“When the people complained, it displeased the Lord…So the fire of the Lord burned among them…Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched” (Num 11:1-2).
We don’t hear often about this story. What a ghastly scene! The people discovered two things that day. One was that our “God is a consuming fire” (Dt 4:24; Heb 12:29), and, as we tell our young children—especially in this case, “Don’t play with fire!” Moses, to commemorate this lesson, called the place Taberah, which is based on the root word, bâ‘ar, “to consume,” i.e., by fire.
The other lesson seems to be more difficult to learn. As the psalmist wrote: “They did not believe His word, but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord” (Ps 106:24-25). Complaining here is a form of atheism, since it is not believing God’s word or heeding His voice. Lord, please save us from the sin of complaining, especially in our tents, where our little ones are listening!