Complaining, Murmuring, and Slander

Monday evening sermon was on complaining and murmuring. He shared that it caused God to be angry when he heard it in the camp as the Jews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Finally, God acted, sending fire to consume those who were creating discord among the people.

That got the remainder of the camp’s attention and had Moses intercede with prayers to stop the death and destruction. It behooves us to replace our murmurings with praise and to be more in tune with His will in our lives.

Tuesday evening Evangelist Dan Brubaker shared the story of Nehemiah asking to return to Jerusalem. The city’s walls were torn down and lay in ruins. Jerusalem, his hometown, was a heap of rubble.

Nehemiah was downcast when he heard the news. King Artaxerxes saw the sadness in his servant and sent him back to rebuild the wall. As Nehemiah and the other Jews returned and began to reconstruct the walls, the enemies of the Jews saw the wall rising from the ruins and were worried. They tried to lure Nehemiah away that they might do him harm, but he refused to meet with them, staying with the task at hand. Although no longer in the King’s court, Nehemiah remained a loyal servant in all he did.

As the enemies saw the wall was being constructed and knowing that they couldn’t draw Nehemiah from the task, they murmured among themselves and started a campaign to slander Nehemiah, sending an open letter to King Artaxerxes saying Nehemiah and the Jews were planning to rebel. The lie they were spreading was to damage Nehemiah’s character and to stop the wall from being built.

Nehemiah’s enemies despised him, then conspired against him, seeking to do great mischief and cause injury. This was because they could not get their way.

We can understand that murmuring and slandering another is unacceptable to God. God showed Nehemiah that he and his fellow laborers could still work with tools in one hand and weapons in the other to deter the enemies. Nehemiah persisted. The walls were built and the gates were set in place. Jerusalem was rebuilt.