Bread and Whine

Numbers 11: 4-35

So the Israelites have been feasting on manna for some time now. God blessed them with this coriander seed-like substance in abundance that they would cook in a pot or make into loaves. It had a taste of olive oil to it. I'm picturing bread from Romano's Macaroni Grill- although I'm sure that's a faulty analogy. Plus unlike at Romano's, instead of coloring on tablecloths while the bread is brought to you, they have to gather and create this food.

Instead of being grateful for the bread, a faction of Israelites Moses refers to as the "rabble" start to squawk. Give me some meat! I could go for for a big ol'e steak burrito! Anybody else wish we had watermelon? I'd even take a salad over this endless supply of bread! They complained of missing meat, and cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.

This sounds like when I'm dieting and being a little pouty about it and start to talk about all the food I wish I was having. Oh- I could go for some Moose Tracks ice cream about now. I saw an ad for all you can eat wings...too bad I'm on a stupid diet. Instead of realizing that they have all that they need- and their needs are being met with a high-quality food, grumbling becomes a coping mechanism.

So- the source of the gift, God, is none too pleased with the reception of his bread. It's like I went home to dinner at my parent's house. Mom's cooked up something special for me and after it's put before me, I ask for something else. They don't just complain about the manna- they reminisce about the free fish they had back when they were slaves. They don't just not want mom's spaghetti, they want to eat someone else food as a slave. If your children tell you that being a slave is a better option than eating dinner at your house, you probably shouldn't be waiting by your mailbox for a mother's day card.

God gets angry- and Moses gets worried. In fact Moses reverts into martyr mode. God, why are You doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? Why have you put this burden on me? They aren't my kids- why am I forced into being their nursemaids? Why do I have to baby them all the way to the land You said You'd give their ancestors? How am I supposed to get meat for all of these people? This is too much! If you love me, and this is how You're going to treat me- why don't You just go ahead and kill me?

Seems like Moses has already started down the path toward the infamous striking rock chapter of his life. He seems to view himself as the center of suffering- instead of as a servant to help alleviate it. I also sense a lot of "playing God" subtext in his diatribe. Where am I going to get meat? Moses... the same place you get the manna perhaps? Why do I have to get them to the land that You promised them? It seems like he's saying, "God, you created this mess with Your long overdue promise- why do I have to bail You out? (ital mine)

What Moses is doing here strikes me as being pretty similar to what these meat-starved bread eaters are engaged in; parading in self-pity.

It's easy to be hard on them- ingrates... you've been rescued, God is providing- stop your whining, but I think I would react similarly (though perhaps a bit more passive-aggressively). I love bread... but if that's all I had to eat, I would probably start to grumble. Bread is great, especially covering a cheeseburger, or sopping up gravy, or as a pastry after eating some ribs. I get their complaining. Don't misunderstand- they're still ungrateful, spoiled brats. I'm just saying that I'm one too.

And Moses- he's turned his life upside down to follow this path that God has directed him toward. He could be rich and living luxuriously. Instead he's leading a bunch of less than pleasant people through a desert. With all that walking I'm sure he has ample time to contemplate vocational decisions. Of course he's playing a martyr. His life has become cleaning up these people's messes. He's in charge of God's people. Once again- this isn't admirable... but I'd be throwing a pity party too- and you'd all be invited.

But God responds to both whines. First He tells Moses to gather together 70 elders he knows as leaders and officials and He'll divert some of the spirit from Moses' shoulders and make the burden a bit lighter.

He's a little less gentle with the Israelites. You want meat? I've heard you whining- and I'm going to give you meat. Oh, we miss Egypt- we want meat. Alright you ungrateful babies- I'm going to give you so much meat it will be coming out of your noses. You'll get meat for a month and you will be so sick of it- you'll run to the nearest city and join their chapter of PETA. You'll hate meat. This is all because you rejected Me.

Moses is skeptical. Um God? Maybe you haven't noticed but there are quite a few people here... like 600,000. Where are you going to find a month's worth of meat? Even if you gave them all the fish in the sea would that even be enough?

Umm Moe, did you miss the whole parting of the Red Sea thing? Maybe you didn't realize that I supply the manna already? Did you happen to catch that plague thing back in Egypt? If not, they replay it from time to time on the History Channel. God asks "Is my arm too short?" Moses, what have I yet failed to do?

So Moses gathered the 70 together and the spirit was shared and these 70 prophesied... but only once. So this solution to help ease Moses' burden was only a short term solution. Is this because the 70 didn't want to step on Moses' toes? Was God making a point about His will being questioned? Is God subtly telling Moses to stop being a baby? Did God view this one night off as enough of a break? It seems odd that such elaborate measures were taken for such a small solution. Moses seems happy to get what he could.

Two other elders were nearby, outside the tent where the big event was happening and the spirit rested on them as well. So- even though they weren't of the 70, they started prophesying too. Joshua sees it and runs to report it to Moses, asking him to stop them. And Moses disagrees with the plan of action. He asks Joshua- are you feeling jealous because you think that I'll be jealous. Are you kidding? I wish the whole camp had gotten the spirit and started prophesying.

Maybe he's wishing the joy of spiritual gifts on them all- but it reads to me like Moses is saying- if they could all prophesy, I could wash my hands of it. The more who jump in, the less I need to do. And while I think there is something admirable about wanting everyone to be involved in God's work- this seems to be foreshadowing Moses' meltdown.

Finally, the quail came. God sent a wind that brought the quail from the sea. There were so many that when the people went looking for it- no one found less than 1 3/4 tons of quail. I'm not sure how they would have carried this quail back to the camp- but regardless, they had plenty of bird. They sat around eating quail- but God seeing it all had His anger restirred and before they even finished chewing- He sent a plague down on them.

They named the place "Grave of Craving" (very bad for local real estate agents) because they ended up burying people who had craved other foods.

This blunt reaction from God is frightening and puzzling to me. I'm not sure what they did here that God didn't expect. He gave them the quail- He knew that they had been grumbling. Is it because they enjoyed it too much? Did they brag about convincing God? Were they just being gluttonous?

The bottom line is that God expects gratitude for what He's given. I think the key here may be attitude. Maybe when we grumble- we should be careful if we get what we ask for.