Murmuring in the Wilderness

Exodus 15:23-27; 16-17

What did the children of Israel murmur about? Identify all the examples you can find.

--No water to drink.  -- Not enough to eat.  --No water (again)/ being thirsty

*And some may not consider this murmuring, but I felt that when they failed to heed the word of Moses and Aaron, it was the same as murmuring:  Examples: Gathering ALL the manna each day and don't leave it til morning.  Not honoring the Sabbath by not collecting manna on that day, etc.

How did the Lord respond to their murmuring?

 After Moses would appeal to him, he would usually ease the "suffering," but would have a miracle performed to show it is truly from God.   Sometimes he became angry with them.

Why do you think people murmur against God and those He has chosen as His leaders? (See 1 Nephi 16:1-3.)

One of the best quotes from this scripture reference is in verse 3.  It says "If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth . . . " 

This made me think about a situation that happened five + years ago.  Sister Julie Beck gave a talk at general conference entitled "Mothers Who Know".  There was a group of women that became very offended by it, and actually wrote a "rebuttal" . . . to a talk at GENERAL CONFERENCE, and sent it to newspapers to have published

.  It made me sad, that they missed the message of love being shared.  The Lord was giving counsel of what we should be striving for, and what we are getting away from, and some chose to "murmur" and become offended because it wasn't what they wanted to hear (instead of learning from it)

I also think that we tend to believe (or want), our leaders to be perfect, and it’s hard to accept that they aren’t.  We had a friend tell us about a time he was inactive for a few years, because he had been offended by a leader in the church.  One day, he was at the grocery store, and witnessed the bishop of his ward, getting “chewed out” by his wife in the parking lot.  He said, it was then that it dawned on him, that the bishop wasn’t perfect, and neither are any of the leaders within the church.  IT was unfair for him to hold them to an unachievable status, and base his testimony on that.  It was then that he started going back to church and strengthening his own testimony again.

What does murmuring usually lead to?

            Apostasy.  Pure and simple.  When we murmur, we are allowing our justified/ and un-justified frustrations to interfere with the perfect elements of the gospel and hinder ourselves from increasing our spiritual growth.

Read 2 Nephi 27:35. Describe in writing what Nephi suggested as an antidote for murmuring.

            Read and LEARN.  The more we learn, the more knowledge we have that will give us the wisdom to see past imperfections and hardships, so that we don’t allow ignorance to step in with complaints and hinder our own growth.

What counsel would you give to a friend or a family member who murmurs against the commandments of God?

            Humble yourself.  Just as an earthly parent doesn’t prevent any hardship or punishment that may befall their child, our Father in Heaven with perfect wisdom cannot, and will not either.  He knows how to help us best to grow.  Complaining will only hurt us.  None of us are perfect, and need to remember that.  If you use your energy you spent on complaining on productivity, miracles can and will happen. D&C 1:28 reminds us “And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time.”