Avoiding Kibrothhattaavah
The eleventh chapter of Numbers tells the story of when the children of Israel were dissatisfied with the manna God had provided.
And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Numbers 11:4-9 (KJV)
They “fell a lusting.” They wanted flesh to eat; something other than the manna they had. Lust always wants more than what it already has- no matter how good it is. The problem with lust is that you can’t satisfy it. Only God can satisfy our flesh with His Word, Spirit and presence.
They remembered what they ate in Egypt. They chose to forget about how hard things had been for them in Egypt and focused only on what they did not currently have. Lust was clouding their memories, causing them to be dissatisfied with what the Lord had provided. They despised God’s food, His provision. They rejected the bread sent to them from heaven. According to this passage, they made themselves so miserable thinking about the food they did not have that they wept because they wanted flesh to eat.
And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. Numbers 11:31-34 (KJV)
God gave them what they lusted after, but it came with a great cost. He sent quail, and while they were still eating it, they were judged for their lust. Many of them died because of their evil, wrong desires. Lust does not trust God. It wants what it wants. On the other hand, love trusts Him. Lust is flesh-ruled, but love is spirit-ruled.
The place was called Kibrothhattaavah, which means the graves of lust or the graves of craving, because that is where they buried the people that lusted and were judged. Lust is a killer. If it is not resisted and stopped, lust will overcome you and lead to your destruction.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. James 1:13-15 (KJV)
God does not tempt us. However, our own lust can tempt us and draw us away. Enticed means to be baited. Bait is usually used for traps. Therefore, we see that lust is a trap. Evil desires and passions will look good, but lead us into traps of destruction. Lust conceived gives birth to sin. When sin is finished with us, it brings death. That is what we just saw in Numbers 11.
It is so important for us to guard our hearts and thoughts against wrong, evil desires, or lust, so we don’t end up in graves of lust. We must choose to be satisfied with God’s provision and wait for God to gives us all we need or want. If the Israelites had trusted God, Bible scholars estimate that they would have only taken an 11 day journey through the wilderness. This means they would have eaten manna for only 11 days, Once they entered the Promised Land, they would have enjoyed the foods they had in Egypt- and even better. However, they did not trust the Lord, nor were they grateful. Instead, they lusted for what they did not have, and as a result, were judged severely. Let us remember to wait on the Lord patiently with pure desires and trust Him to give us what we need every step of the way. We must avoid Kibrothhattaavah, graves of lust.
