Numbers 11:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Israelites lamented, "Now our soul is weary; there is nothing but manna in our eyes: are there no sepulchres in Egypt, that thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness?" (Ex. 14:11). Meanwhile, Paul expressed, "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and make up for the lack in my flesh of the afflictions of Christ for His body" (Col. 1:24). What kinds of sufferings did he endure? Those of hunger, thirst, nakedness, and various other trials.

However, the gravest offense is to embrace immorality, to enjoy the divine blessings freely bestowed upon us, and to be sustained by the Holy Spirit through His revealed Word while ardently pursuing fleeting pleasures and fulfilling base desires. Choosing what is vile constitutes a blatant disregard for what is truly good and salvific. Elevating earthly concerns above the heavenly, even when the former are replete with abominations, represents the most egregious error of judgment. The prophet Isaiah rightly mourns such individuals, exclaiming, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20). This reflects the grave transgressions into which the Israelites fell, as will be made evident. Following the inevitable punishment for their complaints, they were overtaken by an insatiable desire for the most disgraceful acts; in their disdain for divine provisions and lamentation for the heavenly gifts, they provoked the Judge to injustice against them, as it is written.

Look how frivolous and changeable the Israelites were, incapable of bringing benefit to others, and instead consumed by weakness, preoccupied solely with their own concerns. The common people were beset by the most irrational and despicable desires, while those who would naturally rebuke them and urge them to higher thoughts suffered even more severely.

Just as their forebears criticized the heavenly gift of manna, daring to declare, "Our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all besides this manna" (Num. 11:6), so too do they now reject the True Bread, unashamedly proclaiming, "This teaching is hard" (John 6:60).