Murmuring: Complaints & Vain Babbling
Exodus 15:23-27 KJVS
[23] And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of 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? [25] And he cried unto the Lord ; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, [26] And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. [27] And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
Here we go, what’s the big deal? The people had no water, what else were they supposed to do? They had to talk about it…Right? Well, let’s get a better understanding of the definition of murmur so we can all be on the same page. I will provide it in the Greek and the Hebrew in the Strong’s Concordance:
Strong's Number
G1112
Original Word
γογγυσμός
Transliterated Word
goggusmos
Phonetic Spelling
gong-goos-mos'
Parts of Speech
Noun Masculine
Strong's Definition
From G1111; a grumbling: - grudging murmuring.
Thayer's Definition
a murmur, murmuring, muttering
a secret debate
a secret displeasure not openly avowed
Strong's Number
H3885
Original Word
לין לוּן
Transliterated Word
lûn lîyn
Phonetic Spelling
{loon} leen
Parts of Speech
Verb
Strong's Definition
A primitive root; to stop (usually over night); by implication to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense) to be obstinate (especially in {words} to complain): - abide (all {night}) {continue} {dwell} {endure} {grudge} be {left} lie all {night} (cause to) lodge (all {night} {in} {-ing} this {night}) (make to) {murmur} {remain} tarry (all {night} that night).
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Definition
to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide
(Qal)
to lodge, pass the night
to abide, remain (fig.)
(Hiphil) to cause to rest or lodge
(Hithpalpel) to dwell, abide
to grumble, complain, murmur
(Niphal) to grumble
b (Hiphil) to complain, cause to grumble
If you don’t know, now you know. To murmur, based on the greek definition above, is to grumble. When one grumbles they are making low noises, talking “under their breath” as the saying goes, that usually only those in close proximity can hear. Often in displeasure of something stated or an action taken. Thayer’s Definition provided above states it as, “a secret displeasure not openly avowed.” So you feel some type of way, however, you do not voice this concern openly or to the right parties. Which puts you in error. But there is more to it than that which we will touch on as we read further along below. The Hebrews definition elaborates with the understanding of, “to be obstinate (especially in {words} to complain).” An obstinate individual is one who will not be persuaded or bend to reason. You are usually not only firm but stubborn in your opinion or purpose. You won’t yield to argument or persuasion.
Exodus 16:7-8 KJVS
[7] And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord ; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord : and what are we, that ye murmur against us? [8] And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.
Exodus 16:11-12 KJVS
[11] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [12] I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
Often times, we become disconnected and cannot separate the messenger, the message, and the sender. The Most high God is the sender and the one that SENT the messenger and the message. He is the one responsible. We as leaders have the responsibility to righteously deliver the message. If you feel some type of way about the message it is not directed toward the leaders but rather toward the Most High. Now, if the leaders are wrong you want to ensure you can first and foremost substantiate the matter with scriptures and depending on the situation in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Furthermore, we have to remember that the Most High hears our murmurings and complaints because again, those murmurings and complaints aren’t toward the man but rather toward the creator of man.
Exodus 17:1-7 KJVS
[1] And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. [2] Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord ? [3] And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? [4] And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. [5] And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. [6] Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
Now the people are chiding with Moses. They are scolding him and expressing their disapproval or nagging him about the water issue again. We see yet gain, Moses is telling them, why are you nagging and harassing me about this? One would think, “Well, you’re the leader right?” “We complaining to you about it.” The answer is simple. On a basic level, complaints are evil because instead of complaining you should be offering help. The bigger picture is…You have the God of the universe, of all creation leading you. What could really go wrong? He can give you water at anytime. This is the same God that led you out of Egypt and did all these wonderful works and brought all these great plagues but now he is limited to not being able to provide water? And now you question if he is even among you? These are examples of some of the things that Moses is more than likely considering and going through in his head especially as a leader, when he is reasoning with the people. And these are the things that the people are not considering when they are murmuring against Moses.
Numbers 14:27-30 KJVS
[27] How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. [28] Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: [29] Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, [30] Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Now of course, no one is lifting up their arms and praying to God and saying these things directly against him. People have more sense than that. But when you begin to complain you are doing it against the Most High. Although, you see a man and the word may come from a man, the word really comes from the Most High and he sees murmuring as evil.
Numbers 14:27-39 KJVS
[27] How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. [28] Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: [29] Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, [30] Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. [31] But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. [32] But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. [33] And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. [34] After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. [35] I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. [36] And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, [37] Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. [38] But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. [39] And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
These murmurings were so bad that the Most High said I will make you a believer. According to the words you have spoken and all that crap you were talking, that is exactly what I am going to do unto you. While you over here complaining if I am with you, if I brought you out of Egypt just to die in the wilderness. So be it, I will let you die in the wilderness. Now, I didn’t say I was going to put you all to death, I repented from that thanks to Moses. But all of you will now die in the wilderness, save your children and Joshua and Caleb. Now after hearing all this now you want to cry about it. Well you got forty years to cry about it.
Deuteronomy 1:21,26-28 KJVS
[21] Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. [26] Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God: [27] And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. [28] Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
One of the largest byproducts of murmuring is that it instills fear in people. One of the biggest fears is distrust. Once distrust is sown and takes root it is hard to uproot. And with distrust you have more discord and division sown and it becomes increasingly difficult to build. Because as you lay a brick down, someone else is coming behind you and removing it. Someone else is saying, “let’s build over here instead.” Someone else is saying, “why are we building anyway?” And leave off building and walk off the job. So you stay stagnated in the same spot. Barely making progress and sometimes regressing. That adds even more discouragement, both for the leaders and the followers that remain. For all of my labour that I have wrought for days, weeks, months, maybe even years. We are still here with very little to show for it. Or making minimal gains although you personally are applying maximum effort. Almost as if you are a track star running full sprint with a parachute on your back. Although moving, you are exerting a lot more effort to do basic movements. Or even worse, a cartoon character running with someone else holding on to you, going nowhere.
Mark 14:3-9 KJVS
[3] And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. [4] And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? [5] For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. [6] And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. [7] For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. [8] She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. [9] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
This woman took one of her most expensive ointments that was commonly known to be highly valued and used the majority of it (if not all of it) on Christ, knowing he was going to be crucified. So some of the disciples were offended. Not that the woman did anything wrong per say but simply because they would have done differently. Take a moment to read that again…That is why the scriptures say that some “had indignation within themselves” knowing the item was of a high price that could have made a lot of money if sold. They were very displeased by her actions, so much so they had to let others know. And when people heard it, it bothered them. Even Christ had to tell them to leave her alone why are you troubling her. All the sly comments are unnecessary. And only tear down. Now imagine how much more damaging this could have been if Christ never said anything? Or better yet, if Christ wasn’t even around.
Luke 15:1-4 KJVS
[1] Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. [2] And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. [3] And he spake this parable unto them, saying, [4] What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
You had many coming to hear Christ but all the Pharisees and scribes saw was Christ is hanging out with these sinners. “Just look at him, these people aren’t holy.” Everyone has an opinion. Christ had to teach them, I am with them to help teach them and bring them to repentance. And they are willing to hear the word, and some of them may fully turn their lives around. So this work is needed.
John 7:8,11-13 KJVS
[8] Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. [11] Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? [12] And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people. [13] Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
The thing about murmuring is that it can even become “cliquish” you will say it around select brothers and sisters but not around or rather to the person. And if you don’t have anyone standing up for you the negativity will continue to spread like a fire.
1 Corinthians 10:10-12 KJVS
[10] Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. [11] Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. [12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
We have to understand that murmuring, although a small sin, can be very detrimental. And that our forefathers were getting put to death for continuing to do so. We have to be mindful of even the small sins lest we fall to something such as this. Lest us thinking I have it all together and your sin be something small that you are not fixing.
Isaiah 29:24 KJVS
[24] They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
We err in spirit with these things, for most of these battles are spiritual not carnal. No physical stone needs to be thrown other than the ones we throw from our mouths. Yet, for all this, we have the choice and opportunity to learn doctrine and repent. Those that murmured (and still murmur until this day) can change our ways through learning how to better deal with things in a way that is holy.
Isaiah 41:21 KJVS
[21] Produce your cause, saith the Lord ; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
We must work to wisely speak on how we feel and why we feel the way we do and bring it to the right people at the right time. Be the voice of reason and help put out the little fires or give balance to the situation. Both of which can be resolved through word and action. And you must choose to be either the one that builds or the one that destroys. Just be sure your words are building and not tearing down others.
Philippians 2:14-15 KJVS
[14] Do all things without murmurings and disputings: [15] That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
