The Israelites grew tired of the food that God was providing and craved other things such as meat and vegetables. They began to wail and complain for something far better than the mana that caused them to loose their appetites. Blinded by their complaining, they forgot about how God rescued then from slavery and brought them out of Egypt. They also seemed to look right past a recent situation where fire from the Lord consumed some of their camp because of a previous incident of complaining. No big deal right?
Because of their complaining and in His burning anger, God provided the meat that they were so desperately craving. In fact, He provided so much quail for them that it piled up 3 feet high as far as a day’s walk in any direction and each person gathered no less that 1.75 tons. Now that’s a lot of meat! The Israelites worked hard to gather the meat but right before they were able to consume it, the Lord struck them with a severe plague. That area was named “Kibroth Hattaavah” which means “Graves Of Craving” because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
Complaining and dissatisfaction is contagious, dangerous, and robs us of a grateful heart. How many times have we said, “…if only we had this or that…” and then complained when we’ve eventually received it. The things that we often think are going to bring us joy and excitement can sometimes become things that we hate. The Lord knows exactly what will satisfy us and He will provide. Don’t grumble, be humble.
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?”‘” – Numbers 11:19-20
Comments (0)