I like having a moan. You have probably worked that out for yourself, if you read the earlier blog on the subject of moaning. [Click for Link]
Not real complaining,
you understand. Not real constructive complaining that is designed to lead to
some kind of useful outcome, such as getting your money back, a better table at
a restaurant or just an apology. No, just background moaning and muttering about
usual things that cannot be changed, such as the English weather, the English
football team and the neighbour’s dog that doesn’t stop barking.
In that blog, I stated
that I was, at least partly, on the side of the moaners. A further point
occurred to me as I was writing this earlier blog, that all the moaning and grumbling
of the People of Israel in wilderness was directed at the wrong target. I had
wanted to include this random thought which was charging around inside my head,
but a limit of 800 words for a blog imposes some restrictions.
For the most part
during the journey out of Egypt and their wanderings in the wilderness, the
People of Israel, when the going got a bit tough, complained to Moses. Why
Moses? What had he done? He was just the messenger and of course, like so many
messengers, he was the one who was shot at.
So why didn’t they
take their complaint direct to God?
For a kick-off, Moses was the natural “complaints department”. Of course, he was the guy giving out the instructions and was the man on the spot. They obviously thought Moses was the right intermediary. They presumable believed that he had it within his power to sort these problems out.
Perhaps they believed
that Moses himself was the “fixer”. If the problem wasn’t resolved, then it
must have been his fault. It might explain why they became restless when Moses
disappeared up Mount Sinai for longer than expected. “Moses has done a runner.
Let’s have a tribal symbol” and promptly made the Golden Calf.
Moses was at a
disadvantage, being the nearest target to hand. The People of Israel’s
understanding of God seemed to be so minimal or even non-existent, that their
complaint would be directed at the most obvious and visible cause. Moses
brought us here. He must be part of the problem and he must solve this.
In one sense, they might
have been correct, if you can imagine that they had never caught on to the fact
that God was behind this whole adventure in the first place. The more you think
about it, the more natural, if incorrect, this becomes. They just never saw
beyond Moses, just as we, by the way, often do see beyond the church.
I know that most of
the readers of this blog would turn to God, in difficult circumstances or in a
serious situation, for example in the situation of a threatened lost job (which
is fairly topical and painful at the moment). However, most people would not think
of this. They would rant and rave, at the most obvious target e.g. the
employer, government etc. If God does not really feature in their thinking,
then He will not be asked. People end up trusting in things that they can see
or have made themselves.
But I am straying as
usual, so back to the main story. As you may have worked out by now, one of my
thoughts is that the People of Israel never really believed in this God person at
all and believed that this was all Moses’ doing. The Old Testament prophets
later explain this in terms that they “hardened their hearts against God”. I
find this interesting as it is described as a deliberate act by the People of
Israel. The Old Testament prophets assert that the People of Israel made a
choice not to believe and look to God. There is no cop out here, “Oh, we didn’t
understand” was not a defence that stood up in God’s eyes.
Finally, it is worth
looking at the great complainer, Job. The book of Job, in the Old Testament is
just before the Psalms [link to Job]. Job’s complains of God’s dealings with him
(which were pretty harsh) and his so-called “friends”, tell him of some wrong-doing
that he must have committed, and that he should repent of these unspecified sins.
Job rebukes them and says that his complaint is to God (Job: Chapters 26 – 31)
My point here, if
there is a point, is that Job did at least get the target of his complaint
correct. It was to God himself, who reveals himself to Job, puts Job in his
place and then restores him to his previous health and cirmcumstances. (Job 38
– 42) Click for Link
If you are going to
complain, then at least get the target right. Complain to God himself.
