Complaints And Cravings
STATING THE SCRIPTURES (Numbers 11:1-35)
1 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the LORD had burned among them.
Quail from the LORD
4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"
7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the LORD, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ’Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
16 The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.
18 "Tell the people: ’Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ’ "
21 But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ’I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" 23 The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."
24 So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.
26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" 29 But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31 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. 32 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. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
SETTING THE STAGE
Let me tell you story about a brother name ,Michael
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!!!” If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be that positive all the time. How do you do it?”
Micahel replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”
“Yeah, right, it isn’t that easy, “I protested. “Yes, it is,” Michael said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It’s your choice how you live life.”
Soon thereafter,,, we lost touch, but I often think about him when i,m forced to make a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years ago, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about 6 months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon to be born daughter,” Michael replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”
Michael continued, “When they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared,,, In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man.’And, I knew I needed to take action.” “What did you do,” I asked.
“Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Michael. “She asked if I was allergic to anything... ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’”
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of the doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
INTRODUCTION
This is an age of negativism—of complaining, grumbling, and murmuring. No matter where we turn, people are being negative or complaining about something. They are complaining about work, school, wife, husband, parent, child, manager, personal hardships, food, clothing, shelter, finances, along with an assortment of other problems.
Bitter trials are the normal experience of human life.. They confront us all, and they perplex and puzzle us. We often ask, "Why has God let this happen to me?" Trials are common to all people. When they strike us, the question is: How are we going to react? Are we going to trust God to help and strengthen us, or grumble and complain and perhaps curse God? Complaining, grumbling, and murmuring hurt and cause pain for others. But more than this, complaining and grumbling show a great distrust in God: It shows that we do not trust God to meet our needs, to provide the necessities of life. It shows that we do not trust the goodness and power of God, that He will work things out and give us victory over the pitfalls and enemies of life.
This is the subject of this important passage of Scripture. It covers the first tragic failure seen in the people of God as they began their march to the promised land. Within three days after beginning their march, they demonstrated tragic distrust of God. They immediately began to complain and grumble against God. Moreover, the Israelites began to crave and lust after the food and appetites of Egypt. Keep in mind that Egypt is a type or symbol of the world and its enslavements.
OPENING THE TEXT
There was the complaining and murmuring about hardships. The people failed to trust God and they lost sight of God’s guidance. Shocking! Inexcusable! For the people were only three days into their march. Remember, the Israelites had just left Mt. Sinai where they had been camped for eleven months. They had just begun their great march to the promised land, the day for which they had longed with great expectation. Yet within three days, they were complaining and grumbling about the hardships they were facing along the march. They were complaining to the Lord, questioning why He would allow such hardships and difficulties. Why would He not make their march to the promised land smoother and easier, with less difficulty and hardship? They were gripped by a spirit of discontentment with their lives, a critical spirit. They were complaining and grumbling about the bad things that were happening to them. Life was hard and toilsome, and they blamed God.
The Lord heard their grumbling and was angry. His judgment fell upon them: a fire was ignited and burned the outskirts of the camp (Numbers 11:1). Note that the fire was definitely from the Lord. This probably means that God caused a bolt of lightning to strike, igniting a fire that burned some of the property and tents on the outskirts of the camp. The people and Moses cried out to God for help (Numbers 11:2-3). Note that the Lord immediately heard their prayer and the fire was extinguished.
The place was named Taberah, which means "burning." This was a place of awful judgment, a place that needed to stand as a warning to all people in the future. God judges those who complain, grumble, and murmur against Him because of hardships.
The Israelites were immature believers: unspiritual, unstable, and carnal (fleshly). Their carnal hearts of unbelief took over; and they complained, grumbled, and murmured against God because of the hardships. This was a terrible sin of Israel, and it was a sin that was committed by them time and again. In fact, practically every time they faced a crisis of hardship, they complained and grumbled.
They complained and grumbled because they had no food: "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Exodus 16:2-3).
They complained and grumbled because they had no water: "And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst" (Exodus 17:3).
They complained and grumbled because of the trials they were facing throughout their wilderness wanderings: they wished to return to Egypt: "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt" (Numbers 14:2-4).
They complained and grumbled because they became tired of their leaders, tired of Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership: "And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord....For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him" (Numbers 16:3, 11).
They complained and grumbled because of God’s judgment, because God executed justice upon the Israelites who sinned: "But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord" (Numbers 16:41).
Complaining and grumbling are signs of distrust, of terrible unbelief in God. When we complain and grumble, we reveal a heart of unbelief and distrust. We reveal that we do not believe God’s power and goodness. We do not believe that God is in control, that He will work the situation and hardship out. A heart that trusts God will always pray, asking God to help. The trusting heart never complains nor grumbles against people and situations, especially against fellow believers—certainly not against God nor His servants. Note what Scripture declares about complaining and grumbling.
Complaining and grumbling are not against the hardships themselves nor against other people but against the Lord Himself: "And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord" (Exodus 16:8).
Complaining and grumbling are often due to a person’s lack of faith in God’s Word, his refusal to listen to God’s voice: "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord" (Psalm 106:24-25).
Complaining and grumbling are often due to the foolishness and sin of man: "The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord" (Proverbs 19:3).
"Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins" (Lament. 3:39).
Complaining and grumbling are to have no part in the believer’s life: "Do all things without murmurings and disputings" (Phil. 2:14).
Complaining and grumbling will be severely judged by God: "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (1 Cor. 10:10). "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage (Jude 1:14-16).
The people complained and grumbled about their food. They did not trust God, and they craved or lusted after the food and provisions of Egypt (a symbol of the world).
How could the people conceivably be failing so soon after their rebellion and the correction of God at Taberah? Apparently, this rebellion took place at the very next campsite, although this is not clearly stated. The fact that these two passages are linked together seems to indicate this. Whatever the case, the reader is again shocked and left wondering how a people could be so carnal and unbelieving. How could the Israelites be so unbelieving and stumble so often when God had done so much for them? Is the human heart that depraved? Or were their hearts that selfish and unbelieving, hard-hearted and stubborn, resistant to God?
The complaining and grumbling were stirred up by certain ringleaders, the rabble among them. This is a reference to the mixed group of people (non-Israelite) who joined God’s people during the exodus from Egypt. Note that it was the rabble who actually began to lust and crave after the food of Egypt, in particular the meat of Egypt.
The complaint focused upon their diet: they had only manna to eat. They craved and lusted after the meat and vegetables of Egypt. In Egypt they had been able to fish in the rivers and streams and grow fresh vegetables such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. Out in the desert, they were unable to plant gardens; and, of course, there were no streams or rivers from which to catch fish. The people were, as they complained, tired of "this manna." They had lost their appetite for "this manna." Keep in mind that the manna was the provision of God, a miraculous provision of food. It was also a delicious food.
Note the people’s reference to the manna as "this manna." A bitter, sarcastic complaint! A spirit of discontentment, of dissatisfaction with God’s provision. An act of unbelief and rebellion against God. Just think how they had forgotten their real condition in Egypt: they had been slaves and mistreated with brutal savagery. As slaves they had known the horrors of abuse, torture, overwork, hunger, thirst, beatings, and death. They were exaggerating the food they had in Egypt, looking back into the past with unwarranted optimism. This was tragic, for the manna was God’s provision. The manna was one of the gracious provisions to keep His people alive as they marched to the promised land.
Note the description of the manna, how delicious and sufficient a provision it was: It was like coriander seed (a small spicy seed taken from a plant of the carrot family. It was used as seasoning and for medicinal purposes.). It looked like resin from a plant or tree (Numbers 11:7). It was gathered and ground in a handmill or crushed in a mortar (Numbers 11:8). It was cooked in a pot or made into cakes. It tasted like something made with olive oil. It was miraculously given by God: it fell daily from the sky as the dew settled on the camp at night (Numbers 11:9).
The grumbling had a terrible and powerful influence: it spread rapidly throughout the whole camp. Note that every family began to complain, murmur, and grumble (Numbers 11:10). The response of the Lord and Moses was to be expected. The Lord became very angry and Moses was deeply troubled.
Moses questioned, poured out his heart to the Lord. Why had God allowed so much trouble? Why was God so displeased? Why had God put the burden of the people on him? Was it Moses who had conceived and given birth to the people? Was it not God who had conceived and given them birth? Why had God chosen him to carry the people in his arms—as a nurse carries a child—to the promised land? Where could he conceivably get enough meat for the people?
Moses cried for God to raise up others to help him. The burden was too heavy and was crushing him under its weight. He could not continue to lead the people by himself. At this point, Moses became intense and desperate: he asked God either to help him or take him. Why? Because he felt that he would die right there upon the spot from the intense pressure he was feeling.
The Lord did meet the need of His dear servant Moses. The Lord instructed Moses to bring seventy elders to the Tabernacle. God promised to anoint the elders with His Spirit, with the very same Spirit He had given to Moses. The elders would help carry the burden of the people, help deal with the problems of the people. As always, God met the desperate need of His dear servant. God had earlier appointed some leaders to help Moses in the administrative duties of the people (Exodus 18:13f); now God was appointing seventy elders to help His dear servant in the spiritual ministry of the people. The intense pressure and distress of Moses was being relieved by the Lord. The enormous weight of the ministry that Moses was sensing was being lifted. As stated, God was meeting the need of His dear servant.
Note the message of God’s judgment to be given to the people by Moses. The people were to sanctify or consecrate themselves (Numbers 11:18). They were to prepare to have their complaining and grumbling answered—the complaint that they were better off in Egypt.
The people were to know that the Lord was going to give them meat: not just for days, but for a whole month (Numbers 11:18-20). They were going to receive just what they grumbled about: meat. In fact, they were going to receive so much meat that they would loathe it. This blessing—an overabundance of meat—was to be a judgment. The people would have all the meat they had wanted and then some! They insisted that they simply had to have meat. So God was going to give them meat. They were going to receive so much meat and be so gluttonous about it that they would spew the meat out of their nostrils—loathing and despising it.
Note the reason why: because they had rejected the Lord. They had craved and desired to go back to Egypt (Numbers 11:20). Keep in mind that Egypt is a symbol of the world with all of its lusts and cravings. The judgment of God was bound to fall upon these unbelievers, these complainers and grumblers who were rejecting God and rebelling against Him.
Note the stressful questioning by Moses (Numbers 11:21-22); Moses was shaken: How could God possibly provide meat for several million people? Would there be enough meat even if they slaughtered all their flocks and herds? Or if they had all the fish in the sea?
Note the Lord’s rebuke to Moses: the Lord’s arm (power) is not too short; He will do exactly what He says (Numbers 11:23). He has the power and the knowledge to do anything. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. The promise may be staggering and seem impossible to people, but He was the Lord God Himself (Jehovah, Yahweh).
Note the obedience of Moses. Moses declared the Lord’s message to the people, then he summoned the seventy elders to the Tabernacle. As soon as Moses proved his obedience, the Lord was faithful. The Lord came down in the cloud of His Shekinah Glory and spoke with Moses. Furthermore, He did just what He had promised: the Spirit of God came upon the seventy elders and they prophesied. But note, this was a one-of-a-kind experience. They never again prophesied.
Two elders had remained in camp and did not go to the Tabernacle: The Spirit also came upon them and they prophesied. Two elders had remained in camp and not responded to Moses’ summons to come to the Tabernacle. However, the Spirit also came upon them and they prophesied (Numbers 11:26-28). A young man witnessed the experience and ran to tell Moses. Joshua, who was Moses’ aide and standing close by, insisted that Moses stop the two elders from prophesying. Why? Perhaps Joshua felt that the two men had disobeyed by not accepting the summons of Moses; therefore, they should not be appointed as assistants to him. Or perhaps he felt the two men might be personal threats to Moses. If they had received the gift of God’s Spirit outside the Tabernacle and away from Moses, this would downplay the gift of Moses. People might begin to feel that God could raise up someone else to be their leader and turn to either one of these two elders or other elders for leadership.
But note the spirit of Moses, the spirit of a true servant of God. This was just what he wanted: he prayed for the Lord’s Spirit to come upon all believers, for all believers to be prophets (Numbers 11:29). He wanted all believers to be filled with the fullness of God, to experience the full presence and provision of God.
Note the judgment of God: the complaint of the people was granted (Numbers 11:31-33). A wind drove quail in from the sea. Miraculously, the quail were three feet deep and extended a whole day’s walk in every direction—enough quail to feed two to four million people.
The people gathered quail for two days and one night. Every person gathered no less than ten homers (almost 60 bushels). A staggering amount of meat! God provided far more quail than the people could possibly eat.
Note the animalistic, uncivilized, and savage behavior of the people. The people acted like gluttons: they gorged themselves (Numbers 11:33). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary describes it well:
"The scene must have been similar to a riot: people screaming, birds flapping their wings, everywhere the pell-mell movement of a meat-hungry people in a sea of birds. Dare we picture people ripping at the birds, eating flesh before cooking it, bestial in behavior?"
The anger of the Lord was aroused and burned against the people. He struck them with a severe plague. Note when: "while the meat was still between their teeth" (Numbers 11:33). Obviously, a plague of choking on the meat struck the people. Before they could swallow the meat, they choked. They were choking on their craving, their lusting, their gluttony. They had cursed and rebelled against the name of God, craving and lusting after flesh to eat. Consequently, God gave them up to their craving and lusting (cp. Romans 1:24-28). They received just what their flesh craved and lusted after: meat. Their fleshly appetite had run wild. As a result, they were given up to their fleshly appetite. And the very thing they had craved and lusted after choked them to death. They had brought the judgment of God upon themselves. Note that the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah which means "graves of craving" (Numbers 11:34).
The people then departed and renewed their march to the promised land. But tragically, their hearts were still hard and stubborn, still filled with unbelief and grumbling.
CONCLUSION
There are several strong lessons in this passage.
Seeking to fulfill one’s appetites—craving and lusting after the things of the world—is wrong. Giving way to the lusts of the flesh arouses the judgment of God against us.
