Giving in to my earthly appetites and allowing them to rule my life will, in the end, eat me up!
The place where Israel complained on this occasion was immortalized by naming it Taberah, after a root word meaning “consume.” Ironic, isn’t it? Today we’re called consumers, referring to our appetite for things. No generation has had more stuff. If we can’t pack it into closet, basement, or attic, there’s always the garage—or extra storage down the street! Solomon shockingly uses blood-suckers to describe our dissatisfaction and passion for shopping malls and online buying: “The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give” (Prov 30:15, KJV). But here, when the people complained about what they were consuming—first manna, then meat—it was they who were consumed! Beware! We read that “the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving” (Num 11:4). Other translations put it more bluntly. They gave in to their lustful desires. How did it happen? They recalled what they had in Egypt, “the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic” (v 5), all food with a built-in memory system! The spicy food of the world will kill your appetite for the more delicate taste of heaven’s Bread. Its music, movies, and high-intensity video games, its ribald jokes and devilish wit, will overwhelm your spiritual taste buds and cause you to think hymns of praise, gentle entreaties of Scripture, and moments of quiet fellowship aren’t tangy enough. Like this mixed multitude on the outskirts, you’ll find your lusts inflamed even with the memory of the old diet. When the world starts looking attractive again, when you forget Egypt’s bondage and the slave driver’s lash, watch out! It’s high time to turn your back on the world-bordering crowd and seek again blessed nearness with the Lord.