The word “complain” (or a form thereof) is found more than fifty times in the Bible, most of which are in the Old Testament. Where do you think we read the word for the first time in Scripture? The first forty years of Israel’s history after deliverance from Egypt could be summarized in one word—“complaining.”
The first time the word is found in the Bible is in the chapter right after Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground (apparently only three days after the event). “The people complained against Moses” (Ex. 15:24). This same sentiment is repeated numerous times in Exodus and Numbers. After the whole congregation “complained against Moses and Aaron” (Ex. 16:2), the Israelites were told, “Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord” (16:8). To complain against God’s chosen ones was to complain against God Himself!
What are some lessons that we can learn and apply from the incessant complaining of the children of Israel?
First of all, we need to recognize that when we complain, the Lord hears our complaints! Three times in three consecutive verses, Moses told Israel, “He hears your complaints against the Lord…the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him…He has heard your complaints” (Ex. 16:7-9, plus verse 12). God hears every word we speak!
Second, our complaints against others can actually be complaints against God! God made this clear to the Israelites, and it ought to make us think when we (or others around us) complain against the Lord’s people, His church or His cause.
Also, we must be cautious of the contagious nature of complaining! When the ten unfaithful spies “whom Moses sent to spy out the land…returned,” they “made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land” (Num. 14:36). Complaining is contagious—we can either catch it or give it.
Complaining has serious, serious consequences! The dire results are summarized in Numbers 11:1, “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused.” Would our complaining evoke any less?
Complaining is specifically condemned in the New Testament! Christians are commanded, “Do all things without complaining” (Phil. 2:14). “If anyone has a complaint against another,” the child of God is to respond by “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another” (Col. 3:13).
Complaining is easy to do. “God, please help us!”