As the title of the book suggests, Numbers begins as a book of statistics. It records the number of people in each tribe and the names of their leaders, sort of a collection of genealogies.
I intended to put down in writing my own genealogy when I stayed in Chai Wan last week. Unfortunately, my stay was cut short with flu and I put off the plan until some time in the future. Maybe my younger brother is the best person to handle this.
Today, we read chapter 11 of Numbers. Here, we find 2 etymology stories as well as a hint to the first case of avian flu.
God was impatient with the complaints of these stiff-necked Israelites. When God was angry, He set fire to burn some parts of the camp. God was a rather dangerous goods to carry!
And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated (Numbers 11:1-2).
Luckily, with the intercession of Moses, the fire abated. Therefore, prayers from the saints are essential for the physical as well as the spiritual well-being of believers. This is one of the basic doctrines of Christianity --- the communion of saints. Its root can be traced all the way back to Moses and Abraham. On the other hand, the image of God had been extremely bad, especially in the light of modern democratic idealogies. He punished people who complained! He acted like a tyrant.
I suppose this incident happened only once because it is an etymology story and perhaps the Israelites had learned their lessons.
So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them (Numbers 11:1-3).
וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, תַּבְעֵרָה: כִּי-בָעֲרָה בָם, אֵשׁ יְהוָה
Let's deal with one of the complaints. The Israelites were bored with eating manna. Some "rabble" were greedy and wanted something more. The appetite of the Israelites was stirred up. They wanted meat and presented their complaints in a nostalgic manner.
Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eat!
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." (Numbers 11:4-6)
This time, God did not punish them with fire. Perhaps God had promised Moses, like He had done with Noah before, that He would not consume the Israelites with fire. Or perhaps God metes out a punishment once only and does not repeat. He needs to invent another type of punishment for the next offence. Please prove me wrong! Otherwise, God's punishment will be unpredictable.
This time, God punished them by satisfying their greed! He gave them in one go, quails enough for 600000 Israelites for one whole month!
You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,
but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come forth out of Egypt? (Numbers 11:19-20)
Even Moses questioned the Lord's promise (Numbers 11:21-22). And the Lord gave a dark answer.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not." (Numbers 11:23)
We should not blame Moses because God had already decided what to do with those greedy Israelites. He would punish them with the avian flu.
And there went forth a wind 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, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp (Numbers 11:31-32).
Here are some modern day weights and measures equivalences:
1 day's journey = 32.2 Km.
1 cubit = 44.5 cm.
1 homer = 182 litres
I don't think the one day's journey was the distance the quails fell off from the camp. Rather, it was the breadth of the layer of dead quails. The length would be the length of the Israelite camp. The depth? 0.89 metre (2 cubits). The Israelites took one and a half day to collect that many dead quails.
Assuming those quails were common quails of about 17 cm long. Roughly 65 such quails would occupy the space of 1 litre/1 m3. Therefore he who gathered least gathered 10 homers = 10 x 182 x 65 = 118,300 quails! This was the meat supplied by one collector. If this was the meat supply for one whole month, it was roughly equivalent to 3943 quails a day!
How many quails can you eat in one day? The consequence? Many people died of avian flu.
While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague (Numbers 11:33).
Here is yet another etymology story.
Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving (Numbers 11:34).
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שֵׁם-הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא, קִבְרוֹת הַתַּאֲוָה: כִּי-שָׁם, קָבְרוּ, אֶת-הָעָם, הַמִּתְאַוִּים
The numbers were staggering, how many people will be able to consume roughly 4000 quails a day? Moses, the Lord's hand is not shortened (Numbers 11:23). Anybody wants any more miracles?
Dear Lord, You are awesome. Who should not fear Your name? Let us learn from numbers. Amen.
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