In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord expressed His great love for the nation of Israel. In the midst of this declaration, the Lord provided reasons why He placed His love upon this particular nation. In Deuteronomy 1:27, the people began to murmur and their murmurings bred lies. They stated that the Lord brought them out of Egypt to destroy them because of His great hatred for them. Their statements were completely false. This is true in most circumstances when people turn to murmuring. The problem gets exaggerated and the truth corrupted. Fabricating lies helps the one murmuring to feel better about voicing the complaint. Interestingly, the truth is usually not worth murmuring about.
Why do people murmur? What causes them to get so frustrated to the point where they would publicly discuss their disappointment with their circumstances? The Bible provides several reasons. In Jude 16, the Bible says that people complain or murmur because they are “walking after their own lusts.” In John chapter 6, the Lord Jesus indicated another reason why an individual might complain. When the Lord knew that His disciples murmured within themselves, He asked them if they were offended (John 6:61). In other words, people murmur when things turn out differently than they had hoped. It is not so much the trial that bothers them but the offense to their self-will.
Life’s trials and difficulties are intended to draw people into a deeper knowledge of the Lord. However, murmuring hinders the lessons that result from the trials. The Lord uses trials to draw the unsaved to an understanding of their need to trust Jesus Christ as Saviour. At the same time, the Lord uses trials to teach saved people that they need to fully rely on Him and Him alone. These trials are meant to better the individual afflicted. However, the benefits of trials can be minimized when those enduring the trials begin to murmur and complain about the very thing intended to teach them. Murmuring hinders the education offered by trials. It puts the focus on the apparent wrong of the trial rather than upon what lesson the Lord might hope to come from the trial.
The Lord detests murmuring. He hates it so much that He sent fire among the Israelites because of their murmurings (Numbers 11:1). In the New Testament, He warned believers to avoid falling prey to the same sin as the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:1-14). Additionally, New Testament believers are admonished to do all things without murmurings (Philippians 2:14-16). People murmur as they focus on events within their lives rather than upon the Lord and His word. Yet, the Christian’s life events are ultimately brought to pass, either directly or indirectly, by a loving and caring God. The Lord abhors murmuring because it directly insults His working and provision in our lives.
Murmuring is a grievous sin harmful to everyone involved or impacted. When God’s people murmur, they do so because their heart is not sufficiently focused upon the Lord. Various forms of the word murmur occur forty times in the word of God. Interestingly, the number forty throughout scripture is frequently connected to a time of testing or trial. The vast majority of these occurrences reflect people who were displeased with something the Lord was responsible for doing. Their displeasure with the Lord caused them to voice their frustrations to others. Murmuring generally manifests itself outwardly, but at its root is a heart problem (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:19). It comes as no surprise that the medical community uses the term murmur to describe a heart problem.
The Bible reflects the special relationship that should exist between a husband and his wife. The Lord wants us to recognize the importance of this relationship by likening it to the Lord's relationship with His church. Three times the Lord commands the man to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He commanded this because He knew man's biggest problem would be faithfully and unconditionally loving his wife. The Lord was not one-sided in His commandments concerning the marriage relationship. He commanded that the woman in the marriage relationship should obey her husband. Our passage also says that she should reverence him. A woman craves the love of her husband. Likewise, the man needs respect from the woman God gave him. A godly wife will not belittle or humiliate her husband but instead show him respect as the head of their home.
Many things have changed since Old Testament times. For instance, the Lord visited His people in the temple or tabernacle in the Old Testament by dwelling between the cherubims on the ark of God (Psalm 80:1). This ended especially with the onset of the New Testament and the permanent indwelling of God's Spirit within believers. The Lord stressed, “. . . that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). For this reason, the New Testament does not place as much emphasis on reverence in the physical house of God. Regardless, the Lord is not silent concerning our behaviour in His house. We should behave ourselves both respectfully and properly (1 Timothy 3:15). Of all people, Bible believers should demonstrate reverence in the house of God so that others get a sense for our awe of God and His goodness.
Today's passage comes from a portion of one of Christ's many parables (Luke 20:9). The interpretation of the parable declares that God sent prophets and priests to deliver His message to the Jewish people, but in the end He sent His own Son (Hebrews 1:2). In the parable, the Lord said, “I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him” (Luke 20:13). The lack of reverence by the Jews did not take God by surprise. It was simply a legitimate offer to be right with God. Additionally, God intended for this parable to express an important truth: the Father expects mankind to reverence His Son. The world mocked Him, beat Him, and eventually executed Him as though He was a hardened criminal. Should we be surprised when people today fail to reverence the Son as they refuse to trust Him as Saviour?
The Bible employs the word “reverend” only once. Studying the context offers one appropriate definition and acceptable usage. Unfortunately, the vast majority of believers are unaware that the title “reverend” has been inappropriately usurped to apply to men. This reflects how far so-called Bible teachers and preachers have strayed from God's holy precepts. God wants Christians to show proper respect to a man of God, but the title “reverend” should never be used to address him. There is only one Name that is reverend and that is the Lord’s. An English Baptist pastor and author, Robert Robinson, who wrote the hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, abhorred the pomp assumed by many of his ministerial colleagues. He once said, “I wonder why any man should be so silly as to call me Reverend.” Only one is worthy of all praise and honour and that is the Lord (Psalm 99:3; Revelation 4:8).
Reverence denotes giving respect and honour. The scripture demonstrates this truth when men bow before a person of high office reflecting their reverence for the office. The Bible marks this bowing down out of respect as an act of reverence (2 Samuel 9:6; 1 Kings 1:31). God's word marks the refusal to bow as showing disrespect and a lack of reverence (Esther 3:2, 5). Every Christian should consistently demonstrate an adequate understanding of biblical reverence. Why? There is only one way to serve God acceptably: with “reverence and godly fear.” Today's verse teaches that reverence entails some relationship to fear, though reverence is not fear. Since men cannot serve God “acceptably” without reverence, living reverently toward God remains an essential element for a healthy Christian life.
