Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people?"
"Tell the people: 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ' " But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said."
"Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food." Numbers 11:4-13, 18-24, 31-34
The fire from heaven had burned the outskirts of the camp, a warning from the Lord that He was not going to put up with Israel whining and complaining as He guided them to Canaan. You would have thought that this would have been enough for the people to be satisfied with what God had given them and done for them. You would expect that they would become a grateful people.
As we read our scripture passage for today, it’s obvious that this didn’t happen.
As the Israelites traveled, God continued to provide them manna which would serve as their daily food. Our passage tells us:
"The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down."
Yes, the Lord always made sure the people had their manna. He didn’t wish for anyone to go hungry. But the people were not satisfied with just having food to eat. Incessantly wailing, they desired more than what God had provided saying, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" They were losing sight of one important principle for any believer: Following the Lord requires sacrifice.
Well, the people’s complaints found their way not only to the ears of the Lord but to Moses as well. Scripture tells us that the "Lord became exceedingly angry" while "Moses was troubled", saying to the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people?" Even Moses was complaining at this point, burdened by the weight of the people’s dissatisfaction.
Note that Moses wonders if he had done something wrong to bring on God’s disfavor, feeling like maybe God was punishing him for some wrong he had committed. Moses realizes that the task of getting meat for all the people was an impossibility for him when he asked God where he would get the meat from. And he was right. It was impossible for him but not for God who was about to take action.
For the Lord tells Moses to tell Israel, "Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!’ Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ' " The people whined and complained, wanting meat…so the Lord was going to give them what they wanted. It is about to be a classic case of "be careful what you ask for because you might just get it" as Israel gets all the meat they want and then some. If they were sick of the gift of manna that God provided as a blessing to them then they were going to find out what it was like to really be sick of something as the quail that the Lord was about to send would end up being a curse. It didn’t have to be this way but the people of Israel made the choice to reject the Lord and long for the place where they had been enslaved…basically saying in essence that they would rather live a life of enslavement under an ungodly Pharoah than a life in the presence and providence of their Creator…the Almighty, One and Only God.
Back to Moses for a minute because he is so overwhelmed by the leadership challenge he faces that he forgets that God was a God of miracles, even after he had witnessed many of them. Looking at the worldly resources available, Moses does the math and sees that they don’t have near enough meat to feed everyone. He questions God about it saying, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" And we see where these words bring a rather stern response from God as He seeks to remind Moses just who He is saying, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." God was about to show Moses yet again that He was capable of anything and everything.
God’s word reveals to us how the meat came to Israel. For a "wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. Quail were everywhere and the people wasted little time gathering it up with everyone having an abundance. One homer equaled 6 bushels so no one had less than 60 bushel of quail…or more than what they could deal with. But God wasn’t done.
For next "the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague" while "the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed." The fire hadn’t gotten the attention of Israel so a plague was used instead. We’re told that an impression was left as the Israelites names the place "Kibroth Hattaavah", because "there they buried the people who had craved other food".
So what lessons do we take away from this scripture? I think the main point to remember is that it takes sacrifice to follow the Lord. Jesus said it best when He said, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’" Matthew 16:24-25
As we seek to grow more like Jesus in our daily Christian walk, we find that in order to gain spiritually, we need to first subtract. This math is such that the world cannot compute. For the world would say gain means to add on more than what we already have. Jesus says that’s all wrong. In order to gain, we need to give up…in order to win, we need to first lose. Victory comes in laying ourselves aside and when we truly do this, we simplify our lives and find ourselves content with just what we have. In fact, we need not ask for an abundance for we look and see that we have it already. For how can you put a face value on a personal relationship with a living Savior…One who has already lost His life to win so we too might do so as well when our lives end.
The people of Israel communicated with God but instead of using a spirit of thanksgiving and praise they chose to come to Him in the spirit of ingratitude. Not able to simply appreciate the blessings that God had already provided, they chose to yearn for what would meet their heart’s desire. And in doing this, they essentially told God that their stomachs were of a higher priority than Him. Selfishness cost many of them salvation. And indeed, the same is happening today.
Question: Are you satisfied with what God has provided or do you constantly find your heart yearning for more? If so, maybe you should mark this scripture in your bible. For the Lord desires the best for us but in accordance with His will not ours. He expects and deserves our patience as we seek His will daily, serve Him in bringing others to Christ and praise Him for His goodness, mercy, grace and salvation through His One and Only Son, Jesus, who He gave up so we could gain. May we never lose sight of the greatest gift God has given and ever be fulfilled and satisfied in Jesus who denied Himself and took up His cross so we might live…now and forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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