February 26, 2024 -- Numbers 11:33-34 -- What is it you crave?

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 struck down the people with a very great plague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.
Numbers 11:33-34 ESV

Kibroth-hattaavah means graves of craving

The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. The LORD heard their cries and groaning. He rescued them from Egypt. Ten plagues fell on the land of Egypt until the once-mighty Pharaoh was completely humbled by the LORD. Not only did he let the people of Israel go--he sent them away. They took all their flocks and herds and the people of Egypt were so eager to see them off, they gave the Israelites silver and gold and garments and jewels. Then people faced the enraged Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea before them. They complained and cried out. The LORD their God parted the Red Sea. The people complained. The LORD their God gave them mana, that is, bread from heaven. The people complained. The LORD their God gave them water. The people complained. Now they wanted meat.

The LORD had been faithful to His covenant promises. The LORD guided His people with a cloud by day and a fiery pillar by night. What a dramatic display it must have been. Yet the people grew so used to the presence of the LORD that they took Him for granted and ignored the splendor of His Holiness. They craved. That is, they were led by their lusts, rather than by their minds and the knowledge that it was the LORD their God Who rescued them, protected them from their enemies and gave them water in the wilderness lands and daily mana. They ignored the fact that the LORD their God kept them safe so that in the desert heat their feet did not swell up. Their garments did not wear out (Deuteronomy 8:4).

What is the point of this? The people were created not to enjoy the things God could provide them. They were created to delight in God Himself. Delight which is richly given in speaking with Him through prayer, in hearing His voice through the teaching of the leaders and living for Him through obedience to the commandments. The LORD Himself was to be their prize and very great reward. But the people’s lusts and hungers led them to despise the LORD and crave. Many were tossed into crave-graves.

The warning is just as pertinent for believers today. The LORD God Himself is His people’s very great reward. Jesus invited His followers to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 5:19). That is, to know Him and walk with Him in the riches of His salvation. Whatever a person owns here can easily be taken. Governments can freeze assets. Thieves and fraudsters can empty accounts. Even the length of one’s life is unknown. What can never be taken from the believer is his love for Jesus through Whom they have access to their Father in heaven. The Spirit of God moves the heart of the believer to value above all other things the salvation which is his in Christ Jesus. That is true riches. That is the prize and glory which can never be taken from the believer.

LORD our Lord in all the earth, how great is Your Name! By Your great covenant promise, You have loved Your people in Jesus and kept them safe by the Spirit’s power. LORD our Lord Ruler over the earth despite its overwhelming corruption and violence, You have drawn out Your people from death to life in Christ. The final resting places for Your people are not crave-graves, but rest in Jesus Christ and resurrection through His accomplished work. LORD our Lord You are the Sovereign, robed in Majesty, in Jesus Christ believers find the Desired One of all Nation. Blessed are You, Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Lead Your people away from their former patterns of sin and craving, and lead them, every hour of the day and through-out the watches of the night into true contentment and life, which is found in Jesus Christ and only in Him. Amen.

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