Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Deal with Grumbling | Torah | Numbers 14:1-38

Episode Date: August 30, 2022

Are you quick to blame others instead of yourself? Do you complain before knowing the whole story? How do you react when others complain? In today's episode, Tanya discusses Israel's response to grumbling in Numbers 14:1-38. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Numbers 14:1-38

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. I wonder if you've ever complained about something, only to find out that what you were complaining about wasn't actually true in the first place. Or I wonder if you've ever been upset with someone about something you heard, but you didn't have the whole story. Or I wonder if you've ever gotten a hard heart toward someone and blamed it on them, instead

of looking in the mirror and realizing it started with you. I think the reality is we do this all the time. And we do it because it's easier to complain. It's easier to get angry and it's easier to blame someone else for our discontentment and our frustration than it is to deal with what's really going on in our hearts. Dealing with the muck within, that's hard work. And it makes us uncomfortable. The Israelites had all the blessings and promises of God in front of them.

And they had their presence of God guiding them in the cloud. and they still complained. So I don't think we should think we're unique when we fall into the same temptation. But I do think we should take it seriously because it's something God chose to include in his word not just once, but many times. And it seems like it's important to address this heart issue

because it can have some pretty devastating results in our life if we don't. Let's put our finger on where we are in the wilderness with the Israelite people in Numbers chapter 14. They've just started their journey from Mount Sinai and they were only traveling for a few days when they started complaining about their food and their leaders, both of which God had provided for them in his kindness. And in chapter 14, they start a new complaint, a complaint about where they're going, and it spread through the camp like a contagious disease.

And when Moses sent spies ahead to scout out the new land, the place where they were going, those spies came back with an exaggerated version of enemies that were supposedly there awaiting them. Now, not only was in an exaggeration, but it was human-centered. The perspective didn't take into account the Lord's presence and his promise to fight for them. So when the rest of the Israelite people heard this frightened, faithless evaluation, it affected their hearts too. Numbers 14 opens. Then all the congregation raised a loud cry and the people wept that night.

And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, the whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we would have died in the wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Wouldn't it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? Now this is a new kind of problem for the people because their complaints have turned into an all-out rebellion.

They're rejecting the Lord and his promise, and they're crafting an image of a different life that didn't even exist. Now, a combination of misinterpretation, and misinformation cast a spell over the entire nation, and they started to grumble and complain. Let's say you have something negative brewing in your heart. Maybe it's about a situation you're in, or maybe it's directed towards someone.

What are you going to do about it? Well, you could ask for perspective from someone on the outside. Let's be honest, though, we're not very good at this, because we tend to spend things favorably toward us and negatively toward others. The spies just did this. They originally presented the facts, but then they added to it and put a negative spun on it until it was an all-out exaggeration. And they said that the land they were heading into was devouring its enemies.

You could talk directly to the person involved and get the bigger picture and the full story from them. This is hard too, but it's possible. If it is possible, it's a good step to take. The spies could have done this with Moses, because he was a wise and faithful leader. We also could gossip or grumble to various people, and we could stir the pot of negativity in our hearts, and we're really good at this.

Sometimes we even speak things into existence, and what I mean by that is when we say out loud something negative, our hearts quickly follow along with our mouths. For the Israelites, it sounded like this. Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in the wilderness. They should be careful what they wish for. The Lord's judgment is to give them what they really want,

and ironically their fate will prove it. This generation will fall under the Lord's judgment. They will die in the wilderness, and only their children will be able to enter the promised land. And when the Lord eventually does pronounce this judgment on them, the real issue was unbelief. The Lord said to Moses, how long will these people despise me,

and how long will they not believe in me? Well, let's get some good news going here and look at the best way to respond when bitterness and negativity come knocking at our heart's door. There are four people that stand out in this chapter for their different and better ways of responding. On his own, Caleb. Caleb sticks to the truth about the land flowing with milk and honey. As the one spy who stuck to the truth, the mob doesn't like hearing it, but he does stick with it.

And as a quartet, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb speak the truth with perspective. They acknowledge that the enemies before them are real, and they might be mighty, but they are nothing compared

to the presence of the Lord. Now, the mob didn't like this either, and they threatened to stone all of them. And then Moses, not only does he stand with truth, but he intercedes for the people. And in a remarkable biblical moment, Moses appeals to the Lord's reputation and character. Moses believes. He believes what God said

about himself in Exodus, and he praise it back to the Lord. In Exodus, God proclaimed, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. Moses praise God's words from Exodus back to him and adds, please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now. Now, God hears Moses, and God's response is a bit surprising. He does pardon the people, and he refrains from destroying them, but he still punishes them. They will have to wander in the wilderness and tell all from

this generation have passed away, and the second generation will take up the promise to enter the new land. Whoa, that's serious business, and we have to wrestle with the tension between God's steadfast love and mercy and God's judgment all throughout the Old Testament. Only Christ can solve this tension. As believers today, we wrestle with this tension in the picture of the cross, and the cross goes larger and larger in our minds and our hearts as we realize the magnitude of what we deserve versus what we receive. I think then, It's safe to say that grumbling has serious consequences, and we should take it seriously. We have some excellent wisdom from our friend Paul in the New Testament about how to deal with our grumbling hearts.

From Ephesians 429, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. This isn't something the Bible is telling us to do on our own, but something we can do because of the life Christ lives in us. We can ask him to help us do this. We can for sure put on a show with our hearts, but only Christ can do. change our hearts. So we can start by praying these verses in Ephesians, much like Moses prayed

scripture back to God, asking him to help us. I asked a friend to pray for me to have more compassion for someone, and I knew when I asked her to pray that I was going to have an opportunity to either show compassion or rebel. And I had an opportunity. And I'll be honest, in the moment it was hard to be compassionate. But I knew it's what I wanted. to do. And that alone gave me a lot of comfort. It meant God was merciful to me because he actually made me want to be compassionate. He gave me light to see my bitterness. And he gave me a desire to show compassion instead of malice. Pretty cool stuff. This is one of the reasons I love the Bible. This is probably one of the reasons you love the Bible. God's word, even the most ancient

scripture, it's so relevant and true. And God's character is very. so amazing. The depths of it we will not know until we see him face to face, but it's so fun to dig in and learn more about God with you. Before you forget, sign up for the brand new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.