It’s just a “little” sin, right? Actually, perhaps it’s a virtue since everyone else does it… and after all, we’re just “being real.” We justify and explain it away and sometimes adopt it as part of our persona.

Complaining.

As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, this “small” sin was serious and contagious with dire consequences.

In Numbers 11:1-3, we find the people complaining; in response, God consumes the outskirts of the camp with fire. Apparently, they didn’t learn their lesson.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; “but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” …Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. (11:4-6, 10)

First, the outskirts of the camp. Now we find everyone at the door of his tent complaining in a tone that sounds an awful lot like a temper tantrum. Sadly, the contagion continued to spread.

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? “Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? “Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. “If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (11:11-15)

Not exactly Moses’ shining moment of faithfulness. Unfortunately, we find in Numbers 12:1-2 that the sad story still does not end with Moses:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.

(I would think those last five words should make us tremble just a bit about what we say.)

The outskirts of the camp. Everyone at the entrance of every tent. Moses. The leadership. And now… the entire nation.

In Numbers 13-14, the entire nation refuses to enter the land and claim what God has promised was theirs, balking at reports of giants and fortified cities, refusing to believe that the God who subdued Egypt and parted the Red Sea and guided them through the wilderness could lead them safely through what lay ahead. Their lack of faith resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, waiting for that entire generation to die out.

Where did it start? What attitude was it that was so contagious through the entire nation and ultimately cost them their lives?

A complaining spirit.

Sometimes I hear people talking about major sin that they found themselves in, and often the phrase, “I don’t know how this happened” ends up in the story. Suddenly, you’re in this giant pit of sin and you have no idea how you got there! Guess what: I can almost guarantee you it wasn’t a one time thing. As one of my college professors said, your soul is not sold in one giant auction – it is bartered away in thousands of tiny trades.

We often dismiss complaining as a “less serious” sin, or perhaps not a sin at all. Everybody complains – we spread our complaints across our facebook walls and blog posts and phone calls and conversations in the church hallway. Complaints about the weather, about your headache, about your husband/ wife, about your pastor, about your kids, about your car, blah, blah, blah.

But, here is the sticking point: if I truly believe that my God is sovereign, if I truly believe that absolutely nothing is out of His control… my complaints about the big AND small issues of life are tiny symptoms of a deadly cancer: lack of submission to the sovereign will of my Creator, Savior, and Lord. “God, I know that you order all things, but I think you’re doing a lousy job with the weather/ my health/ my family/ my finances/ etc.”

It starts small. It starts at the outskirts… but a complaining spirit is contagious and will ultimately destroy all those it touches. As I begin to adopt complaining as a pattern of life, I am living in constant rebellion to my God, whether it seems that bad or not. I am daily trading my soul, the cancer is spreading, and I am setting myself up for blatant sin and disobedience.

Have you submitted to God, this day, in every aspect of your life? Are you believing Him, obeying Him, submitting to Him… or are you rebelling in your heart and leading those around you to do the same?

If you’re new here… we’re continuing our One Summer, One Story series – a fast-paced overview of the “big story” of the Bible! Missed anything? Find all the past posts here.

In Numbers 22:3-6, we meet two more interesting characters.

And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! “Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

That last part should sound familiar… where have we seen that before? Oh, yes. Genesis 12:3, in the promise God gave to Abraham. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you… It’s a safe conjecture to guess that God doesn’t like having His promises outright denied and His words twisted and used against His people. And oh, it’s gonna be good…

So, Balak (“K” for “king”) hires Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam sets out on his donkey, but he encounters some unexpected transportation issues. I will just quote it here rather than rehashing the whole thing. (22:21-35)

So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

[I love this part...]

And Balaam said to the donkey, [did this not seem a bit strange to him?...] “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”

[Seriously. Read that again! Balaam not only answers his donkey like this is no big deal, but... who won the argument??]

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
“The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

I love this story! I remember being taught this in Sunday school, but once again, I never remember actually getting to the point. We talked about the talking donkey, but if the teacher told us why this random story is in the Bible, I surely do not remember it. For those of you who, like me, either were not taught why this is there (or don’t remember), or those of you who are right now saying to yourself, “There’s a story about a talking donkey in the Bible?,” let’s discuss!

Balaam was hired for this job because his words were supposed to be powerful. Indeed, Balak even used God’s own promise of blessings and cursings, but turned it around to say that whomever Balaam blessed was blessed and whomever Balaam cursed was cursed. Clearly, this is not so.

So on his way, God uses his donkey to rebuke him. Of all animals, donkeys are one species not known to be reasonable and wise. Yet, God opens her mouth, enables her to speak with Balaam, and actually is the more reasonable one in the discussion! If Balaam thinks his words are so mighty and powerful, God can make the words of even a donkey more reasonable than his own!

Now, I do want to say that Numbers 22:7-21 is confusing. It sounds like Balaam is not that that bad of a guy, perhaps that he even was genuinely obeying God, which is confusing for the rest of the story. At those times you let Scripture explain itself.

Joshua 24:9-10
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ‘But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

Nehemiah 13:2
…because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

2 Peter 2:15
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…

These Scriptures clearly indicate that Balaam was not a good guy. We don’t know all the details – perhaps he was outwardly obedient but inwardly planning to curse them still… we just don’t know. Back to the story.

Four different times Balaam and Balak attempt to curse Israel. And four different times, God puts different words into his mouth (again, see those passages listed above for clarification). Let’s look at parts of these “curses” and see if anything rings a bell.

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“Curse” #1- Numbers 23:8-10

“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! A people dwelling alone,
Not reckoning itself among the nations.

[Remember Exodus 19:5- "...you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine."]

“Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!”

[Genesis 28:14 (during Jacob's dream) - "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed."]

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“Curse” #2- Numbers 23:19-20

God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Behold, I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

“Curse” #3 – Numbers 24:9
“Blessed is he who blesses you,
And cursed is he who curses you.”

[Genesis 12:3 - I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you... ]

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“Curse” #4- Numbers 24:17

“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult.”

[The LEADER promise! A particular person will come out of this nation who will have ultimate authority and crush the heads of their enemies...]

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There are many other details within these “curses,” but just notice this: God is reaffirming His promises and blessing – through the mouths of a donkey and a sorcerer hired to curse them! Keep the context of this in mind.

They refused to enter the land the first time.
Thousands of people have died in plagues because of rebellion against God.
They have been wandering in the wilderness for years and will continue to do so until the entire unbelieving generation has died.
They have outright broken their side of the covenant with God many times.

…and yet, God is faithful. He remembers His promises. He WILL keep them. In the midst of their disobedience He blesses them, reaffirms His promises, and shows His sovereignty over and protection of His people.

Our God is a faithful God.

If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
2 Timothy 2:13

Picking up where we left off in Numbers, the people refused to enter the land. The result: God said they would wander in the wilderness for 40 years until the entire generation died off. Suddenly, their thinking cleared and they were willing to go into the land! It did not go well. (Numbers 14:39-45)

Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!” And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. “Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.

God is so faithful and merciful, however. Whereas, in my humanness, I would surely have had it with these people and wanted to be done with them, God responds in such an amazing manner.

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you…” (Numbers 15:1-2)

What’s the significance of these verses? He’s still going to give them the land! They have to wait, and wait, and wait… they have to suffer the consequences of their actions, but God, in His faithfulness, has merely postponed the agenda. They might utterly mess up their side of the deal, but He’s still keeping His.

On to chapter 16! Perhaps they have realized the error of their ways and gone back to the obedience of the first ten chapters? …unfortunately not!

Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Numbers 16:1-3)

But it gets worse. Moses calls all of the “protestors” to come to the tabernacle and let the Lord judge between them, but a couple of very presumptious ones refuse to come.

“Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us? “Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!” (16:14)

Notice the reference to Egypt. Suddenly, Egypt (the place where they were being cruelly oppressed, the place where they were forced to kill and drown their babies) has become “the land flowing with milk and honey,” the descriptors God Himself used to describe the promised land! And if that wasn’t enough, it apparently is Moses’ fault that they didn’t enter the land! Yikes!

Anyone who had read the rest of the Pentateuch, let alone people who had lived it, should know that this will not end well. In fact, the earth opens up and swallows the men, their families, and all of their posessions.

Here’s the kicker: On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” (Numbers 16:41) Oh, that’s right. Moses caused the earth to open, swallow them, and close again.

God, not surprisingly, did not like this turn of events either!

Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. (16:42-45)

Aaron, at the direction of Moses, takes a censer and runs in the midst of the people, standing betweent the living and the dead, to make atonement for the people and stop the plague that had broken out. So, in addition to the people who had died with Korah’s brilliant plan, 14,700 more people die due to their sin and rebellion.

We have dreadful memories sometimes. We look back at the pits out of which God has rescued us, and they begin to look much more bountiful and blessed than the places He has brought us to. We want to go back. We dig in our heels and refuse to follow Him. We forget His amazing faithfulness and focus on whatever it is that we dislike about our present circumstances (which are frequently brought about by our own sinful choices!)

It is interesting that in the middle of all of this, God gives Moses a very practical command for the people. (15:38-41)

“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. “And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Look at it and remember. I am the Lord your God. Your own heart and eyes are prone to lead you astray! Constantly remind yourself of the Truth!

While we don’t need to literally attach blue tassels to our clothes (although it’s not a bad idea!), this principle definitely holds true in our own lives. Do whatever you need to do to keep from forgetting the Lord, from being let astray by your own heart and your own eyes. He is the Lord! Don’t get caught up in your circumstances and judge His character by them – judge your circumstances by His character!

I will praise you among all the people;
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the Lord will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
People from every nation will bow down before him.
For the Lord is king!
He rules all the nations.
Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
Let all mortals—those born to die—bow down in his presence.
Future generations will also serve him.
Our children will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
His righteous acts will be told to those yet unborn.
They will hear about everything he has done.
Psalm 22:25-31 (NLT)

After all of that obedience in the first 9 books of Numbers, we got a hint that things were about to change when Moses requested that Hobab be their guide through the wilderness in chapter 10. In chapters 11-14, check that safety bar because this roller coaster is about to plummet. Fast.

In Numbers 11:1-3, we find the people complaining. God’s response? Fire consumes the outskirts of the camp.

It’s obvious by the next section of verses that the lesson was not learned.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; “but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” …Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. (11:4-6, 10)

Result: In the words of my wise mother, “Oooh, someone’s gonna get a such-a-one!” And indeed, more plagues.

And back to Moses (not to be outdone by the people):

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? “Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? “Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. “If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (11:11-15)

Not exactly Moses’ shining moment of faithfulness. But, don’t worry – he’s not alone either. Check out the other members of leadership in 12:1-2:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.

(I would think those last five words should make us tremble just a bit about what we say.)

Result: Miriam is covered with leprosy. Moses intercedes for her and God heals her.

The finale of unfaithfulness, though, is in chapters 13-14. This is too long of a story to quote, so please read it on your own. If you’re familiar with the old “12 men went to spy on Canaan, 10 were bad, 2 were good” song that we grew up singing in Sunday school and at summer camp, that’s what’s happening. 12 spies were sent into the land to see what it was like – they all say that it’s a wonderful place, but 10 of the spies are too focused on the “giants” in the land to believe that their God is big enough to fulfill His promises. Only 2 (Caleb and Joshua) strongly encourage the people that any obstacles are nothing to God. Unfortunately, the people listen to the unbelieving majority instead of the faithful few. And the entire nation refuses to enter the land and claim what God has promised was theirs.

Result: 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, waiting for that entire generation to die out.

Think of the progression of this sin: the outskirts of the camp, every family in every tent, the leadership, the entire nation. Where did it start? What attitude was it that was so contagious through the entire nation and ultimately cost them their lives?

A complaining spirit.

Sometimes I hear people talking about major sin that they found themselves in, and often the phrase, “I don’t know how this happened” ends up in the story. Suddenly, you’re in this giant pit of sin and you have no idea how you got there! Guess what: I can almost guarantee you it wasn’t a one time thing. As Dr. Miller from Cedarville says, “Your soul is not sold in one great auction – it is bartered away in thousands of tiny trades.”

I think that we often dismiss complaining as a “less serious” sin, or perhaps not a sin at all. Everybody complains – about the weather, about your headache, about your husband/ wife, about your pastor, about your kids, about your car, blah, blah, blah.

Think about this: If I truly believe that my God is sovereign, if I truly believe that absolutely nothing is out of His control… my complaints about the big AND small issues of life are tiny symptoms of a deadly cancer: lack of submission to the sovereign will of my Creator, Savior, and Lord. “God, I know that you order all things, but I think you’re doing a lousy job with the weather/ my health/ my family/ my finances/ etc.” And as I begin to adopt complaining as a pattern of life, I am living in constant rebellion to my God, whether it seems that bad or not. I am daily trading my soul, the cancer is spreading, and I am setting myself up for outright, blatant sin and disobedience.

The beginning of Philippians 2 is full of theology about our Lord Jesus. Paul’s one practical application point in this powerful chapter is found in 2:14-15 – Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation…

Complaining IS a big deal. Oh, Lord – open our eyes to see the cancer spreading in our own lives. Satan wants us to be so accustomed to rebellion against you that when truly difficult trials come, our first reaction is to question your authority, character, and will. Teach us to bow our knees each and every day to your sovereignty, recognizing that you work all things together for our good, for our holiness. You are God, we are not. Oh, for grace to trust You more!

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28