How Memory Romanticizes the Past and Exaggerates the Negative Aspects of our Present.

Numbers 11:1-9  Israel Complains About Their Circumstances and Food

Day 50 of self-isolation for us personally (52 since the U.S. started it). Can hardly wait for tomorrow – garden centers are open again; and then in two days we can actually shop in large retail stores like Home Depot and others. Progress. But some futurists are predicting life will not return to normal – for a year, or two, and in some respects, never. Well, that’s enough of a downer for now.  And speaking of downers – boy do the Israelites ever know how to “feel down” and how to get Moses down as well.  Keep reading as we continue our study in Numbers.

The Passage

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ² The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire ^[a]died out. ³ So the name of that place was called ^[b]Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ The rabble who were among them ^[c]had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us ^[d]meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, ⁶ but now our ^[e]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ^[f]to look at except this manna.”

⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ⁸ The people would go about and gather it and grind it ^[g]between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of ^[h]cakes baked with oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall ^[i]with it.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 11:2 Lit sank down
2. Numbers 11:3 I.e. burning
3. Numbers 11:4 Lit desired a desire
4. Numbers 11:4 Lit flesh, and so throughout the ch
5. Numbers 11:6 Lit soul is dried up
6. Numbers 11:6 Lit for our eyes
7. Numbers 11:8 Lit with
8. Numbers 11:8 Lit juice of oil
9. Numbers 11:9 Lit on

Thoughts on the Passage

You have to love that opening phrase – “the people became like those who complain of diversity in the hearing of the Lord.”  I really get a kick out of that phrase. First, notice this was Moses writing the words, not the Lord speaking them. Second, I wonder on what basis or earlier experience was he making that analogy. There is a later reference to such grumbling in chapter 14, verse 2, but that likely came afterwards. Earlier though, in Exodus (chapters 15), Moses had to deal with the grumblings of the Israelites about water (Ex. 15), about food (Ex. 16), and again about water (Ex. 17). God took care of their needs in each of these occasions. And this was early in their Exodus – before they were led to Elim.  Then things seem to have settle down for a while, and now this.

The other thing that I find interesting about this phrase is the later part, “in the hearing of the Lord” as if there was any other kind of grumbling anyone could do. Go ahead, try to grumble so God does not hear you. Don’t utter words; just think the grumbling. Did that work? No. All our grumblings are heard by God. So, what was Moses saying here? I think he just wanted it on record, for the generations of Israelites to come, and perhaps for us, that God heard their grumbling. And let me tell you, God hears your grumblings and mine. And when He thinks they’re legitimate, He answers them and when He thinks they’re not, well, just read on and see what happens. . .

The text says His anger was kindled. That’s a nice choice of words because the next thing we read is that “the fire of the Lord burned among them”. Hey, I’m not one hundred percent certain of what that looked like, but I believe it was something physical, something that could be seen, because it (this fire of the Lord) actually “consumed some of the outskirts of the camp”. David Guzik tells points out that the people counted on the fire of the Lord over their camp at night. It may well have been the same time. Whatever it was, it sure got the attention of the Israelites not to mention that it scared them profusely. We need to learn that “the fire of the Lord” in His hands can be a blessing and it can destroy.

Chuck Smith tells us that throughout chapters 11 to 20 we will see a pattern of complaining and grumbling, so let’s keep on an eye out for it. He also reminds us that if we are God’s children (as the Israelites were), trusting our lives to Him, then any complaint we make about life is a complaint against God. Some people don’t see that, and that’s okay. In the case of the Israelites, as angry as God gets with them, He does not destroy them (although He often wanted to and Moses talks Him out of it), once again showing us His long-suffering.

So they go to Moses, crying out for help. Moses prays to God and the fire goes out. By the way, the text says they called the spot Taberah or ‘burning’ because the fire of the Lord burned among them there.

Now apparently it was not everyone that grumbled or at least they all didn’t grumble to the same extent. Or perhaps it was that they all weren’t as greedy. But we read that some had some real greedy desires in the opinion of Moses. Smith reminds us that not all in the camp were pure Israelites as some were married to Israelites and had left Egypt with them. So, they weren’t fully committed to being God’s people and He being their all-sufficient God. These same people cried out for meat, because the regular diet of manna that God had provided much earlier was no longer sufficient for them. They remember all the good stuff (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic) they had back in Egypt and yearned for the “good old days” they were in captivity as slaves. They remembered the good things in their old lives, but they neglected to focus on the horrors of the hard labor they had to undertake as servants and slaves. They were sick of the manna and lost their appetite. No wonder God was a little riled. And sometimes, we behave in the same way – forgetting what God has saved us from and only focusing on the fact that His yoke is not easy. Jesus later speaks of those who are like that as being “lukewarm” in our faith. And we could well ask ourselves whether the church today is pampering too much to these kinds of believers?

Guzik says that memory often romanticizes the past. That was what the Israelites were doing. Recently one of my own relatives broke up with someone they loved and were in a relationship with for a number of years. They often remember the nice times they had together. But only the rest of remember the terrible times they endured during that period. Yes, memory often romanticizes the past.

Guzik also reminds us that the Israelites wanted someone to give them “meat” – but God had not forbid them to hunt in the wilderness, or to use some of their own livestock for food. No, they would rather complain and do nothing. Often, we want something better (job, friends, education, relationship with Him, etc.) and complain to God because He doesn’t give it to us, while we are willing to do nothing about it.

I love verse 6 that says, “our appetite is gone” which is translated more literally “our soul is dried up”. So, not only does memory romanticize the past, it apparently causes us to exaggerate the negatives of the present. Guzik says there’s no way their soul was drying up – God wouldn’t have allowed that. And He won’t allow it for us. Let’s give our heads a shake and recognize that we need to fight the memory that erases the bad past and causes our present to look so dreary.

The bottom line is this – the people sinned against God and He got angry with them. They knew better.

And can you imagine the impact on Moses? You see, when children grumble about their lot in life, there is a great impact on their parent or parents. When employees grumble, there is an impact on their superiors. When citizens grumble, politicians should be impacted. When church people grumble, there is an impact on pastors. If we learn nothing else here, let’s learn about grumbling. First you can’t grumble outside God’s hearing. Second, when you and I grumble, it affects those we relate with.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.