There once was a baseball player. He woke up one morning and went to workouts. The power bar he ate was too sweet, so he threw the other half away. The weights were too heavy, so he did as little as he could. When he ran with his team, his shoes didn’t have enough cushion – and he let everyone know. When they got on the field, his bat didn’t have enough pop, his glove was too old, and the weather was obviously not right for practicing. His coaches and teammates never did the right things. There were obviously much better things that they could be doing! To top it off, the water wasn’t cold enough when he went to get a drink – after all the work he put in!

What a miserable man and miserable person to be around!

This is kind of how God felt hanging out with Israel when he led them out of Egypt.

Here’s a quick recap. Israel (God’s chosen people in the Old Testament) was delivered out of 400 years of slavery from the Egyptians. The Israelites were forced into labor – forced to making bricks day-by-day. God called them out by a man named Moses. God showed the Pharoah of Egypt who’s boss – delivering a wave of plagues into the land. Finally, Israel was released into the wilderness. God opened the sea with a miracle, let the Israelites pass through, and closed them up on the other side. They were free at last! Free at last!

But then, the complaining started. “It’s too hot!” they said. They kept thinking about Egypt. They compared everything to Egypt. Boy, they were a miserable people!

God sent food from the sky that would rest on the ground every morning, like dew, called manna. They didn’t have to do anything to work for it except go out and pick it up. But they found a way to complain!

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!”

At this point, the people had been complaining for a while on their journey to the Promise Land. This wasn’t the first time, and Moses was stuck in the middle of the complainers and angry God. 

Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord 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 ancestors? 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, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

Moses is correct. He didn’t give birth to them. 

God had enough with their attitutudes. Like we head from our parents sometimes, “Be careful what you ask for...”because God sure did give it to them. Here’s what he had to say:

Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’

Oh, man!

Then, scripture says that the Lord scattered quail around the camp almost three feet deep as far as a day’s walk in any direction! That would make anybody sick!

Some people, if given everything, will find a way to complain. I think we all have those tendencies. Even when Israel did get to their new land and got all the food they could ever want – much better than Egypt ever was – it wasn’t enough! They found new ways to complain. When they fully believed that God’s way wasn’t working, they wanted an earthly king more than having God rule over them. So, God gave them that too – which didn’t end up well. 

Through it all, God never gave up. God was rejected but kept persuing us. As terrible as the people were, as terrible as we are, God stuck with us and gave us Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. He died us and for our complaining hearts!

Prayer Prompt

Lord, you are a great provider and I’m a great complainer! You stay the same and are always good. You are patient with me. Thank you. Change my heart and mind. Give me a thankful heart because it’s what you deserve!