When the journey gets long, people begin asking, “Are we
soon there?” Children sometimes begin whining and complaining. A wise parent
has packed away a few ‘new’ things to pull out to distract them for a while and
make the trip go faster for them. It is the middle of the journey that seems
the longest and hardest and tries the patience of all – leaders and followers
alike. The Israelites were no exception.
Egypt was far enough behind them that they forgot about the
excessive hard work and the bondage of slavery. They remembered only the good
food they had to eat – and the variety of it. Now, in the desert, though they
were free from bondage and on their way to the Promised Land, they were getting
bored with manna and began to crave other food. They complained and wailed
until the “Lord became exceedingly angry and Moses was troubled.” Numbers 11:10b I wonder if
Moses was ‘troubled’ because of the wailing or because he wasn’t sure whether
God had just enough of it and was going to wipe them all out.
Moses’ patience was tried to the max and he asked God what
he had done to displease Him that He would put the burden of all these people
on him. In fact he went on to say, “If this is how you are going to treat me,
put me to death right now – if I have found favor in your eyes – and do not let
me face my own ruin.” Numbers
11:15 As a leader (who was reluctant to begin with), Moses’ frailty
became most apparent in this stressful situation. God understood that He had
asked Moses to do a pretty big thing and had been present with Him all the way.
In His tenderness, God once again looked out for Moses. He
had provided Aaron to help Moses get started. Now He provided 70 elders to help
share some of the burden of the people. Though God could have done it with
Moses alone, He allowed for Moses’ human frailty, his need for human support in
managing this body of people.
Then God turned back to the people and told them to get
ready because He was going to give them what they asked for until they had so
much they would begin to hate it “– because you have rejected the Lord, who is
among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” Numbers 11:20 The people had
lost sight of following God and were focused on what they didn’t have instead
of what God had provided and where He was leading them.
The word ‘rejected’ seems strong – yet I wonder how quickly
I ‘reject’ God’s promises and focus on my circumstances. Even Moses wondered
how God was going to give these people meat. There wasn’t enough livestock
among them to feed them all and hunting wasn’t too good in the desert. “The
Lord answered Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s arm too short?’” Numbers 11:23
In this moment of stress, Moses lost site of the power of
God to do what He set out to do. His circumstances were yelling pretty loudly
and his hearing of God’s voice was dimmed by the wailing of the people around
him. It was the middle of the journey. The people ‘craved’ meat over following
the Lord to the Promised Land. They lost sight of the goal and were focused on
their immediate circumstance.
I wonder how often I lose sight of the goal in the middle of
a journey. I am easily distracted and sometimes forget I even have a goal. That
is when circumstances become overwhelming. If I lose sight of the goal, I can
no longer determine what is worth my attention and what needs to be ignored. I
can no longer determine what I need for the journey and begin to crave things I
don’t need. If I lose sight of God leading in my life, my cravings will take
over.
God gave the Israelites what they wanted – meat in the form
of quail. But with it came a plague that killed many of them. “Therefore the
place was named Kibroth Hattaavah [means graves of craving] because there they
buried the people who had craved other food.” Numbers 11:34
I look around me and I wonder how many people are driven by
their craving rather than their worship and obedience to God. And I look at the
things people crave – love, attention, food, drugs, alcohol, pornography,
gossip, electronics, and so much more – and I wonder how many are buried in
graves of craving – figuratively or literally. And I ask myself, what is it I
crave? If it is anything other than seeking the Lord my God with all my heart,
soul, and strength, where will it lead me?
