Numbers 11:31
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
A wind from the Lord brought quails from the sea and dropped them around the camp in immense abundance, about a day's journey on either side and about two cubits high above the ground. The people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day gathering them, even the least gathering ten homers, and spread them abroad to dry so the supply would last the promised month. God gave this meat not because it was for their best good or needed for health, but as a temporary concession in anger after persistent murmuring that despised manna as heaven-appointed food and lusted for the food of Egypt. While the flesh was yet between their teeth the wrath of the Lord was kindled and He struck them with a very great plague, with burning fevers cutting down thousands, even the fattest and most guilty, with the meat still in their mouths. Receiving what is demanded does not prove it is for one's good, for this flesh came with a curse of disease and death, showing that manna would have preserved health and warning that letting appetite rule becomes Satan's lever for overthrow as with Adam and the old world.
Miraculous Provision of Quails
A wind from the Lord brought quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp in miraculous and immense abundance, as it were a day's journey on this side and as it were a day's journey on the other side round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. The flocks were spread around Israel's camp in every direction about two cubits above the ground, raining flesh upon them as dust until they ate and were filled. The Lord sent the quails after the people desired meat and insisted on the food they desired rather than gratefully accepting what God provided for their good.
The people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day gathering the quails, laboring continuously in the harvest. Even he that gathered least gathered ten homers, called ten omers, and they spread them abroad round about the camp. What was not needed for present use was preserved by drying, so the supply gathered was sufficient for the whole month God had promised.
The provision came after repeated murmuring treated as rebellion, when the people gave themselves to seditious murmurings against Moses and against the Lord. Moses himself distrusted God's power to provide meat, yet the event proved nothing is impossible with Him. They distrusted God to give food that would best preserve health, despised manna as angels' food and heaven-appointed food adapted to their wants, and refused to submit to Him choosing food they could eat freely without injury. Under control of depraved, lustful appetites they wept for meat and craved the fish and vegetables of Egypt, rejecting what would prove for their good because they did not receive things that would injure them.
God gave this flesh meat not because it was for their best good or essential to health, but because the people persisted in demanding it and would have it. The grant was a temporary concession in anger to satisfy appetite, giving them their own desire and letting them suffer the results of gratifying lustful appetites. He had withheld a meat diet while educating and training them in simpler habits, intending food better suited to their needs.
Judgment and Dietary Warning
While the flesh was still between their teeth and while they were still eating, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against them and He smote them with a very great plague. The excess was speedily punished, for gluttony brought judgment and God did not miraculously preserve them from the consequences of their wrongdoing. The grant of quails from the sea therefore stands as proof that God answered their lusting, yet left them to suffer the result of feasting without restraint.
That judgment came as burning fevers that cut down very large numbers. Thousands died with the meat still in their mouths, slain as soon as they tasted the meat they lusted for. Those most guilty in murmuring were struck first, and the fattest among them were slain. The stroke brought leanness of soul, loss of God's favor, and death for many, so that nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness and did not enter Canaan.
Receiving what was asked for did not mean it was for their good. The animal food thus granted in concession came with a curse. Its provision was temporary, granted for only a brief time in response to murmuring and discontent with the food appointed for their good, and its use brought disease and death to thousands.
Manna, angels' food, heaven-appointed food adapted to their wants, would have proved a blessing to preserve health. Thankful contentment with food that could be eaten freely without injury was God's plan, and His purpose was to lead them back to the fruits of the earth originally given to humanity and to food better suited to their needs. Permission to eat the flesh of dead animals belonged to the post-curse sentence of death, permitted to the ancients with the knowledge that it would shorten life.
The craving showed appetite allowed to rule, with depraved appetites controlling them until gratification of appetite became Satan's means of overthrowing Israel. Appetite was the lever of defeat, matching the fall of Adam and Eve and the old world. This success emboldened Satan in his war against the government of God to boast that Christ coming in weakened human nature would also be overcome by his power, and that God's purpose to lead His chosen people to Canaan and to save man through Christ would be thwarted. The incident therefore warns against giving free rein to appetite, disregarding God's light and restrictions, and yielding to appetite rather than following God's plan for diet.