DCLM Daily Manna 2 July 2021 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — What Displeases God
TOPIC: What Displeases God
TEXT: Numbers 11:1-9
1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; 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.
2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
KEY VERSE: “And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; 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.” – (Numbers 11:1)
MESSAGE:
There are many cases and circumstances in the Bible that may help us know what displeases God and what He takes delight in. In Genesis, we are told of how the disobedience of Adam and Eve led to their expulsion from bliss to bondage; and God showed His disapproval to the generation of Noah by destroying them with flood. Also at the time of Abraham, God, in a dream, revealed to Abimelech a heathen King, His utter displeasure in taking Sarah, Abraham’s wife to be his wife and warned of the imminent consequences. God has never hidden to mankind what He likes or dislikes. The obvious truth is that, what displeases Him at a time, or in a generation, will certainly annoy Him in another.
Our focus in today’s discourse is an area we often do not look at in the things that God frowns at. The Israelites resorted to complaining, murmuring and lust for the things of Egypt to their own detriment. Instead of thanking God and being grateful that they were no longer in the slavery and bondage of the Egyptian task masters, they began to desire the dainties of slavery. No matter how fat or well fed they were in Egypt, they were still slaves!
Complaining or murmuring makes people forget all of God’s faithfulness in the past. The Israelites forgot all that was promised them before they were rescued from servitude. How could they compare where they were in the wilderness to Egypt where they were coming from? He took them through the wilderness where they had just enough food, shelter, protection and God’s presence was sufficient to preserve them.
Now, why does God hate complaining, murmuring or lusting? It is because it is a mark of unbelief, and shows faithlessness and ingratitude.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Murmuring and complaining attract divine wrath.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Kings 3-4
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
