Thinking, Manna, and Me

I’ve been studying the Old Testament and often, I just have to scratch my head at the Israelites. Today I was thinking on manna.

You know the story. God caused manna from heaven to rain down on them six days a week for forty years. Tradition says it had different flavors depending on how it was cooked. Other traditional stories say its taste depended on how a person wanted it to taste. There are other tales. We’ll never know the truth of it. It’s enough to know God provided heavenly food with a touch of sweet taste. All they had to do was gather it, cook it, and eat it.

Well, you know the rest of the story. Those cantankerous Israelites wanted meat.

So, what did God do? He sent quail into their camp daily for the rest of the time they wandered and grumbled around the wilderness.

Now by all accounts I am an anti-authoritarian cook, and a really bad one to boot. Sadly, I am also an extremely lazy one.

SO –

The Israelites’ quail desire makes no sense to me at all! Granted, quail is richer in some nutrients than other kinds of meat and poultry, but still…

I made the mistake of consulting youtube to see how to dress out a quail in order to cook it. MISTAKE!!! It totally grossed me out.

BUT –

The Israelites would have had to perform all sorts of activities – plucking, chopping parts off, and other things BEFORE they could even start the cooking process. And we are talking about a LOT of tiny birds. At least two per person would be needed. That sounds like way too much work for my taste, not to mention the blood and guts!

As far as thinkin’ on it, who did the plucking and chopping? What did they do with the extraneous materials? Did they have a dump? There certainly weren’t any plastic bags to wrap the offal to hide the smell. All I can say is GROSS!

As much as I like a good piece of meat, if it takes that kind of work – Number one – I’m too squeamish, and Number two – I’m just too lazy. I would have become a manna-gan. That’s like a vegan, but just manna instead. Get it?

Anyway, I was thinking about how the Israelites were always grumbling despite being the recipients of daily miraculous provision and protection (cloud by day/fire by night).

Then I got to thinking about my own complaining. How many times do I wish I’d gotten something different than what God has provided for me? How many times do I wander through life discontented and grumbling instead of taking time to give thanks to God? It’s been a humbling set of reflections.

SO –

I’ll just say, ‘Thank the Lord for the local Walmart Super Center!’ I’ll drive down and buy my skinned, boned, and sectioned chicken, get me some Shake-N-Bake, pop it into the oven, and bingo! There’s my supper for which I’ll be more careful to say a hearty, “Praise the Lord!”

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. John 6:32, 35 NLT