Grumbling in the Desert

Grumbling in the Desert
Words of Faith 11-21-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 16
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. [2] In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. [3] The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

The Israelites continued their journey into the desert. They did not get very far before they began to grumble. Grumbling or murmuring will be a common issue in the journey ahead.
The Hebrew word 'luwn' is translated to "murmur" or "complain." It is a marvelously descriptive word because it means literally to stop, usually overnight! It means to be "obstinate in words" or to complain, but even more, to "dwell" or "tarry" all night.
In other words, the problem was not just that there were a few complaints such as, "Moses, the line is moving slowly!" or "Moses, our neighbor's children are crying all night." No, this was the sort of complaining where someone "camps out" on a topic. This was the kind of complaining that "stops" progress and impedes a solution. This is the obstinate murmuring that brings the journey to a grinding halt.
Apparently, the chief complaint among the people was a dwindling supply of food. "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
There is no indication that the people were missing meals or even hungry. They had been traveling for about a month, and their supplies were diminished significantly, but it is important to note that the text does not say that they were out of food. It was the fear of being in the desert with dwindling provisions that had caused some to doubt the entire endeavor. The hardship of slavery had faded from memory as the fear of hunger set in.
Grumbling is not just a desert issue. It is a journey issue. The truth is that we all hit points on the journey when fear sets in. It is not necessarily the fear of some imminent danger or attack. It is the fear that perhaps God will not take care of us. It is the fear that God is not prepared or able to complete what He has started. It is the fear that God has not thought things out carefully.
We may grumble as individuals, but murmuring is a well-known group activity. Churches, groups, missions, and movements are all susceptible to grumbling. It only takes a few to "camp out" on an issue or complaint, and progress can come to a grinding halt.
How do we deal with grumbling? The answer was there the whole time, back at the Red Sea. Worship. In worship, the people declared that the Lord, in His unfailing love, would lead the redeemed to His dwelling, and the people of God would be planted in the mountain of inheritance.
Declaring this truth, even in the face of dwindling supplies, would be an expression of faith. We will see that the Lord was indeed prepared to feed his people in the desert. But the Lord's provision was not coming before it was needed. As the Apostle Paul put it, we are confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).
Have you been grumbling? Stuck on an issue of fear or mistrust? Worried about the future when we are not there yet? Worship the Lord. Draw near to Him and declare the wonderful truth that God will complete what He begins.

Lord, I trust in You. My security is not in my stock of provisions. My hope is not in what I have carried with me or accumulated for my trip. My hope is in You. I choose to worship You. I refuse to be part of any grumbling. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.