Trouble, Trouble, Trouble

Today's readings are from Numbers 11, 12, 13

We move beyond the counting and arranging of things to more narrative story...and, it's not so good. All three chapters recount various troubling incidents, culminating with the report of ten of those who scouted out the land and concluded they didn't want to go in and conquer it. I get ahead of myself.

First, the source of trouble is the complaining and whining of the whole camp that leads to fire at the outside edge of the camp.

"Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp."

That is followed by more complaining about having just manna to eat, with the comparison of how much better it was in Egypt.
"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"
God's answer to this was interesting. He told Moses to appoint 70 others to be leaders among the people - because the load of leading such a large group was getting to Moses. He also told Moses that he was going to send them meat to eat (in the form of Quail)...not just for a day, but for a whole month!
The end result of this was that when they got the Quail, along with it came a 'plague' - probably a form of food poisoning.

It's interesting to see that it all begins with this general spirit of complaining, whining about "what we don't have", "what we use to have", instead of gratefulness for what we do have. The idea that they wanted to go back to Egypt seems preposterous when you think about it. Just a year and a few months before they were slaves, and now in the desert they want to go back?

The complaining moves from the "rabble" to Moses' closest kin - Aaron and Miriam, his brother and sister. They don't like it that he seemingly has so much power. That God rebukes in front of them, turning Miriam's skin leprous before their eyes. Tensions are running high in the camp, and when people are tense, under pressure, they react in sometimes very fleshly ways.

Lastly, in chapter 13 the complaining turns towards rebellion. Twelve men are sent out, one from every tribe, to spy out the land and see what needs to be done to conquer it...this is the land God promised them through the deliverance from Egypt...the land God gave to Abraham hundreds of years before.

It seems that by this time the spirit of complaining has become so widespread that it is like a virus, infecting almost all. When they return, they cannot see God in any of it. All they can see are "giants". We make much more out of troubles, and make God much less than able in the spirit of complaint.

It's one of the Psalms that says, "A thankful heart prepares a place for you, Oh God." Truer words couldn't be spoken.

Peace


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