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.
Murmuring is a grievous sin harmful to everyone involved or impacted. When God’s people murmur, they do so because their heart is not sufficiently focused upon the Lord. Various forms of the word murmur occur forty times in the word of God. Interestingly, the number forty throughout scripture is frequently connected to a time of testing or trial. The vast majority of these occurrences reflect people who were displeased with something the Lord was responsible for doing. Their displeasure with the Lord caused them to voice their frustrations to others. Murmuring generally manifests itself outwardly, but at its root is a heart problem (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:19). It comes as no surprise that the medical community uses the term murmur to describe a heart problem.
The Bible says that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). This means that the words proceeding out of our mouths originate in our hearts. When we speak bitter words, it is because there is bitterness within our hearts. David likened bitter words to arrows that pierce the flesh (Psalm 64:3). Our words ought to be “seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6); instead, we often allow our words to pierce through others. We tear people down rather than building them up. Why is this? Because we have a root of bitterness growing inside that finds its way from our hearts into and out of our mouths. Those who demean others generally do so because they are bitter. Attempts to justify this behaviour are fruitless because the Lord knows the root of the problem stems from our heart.
The believer is to allow no place for bitterness within his life. The book of Ephesians directly associates bitterness with the sins of wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, and malice. Each of these sins grieves the Spirit of God and ought to grieve the believer. As such, Christians are admonished to put away all bitterness. As bitterness shows itself in the depths of our hearts, we ought to immediately seek the Lord and plead for His help in removing it by its root. In a similar passage (Colossians 3:8), we are admonished to “put off” many of these other sins mentioned. Always keep in mind that bitterness does not edify the believer or those around him, nor does it glorify the Lord. Simply choose to obey God by putting away and putting off bitterness.
The Bible repeatedly mentions the bitterness of soul (1 Samuel 1:10; Job 3:20; Job 7:11; Job 10:1; Job 21:25; Isaiah 38:15). Job testified to speaking in the bitterness of his soul—weary of his life (Job 10:1). Hannah “was in bitterness of soul” (1 Samuel 1:10) when she spoke to the Lord concerning her desire to birth a son. Interestingly, the Book of Job contains the majority of references to bitterness of soul. It is hard to imagine any mortal man enduring more afflictions of the soul than Job. He was afflicted so deeply, he cursed the day that he was born (Job 3:1). Eventually, his bitterness of soul won out and caused him to sin against the Lord. Hannah, however, spoke to the Lord in bitterness of soul and God rewarded her for her faithfulness.
Bitterness grows from within man much like the root of a plant. If left alone to fester, bitterness will eventually spring up; and when it does, it will “trouble you.” Unfortunately, bitterness is not frequently identified during its infancy. It hides inside the individual with little evidence of its existence. As time passes, our enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) feed that bitterness and it begins to spring forth. As it does, it may begin to alarm or even shock us. For instance, we may yell at someone for no apparent reason. Something insignificant can even ruin our entire day. If we are not careful, we can grow increasingly comfortable with our newfound trouble and attitude. As alluded to in the scripture, the solution for bitterness can be likened to the removal of a plant by its roots. Bitterness continues to grow unless removed at its source – from the roots.
A good Bible student often incorporates many of the same tactics as a good detective. Defining Bible words involves such a task. No single verse specifically defines the word bitterness. Yet, a careful study of a few verses will help to bring the pieces together and to provide understanding. According to Isaiah, bitterness and peace are at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum (Isaiah 38:17). Proverbs associates the word bitter directly to the word sharp (Proverbs 5:4). And, lastly, the word bitter is connected to the word affliction (2 Kings 14:26, Lamentations 1:4). Using these scriptural clues, a good student will understand bitterness to be a sharp affliction. Additionally, consider the connection between the words bitter and bite, making bitterness a sharp affliction with bite. Bitterness always begins on the inside of an individual and, as we will learn, eventually works its way to the outside for others to see.
