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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.