Week 10 Day 2 Woe is Me...

Numbers 11

So the people had been doing pretty good up to this point, moving out like the Lord had told them to do, you know they can't stay that way. Sure enough, after a little time, they started crying, whining, complaining. And God got mad. Really mad. Burning mad. (Literally. A fire burned among the people at the edge of the camp.) The fire didn't stop until the people ran to Moses who prayed to God. Good old Moses.

Speaking of Moses, I love His talk with God in this chapter.

The people were still eating a whole lot of manna. But like most people I know, that choice wasn't enough. They wanted more. We always want more, don't we? They started grumbling and complaining. They wanted meat. Really wanted meat. So much so, it says every family stood at the doorway of their tent crying. Is that a sad scene or what???

Moses, who to me has been a fairly patient man up until this point, finally lost it. He started ranting and raving. He asked God why God brought all this trouble on him. (I can't say I blame him for feeling this way!) He reminded God that he was NOT their father or their mother. He even goes so far as to tell God that if He is going to continue to "do this to him" (Love that phrasing), just kill him now. I would say Moses is at the end of his rope.

Of course, God could have struck Moses down at that point. But He didn't.

He instead had Moses gather 70 elders to help him. Then he told the people to cleanse themselves. They wanted meat. They would get meat.

I have to admit, when I first read this, I thought, "God? You are just giving in? That is so not how I parent." But I hadn't read far enough.

God tells Moses that He will give the people meat. And they will eat it. For a month. Not like optional, but WILL do eat it for a month. They will eat it until it comes out of their nose. That is a lot of meat. In fact, God told Moses that the people would end up hating the meat.

God did what He said. He shared His Spirit with the 70 elders. And they prophesied for that time. (Even a couple who weren't at the Tent at the time)

Then God brought in the meat. Quails.

Lots of quails.

Then the people were happy. They gathered up bushels and bushels of it.

And they eagerly ate it.

And they got sick. Terribly sick. While the meat was in their mouth.

Uh oh.

Next reading:
Numbers 12