The Provision of God

Let me take one more opportunity to talk about leadership in the Book of Numbers.  Moses and the people are such an interesting case study.

Remember the scene.  They are wandering in the desert.  Supplies are pretty scarce.  But God has provided this bread like substance called manna.  It falls from the sky like clock work.

But the people seem to have developed a more discerning pallet.  They are quite tired of manna.  The people have demanded meat!  And they remember those glorious years in Egypt when they had meat.  Perhaps they should have never left…. how short is our memory of what slavery is really like.

Moses next asks God, “Where can I get meat for all the people?” (Numbers 11:13).  Moses does not understand the mighty hand of provision from God  Even after witnessing the Exodus and parting of the Red Sea, Moses is still wondering how “Moses can provide” instead of how God can provide.  How easy it is for us to take “provision responsibility” back from God.

Isn’t this the same situation that Jesus’ disciples encountered when they wondered where they would get enough food to feed the 5,000 (Matt 14:13-21).

In Numbers, God’s response to the people is amazing.  He tells them, I’ll give you meat all right!  You will have it for a whole month – “until it comes out your nostrils and you loathe it” (11:19).

Moses still does not get it.  He asks God, “Is there enough flocks and herds?  Would there be enough fish if we caught all the fish in the sea? (11:22).  Moses still has his eyes on what he can legitimately provide – not what God is able to provide.  God’s response to Moses is telling, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?”

The provision arrives.  Not flocks, not fish…. Quail.  Millions of them that fly right into the camp.  They appear as mysteriously as locusts.

The place where they camped was Kabroth Hattaveh which means “the graves of craving.”  What a telling name!

This story is about two things.  First it is about having an appetite for something that God fundamentally says we don’t need.  And second, it is about leaders who forget that God richly cares for his people and does not need our “help.”