Wilderness lessons part 2
Numbers 11 And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. 2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. 3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. 4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
We started a new series of messages last week “Lessons from the wilderness.” And we are looking at the 40 year time that the Children of Israel spent wandering in the Wilderness of Zin, on their way to the Promised land. God had delivered them from the slavery of Egypt, saved them from death at the Red Sea, given them His law at Sinai, but because of their disobedience, rather them take them immediately to the Promised land, which would have taken 3 to 6 months of travel, He purposefully led them on a meandering journey through a dry, rough and rocky area just west of the Promised land, for forty years.
And we remembered something last week. These were God’s people. These were the people who would be called by God’s name. These were the people who were to be a witness nation who became the birthplace of the Savior of the world. Why did they have to go through the wilderness? Why does God lead His own people through rough, challenging, and difficult times? We sometimes ask that same question. We say, I am a Christian. I am a “good” person. Why am I going through a wilderness time in my life.
And it’s a great question because we need to understand its answer to understand how God worked in the lives of the Children of Israel, and how He works in our lives. The long and short of it is this. God taught Israel with the wilderness time. This was the passage of God teaches us with wilderness times. This was the passage of Scripture we started with last time. Moses told the Children of Israel, after 40 years in the wilderness, as they were leaving it to enter the Promised Land,
Deuteronomy 8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart…”
And so, we began learning some lessons that the Children of Israel learned. There are 11 lessons. We went through 2 last week, we will cover 3 this week. Last week we considered that
This week we will look at three more,
3.the wilderness teaches us the Danger of Grumbling and Discontent, 4. Faith Must Conquer Fear, 5. God’s Presence Is Greater Than Any Place
All three of these lessons relate to grumbling, complaining, murmuring, or moaning. And what we are going to learn today is that grumbling is dangerous, because it demonstrates a person’s lack of faith in God.
Now, let’s be truthful, I think grumbling and complaining is the natural response from the human heart. To complain is to be human. No matter how good our lives are, we will find something to grumble about. We live in a first world country. That means our advances and systems make our country a pretty great place for a vast majority of those who live here.
Here’s a list I found of “Top 10 First-World Things We Complain About” — the kinds of inconveniences that remind us how blessed we actually are: see how many of these you’ve ever complained about,
1. Slow Wi-Fi -- “How am I supposed to stream 4K video while downloading an update and scrolling TikTok?!”
2. Packages Arriving a Day Late-- We can track them from warehouse to doorstep in real time… but we still sigh if it takes 48 hours instead of 24.
3. The Wrong Coffee Order-- “I said oat milk caramel macchiato with half-pump vanilla, not soy latte with full-pump!” (Meanwhile, people in the Third World would be grateful for clean water.
4. Cell Phone Battery Dying---Panic sets in at 3%—even though an outlet is ten feet away.
5. Streaming Service Overload--“There’s nothing to watch!” says the person with six subscriptions and 20,000 hours of content.
6. Drive-Thru Taking Too Long --“I’ve been in line for FOUR minutes!”
We forget we’re in a climate-controlled car being handed hot food by a stranger.
7. The Wrong Temperature Indoors--“It’s too cold in the office.” “It’s too hot in the house.” We live in the 1% of human history where we can adjust the climate at the touch of a button.
8. Not Enough Storage Space on Our Phones--“Ugh, I can’t take another picture of my lunch.”
9. Running Out of Your Favorite Snack--“Who ate the last bag of kettle chips!?”
10. Software Updates and Passwords--“Why does everything need a password?!”
I think I’ve complained about every one of those. But, of course, we also know that many of us have gone through, and are going through, a real wilderness.
A painful health crisis, the stress of a family crisis, the worry of whether you can pay your bills, buy your medicine, or even groceries, the death of a loved one.
But whether our worries are great or small, consequential or seemingly trivial, God teaches us through those times to turn to Him in faith, not to complain, but to take our concerns to Him.
Psalm 142:1–2 “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.”
Psalm 62:8 “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
We come before You today grateful that You are a God who leads—even through the wilderness. Thank You that no desert season in our lives is wasted, and that every dry and difficult place can become a classroom where You teach us to trust, to obey, and to rest in Your care.
Lord, we confess that our hearts are often quick to grumble and slow to trust. We see what we lack more easily than what we have. We complain about the manna, forgetting that it is Your mercy that feeds us each day. Forgive us for the times we’ve murmured against Your provision or doubted Your goodness.
Teach us, Father, to bring our burdens to You instead of airing them in complaint. Help us to pour out our hearts before You in faith, believing that You hear, You care, and You are working even when we cannot see it.
As we open Your Word today, humble our hearts. Let Your Spirit expose any discontent within us, and replace it with gratitude, peace, and renewed trust in Your promises. May we leave this place with hearts that are quieter, faith that is stronger, and lips that speak praise instead of complaint.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Well, as I said earlier, we are going to cover three lessons learned in the wilderness today. The first is that grumbling is dangerous, the second that instead we should respond in faith, and the third lesson that we learn in the wilderness is that “if God is with us, it doesn’t matter where we are, in the wilderness or paradise.
Today: The Danger of Grumbling and Discontent
II. Main Text – Numbers 11:1–6, 31–34
We read this passage a moment ago, and I chose it because it really illustrates the grumbling of the Children of Israel in their wilderness.
11 And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
These verses show us how displeased God was with their complaining. Let me set it up a little. About two weeks after leaving Egypt, the complaining starts. Remember they complained about having no water. God provides water. About 30 days after their departure, they complained that they had no food. God gave them manna and Quail. Three months after they leave Egypt they arrive at Mt. Sinai and Moses goes up on the Mountain to receive God’s law. And remember that there, they got tired of waiting for Moses and made a golden calf to worship. Now, they were camped at Sinai for about 11 months. And then God begins leading them again toward Canaan. Remember that they’ve been camping near Mount Sinai for 11 months. And now their journey picks up again. They’ve been eating manna every day for about a year. And then, just 3 days into this journey, after Sinai, they start complaining again. It doesn’t say here what they were complaining about. They later complain about the manna. But I suspect that this time it may be about the rigors of the journey. They’ve been camping in the shadow of the mountain for a year. They are beginning to settle. Bread is provided. Meat has been provided. Water is provided. For this time in history, this is about as close to the lap of luxury as any people got. And now God commands them to commence their journey.
They left the granite slopes of Sinai and entered the northern reaches of the Wilderness of Paran—an arid, sun-scorched expanse of gravel, sand, and rock. The “three days’ journey” likely covered some thirty to forty miles, a typical pace for such a vast caravan of nearly two million people, along with their flocks and herds. The conditions were harsh: blistering heat, choking dust, little shade, and scarce water. They were leaving behind the only fixed water source they had known for months. What began with the excitement of departure soon gave way to exhaustion. Carrying tents, children, and animals across the desolate terrain, the people quickly grew weary, fearful, and dissatisfied.
And the grumbling starts again. And God responds to it.
the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
This may have been fire from the fiery pillar that He used to lead them. It could have been lightening because that is sometimes called the fire of the Lord. Nevertheless we see a pattern again and again. Grumbling is dangerous. God was very displeased with this complaining. Displeased enough that He took the lives of a number of them. And it took Moses prayer to put out the fire. Now, it is what happens next that is baffling to me.
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
You would think that the lesson of God’s displeasure over grumbling, His slaying people with fire, would be enough to at least get them to shut up. But this was their pattern.
From the Red Sea to the Promised Land, Israel complained at every stop.
They complained about water (Ex. 15), food (Ex. 16), leadership (Num. 12), and even the Promised Land itself (Num. 14), they complained that the people of the land that they would have to vanquish were “giants.” It was as though every blessing came with a side of bitterness. Which is amazing, because by our standards, it’s not as though their lives were so wonderful in Egypt. But I’m sure they complained there as well. They had not yet learned that complaining is dangerous. We also need to learn that complaining is dangerous. Come on preacher, why is it dangerous? It’s just my innocent pass time. Everybody does it. What is the danger of complaining.
The danger of complaining lies in its theological roots because it challenges the character and sovereignty of God. When we grumble about our circumstances, we are not complaining against what we think we are; our boss, our house, our health, we are, in effect, complaining against God.
On that scorching 3 day march that the Children of Israel took after Sinai. They thought they were complaining about the heat, the heavy load, the distance, the thirst, but who were they really complaining about? God. God was leading them and God was depriving them. He could have given them every comfort on that journey. He could have just miraculously snapped, and made them just appear on the border of the Promised land. But we know that God was teaching them.
Complaining is declaring that God has made a mistake, that His wisdom is insufficient, His goodness questionable, or His timing flawed. Scripture repeatedly exposes this heart attitude: in Exodus 16:8, Moses told Israel, “Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” Complaining is more than dissatisfaction with life; it is discontent with God Himself, a failure to trust that His providence governs all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:10 that those who murmured in the wilderness were destroyed as examples for us, showing how complaint flows from unbelief. Since God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present, every circumstance we face comes through His sovereign hand. Thus, to complain is not simply to voice frustration—it is to question the wisdom of the Almighty who “works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11).
We all complain to one degree or another. But how should we respond to difficulties?
Prayer
Psalm 142:1–2 – “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.”
Trust
Isaiah 26:3–4 – “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.”
Gratitude
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 – “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Rejoicing and hope
Philippians 2:14–15 – “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke.”
Habakkuk 3:17–18 – “Although the fig tree shall not blossom… yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Lessons from the Wilderness — Part 5
Faith Must Conquer Fear
In this part we fast forward to the time where the Children of Israel arrived on the border of the land of Canaan and sent 12 spies into the land to get a feel for the territory they were to conquer. Again, let’s remember the timetable here. They left Mount Sinai after camping in its shadow for 11 months. 3 days into their journey God sends fire down on complainers. Then others complained about the food and God brought quail, but He judged some with tainted from the quail. Now, just 8 days later, they arrive on the border of the Promised land and send in 12 spies. They spend 40 days walking across the land, noting it’s cities and villages, seeing its fruit, considering its people and topography. Then they come back.
Main Text: Numbers 13:26–33; 14:1–9
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
They had returned with a huge cluster of grapes that had to be carried on a pole between two men.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless
(here we go agian) the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
II. Main Text – Numbers 13:26–33; 14:1–9
Now, I want us to break down what was said by ten of the spies. We know that two spies, Joshua and Caleb, were ready to follow God through Hell and high water. But 10 brought back a fearful report.
A. The Spies’ Report
“We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” (13:27)
“Nevertheless the people be strong… and there we saw the giants…” (13:28, 33)
Twelve spies saw the same land, the same giants, the same walls. Ten came back with fear; two came back with faith. The difference wasn’t what they saw—it was how they saw.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” conveys the agricultural richness of the Promised Land. The reference to milk points to abundant pastureland—enough to sustain cattle, goats, and sheep, indicating a region suitable for herding and livestock. The mention of honey suggests flourishing flora—flowers, fruit trees, and other vegetation that could support bees or produce natural sweeteners from fruit. Some commentators note that the term “honey” may have referred not only to bees’ honey but also to sweet fruit syrups such as date honey, which were common in the ancient Near East. The Hebrew word translated “flowing” (zavat) emphasizes abundance—depicting not a modest supply but an overflowing, continual productivity. Taken together, the expression “flowing with milk and honey” paints a picture of a land agriculturally lush and fertile, capable of sustaining both farming and herding, with plentiful food, water, grazing, and natural sweetness. But then they go on to say,
28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
the children of Anak and the giants of Canaan are central figures in Israel’s early encounters with the Promised Land. The Bible describes them as descendants of a race of unusually large and fearsome people known collectively as the Anakim, Rephaim, or Nephilim.
They were tall, strong, and intimidating, dwelling primarily in the hill country around Hebron in southern Canaan.
This does not indicate that all the inhabitants with tall in stature, they just saw some there. Just like when David comes to the battle between the Philistines and Israel later, Goliath is the Philistine champion. He’s their brute squad. They bring him out to intimidate other armies.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
The people of Israel would have had some familiarity with these tribes of people. Egypt had been the kingdom that dominated the region, but there were other kingdoms that challenged Egyptian dominance. The Amalekites were known as a desert dwelling clan of people expert in survival and warlike. They were the first people to attack Israel after they left Egypt. The Hittites were One of the great world powers of the Late Bronze Age. The Pharaohs had fought wars with the Hittites. They were considered to be equals to the Egyptians in disciplined, technologically advanced, skilled in chariot warfare, and politically sophisticated. The Jebusites lived in the hills and built seemingly impregnable fortresses. The Amorites – Fierce Highland Warriors; warrior race known for height and strength. Egyptian and Mesopotamian records: The Amorites were known centuries earlier as a migrating, aggressive people who often overthrew city-states.
Then they said this, “The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof;
Some take it literally, suggesting the spies saw evidence of a harsh or dangerous environment—perhaps plagued by disease, famine, wild beasts, or warfare—that seemed to destroy its own people. Others view it figuratively, meaning the land was so fierce and perilous that its inhabitants lived in constant conflict, “devouring” one another through war and conquest. Jewish interpreters sometimes propose that the spies witnessed many funerals (a providential event God used to distract the locals), which they misread as a sign the land was deadly. I don’t like any of those theories. Because of the next statement…
and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” We saw these tall men there, they made us feel small, and because we felt small, we were small to them. They psychologically defeated themselves. I think their whole description of the land was an exaggeration. It wasn’t that every person they saw was a giant, it wasn’t that the whole land was full of walled cities and war experienced warriors, it wasn’t that they saw multitudes of people dieing of disease, famine or conflict, it is that they saw some of that, it made them fearful, so that is then all they saw.
We do the same thing
Have you ever experienced this phenomenon? We just recently bought a new car, new to us. Navy blue Nissan Rogue, mid-sized SUV. When they first drove it out for us to test drive, I thought that it was unique. We really liked it. It was different than what we had known. But do you know that ever since we bought that car, everywhere we go, we see navy blue mid-sized SUV. It's like all of a sudden everybody was copying us. We parked somewhere the other day, right next to 2 navy blue mid-sized SUVs. Now you know, it’s not that everybody all of a sudden bought those cars. They were there all along. I just didn’t notice them until we had our own.
I think that is how this spy mission went. 10 spies saw some large men, some walled cities, some experienced warriors, some funerals, or maybe some evidence of plague, or famine, and then because of fear, that’s all they saw.
And their fear turned to grumbling
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.” (14:1)
Ten spies infected two million people.
Numbers 14:4 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
But two men, came back, with faith. It wasn’t that they didn’t see the tall men, the warriors or the walls, they also saw something else.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
But one of the great lessons of the wilderness is that you have to listen to words of faith, not fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Faith doesn’t ignore the facts—it interprets them through God’s promises.
The giants were real, but so was the God who said, “I have given you the land.”
Point three: God’s presence is greater than any place.
I am just going to make this a concluding point. What Joshua and Caleb were trying to say was that the circumstances didn’t matter as long as God was on their side. But the people didn’t listen. They revealed that even after the miraculous plagues in Egypt, the miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea, the miraculous giving of food and water in the wilderness, the fearsome presence of God on Mount Sinai, the people hadn’t learned to trust God. Isn’t that amazing. Sometimes we go through very tough times. And we think that God ought to do a miracle to save us out of it. But we don’t know all of God’s purposes. He is teaching us. And amazingly, we often don’t learn to trust Him by seeing miracles. We learn in the wilderness.
After Israel refused to enter the Promised Land, God led them back into the wilderness to teach them to treasure His presence above all else. The people had been paralyzed by fear—of giants towering over them, of walled cities that seemed impossible to conquer, of seasoned warriors who made them feel weak and unprepared, and of a land they believed “consumed its inhabitants” with plague or famine. Their eyes saw danger where faith should have seen deliverance. So God brought them into the wilderness to strip away false securities and show that His presence was greater than any enemy. Through the pillar of cloud and fire, He taught them that He Himself was their shield and guide. When hunger and thirst came, He sent manna and water from the rock, proving that His presence—not the land—was their provision. Even when they sinned, His glory still filled the tabernacle, reminding them that grace abides only where He dwells. Moses came to see that no promise, no possession, no victory was worth having without the Lord, saying, “If Your presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.” The wilderness became the furnace where fear was refined into faith, and Israel learned that God’s presence is the greatest treasure of all.
IX. Closing Illustration – The Little Girl on the Train
There’s a classic found in early 20th-century devotional books and children’s sermons, often titled “The Little Girl on the Train” or “My Father Is the Engineer.” Its purpose is to illustrate childlike faith and trust in God’s providence—especially when life feels stormy or out of control.
The old passenger train rattled through the countryside on a dark, stormy night. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rolled over the hills, and rain pounded against the windows. Every few minutes, the cars lurched as the wheels hit slick rails, and the lights flickered with each clap of thunder.
Most of the passengers sat in anxious silence—some gripping the armrests, others whispering prayers. One elderly woman clutched her rosary; a businessman nervously checked his watch, as if willing the storm to pass faster.
But one small girl, no more than seven or eight, sat near the window—swinging her legs, softly humming a tune, and watching the flashes of lightning with wide eyes of wonder. She didn’t flinch or cry, even when the thunder boomed right overhead.
Finally, a man sitting across the aisle leaned over and asked, “Little girl, aren’t you afraid?”
She turned, smiled, and said cheerfully, “No sir. My father is the engineer. He’s driving the train—and he’s taking me home.”
When you know the presence of God is with you, you can face the storms of life with peace. You know who’s in control, and you know where you’re headed.
6.Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice, 7.God Raises Leaders in the Wilderness, 8.Beware of Idolatry in the Waiting, 9.God’s Word Is Our Daily Guide, 10.The Promise Is Reached by Faith and Perseverance, 11.Remember and Teach the Next Generation.