In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord expressed His great love for the nation of Israel. In the midst of this declaration, the Lord provided reasons why He placed His love upon this particular nation. In Deuteronomy 1:27, the people began to murmur and their murmurings bred lies. They stated that the Lord brought them out of Egypt to destroy them because of His great hatred for them. Their statements were completely false. This is true in most circumstances when people turn to murmuring. The problem gets exaggerated and the truth corrupted. Fabricating lies helps the one murmuring to feel better about voicing the complaint. Interestingly, the truth is usually not worth murmuring about.
Why do people murmur? What causes them to get so frustrated to the point where they would publicly discuss their disappointment with their circumstances? The Bible provides several reasons. In Jude 16, the Bible says that people complain or murmur because they are “walking after their own lusts.” In John chapter 6, the Lord Jesus indicated another reason why an individual might complain. When the Lord knew that His disciples murmured within themselves, He asked them if they were offended (John 6:61). In other words, people murmur when things turn out differently than they had hoped. It is not so much the trial that bothers them but the offense to their self-will.
Life’s trials and difficulties are intended to draw people into a deeper knowledge of the Lord. However, murmuring hinders the lessons that result from the trials. The Lord uses trials to draw the unsaved to an understanding of their need to trust Jesus Christ as Saviour. At the same time, the Lord uses trials to teach saved people that they need to fully rely on Him and Him alone. These trials are meant to better the individual afflicted. However, the benefits of trials can be minimized when those enduring the trials begin to murmur and complain about the very thing intended to teach them. Murmuring hinders the education offered by trials. It puts the focus on the apparent wrong of the trial rather than upon what lesson the Lord might hope to come from the trial.
The Lord detests murmuring. He hates it so much that He sent fire among the Israelites because of their murmurings (Numbers 11:1). In the New Testament, He warned believers to avoid falling prey to the same sin as the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:1-14). Additionally, New Testament believers are admonished to do all things without murmurings (Philippians 2:14-16). People murmur as they focus on events within their lives rather than upon the Lord and His word. Yet, the Christian’s life events are ultimately brought to pass, either directly or indirectly, by a loving and caring God. The Lord abhors murmuring because it directly insults His working and provision in our lives.
Most people would readily admit that they would rather laugh than cry. Yet, these are not God’s thoughts concerning the matter (Isaiah 55:8-9). According to the Bible, “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better” (Ecclesiastes 7:3). Laughter seems much more enjoyable than sorrow, yet life’s lessons are learned much faster from sorrow than they are from amusement. Sorrow teaches us and molds us into better servants for the Lord. This does not mean that laughter is evil or harmful. It simply means that from God’s perspective, sorrow is a much better teacher. Solomon bluntly spoke of what he knew concerning laughter in Ecclesiastes 2:1-2. The Bible says that Solomon gave himself to mirth and pleasure. In the end, he found this mirth and pleasure to be vain.
Psalm 119 is the longest verse-count passage (psalm or chapter) in God’s word. Interestingly, that particular psalm focuses upon one of God’s greatest gifts ever provided for mankind, His precious word. The second longest verse-count passage is Numbers chapter 7. Interestingly, God’s word focuses this chapter upon mankind giving gifts back to God. The passage could have been dramatically shortened had God chosen to give fewer of the details. However, the Lord chose to specifically delineate each of the gifts received from each tribe. Why? Maybe God wanted to emphasize the importance of every gift from every individual given to Him. No gift represented a lesser degree of importance to God Almighty. God does not need anything from man (Psalm 50:7-15) yet finds great pleasure in receiving gifts from those whom He loves.
Today's passage proves the Bible truth that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, neither our ways His ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). God's thoughts are always unimaginably loftier than ours. Unlike God, our thoughts are bound by our limited knowledge. Contrary to the Lord’s, our knowledge is easily corrupted through various influences. This is why scripture reading and preaching often conflicts with our natural thought process. For instance, our natural mind considers rebuke something harmful, negatively affecting the person receiving it. We also naturally consider flattery as something beneficial and uplifting to the recipient. Yet, we have already seen how flattery can be harmful, but have you ever considered the superiority of a rebuke? The Bible says rebuke is better because of what it yields “afterwards.” In the long run, rebuke is far superior to flattery.
Many people claim to confess their sins; yet, confession not followed by action remains fruitless. Several verses in the word of God indicate the truth of the matter. Consider the next four examples: (1) Confession of sin is connected to forsaking sin (Proverbs 28:13); (2) Confession of sin is followed by recompense of the trespass (Numbers 5:7); (3) Solomon connected confessing sin with turning from it (1 Kings 8:35); (4) Confession is followed by doing the Lord’s pleasure (Ezra 10:11). True confession involves much more than simply receiving the Lord’s forgiveness; it involves making wrongs right. True confession is never accomplished by merely opening one's mouth and spouting forth some meaningless words. True confession always produces change in the confessor.
Today's passage refers to the zeal of one man. Zeal can serve to save a nation or it can cause the shedding forth of innocent blood. The book of Numbers tells of a time when Israel allowed sin into their camp and began experiencing God's wrath. Fortunately, one man took it upon himself to save the nation of Israel from God’s impending judgment. He spared a great number of lives because he was zealous to take action. It should be noted that his zeal was for the Lord’s sake (Numbers 25:11). Unfortunately, the Bible reveals others like king Saul whose zeal brought about a far different outcome. His zeal ended the lives of innocent people. According to 2 Samuel 21:2, Saul, in his zeal to the people, slew the Gibeonites bringing a famine upon God’s people in the days of David. The famine only ended when seven men of Saul’s house lost their lives.
The Bible repeatedly addresses the outcomes of obedience and disobedience. It reveals that blessings follow obedience and curses follow disobedience. This truth was plainly explained to the children of Israel on several occasions. In fact, the Bible lists the curses that follow disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-44). The curses range from personal judgment to national judgment, but the obvious fact was that disobedience withheld blessings. For instance, disobedience drove Adam and Eve from the garden in Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). Saul's disobedience cost him his kingdom (1 Samuel 28:18). Moses' disobedience meant that he could not enter into the land of promise (Numbers 20:12). The consequences of disobedience may differ today, but every act of disobedience has negative consequences.
