The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for 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."Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,' to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, "Give us meat to eat!' I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery." So the Lord said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again. Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!" But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!" (Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-16, 24-29)
I have a dear friend very dedicated to his being a carnivore. Whenever we attend a meeting where lunch is provided he hopes for, and seeks, meat. His favorite question to those serving is "Did something die for this meal?" I tell him that I can hear lettuce screaming as we bite into it. The start of this passage reminded me of him as Moses is having to hear the people of Israel complain about what God is not providing. They yearn for the past even if it meant slavery and imprisonment as slaves! Their cries included their old menu; fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. And they dared to complain in the face of the divinely provided bread from heaven called manna. The people wept for the old, and all in the entrances of their tents. This attitude angered the Lord and displeased Moses. Moses then shares some gripes of his own, questioning where he was to find meat to share with these people, but it was God who spoke of what He was about to do. What God did was to share His Spirit with others besides Moses. He directed Moses to gather seventy elders to join him at the tent of meeting, which they did and "the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to (Moses), and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the 70 elders;" Once this was done, these elders joined in speaking for God among all the people. This served to prove that what they were all experiencing, even without meat, was of God and was for God's good purpose in their lives.
We sometimes find ourselves facing or doing what we didn't expect or like, but it is hardly a basis to become a complainer or whiner about what God is or isn't doing. It becomes a basis of prayer seeking God's understanding and wisdom for whatever we think we are facing is difficult. Once God's Spirit comes upon us, we begin to not only understand, but to speak to what God can and is doing among us.
PRAYER: Loving God, whatever my dear reader is facing right now in life, make clear Your presence, peace, and love. May Your Holy Spirit come upon all of us so that we can share Your wisdom with others. This we pray in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
