Numbers 14:1-4, 26-27
1 That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly.
2 All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, and all the people said to them, "We wish we had died in Egypt or in this desert.
3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to be killed with swords? Our wives and children will be taken away. We would be better off going back to Egypt."
4 They said to each other, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27 "How long will these evil people complain about me? I have heard the grumbling and complaining of these Israelites."

And then He described His punishment for them.

Notice that the Israelites did not complain directly about God. They wished they had died in Egypt or in the desert. They thought they would be killed by swords in the land God had brought them to. They thought their wives and children would be taken away. They thought they would be better off going back to Egypt. God took this as an affront to Himself.

How often do we say things that offend God? How often do we complain about worship services that don't meet our taste? How often do we ask if God has called us into ministry, how we are going to pay for school?

We don't have to complain directly about God to offend Him. What if God punished us for our offenses as He punished the Israelites?


New Century Version (NCV)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.