complaining for no good reason

In this morning's Sunday School lesson, I covered Numbers 11:1-15. The "highlight" is the Israelites craving meat-- to the point that they exclaim, "our soul (nephesh) has dried up".

Desire is not the problem here; it's demandingness. It's not coveting that's the issue, but coveting the wrong things (Mt 5:6, I Cor 12:31). Apparently, the Israelites were sick of the gracious, miraculous provision of manna! But aside from that, they forgot about the nature of the God they served.

From one angle, bad memory is the key to the passage. The Israelites fail to remember to engage in prayer and petition with God vs. moaning and carping to each other. They fail to remember that God had dealt ("favorably") with the same circumstances about a year earlier (in Exodus 16). They fail to remember what God had done in their deliverance from Egpyt and their provision in the Wilderness. And they have flawed memories of their time in Egypt-- exaggerating the benefits of their stay and ignoring/downplaying the costs.

How would God have responded if they had said, "Lord, we love you and appreciate all the awesome things you've done for us. And the manna-- it's incredible how you've done that. But to be candid, we'd like to eat some different things. Could we have hamburgers for dinner tonight?" Of course, we don't know for sure. But the Lord certainly wouldn't have gotten upset at such a request, even if He denied it. I think it's likely that the Lord would have served up a mean Bronco Burger. As it says in Matthew 7:7-11:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Two other thoughts...

First, it's interesting that the Israelites faithfully observed a range of ceremonies and sacred laws/requirements-- but then failed to apply the worship and the Law to the daily life they lived. This is akin to "Sunday morning Christians" who don't see how Christ applies to their lives from Sunday afternoon through Saturday night.

Second, interestingly, Moses is not exactly on top of his spiritual game either in this passage. In 11:11-15, Moses lays out a litany of questions which implicitly question God's plans. But Moses still looks relatively mature compared to the people he is shepherding.

The people complain about that which was in their control (they even had livestock!); Moses complains about that which is largely beyond his control. The people complain about God; Moses complains to God. They complain about trivial things like diet variety; Moses complains about leadership problems.