Numbers 11:31 - Meaning and Application

God had already kept his promise to Moses by giving him helpers for governing the people. In that, he showed his power over human hearts by his Spirit. Here he keeps his promise to the people by giving them meat, and in that he shows his power over the lower creatures and his rule over all nature.

Notice, first, how the people were given meat in great abundance. A wind, a southeast wind as Psalm 78:26 says, brought quails (Numbers 11:31). It is not certain what kind of animals they were. The psalmist calls them feathered birds, or birds with wings. Bishop Patrick leans toward the view of some later writers, who think they were locusts, a tasty food known in that region, especially because they came with the wind, lay in heaps, and could be dried in the sun for use.

Whatever they were, they served God’s purpose. They provided a month-long feast for Israel, showing how generous God was to his stubborn people. Locusts, which had been a plague in fertile Egypt because they ate the crops, became a blessing in the barren wilderness because the people could eat them.

Second, notice how eager the people were for this meat. They rushed to gather it with a greedy appetite, ignoring Moses’ warning from God that it would make them sick and bring punishment (Numbers 11:32). For two days and a night they kept gathering meat, until each family head had brought home at least ten homers, which means about ten donkey-loads.

David once longed for water from the well of Bethlehem, but he would not drink it when he got it, because it had been gained by dangerous effort. These Israelites had even more reason to turn away from this meat, because they had gotten it by complaining, and Moses had made it clear that it was being given in anger. But people ruled by sinful desires will press on to satisfy them, even when it brings sure harm and ruin to their souls.

Third, notice how dearly they paid for their feast when the cost came due. The Lord struck them with a very severe plague (Numbers 11:33), likely some bodily sickness that came from overeating and killed many of them, perhaps especially the leaders in the rebellion.

God often gives his own people what they ask for in love. He granted their request, but sent wasting into their souls, as Psalm 106:15 says. Even after all that had been said to them, they were still not turned away from their cravings. So while the meat was still in their mouths, God’s anger came upon them, as Psalm 78:30-31 says. What we want too much, if we get it, will likely become a sorrow and burden to us in some way.

God first satisfied them and then punished them, for two reasons. One, to protect the honor of his own power, so no one could say he failed to destroy them because he lacked the power to provide for them. Two, to show us what prosperity means for sinners, it often prepares the way for ruin. They are fed like an ox being readied for slaughter.

Finally, the memory of this event was kept in the name given to the place (Numbers 11:34). Moses called it Kibroth-hattaavah, which means the graves of craving, or the graves of lust. It would have been well if these graves of Israel’s cravings had also become the burial place of Israel’s sinful desires. That warning was meant to have that effect, but it did not. As Psalm 78:32 says, after all this, they kept on sinning.