The Punishment of Abundance

Prosperity and success are great, but sometimes too much can be too much. The disciple of Yeshua asks only for his daily allotment.

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

Beha'alotcha (בהעלותך | When you set up)

Torah: Numbers 8:1-12:15

Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7

Gospel: Matthew 14:14-21

The Punishment of Abundance

A common proverb that says, "Be careful what you ask for; you might get it." The people of Israel were tired of manna; they cried out for meat. The LORD punished their malcontent nature by answering their prayer and sending an abundance of meat. He withheld the manna and gave the the people a month's supply of quail.

"You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD." (Numbers 11:19-20)

Without any preservatives or refrigeration, a month's supply of quail turned rancid quickly. Sickness and plague followed. After a few days of quail, the Israelites were longing for the manna they had rejected.

In our lives we often experience the same dynamic. We find ourselves punished with abundance. Abundance is not always a blessing. Avarice and greed are quick to follow. A culture with too much food eats too much and becomes overweight and insensitive. A family with too much income begins to spend foolishly and finds it increasingly difficult to give the same proportion to the work of the Kingdom. It is far easier to labor for the kingdom when things are lean. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24)

The daily provision of the manna reminds us to be dependent upon God day by day. If a man could store up manna, hoarding it like money, he could be confident of his sustenance for many days to come. But the manna could not be hoarded. It required a daily dependence upon God.

The Master tells us that instead of seeking to store up treasure on earth (which inevitably steals our hearts away from God), we are to merely ask for our daily bread. That is to say, we should be asking that the LORD will provide for us according to His measure and good purpose, even as He provided daily bread for Israel while they traveled in the wilderness.

-First Fruits of Zion