Question: Have you ever complained about the things God has provided for you? Be careful before you answer that! In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said if we will seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first that He will “add” or provide the things listed in vs. 31 - our needs - food, drink, and clothing. But many people are dissatisfied when God only takes care of their needs. They want Him to give them their wants as well. Like a child wanting cake and ice cream for supper instead of a healthy meal, we often desire things that are not good for us and that will not help us grow spiritually. Someone said, “God answers our prayers as we would ask if we were wiser.” Look closely at vs. 1 of our text: “And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it . . . ” "Complained" carries the thought of mourning and sorrow. It also speaks of muttering in a low voice. Not only were the Israelites dissatisfied with God’s provision, they were grumbling about it. The Lord was displeased with them because He heard their complaining. We think only of hearing with the ears, but God hears and knows our thoughts. Psalm 94:11 says, “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.” In Genesis 6:5 we read, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God knows our thoughts, and whether we vocalize it or not, He even knows when we are dissatisfied with His provision or how He is doing things. And it says, “. . . and his anger was kindled . . . ” "Kindle" is "to glow, or grow warm; to blaze up; to burn." God took care of the complaining and stopped it by stopping the complainers. Vs. 1 says, “. . . 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.” Did you ever say, “That just burns me up?” Well, God didn’t get so angry it burned Him up. Instead, His anger was kindled, and it burned the complainers up. Remember these are the people God has provided for by bringing them out of Egyptian bondage “with a mighty hand,” but they were constantly complaining against Him and His leader, Moses. Look at their complaint in vs. 6. They said, “But our soul is dried away . . . ” "Dried away" refers to being dry. (Dryness of soul.) (I think sometimes we get that way.) It is from a word that means “to be ashamed, confused, disappointed; to dry up as water; to wither (away).” And they said, “ . . . there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” "Manna" literally means “What is it?” What was manna? Vs. 7 says it “was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.” Vs. 8 says the taste of it “was as the taste of fresh oil.” Exodus 16:31 tells us “the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Psalm 78:24 says God “rained down manna upon them to eat,” and vs. 25 tells us that “Man did eat angels’ food . . . ” And Jewish sources tell us it tasted like whatever a person wanted it to taste like. Have you ever eaten bologna and tried to pretend it was steak? But manna did taste according to their desire. Manna was God’s provision for them! Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “. . . and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” And most importantly, the Old Testament manna was but a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are complaining about what God is providing and wishing to once again feed on the fare of Egypt - vs. 5: “We remember fish . . . the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick.” It is amazing how quickly we forget the bad times and only focus on the “good” parts of the past. Do you know what Egypt represents in the Bible? It is a picture of sin and bondage to sin. Just a very short time after being redeemed from bondage, God’s people were wanting to go back to Egypt, to sin, because of what it had to offer that pleased the flesh. And so they said, “Our soul is dried away,” withered up. We have dryness of soul. I believe in these few verses in Numbers 11 we see some of the things that caused them and will cause us to have “withered souls,” dryness of soul.

I. THEY FORGOT WHAT GOD HAD DONE.

II. THEY FOLLOWED THE WRONG CROWD.

III. THEY FELL A LUSTING.