And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and drove quails from the sea, and cast them about the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the earth.
God answers the demand for meat with a wind, and the whole camp is buried in birds for a day's journey in every direction — proof He could have done it at any time. Yet the chapter ends in graves, and that raises the hard question here: what happens when God gives us what we crave?
The details in the verse match the habits of the bird, which is why the wind matters as much as the quail.
Most take this to be the common quail. It migrates, but arrives so tired that it is easy to catch. Scripture says the wind brought them, and this fits their habits. They appear unable to fly against the wind, so they wait for a breeze in their favour. The words about the birds being "about two cubits above the ground" surely refer to the height they flew when tired. This matches the way they are still caught today: many people surround them in a ring and close in on the centre.
Commentators differ on the two cubits: some read it as how high the tired birds flew, others as how deep the birds lay on the ground. Either way, the scale was meant to teach Israel something about themselves.
How astounding it must have been for Israel to see millions of quails brought by a strong wind! They fell on both sides of the camp for miles, and lay three feet deep. God could have done this at any time, but it was an object lesson. It should have humbled them deeply and made them judge their own unbelieving, complaining attitude.
So why send the birds at all?
In verses 31-33 there is further testimony that the Lord was among them. It was love that gave the quails. They ought to have said, "How could we ever doubt the love of God?" But their lust kept driving them, and on they went to satisfy it.
Quails had fallen once before, in Exodus 16, and no plague followed. One writer explains what had changed.
The Lord gave them quails in answer to their grumbling, and then dealt with them in His government. I really believe we get what we want. If I want meat, God will give it to me, but with discipline and a starved soul along with it. It was not like the first case, in Exodus 16, where they asked and God gave them quails. Then they stood on the ground of pure grace. Now they stood on the ground of responsibility, and He acts another way. There it was sin met by grace, here it is sin judged in government.
God can answer a prayer and judge the one who prayed it in the same act.
It is the greatest chastening from God when He gives that which the flesh craves.
One writer links the plague to what the people did the moment the birds landed.
It seems that instead of thanking God first, the people set to work at once gathering the quails. The meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed or digested, when the Lord struck them with a great plague. It killed those whom greed had driven. If they had first been humbled enough to thank the Lord for this food, would He have sent this blow? We may be sure He would not, for food is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:4).
One writer sees the same pattern later, in the history of the church.
Unspiritual men have claimed Christ and His cross while they knew nothing of the grace they boasted in and abused, and were never taught the truth that is in Jesus. This has caused many a plague-like disorder, and at times it seemed as if the Church itself would die of it. The graves of Kibroth-hattaavah — the "graves of lust" — lie all along the road by which we have reached our present place in the wilderness.
- Wind — the LORD steered tired birds with a breeze they could not fly against; the wonder lay in the timing and the sheer number.
- Love — the gift was a fresh proof that He was among them; it should have shamed their doubt out of them.
- Ground — in Exodus 16 the same gift met sin with pure grace; here, under responsibility, it comes with discipline.
- Greed — they gathered before they gave thanks; the meat was still in their teeth when the plague fell.
- Graves — the place of God's plenty carries the name "graves of lust"; a gift grabbed without thanks buries the one who grabs it.
And the people rose up all that day, and the whole night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails he that gathered little gathered ten homers; and they spread them abroad for themselves round about the camp.
Israel spends a full day, a night, and another day grabbing the quail God has sent, and even the slowest gatherer piles up ten homers. Commentators read this frantic harvest as a heart that wanted the gift but not the Giver, and they ask what it means when God grants a request that faith never made.
They had just seen that God could feed them in the desert. One writer says what that should have produced in them — and what it produced instead.
God grants the people what they desire. They see that God is just as able to satisfy them in the wilderness, but instead of being ashamed, they grab the quails with greed. So the wrath of God falls on this wicked people.
The birds were proof that the Lord was still with them. One writer says that fact alone should have settled every doubt about His love.
In verses 31-33 there is a further testimony that the Lord was among them. It was love that gave the quails, and they ought to have said, "How could we ever doubt the love of God?" but their lust was so persistent that they went on to satisfy it. This is what brought the anger of the Lord. While the flesh was still between their teeth, His anger burned against them, and He struck them with a great plague.
Notice the order of events. They went straight from receiving to gathering, with no pause to thank God. One commentator asks whether the plague had to happen at all.
However, it appears that the people did not first thank God humbly. Instead they set to work at once gathering the quails. While the meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed or digested, the Lord struck them with a great plague, and those whose greed had driven them died. If they had first been subdued to thank the Lord for this food, would He have brought this affliction? We may be sure He would not, for the Word of God and prayer make food holy (1 Tim. 4:4). There at Kibroth Hattaavah these offenders were buried.
The problem was not the food but the eye that looked at it. One writer says they grabbed the gift and missed the Giver — and the name of the place records the verdict.
There was no repentance. Greedily they fell upon what God had provided. It was only to satisfy their lust; they did not see the giver behind the gift. The rebellious, stubborn heart, unrepenting, was there, using for their own destruction what the Lord had given. So the severe judgment came... Kibroth-Hattaavah means "graves of lust."
Ten homers each, spread out around the camp, shows people stocking their own larder. One writer calls that distrust of God. He also warns that an answer from heaven is not proof the asking was right.
How grave a consideration for our souls! God may answer not only a believing prayer, but an unbelieving one too. It is a miserable thing when the heart is not humble, and does not turn at once to God. How good it would have been for Israel if they had checked their complaining and rebuked their own souls before God! Surely, if the answer had brought them to their knees and into the dust before God, it would have been better for them. But in practice they were far from God. They chose to be their own suppliers, and distrusted Him who loved them.
One writer turns the closing lines of the chapter on us. When the food God gives stops satisfying, He may let us have what we crave instead — and that is the danger.
The closing paragraph of our chapter shows us the people enjoying what their hearts had craved — a miserable and deadly enjoyment. "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." They got what they longed for and found it death. They wanted flesh; and with the flesh came the judgment of God. This is most solemn. May we heed the warning! The poor heart is full of empty desires and hateful lusts. The heavenly manna fails to satisfy. There must be something else. God allows us to have it. But what then? Leanness — barrenness — judgment!
(The line quoted here comes from an older translation. The ESV reads: "he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.")
- Love gave. The quail were fresh proof that the Lord was among His people. The gift should have ended every doubt about His love.
- Lust grabbed. A day, a night and a day of gathering, ten homers for the slowest man — the harvest measured the appetite, not the need.
- Thanks skipped. They went straight from receiving to eating, with no pause to bless the Giver. The Word of God and prayer are what make food holy.
- The Giver unseen. They saw the gift but not the hand behind it, and there was no repentance at all.
- The answer judged. God can grant an unbelieving prayer too. They got what they asked and found death in it, and the camp took the name "graves of lust."
The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, when the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague.
The blow falls at the strangest moment. God does not strike when Israel demands meat. He strikes while they are eating it, with His own answer still in their mouths. The verse forces a hard question: why does the same God who sent the quails strike the people who ate them?
The craving for meat did not start the trouble. Writers trace the collapse back to a heart that had grown bored with the daily bread God supplied.
Their heart remains far from the Lord. The mixed multitude who travelled with them led them astray — people for whom Canaan was no land of promise — and they grow weary of the manna. How often Christ, the bread of life, is not enough for a heart that is not in communion with God! The heart looks elsewhere for its food. It wants something else. It remembers what the flesh used to enjoy in the world, and forgets the slavery that held it.
The wind that carried the birds was a further proof that God was among them. What broke was not His care but their response to it.
The end of the chapter shows the Lord's generous provision in sending the meat they had wanted. But the wrath of the Lord was kindled against them, and while they were eating a great plague broke out. There was no repentance. They fell on what God had provided with greed. It was only to satisfy their craving; they did not see the giver behind the gift. The rebellious, stubborn heart was still there, unrepentant, using what the Lord had given for their own destruction. That is why the judgment was so severe.
Another writer draws out what the moment should have produced in them, and what it produced instead.
It was love that gave the quails, and they should have said, "How could we ever doubt the love of God?" But their craving was so persistent that on they went to satisfy it. This is what brought the anger of the Lord.
God said yes. That is the most sobering part of the account — and commentators press it as a warning about our own asking.
The Lord listened to His people as they complained against the bread that came down from heaven. He gave them what they were after. What a serious thing for our souls to weigh! Not only a believing prayer may get its answer from God, but an unbelieving one too. And it is a wretched thing when the heart is not humble and does not turn at once to God. How happy it would have been for Israel if they had checked their murmuring and rebuked their own souls before God!
The meat brought more than sickness. It brought God's open anger, and it came at once.
How solemn the condition, when the granting of our requests becomes a judgment! God gave them so much meat that they loathed it. That loathing was not simply the natural result of over-eating. It carried a mark that showed it to be a special judgment. Nor was that all: direct and immediate wrath fell on them. There was no delay… There was both the plague and the wrath.
Israel had asked for meat once before, and God gave it with no punishment at all. Writers explain the difference by where the people now stood before God.
The first thing is the grace with which God meets the desires of the people. In Numbers 11 He also meets their desire in similar circumstances. But then "the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague" (v. 33). Here there is no sign of judgment — only patient and forbearing grace. The difference springs, if we may put it that way, from the dispensation. In Numbers they were under law, and God dealt with them on that ground. Here they are under grace, and so grace reigned despite their sin.
The place is called Kibroth-hattaavah, which means "graves of lust." The name records why: "because there they buried the people that lusted" for meat (Morrish Bible Dictionary). The warning lands straight on the reader.
The closing part of our chapter shows us the people enjoying the very thing their hearts had craved. That enjoyment was miserable and deadly. "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." They got what they longed for and found it was death. They wanted meat; and with the meat came the judgment of God. This is most solemn. May we take the warning to heart! The poor heart is full of empty desires and hateful cravings. The heavenly manna fails to satisfy. There must be something else. God allows us to have it. But what then? Leanness — barrenness — judgment!
(That line comes from an older translation. The ESV reads: "he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.")
- Boredom. The plague began long before the meat did. Hearts had grown tired of God's daily bread and looked back to Egypt.
- Gift. The quails were God's generous answer. The sin was taking the gift with greed and never seeing the Giver behind it.
- Yes. God can answer an unbelieving prayer, and the granting of what we demand may itself be the judgment.
- Timing. The wrath fell while the meat was still in their teeth. No delay — plague and open displeasure together.
- Graves. The name "graves of lust" stands as a warning: what we crave instead of Christ can bury us.
And they called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they buried the people who lusted.
Israel had just left Sinai. The camp filled with complaints about food, and God gave them what they demanded. The place where they ate took its name from the graves dug there, and the name still carries a warning.
The judgment itself gave the place its name. One writer sets it in the order of the journey:
Then came the complaints. The judgment that fell on them gave the place its name, "Taberah." Right after that, they stopped and camped at a place called Kibroth-hattaavah, "the graves of lust," again from the judgment that fell on them. This was their first stop after leaving Sinai.
Israel had asked for meat before, and quails came without punishment. What changed is the ground Israel now stood on:
The end of the chapter shows that the Lord gave them quails, in answer to their murmuring, and then dealt with them in His government (Num. 11:31-34). "He gave them their own desire; they were not turned away from their craving. But while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and killed the strongest of them, and struck down the chosen men of Israel" (Ps. 78:29-31)… I believe we really do get what we want. If I want meat, God will give it to me, but with it comes discipline and leanness of soul. The hand of God in government was on them here. It was not like the first case, in Exodus 16, where they asked, and God gave them quails. Then they stood on the ground of pure grace. Now, standing on the ground of responsibility, He acts differently. There it was sin met by grace, here it is sin judged in government.
Another writer traces the change to the law, and says God could not have waited:
This is God's righteous way of dealing with people under law. Later in their history He bore with them more patiently. But patience at this moment would have compromised the righteousness of God. Judgment had to fall at once. He had already displayed the ways of grace in full. If they choose law, they must learn God's ways as a Righteous Governor. And where people despise grace, judgment is always heavier.
The graves were dug around a full meal. Israel was not denied, and that is the horror of it:
The closing paragraph of our chapter shows us the people enjoying the very thing their hearts had lusted for. It was a miserable and deadly enjoyment. "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." They got what they longed for and found it death. They would have flesh; and with the flesh came the judgement of God. This is most solemn. May we heed the warning! The poor heart is full of vain desires and hateful lusts. The heavenly manna fails to satisfy. There must be something else. God allows us to have it. But what then? Leanness — barrenness — judgement!
Feeding a craving does not end it. The very thing that displayed God's power for them left them emptier than before:
His very answer, which showed His power for them, brought nothing but leanness into their souls. So it is with the soul away from God: satisfying the thirst only increases it, as salt water does.
Israel got what they asked for. One writer turns the name into a test for prayer:
So if the prayer is a mere lust, or asks for something to spend on lust, God does not answer it (James 4:3), or He answers it in chastisement — it becomes a Kibroth-hattaavah, a grave of lust. If it is in the Spirit, and the prayer of faith, He answers it according to what was asked. So prayer is tied to the moral state of the soul.
The graves were not left behind in the desert. One writer brings them right up to the present:
The graves of Kibroth-hattaavah — the "graves of lust" — lie all along the road by which we have reached our present place in the wilderness. Perhaps they have never been more common than in the church of today. So let everyone who reads this honestly face the question: have we so learned Christ as to have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus?
- Craving. The heavenly manna failed to satisfy them. The heart wanted something else.
- Granted. God did not refuse. He gave them their request, and sent leanness into their soul along with it.
- Grave. They got what they longed for and found it death. The camp took its name from the judgment that fell there: the graves of lust.
- Government. The same murmuring once met pure grace. After Sinai it met God as Righteous Governor, and where people despise grace, judgment falls heavier.
- Guard. A prayer driven by lust goes unanswered, or God answers it in chastening. So ask honestly: have we learned Christ?