We Need Meat!!

"You will eat, not for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but you will eat 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 wept before him: "Why did we ever leave Egypt" Numbers 11:19-20 CSB

The people of Israel are out in the wilderness and there is 1.5 million of them.  God is with them and he is providing for them in a place where there is nothing!  He feeds them with manna which falls every morning with the dew.  The people pick up what they need and grind it, boil it and form it into cakes.  "It taste like a pastry cooked with the finest oil." (Num. 11:8) But the people are not happy, they want meat!  They long for the time when they were in Egypt and had free fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. (Num. 11:4) Somehow, they forgot while they were in Egypt they were slaves, in bondage!

They people had rejected God and longed to go back to their former life.  Families stand outside their tents and weeping and crying out.  Moses their leader and their advocate to God, can't take it anymore and wishes God would just kill him (Num. 11:15).  As a result, God's anger burns against the people--he is very angry.  God tells the people they are going to get meat.  He gives them exactly what they want in abundance. He blows quail into the camp and the people gather them all day and night.  "Even while the meat was between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord's anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague." (Num. 11:33)

It's a terrible thing when God hands you over to your desires!  God gave the people what they wanted as punishment.  But this chapter also has Moses complaining about leading.  What is the difference between the people's complaining and Moses complaining?  The people rejected God and wanted to go back to slavery.  Moses was trying to follow God and was overwhelmed leading the people.  Moses was in over his head and needed help and God had compassion on him.  He gave him 70 leaders to help him lead.  He gave the people quail, a lot of quail.

The real story I see in this chapter is God building Moses' faith.  He provides Moses help by giving him leaders.  But even after that Moses questions his ability to provide meat for the people.  God answers Moses, "Is the Lord's arm weak?" Now you will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you."  (Num. 11:23) God provided Moses all he needed and at the same built Moses' confidence in God's faithfulness to answering his promises.

What situation in your life has overwhelmed you and you find yourself in time of need.  Turn to God and ask him for help and expect God to answer you.  The answer may not come back as you wanted, but I promise it will build your faith in God's faithfulness!