Israel complained about conditions in the wilderness.
Some in Israel wanted to return to Egypt.
In Egypt, they worshiped Egypt’s gods.
Therefore: The complaint in the wilderness was a complaint against Yahweh, and conversely a call to turn back to the gods of the fathers.
The logic is identical to that of the worshipers of the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah’s time: “we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine” (Jeremiah 44:17-18).
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