Entitled
Week 7 Day 6: Numbers 10-12
Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused.
Numbers 11:1
4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
Numbers 11:4-6
With all of the acts of God they have seen, and manna to eat, their freedom and their promises as God’s chosen people: the Israelites are still not happy and are grumbling against God.
The reading goes on much in this vein and afflictions abound as well as the meat they craved.
Even Miriam and Aaron complained against Moses.
One feels for Moses’ position. Those in ministry will feel it even more acutely.
The thing that stands out to me today in this passage is entitlement. It is a problem we all face in one way or another. Most of us have our basic needs met, yet we enjoy excesses and complain when they are missing (despite what we may have ‘sold’ to obtain them).
Since we are currently in Lent perhaps today is a good day to sidestep a super detailed analysis of the Scripture here, but to look at this one aspect. The Israelites had food, they had God’s promises, and they had his very clear guidance. Yet they were craving what they did not have, the excesses they felt they remembered being available to them while in slavery. They were looking back not forwards, too.
On a practical level consider whether there are excesses or luxuries that you would find it a challenge to live without. Try living without them for Lent. Eating out? Alcohol? Comfort food? What do we turn to instead of to the Lord?
If we are craving or simply missing the excesses of yesteryear - remember the slavery we escaped to follow the Lord. I think this is a perspective that is going to be really helpful to me personally, as life gets tougher like it has for everyone. I know full well the freedom the Lord has given me to follow Him in this current place. I don’t crave the glass ceiling, work place politics or staying at the office 14 or more hours a day in busy periods to satisfy my old employer. 18 years later and I sometimes feel like I’m in the wilderness - but I’m in the one He has brought me and my family to. As I mentioned yesterday we camp where we are called and move on when we are called. We always have enough, even when it’s close at times.
What parts of the Israelite story so far resonate with you?