Contemplative Bible Reading

Numbers 11:34 (New Living Translation)

So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means ‘graves of gluttony’) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.

This (hi)story comes from the people wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the land God promised them. Each morning, God put life-sustaining food on the ground for the people to gather and eat. Pretty miraculous stuff but, like in the school cafeteria, you grow weary of spaghetti every Thursday and complain.

Okay, fine. So God had a flock of quail so big that it darkened the sky fly in and drop dead right in their laps. Food! Variety! Let’s chow down (an old phrase that old people remember). That is gluttony exemplified: people who were not starving gorging themselves as if they were.

Here comes the punishment for the unbelief and revolt. “Many” died. They were buried on the spot in the graves of gluttony.

The people ate of a miracle with the wrong heart. Instead of thanking God for yet another miracle and eating from thanksgiving, they ate with hatred and discontent. Finally! God gives us something worthwhile! If we complained loud enough, God would do what he’s supposed to do. What’s wrong with God, anyways? Huh?

Today in America, at least in my neighborhood, the problem with food is that we eat too much of it. Not the food’s problem but my problem.

The real problem is understanding that the abundance of food is a blessing from God. Thank you, God. God has given me more than I would ever need. I sit in a warm coffee shop on a frigid morning (wind chill somewhere below the pain threshold) eating warm buttered bread and drinking a hot beverage. I can complain about how much it cost and that the person who served me didn’t smile as much as I prefer. I can eat with malice and fall into a grave of gluttony. I can look to God and do much better.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.