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The scriptures. May God
bless the reading of His holy word.
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
This ends this reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
You may remember that in
the first three verses of Numbers, chapter 11, the Lord had sent fire from Heaven
which had burned the outskirts of the Israelites’ camp, a warning that He wasn’t
going to put up any whining or complaining by His people as He guided them to
Canaan. After this, you would have thought that the Israelites would have
learned a lesson, turning from grumbling of any time while committing
themselves to be satisfied with what God had given them. You would expect that
they would become a grateful people.
Unfortunately, as we read our
scripture passages for today, it’s obvious that this didn’t happen.
We begin by reading how
God had continued to provide manna for His people as they traveled, daily food
that would keep them fed and healthy.
What was manna compared
to?
We find out in these
verses:
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. Vv. 7-9
It’s obvious that the Lord
wanted to make sure His people were cared for and He consistently sent the
manna just as He promised he would. He didn’t wish for anyone to go hungry.
But this wasn’t good
enough for the Israelites who weren’t satisfied with just having food to eat. Through
incessant wailing, we see where 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!"
Through this whining, we
see the people of Israel fall headlong into the sin of covetousness, completely
losing sight of one important principle that any believer needs to remember and
honor.
What is this principle?
Simply put, following the
Lord requires sacrifice.
Well, the scriptures tell
us that the complaints of the Israelites had found their way not only to the
ears of the Lord but to Moses as well. Their transgressions caused the Lord to
become “exceedingly angry" while making Moses troubled, so much so that he
cries out to God saying:
"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?"
Through his own words, we
see where even Moses was complaining at this point, burdened by the weight of
the people’s dissatisfaction.
Of interest here, we find
Moses wondering if he had done something wrong to bring the Lord’s disfavor in
him. He feels like maybe God was punishing him for some wrong he had committed.
He also confesses that the task of getting meat for all the people was an
impossibility for him, asking the Lord where He expected him to get the meat
from. It was the one point that Moses got right. For although the task at hand
was too hard for him, it wasn’t for the God who was about to take action. We
see the Lord tell Moses this Himself:
"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 Israelite people had whined
and complained, calling for meat and so the Lord was going to give them what
they wanted in what we see is a classic case of "be careful what you ask
for because you might just get it". In this instance, we read where Israel
gets all the meat they want and then some. For since they complained about
being sick of eating the gift of manna that God provided as a blessing to them,
they were now going to find out what it was like to really like to be sick of
something as the quail that the Lord was about to send would end up being a
curse.
Of course, it never had to
go his way but the people of Israel made the choice to dishonor and disrespect
the Lord, going as far as longing for the place where they had been enslaved
before God brought them deliverance. Through their words, the Israelites were basically
saying that they would rather return to a life under captivity under an ungodly
Pharaoh than have the present life they had in the presence and providence of
their Almighty Creator, the One and Only God.
Let’s go 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 amazing miracles, miracles he had witnessed
first-hand. Looking solely at things from a worldly perspective, Moses does the
math and sees that they don’t have near enough meat to feed everyone, even
going as far as to question God about it, asking:
"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?"
After this, we see where
the Lord issues a stern response from God as He reminds Moses about 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."
Indeed, God showed Moses
yet again that He was capable of anything and everything. For God’s word
reveals to us how He went about sending meat to Israel. We read that a “wind
went out from the Lord”, driving “quail in from the sea”. The quail were “all
around the camp” to “about three feet above the ground”. The birds fanned out “as
far as a day's walk in any direction”.
And so, the Israelites
went to work to gather the quail “all that day and night and all the next day”.
So abundant were the birds that “no one gathered less than ten homers” which
were the equivalent of 60 bushels of quail for each person, more than they
could handle but we should note that God wasn’t done.
For we see where "the
anger of the Lord burned against the people” as He “struck them with a severe
plague" while "the meat was still between their teeth and before it
could be consumed." The fire sent from Heaven to burn around their camp had
not gotten the attention of Israel so now God used a plague instead. Such was
the impact of this judgment, that the scriptures tell us that the Israelites
named the place, "Kibroth Hattaavah", because "there they buried
the people who had craved other food".
Given all this, what
lessons can we take away from this scripture passage?
I believe the main point God
is making through His Word is that it takes sacrifice to follow Him. In support
of this, look at these words from Jesus as He speaks 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
Friends, 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 the kind that anyone in
the world wrestles with as being illogical in nature. For the world would say to
gain means that a person adds more to what they already have.
But Jesus says that this
belief is all wrong. For before someone can gain, they need to first give up.
In order to win, one needs to first lose.
Our Savior makes it clear
that victory comes only when someone puts themselves aside for when we truly do
this, we simplify our lives and find ourselves content with what we have. We
don’t crave an abundance of worldly things because we realize that through
Christ, we already have everything we need.
For think about it. How
can anyone put a face value on a personal relationship with Jesus, a living
Savior who sacrificed and lost His life before gaining victory over death and
the grave, so we too might do so when our lives here on earth are over?
In communicating with God,
the people of Israel chose a spirit of ingratitude instead of a spirit of
thanksgiving and praise. They simply couldn’t appreciate the blessings that God
had already provided, yearning instead for what would satisfy their own heart’s
desire. In doing this, they essentially sent a message to the Lord that their craving
for different food was of a higher priority than their relationship with Him. Their
selfishness cost many of their lives and indeed, the same is happening today.
Brothers and sisters,
perhaps we should highlight this scripture passage in our Bibles, underscoring
the verses. For too often, we are like the Old Testament Israelites, refusing
to just be content with what the Lord has given, coveting more of what we think
we need to make us happy.
Our God wants for all to
simply be patient and trust Him, knowing that He will provide for our needs
according to His will. He expects that we will see that sacrifice is required
as we dedicate ourselves to Him in service. To that end, He gives us everything
we need to accomplish His purposes, chief of which is the work toward helping others
become Christ disciples who fully gain and experience His goodness, mercy,
grace and salvation. When that happens, new believers will inherit a portion of
God’s kingdom while sharing in our full attention toward Jesus, the Lamb of God
who took away the sin of the world by giving up all so all who believe in Him
can gain everything.
Today and every day to
come, may we never lose sight of the greatest gift God has given, feeling fulfilled
and satisfied in our Savior Jesus who was willing to deny Himself and take up
His cross so we might live, not just now but forever more.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS:
Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might
be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to
TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
