First, Exodus 16:2-15 presented us with God's gift of manna,
and Matthew 20:1-16 contained the story of the last being first and those upset first workers,
Thankfully, the Lord listened to the Israelites and fed them in the wilderness.
Mercifully, he paid the early bird workers, gave them a good explanation (not what they wanted, but what they needed), and didn't toss them out for their complaint.
I know that it is "nice" to not complain, but we have a Lord who listens to our complaint. I am not using that as a justification for all of my complaining, but it might provide some solace to you squeaky wheels out there as you squeak against forces beyond your control.
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’
Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.’ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?’ And Moses said, ‘When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.’
and Matthew 20:1-16 contained the story of the last being first and those upset first workers,
Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”
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I like both of these Scriptures too; even as a child in Sunday School it seemed to me that the Israelites were always complaining about SOMETHING to Moses and to God.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of being irreverent, the parable about the laborers always amuses me. As a parable it is certainly clear. But I live in an area where there is a great deal of seasonal hiring for farming. Even now, it is an employees' market, because the work is so miserable it's difficult to find men and women who are willing to work that hard.
I can promise you, if the word got around my area that someone was paying the same amount for one hours work that he was for 6, he would never get more than 1 hours work from ANYONE ever again. Those wheels would not only squeak, they would roll to another farmer LOL.
I've always thought that complaining about something is especially useless. Better to fix a problem if you can or live with it if you can't fix it, than complain about it, which doesn't do anything.
ReplyDeleteWhether that's Biblical or not, I cannot say.
Cheers.
TNS makes a good economic argument for employers to listen to the day laborers complaint in this parable. Again, fortunately for us God does not play by the rules we desire.
ReplyDeleteRandall,
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
Predictably, working to fix the problem is often viewed as a complaint against the system in question.
Live not in the law but live by the law whereas Live IN Christ instead of by Christ. In His love for Man did GOD give the commandments to Israel, but when that Love is absent in the Law then that law becomes god. This is the lie.
ReplyDeleteToday the Anglicans & its sister episcopal, Lutheran,, methodist etc. churches which had moved from the parent Catholic/Traditional during the Protestant/Reformations periods face serious internal discord/distrust causing splits shows the work of the Jezebel spirit. The reason is they fell into the "Error of Modernism" or the "Error of Legalism" , which is the Leaven of the Pharisses. For they Leavened THE Torah(LAWS)through oral interpretations The bible in Ch Jude tells of the contention for the body of Moses between Archangel Michael & satan which is to do the laws. Which today has come in the Form of Talmudism, a book of speculations for eg. it states That the "Arc of the Covenant" may be found, which is purely speculative. Worse still it talks ill of Jesus & Mary. Not knowing that ,They are off The Arc. Take care not to fall into such "Pride" a trap of time, but go by the motto of Heaven, the Will of GOD ,off this manner "Those who serve are greater than them who are served". Jesus Christ proved it.