128 Eating 'Til it Comes Out Your Nose (Num 11)

Some time ago I started building a fence.
Not a particularly large fence.
Not a particularly long fence.
Haven't finished it.
Not by a long shot. (Well maybe a long shot)
Which is unfortunate.
It looks a bit bare, and has done since before Christmas.
The good news is that it will be finished.
One day.
But you know the saying, "wood doesn't grow on trees."
Maybe I should try and get some sort of funding for it.
You can get government funding to train to be a clown.
Irony abounds in that statement.
Another saying is "Rome wasn't built in a day."
Well neither was Sydney.
Or Hobart.
Or Launceston.
Actually neither was Oatlands.
Even Tunbridge wasn't built in a day.
So my little Great Wall, Dingo fence, fence is all under control.
Annoys me though that it's not done.
;)

Numbers 11
The Israelites complain in the hearing of God 3 days into their trek.
About their MISFORTUNE.
(More about this in a sec)
God gets angry and burns a bit of stuff.
So the Israelites direct their cries for help to........
Moses.
"Oh Moses, stop God being angry at us!"
Did they do that because they knew God would listen to Moses?
There is some history there.
Or did they direct stuff at Moses because he was a softer target?
Easy choice for me, Moses or God? God or Moses?
Der, Moses.

Moses was the only person able to speak with God.
He was the only one anointed.
God saw the issues with this and enabled part of his load to be shared with 70 others.
Delegation to prevent burn out (literally) at its finest.

I love the way Moses reacts to God at times.
v11 "...did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth..."
So dramatic.
Cracks are showing.
God also appears to give it back in spades as well.
v19-20 "...you shall not eat just 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..."
God making a point?
I wouldn't be arguing with God when he has just sent fire to burn part of the camp.
But, hey. I'm not a feisty Moses with over a million moaning people giving me a hard time.

Now let's get back to the misfortune.
Keep in mind, the dramas getting the commandments is reasonably recent history.
The tabernacle is only just freshly stitched, sewn and hammered together.
3 days of walking and the first thoughts that come to mind is not,
"Gee God is looking after us."
Not, "What a great day."
Not, "I'm free and the wind is blowing in my beard."
But "Dude. I could really go some fish about now. Deserts sucks. Moses sucks.
God sucks."
I probably would sent some fire to brighten their day as well.

But God also shows grace.
Thanks to Moses, He shows forgiveness.
He shows care and compassion.
He grants the requests for meat.
He provides help for Moses.
There is a line in the sand of this desert though.
A line the Israelites like to cross.
This time it cost a bit, for some of them.
Food with a lesson attached.
Appreciate what you have and where God is taking you.
Don't just look at the now, remember the big picture.
Don't look back.