You know the story well, how God sent Manna and Quails to feed the Israelites in the desert as they travelled towards Canaan. I had heard the account many times but had never seen a quail in the flesh until I was ambling around Harrods one day, with no intention of buying anything and indeed not enough finance to consider changing my mind, when I happened to dander into the grocery level. First impression was that it was hardly your average Tesco or Sainsburys and I couldn't quite imagine doing the weekly shop for a family of four in that establishment. I think that was when the quail first caught my eye though obviously it was completely unaware of my presence as it lay on its back in the glass cabinet, alongside quite a few of its brothers and sisters. I guess it was the size that really floored me first of all, the whole body being little bigger than my clenched fist, just really a very, very small chicken that would hold little more than an egg cup full of sage and onion stuffing. Yet, it was clearly a delicacy, as the price tag indicated.I have never tasted quail but I reckon it's not a whole lot different to chicken. The closest I got was another similar sized flying bird, the pigeon that dad used to shoot when I was a kid. Sometimes mum would roast them but more often than not she boiled the birds and made a pot of soup. It was a much darker meat but very, very tasty. The Israelites certainly seemed to have a lot less bother in acquiring the quails than dad did with the pigeons. It seemed to be God's response to their ungratefulness over the manna that they ate for the whole forty years on their journeys. Now I can understand that there might have been a certain degree of dissatisfaction at having to eat the same food every day, but surely their culinary skills would have allowed them to prepare it in different ways to keep it palatable and of course they didn't only had to step outside their tents in the morning to gather all that they needed. However when they grumbled about all the fish and fruit they had in Egypt, God provided fresh meat as well as the manna for them in the form of quails, again within reach of home. Exodus 16 tells us 'That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.' Numbers records this account. 'Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them down all around the camp to about three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.' But there was a price to pay for their attitude, as God sent a fatal plague on all those who had grumbled against Him. Many think that the quails, migratory birds by nature, were so exhausted on their return from warmer climates and busy feeding habits, that they rested close to the Israelite camp. While this may be true, it doesn't totally explain the wind that brought them in the right direction nor the fact that at hovering only a few feet above the ground made them easy prey for the carnivorous humans. God's hand was clearly at work.
Anyway, quails and for that matter, manna, have much to teach us about God. They teach me the truth of what Paul wrote to the Philippian believers in chapter 4v19 where he writes 'And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.' They also remind me of the huge difference between what we want and what God knows we need. And sometimes God puts all we need right in front of us and we just don't see it or else choose to ignore His gifts. But this account also tells me that we have a part to play too and God does expect us not only to obey Him but to use what He gives us wisely for our spiritual strengthening and for the nourishment of others. That's why, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus announces 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.' It's a hunger for needs not wants that He will satisfy. If God brings the quails to your door, maybe you should grasp hold of His offer.
