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The Lord promised to do good things for Israel (Numbers 10.29).  He promised that he would be their God, that he would protect them in many special ways, that he would drive out their enemies from before them, and that he would provide for their needs.  The picture of God is a nurturing father caring for his young children.  In return, God asked the Israelites to love him so much that they listened to his voice and obeyed his commandments.  It could have been wonderful, it should have been wonderful, but sin would continually drive a wedge between God and his children.

In Numbers 11.4, a seemingly small group of people turned Israel against the Lord and complained about the manna that was being provided for them miraculously each day.  This is more than complaint about monotony in the dinner menu, this was a complaint against the ability of God to provide for his people; it was sin born in selfishness and gluttony, and it amounted to rebellion against the Lord and his authority over the people.  This sin spread throughout the nation as “family after family [cried] at the entrance of their tents” (Numbers 11.10). 

So great was the problem that it caused Moses to doubt himself as God’s appointed leader of the people and, worse yet, it caused Moses to doubt God’s ability to provide for Israel.  The nation’s sin pulled Moses’ eyes away from God, caused him to focus on his own physical frailty and then to project those weaknesses onto God.  There was no way that Moses could give meat to all the people, so there was no way that God could provide it.  There was no way that Moses could bear the burden of leading the people by himself, so obviously God had made some sort of mistake in choosing him to do so.  Moses detested the position he found himself in and cried out that his death was a better punishment than being forced to lead the people of Israel. 

Because of God’s grace and mercy, he interceded for Moses and the people.  Instead of replacing or killing Moses, God created a structured leadership of good men who loved the Lord that would enable Moses to delegate responsibility and maintain better control of the people (Numbers 11.16-17).  Additionally, God did what Moses thought was impossible: he provided enough meat for the entire nation to eat until they became sick of meat. 

There are many lessons that we should learn from this particular story, including the fact that God can and will provide for his people.  His provisions do not always take the form we expect or come when we desire, but when God does provide for his people, he does abundantly and in ways that far surpass our expectations.  He truly is a God of grace and mercy who does what is best for his people.