Soon the Israelites were willing to trade their freedom for an onion, or a fish. The vividly remembered free meals of Egypt were beginning to look far better than the hunger they felt in the present. The vision of the Promised Land wavered like those dreams that pause at the cusp of sleep and wakefulness. The Israelites were restless in their journey. They longed to submerge again, to have creature comfort without effort and security without risk even if it cost them the new life that was beginning to open in front of them.
Security is seductive.
We long for it so much that we are willing to abandon our values and sacrifice the things that really matter in this life to gain creature comforts and the illusion of stability. Look at this straggling line of people standing listless in the desert sand. God, through the voice of a prophet, has called them out of Egypt yet they would rather be lead by melons than Moses. The Israelites think they want their old meals of garlic and leeks back again, even though they come with a big side dish of slavery. Moses shakes his head.