Numbers 11:20, commentary and pictures

God would send meat for a whole month until it sickened those who ate it and became hateful and loathsome to them. Their weeping for flesh and longing for Egypt despised the Lord who was among them, distrusting His wisdom, care and power to provide and rejecting His deliverance and kingship over them. He had withheld flesh in great measure because He knew what was best for health, giving instead bread from heaven as the wholesome food He designed for them. He then granted what they persistently demanded in abundance to humble them and let them suffer the painful result of rebellion and lack of restraint, so that plague struck while the flesh was still between their teeth and thousands died in the act of eating. The warning remains that when appetite is allowed to control and His guidance about food is set aside for a self-chosen indulgent course, transgression brings its own result in sickness, suffering and premature death.

Words and Historical Setting

The promise is for flesh not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty days, but for a whole month. It is to continue until it comes out at the nostrils and sickens those who eat it and becomes hateful and loathsome to them. The month of quail is given as the answer to crying for meat after rejecting manna, because they did not trust the One among them to give the food that would best preserve health.

To despise the Lord who was among them was to weep for flesh, to say it was well with them in Egypt, to grieve over leaving Egypt, and to ask why they came out of Egypt. That weeping and longing to return was contempt for the Lord present among them, distrust and rebellion against Him. It questioned His wisdom and care and whether He could provide, and it rejected His deliverance that had brought them out of Egypt, His revelation of power and mercy, and Him whom they had accepted as King.

Earlier, near Sinai, He had answered the demand for meat for one day and then withheld it because it was not the best food for them. In this later complaint those Egyptians who left with Israel and were accustomed to rich food and meat were the first to complain. Israel's own food in Egypt had generally been cheap, though hard labor and hunger had made it satisfying.

He had led Israel from Egyptian bondage through the wilderness to prove them, promising to be their God and to take them as His peculiar treasure. He withheld meat in great measure without prohibiting it, and gave instead the healthy food He designed to be eaten freely, bread rained from heaven and purest water out of the flinty rock. With it stood the covenant promise to put no disease upon them if they obeyed Him in all things. They were not satisfied but murmured against Moses and against God and wished themselves back in Egypt where they could sit by the flesh pots.

Their craving and complaint brought prompt punishment by fire in the camp. Their appetite-driven murmurings and complaint against the wilderness journey brought rebellion and deep distress to Moses.

Divine Purpose and Judgment

On the way from Egypt toward Canaan flesh was withheld and the diet restricted because He knew what was best and what would preserve health. Meat was not essential for health, and the withholding was not a total prohibition but a measured restraint for their good. Instead He gave bread rained from heaven and purest water from rock, the healthy food He designed to be eaten freely. That manna, angels' food, would have proved a blessing to them if received with trust.

He then gave quail and flesh in abundance as demanded, not because it was best for them, but to humble them and teach them that He knew their true needs. The month-long provision would satisfy their insistence, yet become loathsome to them and bring painful consequences. In this He granted what they persistently desired, while they suffered the result of their rebellion and lack of restraint.

If they had manifested submission to His wise prohibitions about food He would have removed from them everything injurious to health and would have suffered no sickness to be among them. His withholding was for their good, joined to covenant promise to put no disease upon them if they obeyed Him in all things.

Their craving did not prove it was what their bodies needed, for appetite led them to reject His provision. Appetite can mislead, and the demand answered with an abundance that became loathsome shows that indulgence can bring harm rather than meet a true need.

Judgment followed the gratification of lustful appetite, for plague was sent while the flesh was still between their teeth, destroying thousands. Great numbers died in the act of eating the meat for which they had lusted, and rebellion led to sickness and death. Nearly all who came out of Egypt consequently died in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan.

Warning Against Appetite

God is displeased when appetite is permitted to control. He led Israel from Egyptian bondage through the wilderness to prove them, promising to be their God and take them as His peculiar treasure, withholding meat in great measure without prohibiting it and giving instead the healthy food He designed for them to eat freely, bread rained from heaven and purest water out of the flinty rock, with covenant promise to put no disease upon them if they obeyed Him in all things. Israel was not satisfied but murmured against Moses and against God and wished themselves back in Egypt where they could sit by the flesh pots, so strongly did craving rule them that they would at times prefer slavery and even death rather than be deprived of meat. In anger He gave them flesh to gratify their lustful appetite, and great numbers died in the act of eating the meat for which they had lusted, the curse coming while it was yet between their teeth.

The month of loathsome flesh warns against intemperance in eating and drinking. In the wilderness Israel received manna from heaven yet were not satisfied but longed for flesh meat with mourning and murmuring, so the Lord granted their desire and gave that vast multitude quails in abundance. Their transgression reaped its own result when the Lord did not work a miracle to preserve life but sent plague while the flesh was still between their teeth, destroying thousands. Becoming health reformers gives clearer minds to discern what affects the salvation of the soul.

Turning from God's guidance about food and choosing a self-indulgent, self-chosen course brings dissension, sickness, suffering and premature death. Israel's demand for meat was not merely dissatisfaction with manna but contempt for the Lord who was present among them, expressed in rejecting the bread God provided and longing to return to Egypt. Though God had given them a restricted diet because He knew what was best, He allowed them to have what they persistently demanded. The month-long provision of meat would satisfy their insistence, yet become loathsome to them and bring painful consequences, for they suffered the result of their rebellion and lack of restraint.