Numbers 11

…And we haven't even gotten one chapter into the journey before the Israelites start acting like querulous nits again, earning a lovely display from God's conflagrant cloud. Verse 2 further reinforces the distance that existed between God and most people at this point in history--the people talk to Moses, who in turn prays to God.

But even after this intimidating pyrotechnic display, the Israelites still complain--this time about food. Weary of manna and quail, they remember with misplaced nostalgia when they could dine on fine Egyptian cuisine, including fish, "cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic" (verse 5). Although I appreciate good food, I'm someone who eats to live instead of living to eat; rice doesn't really have much flavor, but I could eat it every day. Still, like most humans, I like some food better than others. Certain types of strong cheese (most notably Parmesan and whatever they put into ravioli and tortellini) actually make me gag for whatever reason, but I'd definitely take a life of strong cheese and freedom over a life of, say, In-N-Out burgers and slavery.

Moses rails against God in a somewhat passive-aggressive manner (particularly in verse 12: "Did I conceive these people? Did I give them birth?"), asking for God to relieve at least some of his burden. God does so, leading to an incident in which two fellows named Eldad and Medad, flush with the power of the Spirit heretofore bestowed only to Moses, start prophesying. Moses very well could have followed Joshua's advice and told them to stop, but he instead shows forbearance and humility, saying, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (verse 29). OK, so the exclamation points perhaps imply just a bit of exasperation, but Moses knows that his gifts come from God--he has no right to hoard them. Moses's sentiment would come to fruition with the advent of Christ a few thousand years later.

God sends a bevy of quail to mollify his pettish people, but He also threatens to give them so much that it "comes out of [their] nostrils" (verse 20). Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how twisted your sense of humor is), that colorful occurrence doesn't come to pass--God just decides to send a plague instead (verse 33). This "coming out of the nostrils" reminds me of the end of the Hulk movie--no, not the Edward Norton one, but the one directed by "don't make me" Ang Lee (who also directed Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi). This daft but oddly entertaining movie features an antagonist who basically wants the Hulk's powers, so during the final battle, the Hulk, finally fed up, says, "TAKE IT ALL!" Of course, all that power is too much for the antagonist, who explodes in such a manner that gave jobs to a bunch of visual effects people.