Today’s Reading from the Old Testament is from The Book of Numbers, 11: 4-15
The children of Israel lamented,
“Would that we had meat for food!
We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt,
and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks,
the onions, and the garlic.
But now we are famished;
we see nothing before us but this manna.”
The children of Israel had grown used to being dependent on the Egyptian government. They were given free food as part of their captivity. They hated it, and wanted to be free.
God set them free, and provided all that they needed to eat. They hated that, too. They just liked to whine.
They stood around their tents, whining as loudly as they could.
When Moses heard the people, family after family,
crying at the entrance of their tents,
so that the LORD became very angry, he was grieved.
“Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the LORD.
“Why are you so displeased with me
that you burden me with all this people?
. . . .
Where can I get meat to give to all this people?
For they are crying to me,
‘Give us meat for our food.’
. . . . .
The distress, of course, came from leaving a Welfare State and moving where they either got help from God, helped themselves, or died. They were not used to help from God or using their own initiative. They could only whine, wheedle, and demand.
The passage tells us that The Loving Programmer has written and downloaded a universal law: All who become dependent on government begin conversations with “Give us ________”. The blank can be filled with things besides “meat”.
Things that the dependent put after “Give us ________” include fuel assistance, medical help, cell phones, food stamps, free housing, education, transportation, housing maintenance, and free rides to the polls to vote for those who will provide them.
Basically, the blank is filled with one word. In every age, it reads: “Give us more!”
