Complaints Against A Gracious God

“They sinned still more against [God],

rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

They tested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved.

They spoke against God, saying,

'Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

He struck the rock so that water gushed out

and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread

or provide meat for his people?'

“Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;

a fire was kindled against Jacob;

his anger rose against Israel,

because they did not believe in God

and did not trust his saving power.

Yet he commanded the skies above

and opened the doors of heaven,

and he rained down on them manna to eat

and gave them the grain of heaven.

Man ate of the bread of the angels;

he sent them food in abundance.

He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,

and by his power he led out the south wind;

he rained meat on them like dust,

winged birds like the sand of the seas;

he let them fall in the midst of their camp,

all around their dwellings.

And they ate and were well filled,

for he gave them what they craved.

But before they had satisfied their craving,

while the food was still in their mouths,

the anger of God rose against them,

and he killed the strongest of them

and laid low the young men of Israel.” [1]

Talk about ingratitude! In the account detailing how the LORD led His people out of Egyptian bondage, we witness a disturbing display of ingratitude. Moses recorded the account of God’s might and power pitted against the gods of Egypt. His power was displayed on behalf of His people. The might of the sole world superpower of that day was insufficient to defeat the Lord GOD. The contest ended about as you would expect. The final score was God – 1, Egypt – 0.

As an aside of considerable interest, the combined might of the nations would be no more effective against the Lord in this day. Have they never read,

“Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

‘Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.’

“He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

‘As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.’”

[PSALM 2:1-6]

Perhaps you recall another Psalm that depicts the inability of the nations to stop the LORD from doing what He wills. In that Psalm, we witness the Psalmist writing,

“The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

He utters his voice, the earth melts.”

[PSALM 46:6]

God needs but speak and those who think they can depose Him melt away into nothing. And when we align ourselves with the Lord, we are victorious in every situation. Truly has the Lord spoken,

“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

The LORD is on my side as my helper;

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.”

[PSALM 118:6-7]

The LORD our God is the victor in every contest, and we also are victorious when we stand with Him. Truly, He is our Rock [e.g. PSALM 18:2], our Fortress [e.g. PSALM 59:9], our Shield [e.g. PSALM 84:11] and our Defender [e.g. ISAIAH 19:20].

Turning again to our text, we read that as the people journeyed toward the Land of Promise, the people began to complain. Moses dutifully recorded what was happening. “[Israel] set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger’” [EXODUS 16:1-3].

Is it possible that people who have been blessed with freedom after years in slavery would long to return to slavery? Is it possible that people who have received such rich gifts that God alone can give would actually consider going back to live on the husks that litter the pigpen? Doesn’t such ingratitude seem utterly ridiculous when it is presented in that way. It is not only possible that people freed from slavery would wish to return to the thralldom they had once known, but we know that it is an ever-present possibility. Though we have been delivered from the slavery we knew when we were in the world, each of us has known the allure that grips our mind and beckons us to leave the peace we know to turn again to the bright lights glaring against the darkened skies.