“And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.” (1 Corinthians 10:10)
As Christians we need to be honest about the difficulties and struggles we face, but we must not allow ourselves to be caught up in a negative spiral of grumbling that makes us forget the power of God to help. We must not abandon hope. As we enter 2026, lets lift our eyes from our problems to the God who promises us ultimate blessing.
Grumbling, Campaigning or Lamenting?
In our culture complaint is increasingly encouraged. We are told, if there is a problem, don’t keep quiet say something about it. Whistle blowing is seen as a heroic activity. Even churches now have to have complaint procedures to make sure complaints are taken seriously. This is especially important in the light of all the safeguarding cases where people’s genuine complaints about bullying, sexual abuse or harassment had sadly in the past been ignored.
And yet, not all complaining is good. Much of our complaining can be quite negative, merely increasing the bad feeling with no positive effect.
How can we distinguish between good complaint and bad complaint? I want to suggest there are three types of complaint: grumbling, campaigning and lamenting.
Lament is when we come directly to God with our complaints.
When Jesus was on the cross he complained:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
It was a quote from Psalm 22, which is itself a lament, complaining to God about the persecution of enemies in a way that closely reflects Jesus’ experience on the cross.
Campaigning is when we complain in order to bring about needed change.
Some of the great heroes of the Twentieth Century did this. Just think of Martin Luther King and Ghandi.
Grumbling on the other hand is merely complaining because you are fed up.
If we are honest much of our complaining is often just grumbling. We are not bringing our problems to God and we are not really expecting anything to change. We are merely seeking to share our upset and dissatisfaction with others and so increase the general mood of annoyance.
The New Testament has some strong warnings about grumbling:
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so 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…” (Philippians 2:14-15a)
“And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.” (1 Corinthians 10:10)
This last verse was referring to the attitude of the Israelites as they travelled through the wilderness towards the promised land. Our passage is itself a key example. In the first section, the Israelites grumble about the lack of variety of food, there’s no meat, cucumbers, onions or garlic. Just manna to eat. God is angry with them and his judgement comes on those who desired to have meat and the place is named, Kibroth Hattavah, which means grave of craving.
Yet, also in the passage, there is a lament by Moses and God responds to Moses’ lament with a wonderful provision. Two forms of complaining, grumbling and lament. One is condemned, the other is held up as an example for us.
Israel’s Grumbling…
Let’s look more closely at Israel’s grumbling and see what made God so angry about it?
Re-Imagines the Past
Grumbling often complains that things aren’t the way they used to be. The past was much better than the future. In so doing grumbling often re-imagines the past, focussing on what was good and forgetting what was bad.
Israel do that in this passage. They look back to their life in Israel and remember the variety of food that they ate: fish, cucumber, watermelons, leaks, onions and garlic. It all sounds delicious, a wonderfully varied menu. But now all they had as they travelled through the wilderness was Manna to eat.
As it goes, this is all true, but it ignores the hardships they faced in Egypt, forced to work as slaves, and having their newborn babies killed by Pharaoh. Was that really worth it for the sake of some nice food?
This re-imagining of the past is particularly bad, because it reframes who God is. Rather than celebrating God as the great redeemer who miraculously rescued them from slavery in Egypt, they see him as the one who has brought them into a life of boring food! No wonder God was angry!!
Are you in danger of grumbling about life in a way that reimagines the past in this kind of way? Are you in danger of grumbling about the struggles in your Christian life, in a way that forgets how God has rescued you from your pre-Christian life, where there was no relationship with God, not hope beyond death and no freedom from guilt or son?
Despises God’s Blessings in the Present
Grumbling can also despise the blessings that we have now. Israel were travelling through the wilderness. There should have been nothing there for them to eat, but God miraculously provided Manna every morning, which was easy to collect and cook and tasted like cake. This was a miraculous blessing, but Israel were complaining about the lack of variety. What God had generously and freely provided they despised. No wonder God was angry!
Are you in danger of despising the good things God has given you in this life? Instead of being grateful for the small things, do you moan about your lack? We need to stop grumbling and start being grateful.
Ignores God’s Promises for the Future
Finally, their grumbling ignores God’s promises for the future. Their present situation in the wilderness was tough, but it was also temporary. God was leading them into a promised land, where there would be plenty of lovely food. Rather than complaining about present hardships, they should be trusting God for his future provision. Trusting that God could meet all their needs and desires. No wonder God was angry!
Are you in danger of focussing so much on present hardships, that you forget about God’s future promises, about his power to save? We need to see again the big picture of what God is up to.
Israel’s grumbling was more than just expressing dissatisfaction about their diet, it expressed a failure to acknowledge the good God who had gone to incredible lengths to rescue and bless them. No wonder God is angry.
…Leads to God’s Punishment
So, at the end of the passage God sends his punishment.
He gives them what they want: meat and lots of it, but he also sends a plague that kills them. This may seem harsh, but we have already seen how the grumbling expressed a fundamental lack of gratitude towards God or trust in his power to save.
But also, this was not the first time Israel had grumbled about lack of provision. They had done so a few times already and each time, God had provided for them and not punished them. This now was becoming a pattern, God needed to act to stop a grumbling attitude that would ultimately drive the people away from the God who saves them.
It is also a blessing for future generations, because this punishment was made as a warning. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians referring to the events in Numbers:
“Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” (1 Corinthians 10:6)
Will we heed the warning and refrain from grumbling like the Israelites?
Moses’s Lament:
In contrast to the Israelites, Moses’ complaint is a lament, not a grumble.
He brings his concerns to God in prayer. Let’s look in more detail about how he approaches things.
Honest
First of all, Moses is honest with God. In particular, he is honest about his feelings. He feels the immense pressure of leading such a large group of people, a people that are not his family, but whom God has called him to lead. He is angry with God, but he is bringing his anger to God. He is on the point of giving up, and he tells God this, saying that he would rather be dead than continue in the misery.
When the Bible tells us not to grumble, it is not telling us to pretend that everything in life is well. That the pressures we face do not matter. To just keep calm and carry on. Rather it calls us to lament. To bring our struggles to God in prayer. To be honest with him about how we are feeling.
As Peter puts it:
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
Humble
Secondly, Moses, comes humbly before God. He is not telling God what to do or where God has gone wrong. He acknowledges, that he is God’s servant, that God is ultimately in charge.
This is where lament differs from grumbling. Grumbling is ultimately self-centred and often self-important. It says my opinion is ultimately what matters. Lament on the other hand shares your opinion and feelings with God with the recognition that God knows best and God is in charge. It frames the complaint in the context of our relationship with God.
Trusting
Thirdly, Moses, shows that he trusts God to be able to deliver. When God says that he is going to give the people enough meat for a month, Moses initially throws up his hands in despair before God. There’s no way I can find that much meat to feed this many people!!
But, God’s response, which comes in one of the verses which we skipped over is:
“Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.” (Numbers 11:23)
Moses finds God’s promise hard to believe and tells God so, but ultimately he trusts that God’s arm is not too short, that he is able to do anything he promises. So, Moses gathers the people and tells them what God has promised. And God does indeed, provide more meat than they could possibly have imagined! Quail a meter deep for miles around!
Lament comes to God honestly with our problems and feelings, it does so understanding that God is in charge, but it also does so trusting that God is able to bring salvation. Will we come to God in lament and trust that God will work for our ultimate good?
God’s Provision:
Moses lament was that the burden of leadership was too much for him alone. So, God provided for Moses. He told him to find 70 elders and that he would take some of the Holy Spirit and put it on them, so that they too would be empowered to share in the leadership of the people, and the burden on Moses could be lifted.
And this is what God did. He gathered the chosen 70 at the tabernacle in the centre of Israel’s camp, God came down, and the Spirit was shared with the other elders. Initially it showed itself in the fact they were all prophesying, probably in the sense of becoming emotionally overcome with ecstatic praise of God, rather than in giving predictions of the future. This was a unique moment for them, but it demonstrated that God had indeed empowered them to support Moses.
Two on the list, however, had not made it to the Tabernacle. But God put his Spirit on them too and they were prophesying, but in the camp. Reports of this came to Moses and his inner circle and Joshua, Moses’ right-hand man was concerned that these two had gone rogue and that because they were in the camp, they may get all the attention rather than Moses.
But Moses is not concerned. He went to God, because of the pressure of solitary leadership and now God has responded by raising up 70 leaders to help him. What matters is not his status or reputation, but that the work of God can be done. He is not going to start grumbling about sharing leadership, but rejoice that more are doing God’s work.
When we bring our concerns to God in lament, we need to celebrate the way he helps us not focus on any downsides to us. Such an attitude slips into grumbling!!
Grumbling, Campaigning or Lamenting?
Next time you feel a need to complain ask yourself what are you doing: grumbling, campaigning or lamenting? If you are just sharing a moan with someone who can do nothing about it, then you are probably just grumbling. If, however, you are intentionally going to someone to sort out a problem or deal with an issue, then you are campaigning to make things better. Even better if you are bringing your concerns to God in prayer, then you are lamenting and you know that God is the one who has power over all problems!
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate 