A resentful heart gradually longs for the past.

The Israelites, who had quarreled with Moses at Kadesh, said:

• "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!

Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,

that we and our livestock should die here?" (Num. 20:3; Ref.: 16:31-25).

• "Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,

that we and our livestock should die here?" (20:4).

• Eventually, they said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?" (v. 5).

The progression from (1) to (3) shows that the Israelites,

from their perspective, gradually moved from

the more recent issue (1) to the more distant past (2),

 and finally, in (3), they expressed resentment towards Moses f

or bringing them out of "Egypt," which is the furthest past.

In this progression, a resentful heart gradually turns back to the past.

If we harbor resentment, we gradually regress to the past,

longing for the sinful life in "Egypt" or a similar worldly life before believing in Jesus.