Exodus 16:7: “And in the morning, then you shall see the glory of the Lord; for he that hears the murmurings against the Lord and what are we that you murmur against us?”
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because the thorns have roses.” Ziggy
During John F. Kennedy’s administration, his Secretary of State Dean Rusk was in France when the French president Charles De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. President De Gaulle demanded that all United State military pull out of France as soon as possible. Secretary of State Dean Rusk responded: “Does that include those who are buried here?” There was no response by President De Gaulle.
Sometimes we need to think through our complaints before we offer them to God. Most of us pretty well do our share of complaining to God because things are just not going the way we want them to go. We want that perfect job, perfect relationship, no stress, no problems, no worries about finances, I mean is that too much to ask?
I don’t often complain about the KJV but Exodus 16:7 is worded in a way that makes it difficult to understand. In more understandable language it would be rendered this way: “And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord when he hears your murmurings against the Lord.
When we read of the glory of the Lord we find that it represents the revealed presence of God, a presence that is not only a presence of splendor, but a presence that is revealed to the worthy as well as the unworthy. It is interesting that the word for glory in Hebrew is kavod which is found only in a construct state in the Pentateuch, that is it only appears as a construct to Yahweh. The Talmud teaches that this glory is not a cloud, but is in the midst of a cloud. This glory can also appear in the midst of a fire, but it is not a fire. In Exodus 16:7 the reference is to the fact that every morning the glory of the Lord appears to give the people their daily bread, or their manna. They complained about this manna but God continued to give them manna, not because they complained but because he promised to provide for them. He gave them their manna in spite of their murmurings. But to those, like Moses and Aaron, who did not complain, he let them enter the glory cloud where they saw the miraculous and experienced His presence.
O.k, so God will keep his promises to us whether we complain or not. If that is all we want, then we can go ahead and complain away. But if we want to enter that glory cloud, hear his voice and let him fill us with his presence, we had better stop our belly aching.
What is this murmurings anyways? At what point does our dissatisfaction cross over into murmurings? I decide to take a trip behind the looking glass and see if my alphabet friends can help me out.
I cross through my Looking Glass where I enter a royal castle. All its inhabitants are wealthy, full, and have all the material things one could want. I walk up to Daleth who is the gate keeper and ask where I can find some old friends, “Lamed, Vav, and Nun” (Lavan – murmuring). The gatekeeper turns his nose up at me. “You mean Lavan, the ones who twist things, and mocks them?” said Daleth glaring at me. “Uh,” I replied a bit startled, “I really hadn’t looked at my friends Lamed, Vav, Nun like that, is that what Lavan means?” “Yes,” said Daleth as he opened the gate, “and you can find them over by the throne room. They have twisted the significance of yet another blessing and are complaining about it to the king. The Vav and Nun are even mocking those blessings and the king.”
Daleth takes me to the palace and points out my old buddy Lamed. “Would you look at that” says the gate keeper, “It’s Lamed’s shadow. Lamed represents learning from the heart, yet, its shadow only lets that learning and knowledge of God go to his head and not his heart and as a result he does not understand its true meaning. Lamed only complains that this knowledge isn’t earning him wealth or respect and honor. Had he taken it to his heart he would have seen that this knowledge would lead him to an intimate relationship with God. Instead he is using his knowledge to mock God.”
Then I noticed my old friend Vav throwing rocks at the palace door. “What’s Vav’s problem?” I ask. I recalled that the Vav represents a connection with heaven and earth and the Vav is fed from heaven. “Oh, that crazy Vav” said the Daleth disgustedly, “It is just never satisfied with the gifts and blessings from heaven. It is so dependent upon the gifts and blessings that Vav fails to see the message behind each gift and blessing. It only wants the gift or blessing for the gift sake and not for the message that God is trying to send. Now Vav is complaining because he does not like the gift he received. If only he would look at the nature of the gift and its message he would be so thankful for the gift.” “Oh, it is sort of like complaining about the thorns of a rose rather than rejoicing over the fact that the thorns have roses.“ I said quoting from Ziggy. “That is it exactly replied Daleth. Now you are getting an idea what Lavan (murmuring) is all about.”
I looked hopefully over at my old pal the Final Nun, perhaps he could offer some redeeming value to Lavan (murmuring). The final form of the letter Nun extends beneath a line symbolizing some sort of connection with earth and heaven. I see Final Nun throwing some sort of tantrum and he is shouting at the door to the throne room. I recall how the Final Nun often displays dualistic thinking or one who is trying to get heaven to satisfy his earthly and material desires rather than his spiritual fulfillment.
Daleth turns to me and asks if I have seen enough. I believe I have and Daleth escorts me back to my Looking Glass. As I turn to leave I ask Daleth, “Is this what I am doing when I lavan (murmur)? Daleth responds that the word lavan (murmur) itself means to twist or mock. The Lamed in lavan (murmur) explains that I twist the message received in my blessings from God and act like they are curses. The Vav tells me that I have a connection with heaven where I have a steady flow of gifts and blessings from heaven, but I am not grateful for those gifts, I just complain about the thorns and never see the rose. Finally, like Nun, I use these gifts to satisfy my physical desires rather than my spiritual desires and when I do that I end up lavan (murmuring).
As I return to my office through the Looking Glass I am doing some hard thinking. Lamed, Vav and Nun are three letters who show a connection to God, but when placed in the combination for the word murmuring they are telling me that I lavan (murmur) to God when I use that connection to satisfy the flesh and not the spirit.
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