Getting Dumped On
Have you ever been in an argument with someone, and you got so frustrated that you finally gave in, but you didn't just give in to what the person wanted - you went way overboard?
Then a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground. - Numbers 11:31
Surely this has happened to you at some time or another.
You offer a bit of advice to the head of the fundraising committee, giving one too many suggestions on how she should do this or that, and the next thing you know, she dumps the whole job on you.
Well, maybe it doesn't happen to everyone, but you may get the idea. Moses had complained so much on behalf of the people who were unhappy with their diet, manna and no meat, that God dumped on them, big time.
While we may choose to read this as a blessing, God's gift to his people, feeding them and answering their prayers, that isn't exactly how I see it.
They were not deserving of kindness, and flocks of quail stuck in a vortex showering down on them is not exactly an act of kindness, is it?
God was angry.
I can't blame him, really. He was being dumped on, so he returned the favor.
How many times do we feel dumped on by others? It doesn't feel good, does it? People who take advantage and expect us to give without feeling they are doing their part make us angry, and that could provoke us to do something drastic.
If you are such an expert, you do it. Or, you want it so badly, here, take it all.
The irony in these situations is the way the story gets told later on by the one dumped on. They tend to omit a few details.
Thank you for letting me chair this committee; it was an honor and a blessing. Thank you, God for hearing our cries and sending us food from above.
It's just what we would expect from the spoiled, selfish lot, isn't it, to turn the story around.
Perhaps that's the lesson we miss when we read this story of God's generosity in the desert. I'm surprised they didn't complain about the waste.
Oh, look how much is left over! What kind of God would slaughter so many birds!
He has to be shaking his head at the way we choose to understand him, don't you think?
More to come...