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. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
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? 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: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. (Num. 11:1-10)
In some recent reading on Numbers 11, I came across an excellent essay by Dennis Prager (a practicing Jew) titled “Constant Complaining is a Moral Defect.” To make his case, he gave the following eight reasons and comments:
1) Constant complaining is a sign of ingratitude and unhappiness, one which feeds on itself, causing yet more complaining and more unhappiness.
2) Complaining is contagious. It spreads like a virus against which very few people have immunity. When one is with a complainer, it is very tempting to agree with the person and then chime in with one’s own complaints.
3) Constant complaining ruins relationships. Ask anyone married to a constant complainer or the parents of a constantly complaining son or daughter. Eventually, most people try to minimize contact with constant complainers.
4) Constant complainers see themselves as victims. A victim mentality often leads people to either engage in bad behavior or support like-minded people who engage in bad behavior. Almost every violent criminal sees himself as a victim. Almost every violent national or ideological group is rooted in victimhood.
5) Constant complaining prevents people from improving their lives. By definition, constant complaining means the complainer holds others–individually and/or collectively–responsible for the complainer’s problems. They will therefore not accept responsibility for any of their problems and for the need to work on themselves.
6) Constant complainers romanticize either the past (as the Israelites did with their enslavement in Egypt in Numbers 11:5) or the future (that is why utopianism is another source of evil, as it makes people incapable of appreciating the good they do have). Good and psychologically healthy people attempt to enjoy the world in which they live (while attempting to improve it).
7) From a religious perspective, constant complaining is a denial of God’s goodness and ultimately a rejection of God. Constant complaining means the world that God has made is defective. When the Israelites complained their lives were better in Egypt, they were saying God should not have liberated them.
8) The religious complainer is a living advertisement for atheism. Grateful and happy religious people, on the other hand, are living arguments for God and religion.
Prager concludes by adding the following: “It has been my experience that many people with the most to complain about rarely complain, and many of those with the least to complain about complain the most. At the present time, in our feelings-based, victimhood-encouraging society, a commonly offered response to complainers is to say, ‘I feel your pain,’ and little more. That is not the Torah’s response. From the Torah’s perspective, the best response to those who complain is to offer them empathy but also to challenge them to stop viewing themselves as victims: to be grateful for the blessings they have and to undertake actions necessary to improve their lives. For those of us who use the Bible…to gain the wisdom necessary to lead a good life, God’s contempt for ingratitude and its manifestation in constant complaining is one of the great lessons of the great book.” (Dennis Prager, Commentary on Numbers, pp. 113-115).
The apostle Paul wrote: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 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; holding forth the word of life…In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (Philippians 4:12-16; 1 Thes. 5:18).
Beware of the sinfulness of complaining.
— John Chowning