But unwarranted complaint and murmuring are rooted in discontent. And the original promoter of the spirit of discontent was Satan the Devil, “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) In the garden of Eden he brought about a situation designed to produce discontent, first in Eve and then in Adam. (Genesis 3:1-7) Ever since that time, Satan has been successful in producing situations that promote discontent.

Centuries after the revolt in Eden, Jehovah made a name for himself by delivering the Israelites from Egypt and organizing them into a nation. (Exodus 9:16) Were they grateful to their Deliverer? Why, during their 40 years in the wilderness, they repeatedly murmured against Jehovah, either directly or indirectly by finding fault with Moses and Aaron! In one case, Jehovah asked: “How long will this evil assembly have this murmuring that they are carrying on against me?” (Numbers 14:26, 27; Exodus 16:2, 7) The spirit of discontent persisted in ancient Israel all through its history.​—Ezekiel 18:25.

Complaining About One’s Lot in Life

Of course, because of being imperfect, a person could improperly let his circumstances become a cause of complaint. The righteous man Job was so unhappy about his terrible experiences that he called down evil on the day of his birth. (Job 3:1-3) Can professing Christians become discontented with their lot in life? Yes, they can, and some have.

Referring to “ungodly men” who had slipped into the first-century Christian congregation, the disciple Jude wrote: “These men are murmurers, complainers about their lot in life, proceeding according to their own [degraded, immoral] desires, and their mouths speak swelling things, while they are admiring personalities for the sake of their own benefit.” (Jude 3, 4, 16)

The Levite Korah and his company murmured against Moses and Aaron and manifested a spirit of envy. Because Jehovah was greatly displeased with this, the murmurers met death.​—Numbers, chapter 16.

Centuries later, the apostle John mentioned position-hungry Diotrephes, who was ‘chattering about him with wicked words.’ If John was able to come to that congregation, he intended to give that murmurer suitable attention.​—3 John 9, 10.