Taking the Grumble Tumble

In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron begin to grumble against Moses. well, everyone else had been doing it, so now they take a turn. They are mad about his marriage to a Cushite woman; they are mad because Moses is getting the credit for leading Israel. Most of all, they are just mad... so they grumble and complain. No big deal, right? We all complain, right? Well, their grumbling was evidently a very big deal for God! Miriam was struck with leprosy, and she had to spend some time outside the camp. And when all Israel picked up this grumbling, it led to their downfall. Psalm 106:25-26 puts it like this—

25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert.

Grumbling and complaining were not just slips of the lip. They betrayed the negative attitude and spiritual deficits that eventually kept Israel from following God. That is why God is so against grumbling and complaining.

Giving voice to our negative thoughts is something that we do all too naturally and without a lot of thought. But God hears our grumbling, and He seems to take it very seriously. Listen to some New Testament texts—

• 1 Corinthians 10:10- And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
  
• Philippians 2:14-15- Do everything without complaining or arguing, that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
  
• James 5:9- Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
  
• 1 Peter 4:9- Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

A negative, grumbling, complaining and fault-finding attitude is not simply a problem of temperament. It is a sin that will keep us from pleasing God.