Remember the “why-did-we-ever-leave-Egypt” counter back in Exodus 23?
We last saw it with a count of 2️⃣
I’ve decided to rebrand it as the…
📣 COMPLAIN-O-METER 🎊
And it’s about to start dinging. 🔔
COMPLAIN-O-METER: 3️⃣🔥🔥🔥
Hardship.
I’m sure living in tents is inconvenient. They have just spent 3 days packing up every morning, traveling all day, and making camp at night. It’s not that different from the Oregon Trail- which wasn’t easy.
But rather than handle the challenges like adults they begin to whine like children. And, like an old fashioned Dad, the Lord basically says: You kids don’t know what hardship is.
When your God is LITERALLY appearing as a pillar of FIRE, you really should think twice before griping about Him.
So Yahweh’s anger blazes out in the form of fire in the border of the camp. There is no death toll recorded so it’s unclear if anyone died or if it was just a warning.
COMPLAIN-O-METER: 4️⃣ 🍗🍗🍗🍗
Where’s the Beef?! (If you know what that slogan is from it’s probably time to schedule a colonoscopy or a mammogram.)
Israelite Shopping List:
Fish 🐟
Cucumbers 🥒
Melons 🍉
Leeks 🥬
Onions 🧅
Garlic 🧄
Manna 🫓
The people are essentially picketing around Moses’ tent with signs that say:
“Give us an honest politician!”
“Manna and circuses.”
“Where’s the milk and honey?”
“We meet to demand meat!”
“Somebody went to Sinai and all I got was this stupid manna.”
COMPLAIN-O-METER: 5️⃣ 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
Moses: God… Why me?
“If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!” Numbers 11:15 NLT
Moses gets some help in the form of 70 men to whom God gives a portion of the Spirit upon Moses. It didn’t fix the complaint problem but it made it bearable.
Church leaders get WAY more complaints than the average person in the congregation has any idea. I can just about guarantee you they have asked God to kill them at least once. Nobody makes an appointment with a church leader to tell them – “I see how hard you work and I appreciate you and I’m praying for you.” (This is your reminder to pray for and offer practical help to your church leaders.)
The people are complaining about the lack of meat. In fact, they’re not just complaining, they are bawling at the doors of their tents like a bunch of junior high drama queens. Or maybe (gasp)… toddlers…
Toddlers are fascinating. The strangest little things are the end of the world to them- especially when they’re tired or hungry or sick- or just randomly without warning. They’re actually a whole category of memes.
They aren’t just saying, “Boy it’d be nice to have a bit of meat.” No. They’re in a full-on meltdown.
Sometimes the best punishment is to let a child have what he wants. (Unless it’s like – drinking bleach or sticking a key in a power outlet.)
“Then a wind set out from Yahweh, and it drove quails from the west, and he spread them out on the camp about a day’s journey on one side and about a day’s journey on the other, all around the camp, about two cubits on the surface of the land.”
Numbers 11:31 LEB
Two cubits is about 36 inches. I’m not sure what a day’s journey was but according to the internet, a wagon train could travel about 10-20 miles in a day. Israel is much bigger and slower than a wagon train so let’s go with 10 miles.
Do we grasp what this is saying? For 10 or more MILES in every direction around the camp of Israel, there is a 3 foot deep WALL of quails. The only way to move forward is to eat their way out. 🍽️
Now, the NLT has the quails flying around 3 feet above the ground – and that may be the case – but I’m inclined to think that whatever meat this was (Quail? From the sea? If that’s anything like “Chicken of the Sea” then maybe it was some kind of fish?) God said it was going to take a month for them to eat it all so I’m inclined to picture a 3-foot-deep ring that extends for 10 miles. Even for 600,000 people, that’s a lot of the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.”
Numbers 11:32 ESV
Ten homers is about 6 bushels. And that was the smallest load. 🧺🧺🧺🧺🧺🧺
Did you ever see the old movie Seven Brides For Seven Brothers? Remember the scene where they eat dinner – like a bunch of hogs?
I picture Israel rushing after these quails (or whatever they were) like a bunch of ill-mannered hungry backwoodsmen just grabbing it up as fast as they can and stuffing it in their mouths.
I think impatient greed is the reason for the plague that God sent.
“Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.”
Numbers 11:34 ESV
Kibroth-hattaavah means “Graves of Craving.” 🪦💀🪦💀🪦
SIBLING RIVALRY
COMPLAIN-O-METER: 6️⃣🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam are quite the power-family. Moses talks to God face-to-face. Aaron is the High Priest. Miriam is a prophetess. But Aaron and Miriam are clearly in Moses’ shadow – even though Moses is not arrogant or trying to lord it over anyone. And they feel the need to vent their opinions on Moses’ choice of an Ethiopian (Cushite) 2nd wife. (It seems that Zipporah has died.) And Yahweh calls them out on it.
I find it rather funny. I mean, they’re all in their 80s. A bunch of octogenarians arguing. There may even have been cane-brandishing.
“And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.” Numbers 12:4 ESV
For 10 years I was the baby of the family. I have 2 older siblings. And maybe my dad internalized this verse, but I recall a few times all of us being addressed as “you three.” As in, “That’s enough outa you three.” 🤨
Anyway – Aaron and Miriam get a talking-to, Miriam is struck with leprosy and put out of the camp for a week.
Oh – and while no one was looking, we’ve arrived at the borderlands of Canaan.
Gee – that was easy.
Yeah… No. We’re just getting started.
To The Reader 