You want some meat?
February 29, 2008
Numbers 11:18-20 ESV
(18) And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.
(19) You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,
(20) but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"'"
My kids have a TV show they like to watch called 'Time Warp Trio'. In the first show three boys are sitting around bored. One of them wishes that they had some excitement. At that moment, one of the boy's uncle shows up and says 'Be careful what you wish for,' hands them a book and walks away. When they open the book they are whisked back in time (though in one episode they go forward in time and meet there great-great granddaughters). No matter where they land in time they seem to be in the middle of some important historic event (the educational value of the show of course) and they have to fix what they messed up.
I think about those words a lot some times. Be careful what you wish for! And as I read today's readings, it became so clear just why you should. The people of Israel wanted meat to eat. They got mad at Moses (and God) and demanded it as they reminisced how much better it was in Egypt.
God took care of them all right. They wanted meat, He gave it to them. So much that it was coming out their noses. God has a warped sense of humor to me. You want meat, I will give you meat.
What about you. What are you wishing for that by the grace of God you are not going to get?
Got the readings straightened out. Sorry about the confusion yesterday.
Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Numbers 11:1-13:33
Tomorrow
Numbers 14:1-15:41
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool
