Word of Encouragement (10/04/2022)

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” (Num. 11:4-6)

Despite God’s punishment with the fire of the LORD, which was stopped only by Moses’ intercession, Israel’s complaining did not stop. In this passage, we actually hear what they said in their complaint. They complained of two things: 1) what they did not have; 2) what they had.

They longed for what they used to have for food in Egypt: the fish as well as the fruits, vegetables, and spices they used to eat. This bitter national weeping was about food—not because they were starving to death (if that were the case, they would not have had the strength to weep so bitterly); it was because they did not have the kind of variety they wanted. So, they were throwing a tantrum with all the drama and self-indulgence of a little spoiled brat.

But in all fairness, we should not be so quick to belittle the difficulties that Israel faced in the wilderness. This portion of the Bible is given to us as an example to avoid (1 Cor. 10:6). But the word of God, such as these narratives, is also like a mirror (James 1:23) that shows our true self. What would you have done if you were in their position? If you had to leave your home and live in the wilderness for years, if you did not have your meat and potato, pizza and spaghetti, Kung Pao beef and Chow Mein, hamburgers and hot dogs, tacos and burritos, and coffee and soda, too, what would you do? If God were to take away what you cherish, would God be still worth following? Would you still be saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD”?

But what was so wrong with their complaints that God should punish them? Did they lie about anything? Did they make up stories? As far as what they said was concerned, there was nothing wrong. What was wrong with their complaints was not so much with what they said but what they did not say; not so much with what they remembered but what they did not remember. Yes, they had meat back in Egypt. Yes, they had fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic to eat. But they didn’t remember the bitterness of the forced labor imposed on them. Did they not cry out because Pharaoh’s oppression was so unbearable—and the cry of their pain was so great that it even reached the ears of God? Did they forget how Pharaoh tried to kill all their sons—first through midwives and then by throwing them into the Nile? Would they go back to the bitter labors of slavery for food? Would they put their sons in danger of massacre just so they could eat the meat and the cucumbers and the garlic? Were they animals that all they cared about was nothing but food? Were they not made in the image of God? Were they not much more than the food they ate? They forgot from where they came, from what they were set free.

Notice also what they said about what they did have: “...there is nothing at all but this manna to look at....” Can we say that there is no connection between what they thought about what they did not have and what they thought about what they had? Focusing on what we don’t have takes away our appreciation of what we have. That’s what happened with Eve when she was tempted: all the trees in the garden, from which she could freely take to eat, didn’t matter when Satan made her focus on the forbidden fruit.

How are you doing in the area of gratitude? What are you focusing on—what you don’t have or what God has already blessed you with? May this disturbing instance of Israel’s ingratitude jolt us out of the spirit of ingratitude (if we see it in our hearts) and direct our eyes to the richness of God’s blessings in our lives!

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