And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
God by His power caused winds to blow and rained flesh like dust and feathered fowl like sand of the sea, letting quails fall in abundance in the midst of the camp round about their dwellings and tents. He did this in anger to answer lust and discontent and not hunger, after Israel despised manna as angels' food and the very best food and wept and murmured for the flesh food of Egypt because they believed not and trusted not in His salvation. While the meat was yet in their mouths and they were filled with their own desire, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest and the chosen men, so that greed brought plague and disease and death to many. The flesh was granted only as a temporary concession for a day and not as a permanent diet, and its eating produced disease and shortened life and brought dissension and physical and mental decline, whereas manna would have preserved health and proved a blessing. Lustful indulgence of appetite in insisting on meat still brings divine displeasure and destruction and a curse rather than the health and happiness that come from accepting God's restrictions.
Setting and Provision Described
The verse belongs to a psalm that recounts the rich blessings God bestowed on His people and their poor return for all those benefits. It belongs to the account of how the children of Israel worked constantly against a good God. In that account disobedience brought them into the state that was the sure result of their own course of action, followed by repentance under rebuke and chastisement, then falling again under temptation, self-indulgence, and self-gratification.
God gave manna, the bread from heaven, angels' food, the very best food, and for their good refused a flesh diet in order to keep them in health physically, mentally, and morally. He withheld meat because He knew meat-eating would produce disease and shorten life, and He sought to educate them in correct habits that they might be a pure, holy, healthy people suited to their training and calling. Israel had grown used to flesh food in Egypt, and the more they centered their thoughts upon the flesh meats of Egypt the more they hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt and despised and hated the food God gave. They wept and murmured and tempted God by asking meat for lust and saying He had brought them out to pine away and die, because they believed not in God and trusted not in His salvation. Having rejected the bread sent from heaven and demanded meat, they received what they craved.
In anger God answered lust and craving and discontent, not hunger. By His power He caused an east wind to blow and brought in the south wind, raining flesh upon them as dust and feathered fowl like the sand of the sea. He let the quail fall in abundance in the midst of their camp, throughout the camp, round about their habitations and dwellings and around their tents. The provision gratified their craving for meat after they rejected their wilderness food and demanded meat.
The flesh thus granted was supplied for only one day. It was a temporary concession granted because of discontent, not a permanent diet. Manna, rather than animal food, was the provision best suited to Israel's training and calling.
Teaching on Appetite and Faith
Israel ate and was filled with their own desire and was not estranged from their lust, but while the meat was yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of Israel. The quail that fell in the midst of the camp and round about the habitations and tents gratified craving for meat, yet greed brought a plague that killed many who were eating it. The flesh was granted in anger in answer to lust and discontent and not to hunger, and its eating brought disease and death to many.
Meat-eating would produce disease and shorten life, whereas manna, angels' food, the bread from heaven, would have preserved health and proved a blessing. That heavenly food was meant to keep them in health physically, mentally, and morally, and was the provision best suited to their training and calling, but earthly appetites were encouraged and the food God gave came to be hated. Rejecting the wilderness food and the bread sent from heaven, demanding meat, and disregarding God's food restrictions brought dissension, sickness, and death rather than health and happiness. Dissatisfaction with what was supplied led to physical and mental decline.
Lustful indulgence of appetite brings divine displeasure and destruction upon God's people today. Insistence on flesh brought a curse rather than the good that would have come from accepting God's restrictions. That flesh was a temporary concession, supplied for only one day, and not a permanent diet.
The provision brought down in the midst of the camp round about the dwellings was the source of Israel's strength, which they forgot when trials came and turned to complaining. In the same way, those in whom Christ abides and who abide in Him fully receive truth of heavenly origin, are sanctified through it, and advance continually in the divine life. They become strong men and women by connection with the source of all wisdom and power, gathering up divine rays to give light to others instead of complaining.
God by His power caused winds to blow and rained flesh like dust and feathered fowl like sand of the sea, letting quails fall in abundance in the midst of the camp round about their dwellings and tents. He did this in anger to answer lust and discontent and not hunger, after Israel despised manna as angels' food and the very best food and wept and murmured for the flesh food of Egypt because they believed not and trusted not in His salvation. While the meat was yet in their mouths and they were filled with their own desire, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest and the chosen men, so that greed brought plague and disease and death to many. The flesh was granted only as a temporary concession for a day and not as a permanent diet, and its eating produced disease and shortened life and brought dissension and physical and mental decline, whereas manna would have preserved health and proved a blessing. Lustful indulgence of appetite in insisting on meat still brings divine displeasure and destruction and a curse rather than the health and happiness that come from accepting God's restrictions.
Setting and Provision Described
The verse belongs to a psalm that recounts the rich blessings God bestowed on His people and their poor return for all those benefits. It belongs to the account of how the children of Israel worked constantly against a good God. In that account disobedience brought them into the state that was the sure result of their own course of action, followed by repentance under rebuke and chastisement, then falling again under temptation, self-indulgence, and self-gratification.
God gave manna, the bread from heaven, angels' food, the very best food, and for their good refused a flesh diet in order to keep them in health physically, mentally, and morally. He withheld meat because He knew meat-eating would produce disease and shorten life, and He sought to educate them in correct habits that they might be a pure, holy, healthy people suited to their training and calling. Israel had grown used to flesh food in Egypt, and the more they centered their thoughts upon the flesh meats of Egypt the more they hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt and despised and hated the food God gave. They wept and murmured and tempted God by asking meat for lust and saying He had brought them out to pine away and die, because they believed not in God and trusted not in His salvation. Having rejected the bread sent from heaven and demanded meat, they received what they craved.
In anger God answered lust and craving and discontent, not hunger. By His power He caused an east wind to blow and brought in the south wind, raining flesh upon them as dust and feathered fowl like the sand of the sea. He let the quail fall in abundance in the midst of their camp, throughout the camp, round about their habitations and dwellings and around their tents. The provision gratified their craving for meat after they rejected their wilderness food and demanded meat.
The flesh thus granted was supplied for only one day. It was a temporary concession granted because of discontent, not a permanent diet. Manna, rather than animal food, was the provision best suited to Israel's training and calling.
Teaching on Appetite and Faith
Israel ate and was filled with their own desire and was not estranged from their lust, but while the meat was yet in their mouths the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of Israel. The quail that fell in the midst of the camp and round about the habitations and tents gratified craving for meat, yet greed brought a plague that killed many who were eating it. The flesh was granted in anger in answer to lust and discontent and not to hunger, and its eating brought disease and death to many.
Meat-eating would produce disease and shorten life, whereas manna, angels' food, the bread from heaven, would have preserved health and proved a blessing. That heavenly food was meant to keep them in health physically, mentally, and morally, and was the provision best suited to their training and calling, but earthly appetites were encouraged and the food God gave came to be hated. Rejecting the wilderness food and the bread sent from heaven, demanding meat, and disregarding God's food restrictions brought dissension, sickness, and death rather than health and happiness. Dissatisfaction with what was supplied led to physical and mental decline.
Lustful indulgence of appetite brings divine displeasure and destruction upon God's people today. Insistence on flesh brought a curse rather than the good that would have come from accepting God's restrictions. That flesh was a temporary concession, supplied for only one day, and not a permanent diet.
The provision brought down in the midst of the camp round about the dwellings was the source of Israel's strength, which they forgot when trials came and turned to complaining. In the same way, those in whom Christ abides and who abide in Him fully receive truth of heavenly origin, are sanctified through it, and advance continually in the divine life. They become strong men and women by connection with the source of all wisdom and power, gathering up divine rays to give light to others instead of complaining.