The promised quail are going to arrive as we conclude Chapter 11, but judgment will arrive with them.
"Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day's walk in any direction." (Numbers 11:31) There is an annual migration of quail in that general region and across Egypt during the time of year we are studying in this chapter. These quail are quite plentiful under normal circumstances, but in our text we have reason to believe the Lord sent far more quail than are usually contained in the regular migration. In spots they were three feet deep, according to the NIV translation. Some scholars argue that the original text should be understood to stay the quail were flying low enough to catch or strike with a club or a bow and arrow---that they were flying no higher than three feet from the ground. So we can't say for certain how thick the quail were upon the ground but it seems clear that no matter which direction a person walked a day's journey from the camp, quail were to be found.
"All that day and night and all the next day the people went and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp." (Numbers 11:32) The exact measure of a homer varies according to which article you find on Google but I did find an online calculator that converts the Biblical homer into ounces and gallons, and if this calculator is correct, ten homers would equal about 499.45 dry gallons. This seems an enormous amount but we have to keep in mind that the Lord promised to send enough meat to supply every person for thirty days. (Numbers 11:19-20) It would take a lot of quail to feed a congregation that numbered 2,000,000 or more. How were the people to preserve these quail for thirty days? I feel the text suggests that they dried it into jerky strips in the sun or over fires since verse 20 says the people spread the quail "all around the camp".
Since the Lord said the people would eat quail for thirty days---so much quail that they'd come to loathe it---we have to assume what happens in this next verse happened at the end of the thirty day period. "But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and He struck them with a severe plague." (Numbers 11:33) Most of the commentaries I consulted by mainstream Bible scholars state that verse 33 should be understood to be saying, "Before the people ran out of meat to consume, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and He struck them with a severe plague." This would make more sense than thinking the Lord sent a plague on the day He sent the quail because that would contradict what the Lord said earlier in Numbers 11 about them eating it for a whole month "until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it"; in other words, they would eat so much quail for so many days that they can't stand the sight or smell of it and would hate it so much they might never want to see another quail.
What kind of plague strikes the people? Some Bible scholars and medical experts believe they contracted an illness from the quail itself. It could be that the quail were harboring disease or some type of worms. It may be that the food was not fully preserved from decay by the drying methods and that, near the end of the thirty days, the food that still remained caused food poisoning in a lot of the population. Or it's possible that the plague didn't originate from the food itself but was sent solely by the hand of God. Whatever the nature of the plague, it was deadly for an unknown number of persons. "Therefore the place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food. From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there." (Numbers 11:34-35) "Kibroth Hattaavah" means "graves of craving".
Why did the Lord send a plague upon the people? They complained for meat and He gave them meat, which on the surface appears like an answer to their prayers, but has the Lord ever allowed you to have something that wasn't good for you simply because you wouldn't stop craving it and asking for it and seeking it? There have been times in my life when I wanted something other than what the Lord had already given me. He was giving me what was best for me in that period of my life but I wanted something entirely different and wouldn't stop thinking about it and trying to obtain it. In some of these situations He's allowed me to obtain the thing I thought I wanted just so I would see that it wouldn't make me happy. The Lord has been providing the nutritiously complete manna that was perfectly designed to sustain every function of the human body but the people complained about it to the point of remembering their slavery in Egypt fondly. They recalled the variety of food (some of which was possibly non-kosher, considering what the diet of the ancient pagan Egyptians was like) provided to them by their oppressors and said, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" This was a rejection not so much of the manna itself, but of the God who sent the manna. The Lord has done awesome things for the Israelites already by Numbers 11 and has many more glorious things in store for them, but for the sake of satisfying the flesh they'd rather go backwards instead of forwards.
I can relate to their way of thinking. I've craved some of the things from my former lifestyle---the lifestyle I lived before coming to know the Lord. Sometimes that old life seems easier than this new life because in my old life I just gave in to whatever notion occurred to me. I wasn't troubled by my conscience in those days, or at least not most of the time. I didn't have to build any spiritual muscle in those days because I wasn't resisting temptation. Satan wasn't trying to place any obstacles in my path because he had me where he wanted me. (To quote well-known Christian pastor and author Dr. Charles Stanley, "If the devil isn't bothering you, you aren't bothering him.) Unbelievers weren't criticizing me for my faith or disliking me because of my faith; I didn't have any faith. Even after having been a Christian for almost twenty-nine years, there are still times when I recall life as being easier in some ways when I was an unbeliever because back then I was just going with the flow and not trying to swim against the stream of the culture. When I wasn't living for the Lord, I didn't have to deal with persecution in any form. When faced with decisions or temptations, I didn't have to seek the Lord's will and labor in prayer or read the Scriptures or ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" I just went with whatever the flesh told me. Life was easier then in many ways but it was slavery to sin, just like life in Egypt was slavery for the Israelites. In saying, "We'd rather have the meats of Egypt than this manna," the people weren't just complaining about what they considered a dull and repetitive menu. They were complaining about God's plans for them. They were saying, "Lord, if it's all the same to You, we'd rather just go back to what we're used to."
Earlier in Numbers 11 it appeared that complaints about the manna were coming from the doorway of every tent as Moses walked through the camp. I think at that time every person in the camp actually did crave food other than manna, but in verse 34 we're told that the plague killed "the people who had craved other food". Since we know the plague didn't kill the entire nation of Israel, I think most of the people must have repented of their complaints before all the meat had been eaten. The Lord had said they would loathe the quail before they were done with it and I believe that for a large percentage of the people this loathing led to repenting. I think the ones who perished in the plague were those who remained in opposition to the Lord during the whole thirty days there was quail to eat. Asaph, the author of Psalm 78, gives us a clue as to the identity of those who lost their lives in the plague, saying that the Lord "put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel". (Psalm 78:31) It sounds as if those who persisted in rebelling against the Lord and who kept wanting to go back to Egypt were some of the youngest, most physically fit men. If that's the case, then we also have a clue here as to why this particular group sinned the most against the Lord in Chapter 11.
You'll recall that earlier in Numbers a count was taken of all the able-bodied men of military age. This count was taken for the purpose of forming an army with which to assault and take over and keep hold of the promised land. If those who persisted in speaking out against the Lord in Chapter 11 were from among the youngest and sturdiest of men, then these were the men meant to fight in the army. That may explain why they wanted to turn back and it may explain why the Lord was so angry with them. The Lord has said time and time again, all the way back to Abraham's day, that He intended to make a great nation of Israel and to give her the promised land. But He's not going to just hand Israel the promised land on a platter; she will have to take it. He's promised Israel victory because He intends to fight on her side, but there's no doubt in the mind of any young and able-bodied Israelite male that he will have to engage in battle with the Canaanite tribes. The young and sturdy men Asaph speaks of don't want to engage in battle and I think this is due to a lack of faith in the Lord. Perhaps they would rather go back to slavery than fight for freedom as a people and for the freedom to practice their religion. Or perhaps they lack the faith to believe the Lord will give them victory. Maybe they think, "Why should we die for a land we've never seen and don't care about? We knew exactly what to expect in Egypt. We had roofs over our heads and food in our bellies. Yes, sometimes we also had whips across our backs, but what do we really know about this promised land? How can we be sure it's everything the Lord says it is? If we don't die in battle trying to take the land, we may die trying to scratch out a living there, or we may die defending the land against enemies. How do we really know life will be better there than in Egypt? Why risk it? We need to turn around and go back to Egypt and submit ourselves to Pharaoh instead of submitting to a God we can't see who says He's leading us to a land we've never laid eyes on. We don't know what awaits us in Canaan."
Though we don't have answers to all our questions about what has taken place in our text today, we can clearly see that we ought to want for ourselves what God wants for us. He knows what's best. If we insist on having something that isn't good for us, He may finally let us have it, but that doesn't mean we'll be happy with it. If the Lord is withholding something from us it's because it isn't good for us. We need to seek His will and His plan for our lives, not go along with whatever the carnal side of our nature tells us we should have. Is living in the slavery of sin easier sometimes than seeking the Lord's will and obeying Him? Yes, in a fallen world and in these mortal bodies, it can be easier to give in to sin than to say no to it. But we won't ever come out the better for it. It won't ever make us happy. It won't ever satisfy souls that were created for a relationship with God. Let's not rebel against God's glorious plans for our future. Let's say with the author of this well-known little hymn: "I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back."
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