“MANNA AGAIN?! YUK!”
Numbers 11:4-9, 31-34
John Tung, 6-3-07
I. Introduction
Long, long time ago, a nation had a king. This king was greater than any king in the whole world. He was strong, protective, wise and provided for this people. The only problem was that this king was invisible. People could not see him. Sometimes they could hear him speak from a tent, but they could not see him.
After a while the people began to despise this king. They looked around and saw that the kings of the nations around them were visible, wore majestic and royal clothes, had shiny golden crowns on their heads and had mighty soldiers and chariots that looked vicious and powerful.
So, the people of the nation of the invisible king complained to their leader that they did not want this invisible king as their leader, but wanted a visible human king like the nations around them.
And to their surprise, the leader allowed them to have their request.
So, they elected one of their own tall and strong young men to be their king. And as a result of them choosing this man for their king, they had to now pay taxes to support this king and his lifestyle and his army. They had to bring offerings of food and clothes to this king and his court. Their sons and daughters were made servants to the king. The daughters became cooks and bakers and some of the sons had to run ahead of the chariots, and thus were most likely the first ones to die in battle. And they wound up having even less than they had when the invisible king was their ruler.
Does this story sound familiar?
It should. It is from the OT (1 Sam. 8). It is the story of how Israel abandoned God as their king in order to have a human king. And as a result, what they asked for and got was a much worse thing that what they already had.
There is a lesson in there.
There is a lesson about being careful of what you ask for, because you just might get it. And if you are not careful about what you ask for, the thing that you get can turn out to be much worse than what you already have.
This is an example of an ancient story but whose application is not outdated.
And we can say the whole OT is like that. The whole OT in one sense was written so that we in the NT age would learn those lessons and not repeat them.
Or as, 1 Corinthians 10:6 says in referring to the lessons of the OT, (slide) “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”
God loves us so much he doesn’t want us to repeat the mistakes people made in the past, so one of the reasons He wrote the OT was as a lesson book to record those painful lessons so that we would not repeat them.
But people are forgetful.
We are all forgetful. We easily forget or not pay attention to the things that wiser people tell us. We forget or not pay attention to things that parents, teachers, and other adults teach us.
Or we might remember them for a bit, but then we forget them very soon.
This is why I am starting a new series of sermons for the English adults. This series is not just directed at teens, it is directed at adults. Because adults also forget easily the lessons that they need to keep in mind.
This new series of sermons is called OT Stories: Ancient But Not Outdated. There are many stories in the OT – and when I say “stories” here, I mean these are real life stories, not made up ones or myths - that show people and actions and God and what they did many years ago. But these lessons have applications even for today. And that is what we intend in the English services to show in this upcoming series.
I am not sure what the youth services preaching theme is, whatever it is, I am sure it is good and practical to the teens. But for today’s combined service I am going to pick a story from the OT that I think has application for both the teens and the adults.
The story I have chosen in from Num. 11. It is the story of the complaints of the Jews as they were on their way to Israel, God’s promised land for them. And along the way on their journey, they complained bitterly to God and we want to see why they complained, what exactly is a complaint, and what God did.
Let’s turn to Num. 11:4-9, 31-34. [Read.]
II. Lessons Learned
There are several lessons we can learn from this story.
A. Make sure you know what you are doing when you’re complaining – vss. 4-9
The first lesson is that you should (slide) “Make sure you know what you are dong when you’re complaining.”
The people started to complain because as vs. 4 says “the rabble with them began to crave other foods.”
Who are “the rabble?” Well, the rabble is a mob of people with bad intentions, that’s what a rabble is. You can say they are a gang or a horde of people who have trouble on their minds.
And these rabble or rabble-rousers, were not happy with the manna they were eating, and began to crave other foods.
What other foods?
Well, they wanted meat to eat. Manna was like a bread or cake, so it was carbs. And these folks wanted some protein, like meat or fish. And they wanted vegetables and fruits too, like cucumbers, melons (maybe watermelons or squash, (umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4264.htm)), leeks, onions and garlic.
They got sick of eating manna all day and every day.
But they did have meat actually. When they left Egypt, the Bible said they left with “large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds” (Ex. 12:38), meaning sheep and goats.
But shepherds are reluctant to kill their flocks and usually only kill those animals that are no longer useful to them (Bible Students Commentary: Numbers, p. 97). Otherwise, shepherds can use the flocks to reproduce more animals or save them to produce milk or cheese.
So, there were meat to eat, but they didn’t want to kill their own animals.
So God gave them manna each day.
Now, none of us here has ever tasted manna, but from the description of it in this Bible passage, the manna is actually quite tasty. In Ps. 78, it is even called the “bread of angels,” so maybe it’s like angel-food cake? (joke)
Num. 11, verses 7-8 even tell us the recipe the Israelites used to make manna into cakes: they would ground it in a handmill and cook it in a pot.
Manna was like little wafers that God provided from heaven and descended each day on the ground.
Verse 8 tells us that manna tasted like something made with olive oil.
Now, I don’t know if you like the taste of olive oil. Some of you who like Italian food will be crazy about olive oil. Italian restaurants will provide some nice bread or rolls and give you some extra-virgin olive oil and you dip the bread and it tastes good. I know Italians and people in the Mediterranean area are crazy about olive oil.
So, to have manna that tastes like olive oil meant it was extremely tasty.
In fact, olive oil, especially the extra-virgin variety is so tasty it is called the “oil of the gods” in Roman culture. And a bottle of really good olive oil can sell for up to $40 in US money.
So, this manna was a very tasty treat.
But even the most delicious thing can get boring if you have to eat it day after day. But just because it is boring doesn’t mean you have to complain about it. At least if you are mature and realize that it is still better than nothing to eat.
But the Israelites were not mature, and they did the unthinkable, they complained about free food. You shouldn’t complain about free food, but they did. And they complained about this to God.
Now, we need to be very clear about what a complaint to God is. Not everything we say to God, or an evaluation we give to something, is a complaint. Some evaluations are quite necessary and good. But a complaint to God has some very specific features.
What are those features?
1. Ungrateful for the blessings we have received from God
Well, the first feature is that we are (slide) Ungrateful for the blessings we have received from God.
We do not thank God for what we have, but we complain about what we don’t have.
We do not thank God for the family that we have, the food that we have, the church that we have, the school that we have, the toys that we have, the jobs that we have, the friends that we have, etc. Instead, we complain about why my parents are so unfair, unreasonable, compared to my friend’s parents. Or we complain that our food is the same every day and we don’t go out to restaurants like our friend’s family does. Or we complain that our school really is bad, or that our electronic gadgets are so old and outdated. Or our laptop still runs on Windows 95. Or that our jobs are boring compared to someone else’s. Or that our house is too small. Or that we don’t like the way God made us: our noses are not right, and our brain is not smart enough. But who made your nose and who made your brain? Is it not God?
These are complaints to God. These are things that instead of thanking God for them, we complain and are ungrateful for them and instead complain about what we don’t have. This is especially common when we begin to compare what we don’t have with what we think other people have.
This is what the Israelites did when they said in vs. 5, “We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt at no cost….”
Well, they remembered the fish they had before and that now they don’t have. But they forgot that in order to have that fish, they were slaves in Egypt. They practiced selective memory.
While in Egypt, the Nile River provided them with the fish. Fish was plentiful and they ate them. But now that they don’t have fish, they missed it.
And they even said the fish they ate in Egypt was no cost. Well, it did cost. It cost them, it cost them their freedom. They were slaves.
Would you rather be a slave and eat fish or be a free person and eat bread?
I think you would rather be a free person and eat bread instead of bring whipped and beaten by slave masters just so you can eat fish.
It’s such a silly comparison. But that’s what happens when we complain, we forget the blessings that we have and wish for something that is actually going to cost us a lot more.
When you complain to your mom about the food you eat and say, “Are we having this leftover again?” what do you think will mom say? I think she will say, “I am not running a restaurant, if you don’t like what I make, you can either not eat it or you go and make it yourself.” That’s what she’s going to say.
So, you have a choice then: either you be quiet and eat what is set before you, or you have to cook something for yourself.
The point is that we should take what is freely given to us and don’t complain about them. In fact, a good principle is: don’t complain about anything that is free.
I remember when one of our kids was young and we had to drive this child to elementary school each day since we were beyond the school bus zone. But this child saw that many of her friends got to walk to school since they lived in the neighborhood where the school was. So, one day this child said, “I don’t want you to drive me to school anymore, I want to walk there like my friends.”
Well, my wife and I talked about this and we came up with a plan. We decided to let her walk to school. When this child asked this it was already winter. So, one day, we dropped this child off a few blocks from school, then let her off and told this child to walk to school. So she began to walk, and it was a very cold day, it was winter, like I said. And we drove along and kept an eye on her in the car as we drove.
She made it to school, but was so cold. When she came home that day, we asked, “How was the walk to school?” And she said, “I don’t want to walk to school anymore.” We never heard this child ask to walk to school again.
Be careful of what you ask for; you just might get it.
2. A second feature of a complaint at God is that (slide) We over-exaggerate our current hardships.
When we complain to God, we almost always over-exaggerate our current hardships.
We think we have the worst thing in the whole world. We think no one is suffering as much as we are. We think our situation and our life is the worse than anyone in the world.
But it’s not true. We are over-exaggerating it. There are many people in the world that would gladly trade their life for your life here in the U.S.
The Israelites over-exaggerated when they complained to God. In vs. 6, they said, “But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna.”
Whenever someone uses the words, “never,” “always,” you can spot a complaint coming. “You never do what I tell you.” “You always yell at me.”
When we use those words, we are over-exaggerating our situation and our hardship.
It is not true that we “never” have something good; it is not true that we “always” get the worst of everything. We are complaining; we are over-exaggerating. That is the second feature of a complaint to God.
3. A third feature of a complaint to God is that (slide) We blame God for our perceived problem.
We take it out on God. We blame God for our troubles. We lash out at him for making our life so miserable. That is the third feature of a complaint to God.
We don’t take any responsibility for our problem, even if we brought it on ourselves. We don’t see that other people’s sin may be part of the cause for the pain we feel. We forget about the good that God has given to us; and instead we blame him for what we perceive to be bad.
When you have these three features, you have a complaint with God. Other words the Bible uses to describe this is “grumbling,” and “wailing.”
This is the first lesson we should learn from the Israelites: to make sure you know what you are doing and saying and thinking when you complain to God. It is not an innocent little criticism - it could involve quite a bundle of wrong attitudes. In fact, this was also not the first time the Israelites had complained to God. They had already done so many times before this event. This had become a pattern in their thinking.
B. Move back when you complain because God is not pleased – vs. 33
The second lesson is that you should (slide) “Move back when you complain because God is not pleased.”
Just like your parents are not pleased when you unfairly complain to them, so likewise, God is not pleased when we unfairly complain to him.
In the case of the Israelites here, God was not pleased that his children were so ungrateful for what he has done for them.
So when God provided quail as meat for them in vs. 32, it says in vs. 33 that “while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.”
Now, you might be thinking, what kind of God is this, that he gets angry and strikes people with plagues? Isn’t he supposed to be loving and forgiving?
Well, yes, God is loving and forgiving. And he has loved and forgiven his people many times already. This complaint that the people brought up was not the first time they complained to God.
In fact, if you read the trip in the wilderness, there were many times the Israelites complained about God. That God didn’t do this; he didn’t do that, that they would be better off having not left Egypt.
This is like a dad who drives his family across the country to Yellowstone Park or Disney World for a summer vacation. And along the whole trip, the kids are complaining in the back seat, “Are we there yet?” “I am missing my TV shows.” “I’m missing American Idol.” “I am missing time with my friends.” “I’m missing my Facebook.” “Why do we have to go on this trip?”
And the kids do not understand that the parents want the family to spend time together. That it is very rare for the whole family to go on a trip together and strengthen their bonds and make some lasting memories.
And all the kids can think of is complaining and what they are missing out on.
Well, imagine if this goes on, not just for 5 minutes, but for 5 days. Can you understand why the dad may get a little irritated and upset with all the complaints? And would you be surprised if one day on the vacation, the dad stops the car and says, “OK, if that’s how you kids feel, I am parking this car right here until you stop complaining?”
Can you understand that it is not the father’s fault for being angry, but the kids’ for being such complainers?
Can you understand that the dad has to spend thousands of dollars and take off a whole week or more of work and he might have had to miss the things he enjoys doing, so that the whole family can have a vacation together?
I am glad that my kids didn’t do this when we went previously on summer trips; they were pretty cooperative. But if my kids complained so hard like that every day, I would get angry too and not want to go on the trip any further.
Well, imagine if not just a carload of kids complain, but hundreds of thousands of Israelites all at once complaining to God. All of them saying: “Why did you take us from Egypt to go on this lousy trip?” “I’m hot, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I want to go home.”
How do you think God would feel after he had rescued them and delivered them from slavery and bondage and wants to take them to a nice cool place called the Promised Land?
The Israelites’ trip in the desert is just like the ride the family takes in the car on their summer vacation.
The heavenly Father finally had enough of his complaining kids.
So, the second lesson is “move back when you complain because God is not pleased.”
C. Marvel at what God still provides for you when you complain – vss. 31-32
The third lesson is that you should (slide) “Marvel at what God still provides for you when you complain.”
Even though God is not pleased with our complaints at him, he still provides for us.
We see this in vss. 31-32.
Even though God could hear all their complaints, yet he still provided for them.
So, besides the manna, he sent a wind that blew in huge amounts of quail for the people to eat.
In case you don’t know what a quail is, here is a picture I found of a quail (slide) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quail).
It says that quails are part of the pheasant family. And we all know how much of a delicacy a pheasant is. They only serve it in the finest French restaurants.
But here it says in the Bible that God provided so much quail that they were 3 feet deep for a days walk in all directions from the Israelites camp. And when they gathered the quail, not only did it not run away from them, but each person collected 10 homers, or 60 bushels of them or maybe about 200 quails per family (?).
So, even though the people complained, and God was angry, and some died, yet he still gave the vast majority of the people food to eat. We still marvel at how God provides for us even though we sin.
It is not the best way to receive something from God. We wish we would receive blessings from God the right way, through the way of faith and obedience, instead of the way of sin.
In other words, the angry dad on the vacation may still buy food for the complaining kids to eat, but he is not happy. And when the family is eating, they are silent and quiet. It is much better to eat with joy and laughter than in sadness and gloominess.
But God is still a God who cares for his people. He will punish those who have been complaining, but he also restrains himself and holds himself back and not let his full anger be unleashed.
So, let us learn from this incident in the Bible to not complain to God and instead to accept what he has given us and be grateful. Let us pray.
