So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt

Wailing and whining, moaning and groaning, the people trekked through the wilderness following the cloud by day and the fire by night. "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" the people griped to Moses.

Moses in turn complained to God, "What have I done to you that you put the burden of all these people on me? I can't carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you're going to treat me, put me to death right now."

And God responded with, "You want meat? I'll give you meat! I'll make you eat so much meat it will be coming out of your nostrils!" (See Numbers 11)

Reading the stories of the wilderness wanderings makes me feel like I'm watching clips from Israelite's Funniest Home Videos. I get that guilty chuckle that comes when seeing others suffer for their foolishness. It helps console my own sense of shame by laughing at their embarrassing acts. I kid myself by thinking I would never have complained so much after experiencing all those miracles of God.

I'm glad we're beyond complaining about those trivial things such as no food or housing, enemy attacks and an uncertain future, aren't you? We far beyond those silly Israelites, aren't we? By the way, don't you just hate it when you get in the slow line at the grocery checkout! Arrggh... that makes me so mad!

When I read this story I can't help but remember one of the most talented and prophetic song writers and performers from my early Christian years, Keith Green. Here is an audio of him singing his song, "So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt." Enjoy!