Manna and Meat

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Alfonz6463

Guest
#1
#1
I started reading the bible from the beginning, Genesis. I am now in Numbers and have recently finished Chapter 11 where it discusses God providing quail because the people were complaining about not having meat to eat. I wondered, if they had all of that livestock to offer in sacrifice for consecration of Aaron and his sons, for their sin, for their guilt, etc..., why did they not have livestock to slaughter for meat? Then it occurred to me that they must have had grain, since they also made grain offerings. Yet, they had to eat manna.

I don't understand. Is there a prohibition against using their livestock and grain to feed themselves that I missed. Can someone shed some light on this?
 
oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#2
Jul 28, 2012
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#2
Alfonz6463 said:
I started reading the bible from the beginning, Genesis. I am now in Numbers and have recently finished Chapter 11 where it discusses God providing quail because the people were complaining about not having meat to eat. I wondered, if they had all of that livestock to offer in sacrifice for consecration of Aaron and his sons, for their sin, for their guilt, etc..., why did they not have livestock to slaughter for meat? Then it occurred to me that they must have had grain, since they also made grain offerings. Yet, they had to eat manna.

I don't understand. Is there a prohibition against using their livestock and grain to feed themselves that I missed. Can someone shed some light on this?
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When Israel was in the wilderness, you are looking at a population of about three million people, perhaps more. Even if they slaughtered every head of livestock they had, this would not have fed that many people for very long.
 
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Alfonz6463

Guest
#3
#3
You make a good point. So, would it be fair to say that what they did have was claimed by God and was not to be used to feed the people? And why was Aaron and his sons allowed to eat their portion of the consecration offerings? Is there anything in the Bible to support your point?
 
oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#4
Jul 28, 2012
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#4
Alfonz6463 said:
You make a good point. So, would it be fair to say that what they did have was claimed by God and was not to be used to feed the people? And why was Aaron and his sons allowed to eat their portion of the consecration offerings? Is there anything in the Bible to support your point?
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Some of it was used for food. This was evident in the Peace offerings and wave offerings. These offerings were consumed. The preservation of their livestock gives them seed stock from which to build their herds and flocks when they crossed into Canaan.
 
posthuman

posthuman

Senior Member
#5
Jul 31, 2013
36,722
13,149
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#5
the Israelites gave God their firstfruits and the best of their flocks - when they were doing what pleased Him - and the Levites were dedicated to the tabernacle/temple service, so they didn't own land and flocks of their own. that's why they as a group were allowed to eat of the sacrifices.
 
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Alfonz6463

Guest
#6
#6
oldhermit said:
Some of it was used for food. This was evident in the Peace offerings and wave offerings. These offerings were consumed. The preservation of their livestock gives them seed stock from which to build their herds and flocks when they crossed into Canaan.[/QUOTE

I see your point, but, is it inferred in the Bible that they would have NOT consumed their animals and grain? I don't see that in the narrative.

And, if there were 3 million Israelites, as you say, then even the number of animals and amount of grain needed to satisfy the various offerings would have been tremendous. And all of those animals... it must have been a mess.
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Alfonz6463

Guest
#7
#7
posthuman said:
the Israelites gave God their firstfruits and the best of their flocks - when they were doing what pleased Him - and the Levites were dedicated to the tabernacle/temple service, so they didn't own land and flocks of their own. that's why they as a group were allowed to eat of the sacrifices.
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Yes, I see that the Levites were supported by the other tribes, which is understandable since they were focused on ministering to God and the rest of the Israelites. And I accept that is the reasoning for their consuming their portions of the offerings.
 
oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#8
Jul 28, 2012
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#8
Alfonz6463 said:
I see your point, but, is it inferred in the Bible that they would have NOT consumed their animals and grain? I don't see that in the narrative.
And, if there were 3 million Israelites, as you say, then even the number of animals and amount of grain needed to satisfy the various offerings would have been tremendous. And all of those animals... it must have been a mess.
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No there is nothing in the narrative that expressly mentions this but you can trace their rout which seems to have supplied ample grazing for their livestock. They were at Mt Sinai for about ten months and there is a lot of pasture land in the region around the mountain.
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Alfonz6463

Guest
#9
#9
oldhermit said:
No there is nothing in the narrative that expressly mentions this but you can trace their rout which seems to have supplied ample grazing for their livestock. They were at Mt Sinai for about ten months and there is a lot of pasture land in the region around the mountain.
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My fiancé's Mom said that God, since God wanted the Israelites to be totally dependent on Him, the live stock and grain was dedicated to Him, and He provided the manna first, and then the quails. That sort of makes sense. What do you think of this?
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oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#10
Jul 28, 2012
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#10
Alfonz6463 said:
oldhermit said:
My fiancé's Mom said that God, since God wanted the Israelites to be totally dependent on Him, the live stock and grain was dedicated to Him, and He provided the manna first, and then the quails. That sort of makes sense. What do you think of this?
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There is more to this issue than just simply God choosing quail over the livestock. The Lord is leading them into a place where these is no possibility of them providing enough food or water for themselves. God created a condition in which they would have to be completely dependent on the Lord for everything. There would have been nothing miraculous about them consuming their livestock until it was all gone. They would have had nothing to take into the land. The text tells us that God had so cared for Israel in the wilderness that not even their cloths or shoes wore out so we cannot simply dismiss God's involvement in providing for the livestock as well; after all, they were his too.
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Alfonz6463

Guest
#11
#11
oldhermit said:
Alfonz6463 said:
There is more to this issue than just simply God choosing quail over the livestock. The Lord is leading them into a place where these is no possibility of them providing enough food or water for themselves. God created a condition in which they would have to be completely dependent on the Lord for everything. There would have been nothing miraculous about them consuming their livestock until it was all gone. They would have had nothing to take into the land. The text tells us that God had so cared for Israel in the wilderness that not even their cloths or shoes wore out so we cannot simply dismiss God's involvement in providing for the livestock as well; after all, they were his too.
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Again, you make good points and provide useful insights. I will have to study on this.
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followjja

Banned
#12
Mar 15, 2014
325
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#12
Alfonz6463

Great point, I never noticed this before, nor read about it. Were the animals still alive? They probably were, so this is a mystery. Some might say that this implies that part of the story is not literal.
 
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