Where's the Beef?

"He gave them exactly what they asked for—but along with it they got an empty heart (Psalm 106:15 The Message).

The incident the poet had in mind is described in the Old Testament book of Numbers: "The riff-raff among the people had a craving and soon they had the People of Israel whining, 'Why can't we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt—and got it free!—to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna'" (Numbers 11:4-6). 

"So, you want meat," Moses sighed. "God will give you meat—not just for a day and not two days, or five or ten or twenty, but for a whole month. You're going to eat meat until it comes out of your nose (Yuck!) You're going to be so sick of meat that you'll throw up at the mere mention of it" (11:19,20). 

So God sent an off-shore wind that swept a large flock of quail into Israel’s camp: "(Quail) piled up to a depth of about three feet and as far out as a day's walk in every direction. All that day and night and into the next day the people were out gathering the quail—huge amounts of quail; even the slowest person among them gathered at least sixty bushels” (11:33,34). God gave them “exactly what they asked for.”

But they all got sick and some died. The place forever-after bore the eponymous name, "The Graves of Those Who Craved Meat," because that's where they buried the folks that got what they asked for.

The take-away? I must think about what I crave and what I ask for. I might get it. 

David Roper