A devotional by David Ronk

As I was reading through the Bible again this year, I came once more to the Exodus and Israel’s journey through the desert.

I was reminded of the grumbling over manna. God’s response has always seemed disproportionate to me. Capital punishment—for complaining about manna? (Numbers 11:18-34)

I’m sure manna was an excellent product—versatile and miraculously provided. Its supply and daily collection were clearly divine.

But let’s be honest: how long would it take before you grew tired of eating the same thing day after day? Could you go a week? A month? Three months? Six?

So what’s going on? Why was this complaint so egregious? I still struggle to see how grumbling over food rises to the level of a capital offense. Don’t you?

Then I saw something I had never noticed before in the broader story of Jacob’s family.

They were a family of shepherds and herdsmen (Gen. 46:31–32). It makes sense—what better profession for a nomadic people? Joseph used this fact to secure the land of Goshen for his family (Gen. 46:33–34).

In many Bibles, the pages between Joseph’s reunion with his family and Moses’ emergence as Israel’s deliverer amount to about four pages. It’s easy to miss that those four pages cover nearly 400 years. In that time, a family became a nation—and that nation was eventually pressed into slavery.

But slavery couldn’t have been all they did. Their livestock holdings had grown so large that Pharaoh tried to leverage their herds to keep them in Egypt (Ex. 10:24–26). Meanwhile, the Israelites witnessed plague after plague affect the Egyptians—but not Goshen.

And consider the sacrificial system. Animals used in sacrifice had to be less than a year old and without blemish—only the top few percent would qualify. The daily morning and evening offerings alone would require a substantial number of animals—not to mention personal offerings from the people.

So when Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days and the people grew restless, they demanded a god. Aaron later claimed, “We threw the gold into the fire and out came this calf” (Ex. 32:24). While I doubt the accuracy of that statement, I do wonder—why a calf?

For a nation of herdsmen, a calf would have been a familiar and meaningful symbol. That makes sense.

But David, you ask. What does that have to do with manna?

The complaint wasn’t just about manna—it was that they “had no meat.” (see Numbers 11:4-6)

How could a nation of shepherds and herdsmen have no meat?

Could it be that when God answered with quail, He was responding not just to a vague craving for meat—but to a very specific complaint? Could it be they were saying, in essence, “We have no chicken”?

Think about it: God had just destroyed Egypt, defeated Pharaoh’s army, led His people out with deliverance, provided manna and water, preserved their flocks and herds, and loaded them down with the plunder of Egypt.

Miracle after miracle, provision after provision. And now they’re whining about not having “chicken”?

I can see now why that would have angered God so deeply. He had preserved them and blessed them beyond measure—and yet they complained.

I understand the whole narrative better now.

I’m glad we’re not like that.

…Or are we?

Blessings.