers. In other words, they were remembering only the very, very few positive elements of their time in Egypt.

‌‌And at the same time they were forgetting all the positives of their current situation. They were forgetting that they were getting Manna for free. It was just sitting on the ground waiting for them each morning. They were forgetting that the manna tasted pleasant. It tasted like something made with olive oil. ‌And ‌they were forgetting that God was taking them to a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, where they’d get to eat all those delicacies again and more to boot. In other words, they were forgetting all the many positives of their current situation, and were thinking only of this one negative.

The Enemy will try to do the same to you. He has done it to me many times. He will trick you into looking at your life from His twisted perspective. He will make you forget all the positives and focus only on the negatives. Don’t let him do that to you or you’ll start to grumble against God. Make sure you are seeing the whole picture. Ask God to help you to get your eyes off the negatives and help you see all the good things He is doing and has done for you.

One last thing, all of this was possible only because the Israelites had grown tired of God’s blessings and had begun to take them for granted. There’s an old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Every single day, the Israelites were witnessing a miracle. Every day God was performing a miracle to feed them in the desert, and they grew tired of it. They lost the awe of what God was doing for them. They lost the gratitude they should have felt for God’s provision. And they began to hate what they should have been thankful for.

‌‌Don’t take the Lord’s daily blessings in your life for granted. Don’t let the Enemy cause you to hate what you should be thankful for.

It's Your Fault God!

But they said, “We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”

Numbers 16:12-14

These are the words of two men who blame God for the consequences of their own sin. Two men who love the things of the world more than the things of God. Two men who throw God's kindness back in His face then have the audacity to impugn His goodness. The earth opened up and swallowed these two men, Dathan and Abiram, whole (Numbers 16:31-33). But don't think that you are incapable of falling into the same trap. Scripture tells us that the human heart is deceitful above all else (Jeremiah 17:9). So let's take a moment to learn from their sin.

These men were part of Korah's rebellion which took place after Israel was condemned to wander in the dessert for forty years. You'll remember that 12 spies were sent out into Canaan and brought back a unanimously good report from the land. They all said that it was indeed a "land flowing with milk and honey" just as God had said. But in regards to their ability to possess the land, there was a split decision. Only two of the spies believed that God could drive out the inhabitants of the land. The other ten filled Israel with fear. When the people refused to go up and possess the land God condemned them to wander in the dessert for forty years. After they had all died their children would learn to trust Him and would possess the land.

This is the context into which these men speak, and it casts light on the true nature of their sin. Look again at what they said. "Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness?" They never entered Canaan. The place they are calling a land flowing with milk and honey is Egypt, where they were enslaved and treated like animals! When they use this phrase which was used repeatedly in Scripture to describe the land God had promised to give to His people they are in essence saying, "Compared to where following God has brought us, being slaves in Egypt was like being in the Promised Land." They are unhappy about being stuck in the wilderness, but they wholly ignore that it was their own sin that put them there. Instead of taking responsibility for their sin, they lash out at God. After all that God had done for Israel in their lifetime, how could they possibly have such disdain for Him?

They were deceived. They loved the world and the things of the world more than God. I John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." Are you mad at God for not giving you the things of the world? Be careful or you may end up despising the holy things of God and pouting that He hasn't given you material possessions, fame, the approval of men, athletic prowess, or an easy life. The New Testament doesn't suggest Christians should expect any of these things. Rather, we should thank God for giving us His Son, forgiveness, grace, righteousness, hope for eternity, a clear understanding of the truth, and the church. Or maybe, like these men, you blame God for things that are actually the consequences of your own sin? Take a long look at the reason you are angry with God. Is He really withholding something from you that you have a right to? The truth is that we have no rights before our Creator God, and though we deserve punishment He has given grace instead. Fall back on that grace today in gratitude.