Murmuring

MURMURING. A Complaint made for some Wrong pretended to have been received. St. Paul forbids all Murmuring, which was so fatal to the Israelites that murmured in the Wilderness. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the Destroyer. And the Wise-man, Therefore beware of Murmuring, Wisdom i. 11.which is unprofitable, and refrain your Tongue from Backbiting; for there is no Word so secret that shall go for nought, and the Mouth that belyeth slayeth the Soul. And indeed God severely punished the Hebrews that murmured in the Desart. He was more than once upon the Point of forsaking them, and even of destroying them, had not Moses stood in the Gap, and appeased his Anger by earnest Prayer. They murmured at The Graves of Lust, and God sent them Quails for Food; but hardly was this Meat out of their Mouths, but the Wrath of the Lord was kindled against them, and he destroyed three and twenty Numb. xi. 33, 34. Ps. lxxviii. 30.Thousand of them. They murmured again after the Return of the Spies, that were sent to explore the promised Land; and the Lord punished them by depriving them of the Happiness of ever seeing that Land, and condemned them to die in the Wilderness. They were again punished for murmuring Numb. xiv. 30, 31, &c.again, by the winged Serpents that God sent against them, which killed a great Number of them. The Murmuring of Miriam, the Sister of Moses, was punished Numb. xxi. 4, 5, 6, &c.by a Leprosie that seized her whole Body, and obliged her to abide seven Days without Numb. xii. 1, 2, 3, &c.the Camp. Lastly, the Murmuring and Rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, was chastised in a still more terrible Manner: The Earth opening and swallowing up the Authors of the Sedition, and Fire consuming their Accomplices.

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