Murmuring = (Greek) The low constant sound of a running brook; The cooing of doves; The contented sounds of a baby; To grumble in low tones (as the cooing of doves) to oneself or secretly to others; To confer together in a secretive manner about matters of discontent; A secret debate in quarrelsome discontent.

I'm sure you will be glad to know that this is the last lesson on murmuring-for a while. I can guarantee you that we have not seen the last Biblical example of murmuring by the Israelites.

Therefore, if we are to be honest to our study plan of Israel in the wilderness and the Tabernacle, we will need to see the lessons taught by the Holy Spirit from these God given examples, so we will not sin in the same manner as the Israelites. Which brings me to that age old question that I have not ask for a while.

Why do you come to church? Is it so you can see and understand God's standard for living, and see where you stand in relationship to that standard? Is it so you can hear and review God's method for godliness, and make appropriate changes and by God's grace live by those methods. Did you come because of guilt, habit, social needs, etc.

Why did you come to church, today?

Biblical murmuring can be caused by many sins, or combination of sins. In like manner, the evidence or end result of murmuring will be demonstrated by a wide variety of sinful actions.

Murmuring can be a personal sin, or as we will see in the Biblical example of this lesson, it can be a group sin. Murmuring often starts as a personal sin, but very seldom remains a sin of just one person. Murmuring draws others to its cause like flies to a garbage pit.

From the many causes of murmuring demonstrated in the Biblical text, I have summarized those "causes", and have designated three of the main causes as:

1. Selfish discontent.
2. Absence of true thankfulness.
3. The absence of Biblical truths, and the lack of application of those truths in every situation.

Let's refresh our minds with the story line of our God given example. Israel had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt by God's Own hand, through a series of plagues. The last plague was known as the Passover, in which the firstborn of everyone in Egypt died -- UNLESS they were meeting and eating in a house that had the blood of a lamb properly placed around the door.

After the Passover became a reality, the Egyptians WANTED Israel to leave, and gave them all kinds of valuable "goodies" just to make sure they did leave. God carefully led the Israelites to the Red Sea, and into what looked like a trap. There was no human way the people of Israel could cross over the Red Sea. Yet, they were there by the direct leading of God.

In the mean time, Pharaoh changed his mind, and wanted the people of Israel back. So the mighty Egyptian army, with it chariots and other sophisticated war equipment, set out to capture Israel and bring them back.

There was Israel's impossible predicament:

(1) The Red Sea before them.
If they attempted to cross, all would die from drowning.

(2) The Egyptian army behind them.
The best they could hope for, from a human standpoint, was renewed slavery, or possible death.

Several of you have commented to me that they didn't know what you would do under those same circumstances. I don't know what I would do either, because I have never been in their shoes...or sandals as the case may have been. God never gives His grace until there is a need for that grace, BUT there is enough of God's grace for every situation.

God had demonstrated His power over and over again:
God had demonstrated 
that His power was greater than the Egyptians.
God had demonstrated 
that His power was greater than the gods of Egypt.
God had demonstrated 
that His power was greater than all of nature.
God had promised 
that He would take them from Egypt 
to the promised land.

With such evidence, faith should have "kick-in".

God said it.  
I believe it.  
Therefore, I act on it.

I'm afraid that many of us trust God in the same manner as Israel did in the wilderness. This is one of the reasons the Holy Spirit gave us these examples:

  So we would not sin in the same manner as Israel did.

We, like Israel, find it fashionable to trust God when we have a roof over our heads, food in our stomach, money in the bank, two cars in the garage, in the blossom of full health, etc., but when the "chips are down", then God is not quite "big" enough to trust for the tough times.

Someone said that, 
"When we have plenty, we give God a polite 'nod'.  
BUT  
when we don't have all we think we need, we give God the 'boot'."

If we really trust God in times of plenty, instead of trusting the "plenty", then we would trust God just as much in the times of need. When our trust is based on "need" or what we possess, then when circumstance change, our trust ALSO changes. BUT when our trust is in God, we will trust just as much in the times of need as in the times of plenty, because God does not change!

Paul in Philippians highlights this truth.

Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things (abased, abound, full, hungry, suffer need) through Christ who strengthens me.

Notice Paul LEARNED to live in this Spiritual state. It didn't come from praying, going to a praise service, being anointed or even taking the offering. Paul LEARNED to live in this manner.

This "learning" involved both facts or academic information, as well as real experiences of life. Yes, God does want to teach us something from all of life's experiences.

BUT,  

please don't have the very sallow attitude that is so popular today.

When an UN-pleasant experience comes into our lives, the popular response is:

"God please help me to 
quickly learn 
what you want to teach me,  
SO 
 this UN-pleasant experience will be 
replaced 
by a pleasant experience."

Buzzzzz... Wrong answer. You lose.

Certainly God wants us to learn from every experience, BUT not necessarily so the "bad" experience will go away. We may need to learn to live in contentment EVEN in the "bad" situation, AND continue in that "bad" situation so that God will be glorified.

Paul had learned to live in contentment in the "good" situations such as: Being elevated, having plenty, being full, etc.

He had ALSO learned to live in contentment in the "bad" situations such as: Being abased, suffering need, being hungry, etc.

NO!!!! Simply learning some lessons from a "bad" situation, is not a guarantee that the "bad" situation will go away. As a matter of fact, IF we do not learn to live "in contentment" in the "bad" situation, we haven't learned the right Spiritual lesson from the situation.

Christ gives us some insight into why we learn so little about being content in Christ in all situations.

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

There is far more in the passage than we can examine, in this lesson. I want to draw out of this passage a principle that applies to our subject at hand-murmuring or better yet, how not to murmur.

We can ONLY have one factor or person controlling our lives at any one given time. Several things would be good to see from Christ's statement, but for now, let's see just a few of the many things in this passage.

1. There are many factors that can and desire to control our life and living.
2. Something will control our life and living.
3. We will love or be loyal to the one we allow to control or life and living.

Christ puts all of these things, that can and want to control our lives and living, under one heading, "MAMMON".

We quite often define "mammon" as money. That definition is not false, but it is not complete. It is so incomplete that if we accept mammon as ONLY money, then the definition is false.

Mammon is anything we possess, such as our estate, legacy, etc. that can be calculated as our wealth, but not just in the sense of money. When we allow ANYTHING, whether things of financial worth, or social worth to control our lives and living, we have surrendered to the "master" of "mammon".

That dominating slave master of "mammon" can be money. At the base of many sins, is the factor of money, or in reality, the love of money. However, the actual dollar bills are probably the least dominate of all that constitutes "mammon". As long as Satan can keep our focus only on the "dollar" and off of lust for things, he has won a great victory in the Spiritual battle.

The slave master of "mammon" can be:
My comfort
My way
My family
My job
My game
My car
My lifestyle
My kids
My feelings
My pride
My clothes
My rights
ETC., etc.,

Whichever one you have allowed to dominate your life and living, whether God or mammon, you will be loyal and love the master in control, and will despise and hate the one not in control

Therefore, IF you have allowed any one or a combination of the things that make up mammon (My comfort, My way, My family, My job, My game, My car, My lifestyle, My kids, My feeling, My pride, My clothes, My rights, etc., etc.,) to be "first place" in your life, then you are un-loyal, despise and hate God.

I didn't say it or write it. I just read it. Christ said it, and the Holy Spirit had it written down. If you have any objections, you will have to take those objections to the Heavenly Complaint Dept.com.

You know folks, there is a lot more to this thing of Christianity than smiling, doing good deeds, giving money, teaching Bible classes, having the terms "brethren" and "cisterns" (sisters) into your vocabulary, etc.

The major point I want to see from all of that is, if mammon is in anyway in control of your life, THEN anything that God does for you or with you will not be accepted (by you) as proper, and you will have no contentment. Some of you are living in that dark valley, right now.

Philippians 4:10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things (abased, abound, full, hungry, suffer need) through Christ who strengthens me.

There is SO much more we should glean from these passages, but with that New Testament doctrinal base, let's go back to our Holy Spirit inspired examples provided by Israel in the wilderness. Let's pick up the story line again. Earlier in the lesson we "left" Israel in a humanly impossible predicament:

(1) The Red Sea before them.
If they attempted to cross, all would die from drowning.

(2) The Egyptian army behind them.
The best they could hope for, from a human standpoint, was renewed slavery or possible death.

In this "bad" situation, Moses said "learn to be content in whatever condition you find yourself, BECAUSE God is in control". Well, those were not the exact words Moses used, but it was the same principle.

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

Do not be afraid. Stand still. Hold your peace. Those things sound like contentment to me.

You remember the story. Israel went through the Red Sea on dry ground with the waters piled up on either side. The Egyptian army followed them into the sea bed, and God brought the waters back to normal. The Egyptian drown, and Israel was protected by God.

Exodus 14:30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.

For a moment, it looked like Israel was going to allow God to be in control, instead of mammon. BUT...

Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

God sweetened the waters for them, and made a great offer to them, at the same time.

Exodus 15:24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them, 26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.

With SO MUCH at stake, surely Israel would trust God to fulfill His promise of taking them to the Promised Land. They had seen that God could take care of them, and wanted to take care of them. Plus now, if they would heed, give ear and do what was right by keeping God's statutes, they would NOT have any of the diseases that had been brought upon the Egyptians. You talk about a good "health insurance" package!!

However, we need to remember that just hearing about God's will and promising to obey God, is a lot different than "hearing" about God's will and learning to live in contentment.

Learning to live in contentment takes purpose and persistence, just like learning any other skill. However, there is one BIG difference when it comes to learning to live in contentment, you have the power of the Holy Spirit on your side

We have examined many "features" of murmuring. There are many more "features" described in the Word of God. As we travel with Israel in the wilderness and as they build the Tabernacle, we will look at some of the other feature.

Before we move on, there is one other devastating "feature" of murmuring that is a "must-see", in chapter 16 of Exodus. Here, we see another episode of murmuring by the people of Israel. It was at this time that God gave them manna. Later in our study, we will look at this episode of murmuring, as well as the this blessing-test given by God. Let's move on to chapter 17...

Exodus 17:1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?" 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!" 5 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

Contend = (Hebrew) To toss; To quarrel; To grapple; To wrangle; To hold a controversy. Has the idea of seizing another by the hair.

By the commandment of the Lord, they came to Rephidim. God was the One Who gave the orders to camp a Rephidim. The Hebrew word for Rephidim loosely translated mean the place of refreshment. But the "refreshment stand" was fresh out of drinks. To find a "refreshment stand" in the middle of the desert without drinks, isn't much of a "refreshment stand".

On the other hand, many times the people of Israel had seen God take a "bad" situation and produce "good" results. They had seen the plagues. They had the pillar of fire by night and smoke by day as their guide. They had seen the Red Sea part, the destruction of Egypt's army, the manna, the water of Marah sweetened, etc.

You would think the people would have been saying to themselves, 
"I just can't wait to see what God is going to do now.  
After all, we are here by His direction."

That is how all good Christian from MBF would have reacted, if we had found ourselves in the same situation. Right? You see that is part of the process of LEARNING to be content with what God provides.

As long as mammon is dominating our lives, we will hate God and what He provides. Look at our example, Exodus 17:1-7 . The last part of verse 2 tells us that they were attempting to temp the Lord.

Yes, they were, in effect, grabbing at Moses hair (as per definition of contend), but in reality they were trying to get to God with their "jabs".

Look at the accusation they brought against Moses. It is the same 'ol thing!! You would think that with as much time as they had on their hands, they could at least come up with a fresh accusation.

"Moses, 
why have you gone to all this trouble to bring us out here in the desert
 to kill us?"

You know, if they had taken just a little time to think BEFORE they popped off through that horrible hole in their head, called a mouth, they would probably have come up with a different conclusion.

The problem with running our mouth before our brain is engaged, is that we say things that we wish we hadn't said, but none the less, we've said it, so we will defend what we said to the death, in more ways than one!!!!

The Holy Spirit through James has something to say about this matter that we might find interesting.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Hum, that does seem to fit the situation of Israel in the wilderness. Oh, yes! It also fits our situation in the wilderness of Texas.

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

We know they were at Rephidim by the command of God, and they could have received a blessing from God, but they got carried away by their own desires and it certainly gave birth to a whapping big sin. Look at the God given solution for such a Spiritual dilemma.

James 1:19 Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Folks, if we didn't learn anything else from this example, this would be worth our time. When you are tempted to utter a murmuring..., DON'T!!! Listen a little longer to both the situation and to the Lord. Go home and sleep on it, and make sure that no speech is given in wrath. Because the wrath of man DOES NOT PRODUCE the righteousness of God, but only the sinfulness of the flesh.

Sometimes we get "our way" by speaking in a wrathful manner, BUT we loose the blessing of God. So your actions need to be based on what you really want...

Your way
or
God's blessings

Back to our example in Exodus 17

Exodus 17:1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?" 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!" 5 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

Notice two other things in this passage:

(1) They expressed concern for their children
That's a pretty standard "cop-out". When all else fails, say it for the children.

(2) They questioned whether the Lord was even in their midst.
They must have thought that the "Pillar of Smoke" wasn't God. Maybe was left over from the barbeque pit. After all, how could a loving God allow such a thing to happen to innocent people?

Keep those things in mind, and let's jump to another very similar situation.

Numbers 20:1 Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. 2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 "Why have you brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 "And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

Sounds pretty much like the incident in Exodus 17 . BUT my friend, this account is about 40 years later than the Exodus 17 account. These are the children of those who came out of Egypt. Very few of these people had ever seen Egypt. Most of them had been born in the wilderness.

They didn't have the Discovery Channel. The New York Times was not delivered to their door daily. There was no CNN.

How did these people learn of Egypt?

The people of Number 20 had learned of Egypt from their parents, the ones we just read about in Exodus 17 . These people of Number 20 , after 40 years, wanted and longed to go back to Egypt, back to bondage.

WHY?!?  

Because for 40 years their parent had been "bad mouthing" God and God's servant Moses, and by words and actions had been praising Egypt!!

The parents of Exodus 17 , who came out of Egypt, could have wiped Egypt from the memory of their children. There was no reason for these people to have any knowledge of Egypt and certainly they should not have had any desire to return.

They had been freed from Egypt,  
BUT 
 they willingly became slaves to "mammon", 
therefore they 
despised 
God, God's program and God's servants.

As a result, even after 40 years of God personally dwelling in the Tabernacle, right in the middle of "town", their children still did not love God any more than the parents, OR maybe the children love God JUST like the parents, and the children wanted to go back to Egypt just as bad as their parents.

Parents..., what you say, and the way you say it will, to a great extent, establish the desires and attitudes of your children. Don't pass your sins along to your children! That's not a very good inheritance.

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Matthew 12:34 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

If you were to be 
justified or condemned 
by your words,
would you be
 justified or condemned?