Thursday, November 15, 2012

Israel wept again


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 11:4–15, “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.”
One of the problems that faced Moses when he was leading Israel through the wilderness was the fact that the Israelis complained a lot. They weren’t glad to be set free from their slavery and kept wanting to do other things. In this case they wanted to have a change in their diet. The Lord gave them manna but they wanted meat and other things to flavour their food. We can approach life with a grumbling and complaining attitude or we can approach life with a grateful attitude. Either way, will reap the consequences in our lives. It is interesting to note that their grumbling attitude even affected Moses. He grew tired of their complaining and asked the Lord why he had to struggle with this burden. He had, with the Lord’s power, taken Israel away from Egypt but wondered why he had to put up with all their grumbling. After all, he wasn’t their father. He just wanted to have a rest from the struggles he faced every day and asked the Lord to kill him because he was so tired of the daily problems of this leadership.

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