THE ART OF COMPLAINING

[Exodus 15:22 - 16:31]

          Introduction to the Scriptures:

[Read Exodus 15:22 - 16:9]

          Verse 10: “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.” He was in their midst. He wanted them to know that.

[Read Exodus 16:11-15]

          To summarize here a bit, they did what they were told. There was plenty to go around. He gave them special instructions for the Sabbath. He said, Pick up twice as much on the sixth day because it won’t be there on the seventh. But of course they went out on the seventh looking for it anyway. So Moses was upset with them for not following God’s instructions. Nevertheless, down in verse 27, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it. They found none, and then the Lord said to Moses (verse 28) “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?”

[Read Exodus 16:29-30]

          The Sabbath is an example to us of God’s provision, and He is trying to teach the people they can count on Him no matter the circumstances. Finally, verse 31: “The people of Israel called the bread manna. [The word that means, What is it? The question they had been asking.] It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.”

Prayer for Illumination – Father, as we listen now to your word and seek to understand it and see what it means in our lives, I pray that you would focus our attention and that we would find ourselves in this story. There is a very relevant lesson for us, and I think we will discover it. I do pray that you would use my words, and even though my voice is sometimes on the verge of failing here, I pray that you would keep it together that I might be able to speak what you want me to say and, in any case, that we would be able to hear your message and take it seriously and that it would make a difference in our lives. We pray it in Christ’s name, AMEN.

Message

          I want to say, first of all, Congratulations! You have just won the lottery!

          That actually was the observation of one of our own young people upon returning from an extended trip to an eastern bloc country. He came back and said, “You know what, every American needs to understand that he or she has just won the lottery.” We are so used to all of our blessings, we do a lot of complaining. But we are a privileged people. For all of our complaining we have unprecedented wealth in this nation, surpassing every other nation in history. There have been pockets of wealth at various times and in various places, but it was invariably controlled by a tiny elite while the vast majority of people simply struggled to survive, as has been the case with most people in history. We could distribute that wealth no doubt in more just ways, but it is the best it has ever been.

          We also have unprecedented opportunity and privilege in this nation: opportunities for upward mobility economically and socially that supercede that of any other nation – think of the social and economic stratification in places like India, for example, that land of over one billion people, or the abject poverty that stretches across much of Africa and parts of Asia; 75% of the world’s population lives in those areas. We have access to health care, access to justice, trials, the equitable voice of the law, education, opportunities that are unmatched in history. Now I realize I say this as a member of the more privileged portion of our population, but even the lot of the poorest in this nation supercedes that of the wealthiest in most nations at most times in history.

          We can do so many things. What a grand time to be alive. We can travel anywhere on the face of the earth. We can get to any place on the globe within 24 hours. We can view the great wonders of the world, we can participate in experiences which even the great adventurers in history had no access to. We have access to technology which enables us in real time to communicate with each other and to interact with the world from the most remote corner of the globe. We have freedoms that the vast majority of the planet cannot even dream about. And, of course, we in particular have experienced God’s grace. Yet we are notoriously susceptible to negativism, to complaint, and to self-pity.

          How is it that with all of our wealth, all of our opportunity, and all of our blessing, we are still notorious as a nation of whiners and complainers – indulged and yet perpetually dissatisfied? Like Israel in our text from Exodus this morning, we are (if I may say this) a nation of Whiners and Diners! We complain even while the Lord is filling our plates. Really? You are complaining? Do you realize that at least 98% of the people who have ever lived in history would think you were out of your mind for complaining about what you have and what you’ve had the privilege of experiencing in your lifetime?

          Compared to us, the Israelites in our text this morning seem to have had plenty of reasons to complain, but God didn’t have much tolerance even for them. The first part of chapter 15, which we did not read, is a glorious song about God’s amazing acts of deliverance. We talked about that last week on Easter Sunday. He loves you, He cares for you, He has dealt with your enemies and delivered you from slavery and from death. Moses and his sister, Miriam, say so in that psalm. Celebrate! And they did.

          They celebrated, but the next morning I guess reality set in. We see it in our text beginning in verse 22 right away. Immediately they are grumbling and complaining and criticizing those who have bought them their privileges. At the very moment when we think they might be experiencing relief finally after all those years of slavery, and expressing contentment, we find them supposedly experiencing grief and expressing resentment. What does it say about us when we have been given so much and all we can do is complain that we have not been given more? What does it say about our character to be a nation of whiners and complainers? What does it say about our self-centeredness, about our lack of perspective on history, our lack of empathy for those who really struggle, and of course ultimately about our lack of trust in God?

          This, by the way, is serious business. It is not just a bad habit. It is, quite frankly, on God’s top ten list, right up there with murder and adultery. You might not have noticed it, but if you look at the 10^th commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” what does it really mean? Well coveting is wanting something that’s not ours, in other words it is not being content with what God has given you. Maybe we understand God’s commandments better if we realize that the 10^th commandment is about a lack of contentment – so you withheld your hand from murder but you sure did a lot of complaining. We’re culpable before the laws of God. Constant complaining is not just a bad habit. According to God’s word, it is a sin!

          As our text begins, Moses has led the Israelites from the Sea of Reeds out into the Desert of Shur. By the way, I’ll just mention this briefly because it is important to see that it makes sense. We mentioned last week that it’s highly unlikely if not impossible that the Israelites crossed what we know as the Red Sea today. I don’t mean to say that God couldn’t have done that if He wanted to do it, but that is really not what the text says. The “Red Sea” is a much later Greek translation, but the Hebrew words are literally yam suph or “Sea of Reeds.” The Red Sea was too far away for them to have gotten there yet in any case, traveling perhaps 10 or 12 miles a day, which is about as far as a large crowd with women and children could go on foot with flocks and herds. They were only a few days out, and besides, we are told that they find themselves now in the desert of Shur which is north of the Red Sea and right across those shallow, reedy lakes where God in such a spectacular way delivered them, as we explored last Sunday.

          And picture them traveling there, because this is important to understanding what’s going on. They are “donkey nomads,” not “camel nomads,” so they cannot launch out across the desert. They’ve got to follow where there’s some pasture and some water. So we pretty much have a general idea of their route because the wells and oases haven’t changed much since the time of Moses if at all. Eventually they begin to head across Shur and to the south. We find this is where they went – the wilderness of Sin is farther to the south on the peninsula. They eventually come to an oasis, a well, called Marah. They might have anticipated what they would find there. Most of the wells and springs had names that reflected something about the place itself and the experience. And the word marah means bitter, and the Israelites are very distressed about the taste of the water. They are thirsty, but this water doesn’t taste good. Most Artesian wells, like those found in this area, are in fact very bitter and unpleasant to the taste because of the high concentration of mineral salts which have dissolved into the water.

          By the way, I can vouch for this. I haven’t tried to drink the water from the wells in the Sinai peninsula, but I did grow up, as you know, in a semi-arid part of the country, and the only water available in the little prairie town where I grew up was a hot water Artesian well. It was nearly one mile deep, and it came out of the ground at temperatures close to 180°F. We actually had to cool the water for the entire town. Obviously, we were not going to become a large, urban center. As you can imagine, hot water that has percolated down through many layers of stone and been forced along between layers of impermeable stone, and then back up at a break (or in our case we had drilled into it), that hot water has dissolved all kinds of smelly and foul-tasting minerals along the way. If you didn’t grow up with it, you couldn’t stand the taste of that water. I heard plenty of complaints from tourists on their way through, who like the Israelites I think, probably spit it back out on the ground and complained, “This water’s undrinkable!” We probably weren’t going to become a favorite tourist stop either.

          Now the water wouldn’t kill you. I drank it. I’m still here. And you could disguise the taste with coffee or lemon. Although, when my wife got there, she said “Even coffee doesn’t help the taste of this water.” But with some additive perhaps you could make the water palatable. Apparently this is essentially what God did here as He instructs Moses to take a piece of wood that He points out, throw it in the water, and then see if they can drink it. And he does. Some scholars believe this was perhaps from the barberry bush, or something like it which grew in the area, and, as water was filtered through it, it would give the water a sweeter taste. I can tell you that on a day when the temperature was climbing over 100°F. and the prairie winds tasted like dust, I really didn’t mind the water at all. On the other hand, it was my only option. But that was in the ancient days. Today I could’ve ordered a double-tall, skinny, barberry latté, and perhaps that would have covered the taste.

          (I’m getting a bit carried away here, but) you understand, God is taking care of them and maybe in kind of a special way. Maybe that was the first taste of the predecessors of Starbucks. It was human nature, I guess, and we probably sympathize, but the children of Israel, you see, had just been delivered. God’s made all the promises, He’s caring for them, He’s even saying, Okay, you don’t like the taste; we’ll fix that. But immediately they’re falling into the trap which was going to keep them feeling unhappy and perpetually aggrieved. As we trace them through the wilderness, they came back to that complaining again and again and again. Now God doesn’t reprimand them at this point. In fact He reassures them of His intention to care for them no matter what they face. He says, Just listen, trust me, follow me, I’m giving you guidance. Follow me and trust me. It’s going to be okay. In verse 26, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes,” He says, I’ll promise to protect you; I’ll keep you healthy and functioning. You don’t have to worry.

          Incidentally, I think this is a fascinating touch. The word “show” (He showed Moses how to fix the drinking water – verse 25) is the root from which the word Torah comes, the Hebrew word for the book of the law. What I think this suggests, since it is the same word, is that God’s Word is far more than what we usually think of as “law,” kind of sterile directions for our conduct. Rather, God’s Word, God’s Torah, as it was here, is thoughtful and helpful instruction on how to get the most out of life. God “showed” them how to sweeten the water. God is someone we ought to listen to, especially when we feel like complaining.

          In any case, the next place to which he led them from Marah was a place called Elim, which means “large trees.” So I guess that was a very welcome sight for them. There were, we are told 12 springs and 70 palm trees there, 12 and 70, of course, are numbers of perfection to the Hebrews. It is saying, We kind of like this place! It was a small taste of paradise there in the wilderness, and an indication of God’s desire not only to care for them, but even perhaps at times to indulge them. I think we would have to admit that God promises to meet our needs, but He’s constantly going beyond the needs. He does indulge us, and He is going to keep His promises. The question is what would be their response? Would their attitude be one of contentment, resting in God’s care? Or would it be an attitude of resentment because, well it just didn’t measure up to their expectations? It was a bit uncomfortable, and they weren’t sure they liked it.

          We are not long in finding the answer to that question. As they move from there, on their way out of slavery and into the promised land, in chapter 16, verse 2 we find the whole community grumbling again against Moses and Aaron. Moses points out in verses 7 and 8 that complaints against them are really complaints against God. They are just doing what God says. They’ve even protested themselves, but they’re doing what God has asked them to do.

          Not only that, but listen to this complaint: “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt!” [verse 3] Come on, they just had some bad-tasting water. “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.” Now you and I know what Moses went through and what God had to go through to talk him into leading these people, and here they are saying, You did this on purpose to starve us. I know – most of us know what it’s like when you think you’re giving everything you’ve got, you’re making significant personal sacrifices, and all anybody can do is complain. Moms know that, as we mentioned to the kids – you do all this work to fix a meal for your children, and all they do is whine and complain about the meal you have prepared. Moses is getting a taste of what God gets all the time.

          Besides, it isn’t even true! Slaves were never given an abundance to eat. That’s looking back. Reality has been distorted by their negativism. It always looks better in the past; nothing looks good today. Here, in the middle of the greatest drama of deliverance in history, where God has promised to protect them and provide for all their needs and lead them on to freedom – it’s the grand adventure – all they can do is complain and look back at the past and say, “Oh, those were the days.” Well, no, it’s how we would like to remember the days. But that’s not the way it was.

          So there you have it: Whining and Dining – this time in Israel’s history. Every day God is providing for all their needs, and every day all they can do is complain.

          By the way, we often do feel like they were kind of justified in complaining, weren’t they? I mean, they were out in the desert with no food or water. But that is not actually true. They are not starving to death out there. God was taking care of them in numerous ways, even leading them along this path where all these oases and water to grow things could be found. He knew what they needed to live. They also had huge flocks and herds and what those flocks and herds tend to do is reproduce. You will remember all the sacrifices they were later required to give, but it didn’t deplete the number of sheep and goats and cattle in their herds. So you know that they could feed on those. At Passover they fed the entire family on a single lamb they had roasted.

          Well, you say, but they couldn’t be expected to subsist on a diet that consisted entirely of meat. I’d say, why not? You haven’t read Undaunted Courage, the Lewis & Clark expedition. They lived on meat for three years. Everybody was very healthy. It’s not exactly the kind of diet you’re likely to find recommended on line for optimum health, but Lewis & Clark did it. I suppose we could live on a diet that’s not quite as well balanced as those that we would prefer. Besides, things grew near these oases and in valleys along the way. They had to have been growing because their animals had to feed on things as well. And those animals could provide dairy products like milk and cheese. So you know, it wasn’t as if they had nothing.

          In any case, God provided for them in remarkable ways as they went along. I think it sounds rather like an adventure, rather exciting. In verse 4 God says, All right. I’m listening. Here’s what I am going to do. “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.” The word is lechem which is usually translated bread. It is the name of the town Beth-lehem, Bethlehem, the “house of bread.” But in it’s earliest form it could apply to any food. In any case, God says, I can bring you food. I can bring you all kinds of food from heaven – out of the sky. Just watch me.

          And He does. Over in verse 8 He elaborates,

You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him.

          When people grumble and complain to me, I’m likely to say, fine, see if I help you. But God didn’t do that. They complain and He says, All right, I’ll show you. I still want to take care of you.

          Now you will remember that again and again in this story so far, we have seen the outworking of that Hebrew word “wonders,” natural events used in supernatural ways. So in the remainder of the chapter God does exactly that. “That evening,” verse 13 says, “quail came and covered the camp.” Moses tells us more about such an event in Numbers 11. Naturalists know that quails migrate regularly between south Europe and Arabia right across the Sinai Peninsula. It happens today, a natural event. They are small, little bullet-headed birds, with a strong but low flight. Usually they roost on the ground or in the low bushes at nightfall, exhausted after their long flight in the heat of the day. A nimble young boy could easily run one down on the ground. And they are particularly good eating. The Greek historian Herodotus tells us that they were a favorite delicacy of the Egyptians. So this is pretty cool. This is “Quail under glass.” Well, not glass, “Quail on the grass,” I don’t know, but a delicacy for them in God’s restaurant. It sounds to me like the Israelites are doing some serious dining, but it hasn’t stopped their whining, has it?

          In the morning it is something else. “Manna,” the Israelites came to call it. But “manna” simply means “What is it?” So they call it, What is it? This is the earliest known version, by the way, of Abbott and Costello’s little exchange, “Who’s on first?” Can’t you kind of imagine it? “What is it?” “Manna.” “That’s what I’m asking.” “I just told you.” “Told me what?” “What is it?” “I asked you first.”

          Verse 31 tells us the people of Israel called the bread manna – “what is it?” And it goes on to describe it. “It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.” That sounds pretty good. Breakfast pastries which are delivered to your door every morning! This is the life! It is sure better than what happens when I go camping.

          Alan Cole in his commentary on Exodus tells us “this description, and its quality of disappearing in the heat of the sun (when it’s collected by ants), prove almost conclusively that it was the Arabic man, a globular exudation of [globs of stuff that are exuded by] two types of scale insects, living on twigs of tamarisk. This substance is chemically composed of natural sugars and pectin, and is found today only in the south-western part of the Sinai Peninsula.”

          Whatever its actual nature, this was God’s provision for His people all the days of their wandering in the desert. Pastries in the morning! Everything sounds better than we might have expected frankly at a time when they are having to survive in the wilderness. But it didn’t keep them from complaining, did it? Whining and dining I’m afraid is a national pastime not only of Israel but for us as well. No matter what they had, they refused to be content.

          And we have recognized this morning that we are subject to the very same failing. God is going to make it quite clear to the children of Israel that He is not going to tolerate this constant complaining. So this is an important lesson that we need to learn also. We can’t just say, Well, yeah, I probably complain too much. God says, I don’t like to hear you complaining all the time. I have something else in mind for you.

          Let’s look at how this comes together for us. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote a great letter from prison to the church at Philippi – from prison! But it is a thoroughly upbeat letter. It is one of the most encouraging words in all of the New Testament. Near the beginning, after his greetings and a prayer for them, he writes [Philippians 1:12],

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me [talking about being in prison] has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Can you imagine that? Praise the Lord, I’m in prison! That’s Paul’s word for us.

          Now, one would think that having been unjustly imprisoned for sharing the gospel was legitimate justification for complaining. We would have felt we had a right to it. But Paul says, You know what? Wow, this is turning out better than I could have anticipated. And then he goes on from there to acknowledge further that, You know, some people are complaining here because there are a lot of people preaching the gospel for entirely the wrong motives. And it’s true, they are preaching out of selfish ambition. I think that would be worth complaining about. But he says, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” It looks like a great opportunity for complaining, and there he is rejoicing.

          What an amazing attitude! The whole letter of Philippians is full of rejoicing. If we are paying attention, we have to ask at some point, Paul, how do you pull this off? I mean, I think about what you’re dealing with, and here you are rejoicing. I’m in fairly good spirits when everything is going my way. But under the terrible circumstances you are facing, how do you keep up this great spirit? And he responds in 4:11. He says, “I have learned to be content.” It’s not our natural state of affairs is it? But he says,

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Isn’t that the lesson we ought to be learning?

          So what is his secret? – “I’ve learned the secret of being content.” What does he do? We have to learn it. It’s not our natural inclination. Paul tells us in verse 4 of chapter 4. Here’s the secret. “Rejoice in the Lord always. [That’s so important] I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your [your gentleness, your] generosity [your sensitivity to others], be evident to all. The Lord is near. [Whatever you are going through, the Lord is near.] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [Sure, tell Him what you need, but thank Him for all the ways He’s blessing you.] And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

          Then he goes on to say, I’ll give you a little clue. Do what I do. Here’s what I do.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

          You say, But, Paul, there is so much misery in the world. He says, I know about the misery. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . . .” But, but, Paul, everything is going wrong for these people, or for us, or for my family. Yes, but, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . excellent or praiseworthy,” I want you to focus on those things. You asked me my secret about being content, that’s what I’m telling you.

          He has given it to us. The key to his contentment is developing, frankly, an attitude of gratitude which looks for the good and gives thanks in all things. Do you remember when the Hebrews, on their way out of captivity, were saying, “Oh, those were the days!” Looking back, “those were the days!” We had it so much better back there in Egypt. Get a life. Those were not the days. In fact God says something very different. He says, “This is the day.” Not those were the days. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” [Psalm 118:24]

          This, by the way – the contrast of “those were the days” with “this is the day” – is not just a fortunate turn of a phrase. In that line from Psalm 118 with which we were called into worship, God says to us: This day, today, whatever you’re facing, this day is my latest and best gift for you. I made it myself! Do you like it? It is my gift to you. Today, this 24 hours. It’s my gift, and whatever I give you is good. I want you to appreciate it. I am present in it. Whatever you have experienced in previous days also, whether you thought you were suffering or whether you were celebrating, that was my gift. I had a reason for it. Today this is my gift, and all my gifts are good.

          It is to my favorite author, C. S. Lewis, that I owe this compelling antidote for pessimism and disappointment. He talks about learning it from one of his friends on their walks through the English countryside. In Surprised by Joy he tells of learning to enjoy everything, even ugliness. “I learned,” he says, “that we should attempt a total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering itself at the moment; in a squalid town to seek out those very places where its squalor rose to grimness [squalor rose to grimness?!] and almost grandeur, on a dismal day to find the most dismal and dripping wood, on a windy day to seek the windiest ridge.” He calls it “a serious, yet gleeful, determination to rub one’s nose in the very quiddity [that is, the very essence] of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it was.” [p.199]

          There’s a real challenge, I’ll tell you, but it is kind of fun to look at life in that way and say, All right, instead of complaining that it’s dark and gray and drizzly today, and cold besides, how do I really enter into “This is the day the Lord has made.” We can say it on a day like this when the sun is shining, but what about those miserable days? Is that a gift from the Lord as well? It is another way of saying what the apostle Paul was saying. Rejoice in all things! It is the antidote to complaining and perpetual dissatisfaction. It is based of course on one thing that we know to be true: our confidence that God, as He has told us again and again and demonstrated to us again and again, loves us and is doing what He set out to do in our lives. “For we know that in all things [not some things, not most things, in all things] God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” My friends, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, we have been called according to His purpose. We are the people who ought to be demonstrating that. If we love God, we cannot live our lives complaining.

Closing prayer – Father, I do thank you, even though some days we’re not as grateful as others. But I thank you for challenging us, and I pray that it might make a difference in how we think. It is not going to make a difference over night. But maybe if we make some changes in our lives and don’t focus so much on the evening news and all the miserable things happening in the world to all the miserable people, but rather if we look at what’s good and true and noble and excellent and worthy of praise and lovely and beautiful – not to the exclusion of knowing what you call us to do, to help fix a broken world – that we might come back to you for the refreshment of our souls day-by-day with an expression of thanksgiving and praise for who you are and how you continually bless us and the promises you have made. May we know that even in the midst of the worst times, we are proceeding on an adventure that is going to end in glory. And may we thank you now in the name of Jesus Christ, our personal guide through that wilderness and into the promised land, AMEN.