The early chapters of Numbersare about the restoration of the people of God.
In the firstten chapters of Numbers the Lord speaks through his servant Moses. A census was taken. The twelve tribes of Israel were carefully counted. The Levites were set apart to serve in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was dedicated as a sanctuary of worship of the living God. The tribal camps were strategically arranged in a circle around the tabernacle. Provisions were made to maintain the utmost purity and holiness of God’s people.
Men and women stepped forward and made vows of service to God. The priests were instructed to bless God’s people. Leaders dug deep and gave generously to the work of the Lord. Sacrifices were made, the Passover was remembered, and God’s grace was celebrated. Trumpets are sounded as the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and prepare for the victorious conquest of the promised land.
So long as the Lord spoke and the people heeded the words of the Lord there was life, hope, peace, faith, optimism, and joy. Numbers 1 through Numbers 10 is all about the restoration of the people of God. It is about God reclaiming that which was lost since man’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden.
The Israelites begin complaining.
But in Numbers 11 it isn’t the Lord who speaks, but rather the people who speak. Instead of celebrating their abundance in God and marching on toward victory in the promised land, the people begin grumbling against the Lord,murmuring andcomplaining.
Oh how we love to grumble. Grumbling doesn’t require any leadership. Grumbling doesn’t require any faith, hope, or love. Grumbling doesn’t require any creativity, initiative, sacrifice, or conviction. Grumbling is one of the most passive and pathetic of all human responses. "I’m not happy. It’s your fault. It’s God’s fault. I’m a victim."
If you ever have the joy of being in a leadership position, you know how quickly you can become the object of grumbling. And I’m not just talking about church leadership here.
What leader hasn’t felt what Moses feels in Numbers 11:10-15 (NIV)? "Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. TheLORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the LORD, 'Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.' "
Leadership is not always a joy. In fact,many times it is a burden, and the burden is people’s passivity, their unwillingness to take responsibility, or their unwillingness to take initiative and constructively build a better future together.
Great leaders learn how to weather the grumbling.
The great leaders learn how to weather the grumbling. They humble themselves and seek God’s word. The most ineffective leaders succumb to the grumbling and lose focus. They take on the burdens and take on the blame and shoulder all the responsibilities instead of giving the work back to the people God intended it for.
This is one of the greatest temptations of leadership—to pretend to be God and pretend to have superhuman power. But even God gives the work back to the people and he expects leaders to do the same. Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV) instructs, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Parents know the crippling impact of grumbling. What child hasn’t protested sleeping in her own room, tying her ownshoes, going to school, doing homework, eating healthy, going to bed, doing chores, going to church, reading the Bible, or a thousand other things? If your child isn’t grumbling, you’re probably not parenting properly.
Like children, the Israelites grumbled against God. They grumbled against Moses. Of course they did! God was commanding them to live holy lives, to walk by faith, and to live lives of worship. The Israelites wanted to live as they pleased and walk by sight and relegate God to the fringes of their lives. You bet they grumbled! Through Moses, God was insisting upon whole life change! The more personal and costly the change, the more loudly grumbling grows.
Grumbling is rebellion and rebellion is a slippery slope, especially when it is directed at God. Allow me to survey the grumbling that spans Numbers 11 to Numbers 22. Do you notice any echoes in your life?
Hardships: "Lord, life is just too overwhelming to change."
Numbers 11:1 (NIV) says, "Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of theLORD,and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from theLORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp."
Hunger: "Lord, what you’ve given isn’t enough. I need more."
Numbers 11:4-6 (NIV) says, "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 11:10 (NIV) says, "Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. TheLORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled."
Divisive: "Lord, we can do better without your leaders."
Numbers 12:1-2 (NIV) says, "Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 'Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?' they asked. 'Hasn’t he also spoken through us?' And the Lord heard this."
Numbers 12:9 (NIV) says, "The anger of theLORD burned against them, and he left them."
Fear: "Lord, we don’t think it is possible, not even with you."
Numbers 13:31-33 (NIV) tells us, "But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, 'The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.' "
Nostalgia andretreat: "Lord, we had it so much better before."
Numbers 14:1-4 (NIV) says, "That night all the people 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 desert! Why is theLORD 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?'And they said to each other, 'We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.' "
Presumption: "Lord, we’ll take the land without you."
Numbers 14:39-44 (NIV), "When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. 'We have sinned,' they said. 'We will go up to the place the LORD promised.' But Moses said, 'Why are you disobeying the LORD's command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because theLORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.'Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of theLORD's covenant moved from the camp."
Distractions: "Lord, thanks but we don’t need you anymore."
Numbers 15:37-41 (NIV) tells us, "The Lord said to Moses,'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am theLORD your God.' "
Self-glorification and pride:"Lord, we're already okay. No one is going to tell us to change."
Numbers 16:1-3 (NIV) recounts, "Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and theLORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly."
Hardening of the heart or blasphemy: "Lord, how dare you? We know better than you."
Numbers 16:41 (NIV) says, "The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 'You have killed theLORD's people,' they said."
It isn’t pleasant reading Numbers 11 through Numbers 21. The grumbling angers God and stirs his wrath. At times the Lord allows the Israelites to drink the consequences of their sin. They experience even more hardships, sickness, pain, disease, leprosy, plagues, and even death. Such is the danger of grumbling. Apart from God there is no life. Better to learn that in this life than to forfeit one’s soul for eternity.
Moses prays on behalf of the Israelites.
In Numbers 14:17-24 (NIV) Moses prays on behalf of the Israelites. "Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 'TheLORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
"TheLORD replied, 'I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of theLORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."
Just now I think we need to seek God’s forgiveness for the countless ways that we protest his authority. May we have the spirit of Caleb that follows God and serves him whole-heartedly and inherits the promised land.
Hardships: "Lord, life is just too overwhelming to." Hunger: "Lord, what you’ve given isn’t good enough." Divisive: "Lord, we can do better without your leaders." Fear: "Lord, we don’t think it is possible, not even with you." Nostalgiaandretreat: "Lord, we had it so much better before." Presumption: "Lord, we’ll take the land without you." Distractions:"Lord, thanks but we don’t need you anymore." Self-glorification: "Lord, we're already okay. No one is going to tell us to change." Hardening of the heart: "Lord, we know better than you."