Why this story matters

(commentary on Numbers 11)

(Page 2 of 4)

The most astoundingly stupid, obstinate, and impudent people ever to roam the earth

In Exodus 16, the people complain about not having meat to eat and God sends quail that evening. Sound familiar? Before the quail arrive, the people are told that this will confirm that it was Yahweh that brought them out of Egypt. First Moses says it: "In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 16:11). Then, Yahweh appears to the people and declares: “‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”. (Exodus 16:11). Anyone familiar with the Exodus story should spot the credibility gap right away. Compared to the long series of astonishing miracles that took place during the Exodus, the arrival of quail one night is hardly going to be the great sign that finally convinces them.

Furthermore, this quail incident takes place just a few weeks after leaving Egypt. We're told this at the beginning of the chapter: “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt” (Ex. 16:1). Those few weeks were eventful to say the least and would have convinced all but the most dimwitted people on the planet that it was Yahweh that brought them out of Egypt. The people had very recently witnessed Yahweh do the following:

He turned the Nile river into blood; He covered the entire land with frogs; He sent separate plagues of gnats, flies, and locusts; He killed all livestock owned by Egyptians while leaving the livestock of the Israelites untouched; He made terrible boils break out on all the Egyptians but not on the Israelites; He sent the worst hailstorm in the history of Egypt that stripped every single tree bare, and yet no hail fell on the Israelites; He plunged the whole land into darkness for three days; And finally he killed the eldest male of every Egyptian household while leaving Israelite families untouched.

But that’s not all. Right after this, the Israelites leave Egypt and head into the wilderness where they are guided by Yahweh himself who appears to them unforgettably as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21). There’s more. The Egyptian armies catch up to them at the Red Sea. Yahweh then parts the sea to let the Israelites cross on dry land between walls of water and, when they are safely across, lets the walls of water come crashing down drowning the Egyptian army killing them all. Now that would tend to stick in one’s memory. And yet we are asked to believe that shortly afterwards the people still don’t know or accept who brought them out of Egypt, and that they will be convinced by the arrival of some quails?

And besides, the people already knew it was Yahweh. We're told this earlier in chapter 14: “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (14:31). Did they then, all of a sudden, suffer mass collective amnesia?

There’s another more familiar incident that really goes beyond the breaking point of credulity. This takes place at the time Moses goes up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. As outlined, the people had recently witnessed all those wondrous miracles, and yet, while Moses is away, they melt their jewelry and form the infamous golden calf. Then they tell themselves that this metal cow they just made is what brought them out of Egypt. : "Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt" (Ex. 32:4). Were they really that bewilderingly stupid? Were they really that preposterously obstinate? It's almost inconceivable. It requires either ignorance of the Bible, or a heaping helping of faith.

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