07/31/2008
Numbers 11:4 - 6 (HCSB) 4Contemptible people among them had a strong craving [for other food]. The Israelites cried again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna!”
Numbers 11:10 - 13 (HCSB) 10Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents. The LORD was very angry; Moses was also provoked. 11So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people? 12Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,’ to the land that You swore to [give] their fathers? 13Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: ‘Give us meat to eat!’
Numbers 11:18 - 20 (HCSB) 18“Tell the people: Purify yourselves [in readiness] for tomorrow, and you will eat meat because you cried before the LORD: ‘Who will feed us meat? We really had it good in Egypt.’ The LORD will give you meat and you will eat. 19You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or 10 days, or 20 days, 20but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you—because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and cried to Him: ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
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The Israelites had been in the desert for some time now and had been eating manna for the entire time. As all humans will do, they began to grumble about their provisions. Remember that God had provided the manna for them. They did not have to plough, sow, or cultivate it. All they had to do was gather it. God had graciously provided for them. Yet, they quickly turned their eyes back to Egypt, forgetting the hardships, but remembering the diet fondly.
God became angry with them, as their hearts were rejecting God’s provision and quickly they were forgetting what God had done by bringing them out of Egypt. His answer is something like; “You want meat? I’ll give you meat!’
After the purification, God sent swarms of quail into the camps. Each day, thousands of quail would fly into the camp. And just as God had said, the people soon became sick of quail.
Aren’t we all just like that? We quickly forget the gracious hand of God and long for something different.
While God has not promised each of us a life of plenty, He has promised to provide for us. We must learn to be content with His provision and to rest on His hands for our daily needs.
Why do some people have plenty and some people seem to eek by? I don’t know, but we each must simply acknowledge God as our provider and be thankful for what we do have.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
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