Have you ever found yourself questioning God, being angry at Him for the situation you are in? We often think it is natural and ok for us to question God’s intentions and be angry at Him, especially if our circumstances spiral out of control into a deep dark abyss of disease or financial chaos. We learn this from our pastors, who told us that God understands our temper tantrums because He is a good loving Father. But as we are going to see today, questioning God and being angry at Him is one of the most dangerous things you can do as a Christian.
Please turn with me to Numbers 11 in your Bibles. The backstory of Numbers 11 is that the Israelites have been saved out of Egypt. They have seen miracles and wonders most of us dream of seeing, so they had no reason to question Yehovahs intentions or His existence. With their own eyes, they had seen Yehovah fight for them and deliver them from their enemy. Even so, we see them in Numbers 11:4-5 complaining about the lack of food and water. They dont pray about it; they dont ask Yehovah for more food and water; their lack leads them to question whetever or not He is still with them and what His intentions are.
If we are honest with ourselves, we know we can all identify with the Israelites response. At one time in our lives, we have questioned God’s intentions for us because of a need that was not immediately met by Him. We have been told it is ok to do so because God has a wonderful plan for our lives. So if we do not see that wonderful plan come to life, then there must be something wrong somewhere. But as we are about to see, this is a dangerous thing for us to do.
When the Israelites complain, it angers Yehovah. Notice what He does next; in His anger, He gives them what they want. He causes a massive amount of quale to come and fall by the camp. When the Israelites gathered in the meat and started eating, the Bibel says in verse 33, the wrath of Yehovah was kindled against the people, and He struck them with a great plague.
How would you respond if you were among the Israelites that day? It is my guess most of us would have seen the quale as answered prayer and a blessing. We would have done precisely what they did, praised Jesus for all the quale, and gathered it in, but then as we had begun to eat, Yehovah’s anger would flare up against us and struck us with a plague.
This is why it is so dangerous to question Yehovah and His intentions for us. Because if we do, what we demand of Him will become a curse to us instead of a blessing.
It is nothing sinful about prayer and telling Yehovah what you need. But if His lack of response or His answer makes you question His intentions for you, it becomes dangerous. When you pray for healing, and He does not heal you right away, most of you become depressed, angry beginning to doubt Yehovah. When you pray for a financial miracle, and it does not happen right away, most of you become depressed, furious beginning to doubt Yehovah. Then you start telling Yehovah that if He would only heal you, bless you with money or meet whatever need it might be, you will be happy again and content. The Bible says Yehovah is patient and longsuffering, but at one point, His patience runs out, and when it does, He might heal you or meet your financial need in a way that becomes a curse for you instead of a blessing.
In Numbers 11:21, Yehovah has just told Moses He is about to curse the people with meat. This makes Moses question how will this happen, how will six hundred thousand foot soldiers and their families have meat for a whole month? Moses asks a fair question wanting to know if he should do anything to make this happen. Should he slaughter some of the flocks and herds, gather the fish of the sea? His question makes Yehovah angry. Why do we see Yehovah respond in anger over Moses’s question?
Because what Moses does is the same thing Eve did, he tries to add something to Yehovah’s instructions, which is legalism.
In verses 18-20, Yehovah had told Moses what He was about to do. If He had wanted Moses to do something to make this happen, He would have told him so. But because He did not give Moses instructions about what to do, Moses sinned when he in verses 21-22 starts asking Yehovah for further instructions.
What are we to learn from this?
If Yehovah gives you a promise, never question how it will happen, only accept it in faith and wait. If He tells you that soon He will heal you, bless you or save you from your troubles, never question how. Sometimes it might take a while for the promise to be fulfilled; never complain while you are waiting because then what was supposed to be a blessing will become a curse for you. Never tell Yehovah how to do His job as your God, how He does things, and when He does, it is up to Him and not to us.
So what are we to do while we wait?
Ecclesiastes 12:13, Matthew 6:25-34, Psalms, Deut 28:1-13, keep the law of Moses. Our “job” and our responsibility is to keep and obey Moses’s law at all times; Yehovah’s “job” and commitment is to meet our needs, something He will only do as long as we keep our end of the deal. Always pray and tell Yehovah what you need, but still thank Him in advance for giving it to you because you keep the law of Moses. (Philippians, Marks Gospel)
Then and only then will you walk by faith and not by sight and be pleasing to your God Yehovah.
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