-
Ok, if you open with me in your Bibles
-
to Exodus 16.
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I'm not going to read it beforehand.
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We're just going to make comments
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as we go,
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and bring out points there as we go.
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The title of this sermons is,
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"Grumbling is Contagious
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and the Remedy For It."
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We've been going through Exodus
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back home in Manchester.
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And every sermon's about
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grumbling and murmuring now
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because once they leave Egypt,
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that's all they ever do
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on the way to the Promised Land.
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So, let's pray.
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Our Father,
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we ask that You should show us
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wonderous things from Your law,
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from Your Word this morning.
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That this text would be real to us
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and helpful to us to live
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for Your glory.
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Search our hearts.
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Help us, we ask.
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In Jesus' name,
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Amen.
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Ok, so, in v. 1 then of Exodus 16,
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we read, "They..." that is the Israelites,
-
of course, "...set out from Elim,
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and all the congregation of the people
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of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,
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which is between Elim and Sinai..."
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And this wilderness of Sin
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where they are now,
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it has nothing to do
-
with the English word "sin,"
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although as we'll see in a moment,
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they do a lot of sinning
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while they're here.
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But it's simply called this
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because they're in the Sinai region.
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"On the fifteenth day of the second month
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after they had departed
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from the land of Egypt..."
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We're simply being told this
-
because they left on the 15th day
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of the first month,
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so what we're being told in that detail
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is this happens now exactly one month
-
since they left Egypt
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since they were delivered from the slavery
-
and bondage there
-
going through the Red Sea, of course.
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And v. 2 continues,
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"...the whole congregation
of the people of Israel
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grumbled against Moses and Aaron
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in the wilderness."
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And so the wording here
-
with the whole congregation grumbling
-
against Moses and Aaron,
-
it's highlighting a contrast
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between in the previous chapter,
-
we saw it said the people grumbled
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against the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
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That time, an angry mob of people
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in the congregation -
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in the midst, were grumbling
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when they went through the trial there
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of not having any water
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that the murmuring that was at Marah.
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Whereas this time,
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now it's the whole congregation -
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or at least the majority of them
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are now grumbling, murmuring
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against Moses and Aaron.
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So now what we have is
-
a full-blown rebellion.
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And so, the first application -
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the first point I want you to take note of
-
here and learn from in this passage
-
is that grumbling and murmuring
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is contagious.
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Grumbling and murmuring
-
is like a disease
-
that if you're around it long enough,
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then you're going to catch it.
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You know, people think of this murmuring
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and grumbling and being divisive there
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as just being a little thing,
-
but in Proverbs 6 it's
-
one of the six things the Lord hates;
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the seven that are an abomination to Him -
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he who sows discord among the brethren.
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You see, when you murmur and grumble
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in a bad way like these are doing here,
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what happens is you sow discord -
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you plant a seed in others.
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And so when you're around
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whiners and murmurers long enough
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they will plant the seed in us.
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And another point worth noting here
-
is that the last time they were grumbling
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when it was just less of them,
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they faced a much bigger trial
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of having no water.
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And it was just a large mob
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of murmurers among the congregation
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in this faithless state of rebellion.
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And last time,
-
the rebellious grumblers -
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they were shown to be wrong
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in what happened there
-
in the events of Marah.
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But when the next trial comes along,
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even though as we'll see in a moment,
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this is nothing compared to
-
the previous trial they've had.
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You see, the seed of discord
-
has already been planted in them.
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And so now the whole congregation
-
are murmuring against Moses and Aaron.
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Yet, the people here, no doubt,
-
being led by a few chief grumblers
-
amongst them, stirring things up,
-
in there,
-
starting to complain.
-
Moses and Aaron -
-
and this is what you get;
-
you get a theme of this
-
as they're on the way
to the Promised Land.
-
Moses and Aaron,
-
if you were really leading us
-
in the correct way,
-
before the Lord,
-
then we wouldn't be facing another trial.
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I mean, this is just too many times now,
-
Moses and Aaron.
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They're saying, look, Moses,
-
I'm the expert on how to do things
-
around here.
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And if you don't change the way
-
you're doing things to what I say,
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then we're going to face another trial.
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We've had no water.
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And then, we've had the lack of food
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and the different trials.
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There's one trial after another.
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But the thing is,
-
Moses and Aaron are taking them the way
-
that God has told them.
-
And trials are guaranteed
-
on the Christian's journey
-
through the wilderness of this life.
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You see, the grumbling will only continue
-
unless these people's hearts are changed
-
and they learn from this,
-
which is what I want us to do today.
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You know, recently, it wasn't too long ago
-
was it?
-
They had the Zika virus in Brazil.
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And history is filled, isn't it,
-
with highly contagious diseases
-
like the bubonic plague,
-
the Black Death there.
-
Well, you see, when you
put your arms around
-
and you give air to constant grumbling
-
and the hypercritical spirit -
-
always hypercritical of everything -
-
you know the person who's always
-
tearing everything down,
-
it's like putting your arm around someone
-
with the bubonic plague.
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Or putting your arm around someone
-
with the Zika virus there
-
and saying let's go for a walk together
-
among these mosquitos.
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So, number one, the point here
-
in this enlarging
-
is grumbling -
-
this hypercritical spirit is contagious.
-
You know, in these days we live in,
-
there's all these Internet ministries -
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not a good one like you have here,
-
but there are these really bad ones
-
out there aren't they,
-
with these hypercritical teachers?
-
It's normally some guy
-
and he's sat in his bedroom there,
-
giving Bible studies.
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They don't have a church
-
because they've kind of already upset
-
every single person in the world.
-
And it's so-called discernment ministries.
-
But what is the fruit of these things?
-
The fruit of their disciples
who watch them
-
is they also become professional grumblers
-
and professionals with
a hypercritical spirit also.
-
So number one, the first warning
-
about grumbling here is it's
-
a highly contagious disease.
-
So beware.
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It may go down like a tasty trifle
-
as the Proverbs says,
-
but don't trifle with it.
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Number two though,
-
this really comes out in this text.
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Grumbling and a murmuring spirit
-
distorts the past.
-
We can see this in v. 3 here, can't we?
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"And the people of Israel said to them,
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(to Moses and Aaron)
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'Would that we had died
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by the hand of the Lord
-
in the land of Egypt
-
when we sat by the meat pots
-
and ate bread to the full.'"
-
Notice here, it's been one month.
-
One month. That's all,
-
since they left Egypt.
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And in their grumbling spirit,
-
they've already forgotten
-
about their heavy labor there
-
where they had to make the bricks
-
and they even had to gather
-
their own straw
-
to make the bricks with.
-
They've forgotten about the whips
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upon their backs
-
and the chains in Egypt.
-
Just after a month.
-
And now they're saying here,
-
"... in the land of Egypt
-
when we sat by the meat pots
-
and ate bread to the full."
-
You see, in their distorted reality
-
they now hold of the past -
-
which grumbling paints -
-
they now have this false picture
-
in their mind of when they're in Egypt.
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You know, as if they were sat down
-
in comfort each day.
-
Like, darling, would you pass me
-
another burger from the barby, please?
-
Would you like some chicken with that?
-
And they say here,
-
"would that we had died
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by the hand of the Lord
-
in the land of Egypt."
-
In other words,
-
we could have continued
-
a happy and a comfortable life
-
until we died of old age,
-
of natural causes there.
-
But what really happened?
-
You see how distorted the picture
-
of the past that grumbling paints.
-
I mean, what really happened
-
when they were back in Egypt?
-
We get told earlier
-
that what happened was the people groaned.
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They groaned because of
their slavery there,
-
and they cried out for help.
-
And their cry for rescue
-
came up to the Lord.
-
So, as well as being contagious,
-
the second danger of
-
a grumbling, hypercritical spirit here
-
we learn in this passage is
-
grumbling and murmuring distorts
-
the past.
-
It has to to carry on.
-
Kevin DeYoung said on this -
-
I think this is a good quote -
-
he said,
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"We tend to remember a golden age
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that didn't really exist.
-
The good old days weren't always so good.
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Listen, if you tend to complain
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about everything now,
-
chances are that you complained
-
about everything back then
-
whenever it was."
-
You see, for grumbling and murmuring
-
to continue, it relies upon
-
a distortion of past reality.
-
But number three,
-
another thing we learn about this
-
from this passage is
-
grumbling and murmuring exaggerates
-
the present and the future woes.
-
We see this in the next part of v. 3
-
here when they accuse Moses and Aaron.
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"For you have brought us out
-
into the wilderness to kill
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this whole assembly with hunger."
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Ahhh, they say.
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You've brought us all to kill us now.
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We're all going to die.
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Brethren, you know, aside from the fact
-
they have just seen
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the Lord's provision in providing them
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the water.
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In fact, aside from the fact
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that they've just seen
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the Lord's faithfulness many, many times.
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And so they have no reason to panic
-
in this here.
-
But, I want you to consider
-
how exaggerated this trial is here.
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Because when they left Egypt,
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did they not leave with
all their livestock?
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Their flocks and their animals there.
-
Could they not get some milk and cheese
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from their cows?
-
If they're that desperate for meat,
-
could they not slaughter an animal
-
and roast it?
-
You see, the point is that grumblers
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exaggerate their misery.
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And it's very easy to see, isn't it?
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I mean, you just think,
-
in our own lives,
-
when we've fallen into this sinful state
-
of grumbling or murmuring,
-
when you think back now,
-
was it as bad as you made out back then?
-
Was all the panic really worth it?
-
And the fourth thing we can learn
-
about this though -
-
this state of murmuring from this passage,
-
is that it's really murmuring against God.
-
We see this in v. 7 when Moses
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replies to them after God spoke to him:
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"And in the morning, you shall see
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the glory of the Lord
-
because He has heard your grumbling
-
against the Lord."
-
You see, these people,
-
they were kidding themselves
-
that their constant grumbling
-
and their whining was
against Moses and Aaron
-
and their leadership there.
-
But ultimately,
-
their murmuring was against God.
-
It is God Who was the One
-
they had the problem with.
-
As Moses continues to say there in v. 7,
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"...for what are we that you grumble
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against us?"
-
For what are we that you grumble
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against us? Moses says.
-
In other words, Moses tells
-
these people here,
-
don't shoot the messenger.
-
I'm only telling you what
-
the Word of the Lord has said -
-
what the Bible says.
-
If you've got a problem with this,
-
then your problem's not with me,
-
it's with God.
-
And then in v. 8,
-
Moses said, "the Lord gives you
-
in the evening meat to eat
-
and in the morning, bread to the full
-
because the Lord has heard
-
your grumbling that
you grumble against Him.
-
What are we?
-
Your grumbling is not against us,
-
but against the Lord."
-
You see in grumbling against Moses,
-
their pastor here -
-
when he's only trying to do right
-
before the Lord.
-
They're grumbling against the Lord.
-
He's just the messenger leading
-
as the Lord has told him to do.
-
You see,
-
when these people are murmuring here,
-
and saying Moses and Aaron -
-
they don't really care about us
-
or the leadership is harsh,
-
or whatever they're saying -
-
many different things you can put in here.
-
But what they really believe
-
is God is harsh.
-
Or God is guilty of whatever.
-
And He's the One Who doesn't care,
-
because it's His Word Moses and Aaron
-
are following here, you see.
-
So, those are the dangers then
-
of a grumbling spirit in this passage.
-
It's contagious.
-
It distorts the past.
-
It exaggerates the future woes.
-
And it has to depend on those things.
-
But now for the remedy,
-
also in this passage.
-
If you want to sum it up though,
-
it's basically this.
-
This is the remedy for grumbling
-
and murmuring.
-
Repent and trust the Lord.
-
You know, when you go to see a doctor,
-
he or she will normally
-
write out for you a prescription
-
that tells you what you need to do
-
in order to get better.
-
You need to take this "x" number of times
-
a day and so forth.
-
Refrain from doing this.
-
You see, this is God's prescription
-
for the disease of a murmuring
-
or hypercritical spirit here.
-
Repent and trust the Lord.
-
From v. 4, it says,
-
"Then the Lord said to Moses,
-
'Behold, I am about to rain
-
bread from heaven for you,
-
and the people shall go out
-
and gather a day's portion every day
-
that I may test them
-
whether they walk in My law or not.
-
On the sixth day,
-
when they prepare what they bring in,
-
it will be twice as much
as they gather daily.'
-
So Moses and Aaron said
-
to all the people of Israel,
-
'At evening, you shall know
-
that it was the Lord Who brought you out
-
of the land of Egypt.'"
-
I want you to notice that phrase there
-
in God providing the provision for them.
-
He says so that you shall know
-
Who He is.
-
You shall know Who is the Lord.
-
You see, that's the remedy.
-
We know Who the Lord is.
-
You see, when someone falls into
-
a state of murmuring
and grumbling like this,
-
they've either forgotten
-
or they never knew in the first place
-
Who God is.
-
And then in v. 9-12, we read,
-
"Moses said to Aaron,
-
'say to the whole congregation,
-
the people of Israel,
-
'Come near before the Lord,
-
for He has heard your grumbling,'
-
and as soon as Aaron spoke
-
to the whole congregation
-
of the people of Israel,
-
they looked toward the wilderness
-
and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared
-
in the cloud,
-
and the Lord said to Moses,
-
'I have heard the grumbling of the people
-
of Israel. Say to them
-
at twilight, you shall eat meat.
-
And in the morning, you shall
-
be filled with bread.
-
Then you shall know that
I am the Lord your God.'"
-
You see, God provides their need here
-
in order that you shall know Who God is.
-
You shall know what God is like.
-
And so, the first thing God gives them
-
in this passage is a remedy, if you like.
-
In the remedy, to trust Him,
-
the Lord teaches them about His character.
-
In order that they my trust the Lord,
-
He teaches them about His character here -
-
what He's like.
-
And the first thing He teaches them
-
in providing is His patience,
-
isn't it, brethren?
-
I mean, notice the expected response
-
from the Lord here to their grumbling.
-
After all, you see them one time
-
after another just shove
-
His mercy in the Lord's face, so to speak,
-
and despise it and carry on grumbling
-
one time after another.
-
The kind of natural response you'd expect
-
is the Lord to rain down fire from heaven
-
upon these people.
-
Saying look, I've had
enough of you this time.
-
But here we see, the first thing
-
God teaches them is His patience.
-
That He is long suffering towards them.
-
That He is slow to anger.
-
When you realize these
things about the Lord,
-
it's going to help you
to trust Him, isn't it?
-
But the second thing
-
that God teaches them here about Himself
-
in a remedy, if you like, to grumbling
-
so they can learn to trust Him
-
is that He cares for them
-
and He provides for their needs.
-
You see, the grumbling
and murmuring spirit
-
thinks God doesn't care enough for them
-
and won't provide.
-
So they think they have to be anxious
-
about the future,
-
exaggerating present woes
-
of what might be.
-
From v. 13, look at
-
the Lord's care and provision here.
-
It says, "In the evening,
-
quail came upon and covered the camp.
-
And in the morning, dew
lay around the camp."
-
The Lord provided them meat to eat
-
there in the quail.
-
V. 14, "And when the dew had gone up,
-
there was on the face of the wilderness
-
a fine flake-like thing,
-
fine as frost on the ground.
-
When the people of Israel saw it,
-
they said to one another,
-
'what is it?'
-
They did not know what it was.
-
And Moses said to them,
-
'It is the bread that the Lord
-
has given you to eat.'"
-
So the Lord - He gives them this manna,
-
this bread
-
which miraculously appears on the ground.
-
In the original, it's a
play on words here.
-
They named this bread that God
-
miraculously provided: manna.
-
The word manna means "what is it?"
-
And so they named this bread "manna"
-
because when they first saw it
-
on the ground,
-
they said, "what is it?"
-
And so they called it, "what is it?"
-
You can imagine their conversations
-
in the houses, the tents, can't you?
-
You know, mom, what are
we having for tea tonight?
-
Well, you don't say tea,
-
is it supper down here? Or dinner?
-
What are we having?
-
We're having "what is it?"
-
No, what is it?
-
Yeah, that's what I'm asking you.
-
What is it?
-
But look here, look at
-
the Lord's provision and care.
-
From v. 16, it continues,
-
Then as the Lord commanded them,
-
"Gather of it each one of you
-
as much as he can eat.
-
You shall take an omer..."
-
There's a bit of debate about the size,
-
but I believe it's about two liters.
-
"...according to the number of persons
-
that each of you have in his tent."
-
So, they're all living in tents
-
as I said.
-
When I preached on this at home,
-
we have a church camping holiday,
-
and there was a lot of protest.
-
We don't want a camping holiday.
-
We don't like camping.
-
So I said, look, if you
don't like camping,
-
you're not biblical.
-
But v. 17 though,
-
"And the people of Israel did so.
-
They gathered, some more, some less.
-
But when they measured it
-
with an omer,
-
whoever gathered much
had nothing left over,
-
and whoever gathered little had no lack.
-
Each of them gathered as
much as he could eat.
-
And Moses said to them,
-
'let no one leave any
over until the morning,'
-
but they did not listen to Moses.
-
Some left part of it till the morning,
-
and it bred worms and stank,
-
and Moses was angry with them.
-
Morning by morning they gathered it,
-
each as much as he could eat,
-
but when the sun grew hot, it melted."
-
So they had to gather this manna early
-
before the sunrise or it stank.
-
And God is teaching there -
-
as Calvin said -
-
number one, a work ethic.
-
If they'd been left all day
-
to gather it, they could have been
-
casual about it.
-
But also, I think much more than that,
-
in that it stank there
-
for those who did not listen
-
to the command of God.
-
The teaching there is if you're gathering
-
the manna of God's Word,
-
but not doing it,
-
then you stink.
-
If we're hearing or reading
-
the Word of God,
-
but not doing it,
-
or learning it and not doing it,
-
then that's the testimony, isn't it,
-
it leaves before others.
-
It stinks.
-
But above all that,
-
the Lord is teaching us here
-
that we can depend on Him
-
day by day.
-
This is the teaching here.
-
You see, this text here,
-
I think it's what our Lord
-
likely had in mind
-
when He said in the Sermon on the Mount;
-
when He taught us to pray there:
-
Give us this day our daily bread.
-
Not tomorrow's mercies in advance.
-
But you see, we can
trust the Lord each day
-
is the teaching.
-
As He said there,
-
but if God so clothes the
grass of the field,
-
which today is alive
-
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
-
will He not much more clothe you,
-
O ye of little faith?
-
Therefore do not be anxious,
-
saying what shall we eat
-
or what shall we drink
-
or what shall we wear?
-
For the Gentiles (the unconverted)
-
seek after these things,
-
and your heavenly Father knows
-
you have need of them all.
-
But seek first the Kingdom of God
-
and His righteousness,
-
and all these things will be added to you.
-
Therefore, do not be
anxious about tomorrow.
-
For tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
-
Sufficient for today is its own trouble.
-
You see, grumbling tends to exaggerate
-
the woes and the trials of the future
-
as does anxiety.
-
But we are being taught in this
-
that we can trust the Lord day by day.
-
Not being told a month in advance
-
or a year in advance.
-
You see, worry and anxiety,
-
it's basically living out the future
-
before it comes.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
The devil can really use this
-
and get you to exaggerate the woes.
-
The result of it is it causes people
-
to distrust the Lord in the present
-
and do things wrong there.
-
But we're taught here about how
-
we can trust the Lord day by day.
-
And then from v. 22 to the end
-
of the chapter.
-
We get this about the Sabbath here.
-
"On the sixth day, they gathered
-
twice as much bread,
-
two omers each.
-
And when all the leaders
of the congregation
-
came and told Moses,
-
he said to them,
-
'this is what the Lord has commanded.
-
Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest;
-
a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
-
Bake what you will bake
-
and boil what you will boil,
-
All that is left over and lay aside
-
to be kept till the morning.'
-
So they laid it aside till the morning
-
as Moses had commanded them,
-
and it did not stink
-
and there were no worms in it."
-
Now, that's a test of faith
-
and obedience, isn't it?
-
Because in the previous days,
-
if they left some over,
-
it stunk.
-
That's what they'd see.
-
But then, they were rather
-
asked to gather two days worth
-
before the Sabbath.
-
And it did not stink.
-
V. 25, "Moses said, 'eat it today,
-
for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.
-
Today you will not find it in the field.
-
Six days you shall gather it,
-
but on the seventh day,
-
which is a Sabbath,
-
there will be none.'"
-
I want you to think here
-
about the link -
-
what is the link
-
in the midst of a passage
-
about grumbling -
-
and he gives us much in the way
-
God deals with them
-
or a remedy for grumbling.
-
Why does he suddenly start talking
-
about the Sabbath day?
-
What is the link here?
-
I think the Lord is
teaching us here, brethren,
-
you can trust the Lord enough to rest.
-
You know, the world won't stop revolving
-
if you stop worrying for just one second,
-
believe it or not.
-
You know, it's easy for parents, isn't it,
-
that when you go through a trial
-
and you spend scheduled time
-
with your children
-
or some other family member
-
you're supposed to be spending time with,
-
you can be spending time with them -
-
your children - but
you're not really there
-
because you're thinking about
-
whatever trial there is on your mind.
-
But I've kind of learned after time,
-
God can cope without me worrying
-
about something for a few seconds
-
and to spend that time with them.
-
You know, as a pastor at home
-
I have a kind of Monday off, if you like,
-
where basically I don't do any counseling
-
on a Monday,
-
or the normal churchy things on a Monday
-
that I do on other days.
-
And it's been a hard
lesson for me to learn.
-
At first, I was like,
-
Lord, are You sure You can manage
-
without me and run the church for a day?
-
And you know, it's like the Lord says,
-
well, let Me think about that one.
-
You know, I made the world in six days
-
at the command of My voice.
-
I placed the stars in orbit.
-
I parted the Red Sea.
-
Yeah, I think I can just about manage
-
for a little bit without you.
-
But you see, brethren,
-
in that illustration
how ridiculous we get
-
when we don't think we can rest.
-
What a distrust of the Lord it is, really.
-
You know, it's funny though,
-
when, at least in my experience,
-
when I do have the Monday off,
-
normally it's the more grumbly,
-
hypercritical spirit who are the ones
-
who are always trying
to intrude upon that.
-
Desperate for me to sort out whatever.
-
It's like I don't care what day it is.
-
If I say, "jump,"
-
I expect my pastor to say, "how high?"
-
But anyway, then in v. 27-28,
-
we see the Sabbath breakers.
-
From v. 26, once again,
-
"Six days you shall gather it,
-
but on the seventh day
-
which is a Sabbath,
-
there will be none.
-
On the seventh day,
-
some of the people went out
-
to gather but they found none.
-
And the Lord said to Moses,
-
'how long will you refuse to keep
-
My commandments and My laws?'"
-
And I think there's application
-
for the Lord's Day here.
-
Just as these Israelites,
-
they prepared before the Sabbath
-
by gathering what they needed
-
the day before there.
-
I think it's good, isn't it,
-
to prepare for the Lord's Day?
-
If you can.
-
As in make sure you're not overly tired
-
to come in and be with the people.
-
That you've done things
-
so you're not rushing around like crazy.
-
I'm not saying you can't go to the shop
-
for some milk or something
-
if you've run out or anything like that.
-
But from v. 29,
-
"See the Lord has given you the Sabbath.
-
Therefore, on the sixth day,
-
He gives you bread for two days.
-
Remain each in his place.
-
Let no one go out of his place
-
on the seventh day.
-
So the people rested on the seventh day."
-
Notice that lastly.
-
The people rested on the seventh day.
-
Once again, Sabbath,
-
and that principle there of rest.
-
What's your idea of Sabbath rest?
-
Or the Lord's Day?
-
Is it a long list of burdensome rules?
-
You know, our Lord Jesus said,
-
didn't He, the thing you must know
-
about the Sabbath is it was made for man.
-
That is, can you trust Me
-
enough to rest?
-
And the thing He most wants us to learn
-
most of all though
-
is that you can trust in Him
-
and rest in what He's done for salvation.
-
In that picture of the Gospel rest
-
which it ultimately points to there.
-
I think I've used this
illustration before here.
-
My wife always tells me off
-
for using the same illustrations.
-
So forgive me if I have.
-
She always says when
you use an illustration
-
you've given before,
-
I just switch off.
-
But you have that picture, don't you,
-
in Genesis of God making the world.
-
There was an evening and a morning -
-
the first day.
-
An evening and a morning, the second day.
-
An evening, a morning, a third day.
-
Until you get to the Sabbath day.
-
And there's no evening and morning.
-
It's just a continual day.
-
When God rested on the Sabbath day there,
-
it's not that He rested
and then He carried on
-
on the following day.
-
But He rested from it
-
because it's finished.
-
The work is all done.
-
So He entered into His rest.
-
And you see, that's the picture
-
of what Christ would do on the cross
-
there when He said, "It is finished."
-
He's done everything needed
-
for salvation.
-
And you see, that is where
-
salvation comes, doesn't it?
-
Resting in what Christ has done for you.
-
And so, to really finish then,
-
from v. 31-36,
-
we're told how some of the manna
-
was stored, just so later,
-
it would be one of the items
-
in the ark of the covenant there.
-
He tells them to take a
jar of it and so forth,
-
but in John 6,
-
people came to Jesus and they said to Him,
-
"What must we do
-
to be doing the works of God?"
-
What must we do to be doing the works,
-
the miracles of God?
-
They asked Jesus there in John 6.
-
You see, these people,
-
they had just seen Jesus feed the 5,000
-
with five loaves and two fishes.
-
So they were asking Him,
-
what must we do?
-
So we can do a miracle like this.
-
As Jesus had just said to them,
-
you are seeking Me for the wrong reasons.
-
You see, in the miracle of the feeding
-
of the 5,000, they didn't come to realize
-
Who He was.
-
And so they wanted to do
miracles, these people,
-
rather than seeking Him.
-
Well, Jesus answered them,
-
"This is the work of God:
-
that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.
-
So they said to Him,
-
'then what sign do you do
-
that we may see Him and believe You,
-
and what work You may perform?
-
Our fathers ate the manna
-
in the wilderness.
-
As it is written,
-
'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
-
Jesus said to them,
-
'Truly, truly, I say to you,
-
it was not Moses who gave you
-
the bread from heaven,
-
but My Father gives you
-
the true bread from heaven.
-
For the bread of God is He Who
-
comes down from heaven
-
and gives life to the world.
-
They said to Him,
-
'Sir, give us this bread always.'
-
Jesus said to them,
-
'I am the bread of life.
-
Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger.
-
Whoever comes to Me shall not thirst.'"
-
You see, He is the true Manna.
-
Christ is not some temporary provision
-
that lasted forty
years, in other words,
-
but everlasting.
-
You see, Jesus is the One
-
you must come to to rest in,
-
and feed from Him for everlasting life.
-
You see, just as this manna
-
sustained in the wilderness,
-
Christ is the One
-
Who must sustain you before the judgment,
-
Who we are to feed upon there.
-
So that's what I have to say.
-
Let's pray.
-
Our Father, I just pray that these words
-
would be helpful to the
brothers and sisters,
-
for the unity of the church here,
-
to knit hearts together
as David and Jonathan.
-
Keep us from evil, we ask.
-
Keep us from a grumbling spirit.
-
Keep us from temptation.
-
Help us to feed on You.
-
In Jesus' name,
-
Amen.