Each time we see the Israelites murmuring and complaining, it’s worse than the time before. At first it’s just the “people” doing the fussing (Exod. 15:24). Then it’s “all the congregation of the sons of Israel” (16:1). They go from just grousing to Moses alone, to taking their complaint to both Moses and Aaron. That’s the pattern of complaining—always intensifying, always escalating. It starts with a few minor, incidental frustrations, then builds over time into a wildfire, whipped into flame by every available draft of oxygen.
