Numbers 11: 1 – 35
Oh no, not turkey again
11 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them. 4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. 10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” 16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ” 21 And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has[g] the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” 24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” 29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 31 Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. 32 And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
I do not know about you but I just love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can’t wait until Wawa offers their turkey gobbler sandwiches. Almost every day from the beginning of November to Thanksgiving I am picking up a nice warm sandwich. It all comes to a great climax on the day after Thanksgiving. Leftover turkey sandwiches are great as I get to enjoy the beginning of the college football bowl games.
Yet you know that even things that you enjoy can grow to be a problem. When you feast on something too often it becomes distastefully to you. When your wife starts offering you varieties of turkey casseroles or such you are not the same happy camper. You begin to complain, ‘Oh no, not turkey again.’
One of my great joys in life is eavesdropping. I have long been interested in people; in what they think and feel and in how they behave. I enjoy watching people’s facial expressions, listening to their word choices, and tracking their emotional tone. Among my favorite venues for people watching is the Daytona and Indy 500’s. Unlike restaurants or movie theaters these huge gatherings are locations where people are placed in close quarters and where I have nothing better to do than observe human interaction.
Unfortunately, a lot of what I overhear is complaints. I hear people gripe about everything under the sun. I listen to a litany of problems: bad weather, wars, poor economic performance, nosy in-laws, rotten co-workers and bad service. You’d think the world was ending.
If complaining is so awful, why is it so prevalent? To begin with, complaining is simply expressing dissatisfaction. This usually happens verbally, as in the case of two people on a date commenting on the awful dinner they have been served.
Complaining usually happens in the wake of a negative situation. Traffic was worse than expected. The movie was disappointing. The contractor did shoddy work. The city council should never have approved that new development. Of course, it is not just situations but also personal factors that are involved. You’ll notice, for example, that some people tend to complain while others hold their tongues. Indeed, there is a “complaint threshold” that must be reached before someone decides to grumble.
It is useful to understand that complaining (and—by extension—complainers) come in types. There are those who never seem to be satisfied. These are known as chronic complainers. They have a tendency to ruminate on problems and to focus on setbacks over progress.
A second type of complaint is the familiar “venting.” Venting is expressing emotional dissatisfaction. It turns out that people who vent have an agenda. They tend to be focused on themselves and their own—presumably negative—experience. By showing their anger, frustration, or disappointment, they are soliciting attention from others whom they think are their confidantes. They can feel validated by receiving attention and sympathy. Venter’s are particularly likely to discount advice and proposed solutions to their problems. They aren’t looking to solve anything; they simply want validation.
The last type of complaint is known as the “instrumental complaint.” Unlike its wrinkle-nosed conceptual cousins the instrumental complaint is all about solving problems. For example, you confront your spouse about overspending on the credit card that could be instrumental complaining. This especially will work if you focus on the impact of the problem, the importance of change, and cooperate to create a plan for change. One study suggests that these types of complaints make up fewer than 25 percent of all complaints.
In one study, researchers found that happy people complain less. They also looked at the evidence that the happy folks in their study were more mindful. They hypothesize that more cheerful folks are likely to complain more mindfully—more strategically, if you will—and with a specific goal in mind.
This point helps us focus on what is happening in today’s scripture. The chapter begins with the Israelites complaining. Try in a way to put yourself in our Holy God’s position. He has blessed their socks off. He not only protects them. He makes sure they are well fed and provided with water. He loves them so much that He wants to abide personally with them. Yet in order to do this He has to put down some rules because He Is So Holy that sinful people cannot come in contact with Him least they perish.
So, they should not be complaining at all – they should be overjoyed in experiencing the Love of God. He only does them good and what they give Him in return is evil.
With the journeying beginning again after the stay at Sinai the previous problems started up again. The way was unquestionably difficult. The sun was scorching, the wilderness dry, and the desert ‘road’ rough and definitely not suitable for such a large group of travelers. And in the way of people it was not long before the murmuring and grumbling began. Their eyes were not on Yahweh but on themselves, and as they struggled through the sweltering heat with no real end in sight, they began to feel sorry for themselves, and to think that deliverance was not all that it was cracked up to be.
11 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
The incidents are not specifically fitted into the travel schedule so that we do not know how long this was after leaving Sinai, but it was clearly not long before the people began to murmur. It was probably in the desert of Et-Tih. And what they were muttering among themselves was evil in Yahweh’s ears, as such muttering always is. Indeed the mood was so ugly that God was angry with it. He clearly felt it totally unjustifiable. They would have much worse to go through than this. They had to learn to cope with adversity.
The result was that on the extremities of the camp a fire burst out and ‘burned among them’, and they recognized it for what it was, a warning shot from Yahweh. Whether it was caused by lightning, or a bush bursting into flames in the intense heat which then spread, we do not know. And whether anyone died or whether it just affected possessions we are not told. But it was their first salutary warning.
God uses such trials and judgments in order to teach His people lessons. Whom Yahweh loves, He chastens (Deuteronomy 8.5). Here He was trying to pull the people up short so that their minds might be taken off themselves and set on Him. He knew the condition that they were getting themselves into. Had they taken heed it would have saved them a lot of trouble in the future.
2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched.
The extent of the fire was such that the people came to Moses and pleaded for help. The result was that Moses prayed to Yahweh and the fire died down. That should have given the people grounds for gratitude to Yahweh. They should have recognized that it was fortunate that they had in Moses one who was always ready to intercede for them. He had done so before and now he had done it again. It should have fixed their thoughts on God. But if it did, any gratitude was only temporary.
We also have One Who intercedes for us at all times (Hebrews 7.25). How trying we must so often appear to Him, but He is ever patient with us. Yet we must beware lest we forget and lose touch with Him, otherwise He may have to chasten us too.
3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
Then they gave the name ‘Taberah’ to the place, which means ‘burning’, because there Yahweh’s fire had burned among them. The name does not appear in their travel itinerary, and indicates more their deep feeling at the time. It was not a recognized name.
We may see this as an act of grace. By acting quickly the people had been made to think so that they would be more careful in future. As we have learned in the past they had a tendency to so this was not the first time. But it was the first time since the journey from Sinai began. The sharp lesson was intended to save trouble in the future. As it turned out it was not sufficient because their faith was low, as the next incident brings out.
What follows brings home to us something of the condition of many of the people. They were not on the whole a people of quiet faith, but a people full of doubts and worries, and in no mental condition to face the rigors of the wilderness. They had been delivered from slavery and did not have the backbone for what they had to face. That was why Yahweh had sought to counter this at Sinai, both by His firm covenant and His giving of the Tabernacle as a visible sign among them. But they had on the whole not responded in true faith and were thus vulnerable.
4 Now the mixed multitude that were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
What was more there were ‘rabble’ among them who were seeking to stir things up. The rabble is often considered to be ‘the mixed multitude’ of Exodus 12.38 yet it is not. The term used here is totally different from Exodus 12.38. Here the ‘rabble’, is the low life among the people (the ‘gathering of reeds’, useless things, promising much but offering little), who were involved, those possessed by pure greed and godlessness, and full of their own importance and jealous of Moses.
There are always a troublesome minority among all peoples. In this case these were the ones who started the complaints and stirred up the people, so that dissatisfaction soon spread and clearly deeply upset a people already traumatized by the conditions they were travelling under. It had caught them unprepared, even though Yahweh had tried to prepare them. The complainers were undermining the majority. We must all be careful when we begin to murmur that we do not undermine the faith of others. Those who are strong need to bear the burdens of those who are weak (Romans 15.1), not undermine them.
But the malcontents could not have succeeded if Israel had been looking to Yahweh and the things of the Spirit. Note that while the Israelites mentioned ‘flesh’ they were thinking rather of a change of diet, as their list of the pleasures of Egypt brings out. In their list they did not actually mention meat specifically, but fish and vegetables. What they wanted was something different from the manna. It is true that they could have eaten their cattle and sheep, but they would be reluctant to do that when they were not actually starving. Those were necessary for the future ahead. Such eating was not essential. They had the manna to keep them alive. But what they wanted were delicacies, and a change of diet. Note their contemptuous dismissal of ‘this manna’. When they had been starving they had delighted in it. Now their stomachs were full they were not satisfied with it. They were lacking in appreciation and gratitude because enjoyment of food had become more important to them than appreciating God.
The point was not that they were hungry, as they had been in the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16.3), but that they were living on a permanent diet of manna. It was the struggle of the flesh against the spirit. Had their hearts been set on Yahweh they would have rejoiced to receive the manna from His hands? They would have been full of joy continually. But greed for delicious food was so strong that they wept. Their thoughts were purely selfish. They did not want to have to wait for ‘milk and honey’ in the future, they wanted it now. The manna had once been welcomed enthusiastically. Now it was taken for granted. It had become monotonous and prosaic. They just felt that they had had enough. They wanted the good things of life. They had reached a low level.
So their minds went back to the freely available fish in Egypt that they could catch in the Nile and its tributaries, the abundance of watermelons with their rich, cool satisfying taste, so plentiful in their season that even the poorest could afford them, and all the other delicious foods that they had once enjoyed. Forgotten was the penury and servitude. Their eyes were gluttonous and fixed on food. The foods described are all of a type that the poor in Egypt would eat.
We may look and shake our heads at Israel but we are not so different. Even today the Bread of Life (John 6.35) can become monotonous and prosaic to us because of our sinful hearts, so that it results in extremes in religion which are not helpful. Men become bored with true goodness, and meditation on the word of God. They want excitement that panders to the flesh, dressed up as spirituality. Or they seek to the flesh pots of Egypt.
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.
The manna is described. It was in deliberate contrast to the luxuries of Egypt. All they had was this one small ‘seed’. It was in shape and size somewhat like coriander seeds. Coriander seeds are from the fruit of the Coriandrum sativum (of the natural order Umbelliferae), which was a plant indigenous around the Mediterranean and extensively cultivated. It was used for medicinal and culinary purposes from at least 1500 BC. The fruits are aromatic. They are of a grey-yellow color, ribbed, globular and oval,. Bdellium is a pale yellow translucent resin. Exodus 16.14, 31 says that the manna was flaky like hoar frost, white and tasting like honey. Thus manna was like small flaky seeds, and probably whitish-yellow and smooth.
8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.
It was collected in pots and ground in their hand-mills or beaten in mortars; it was then boiled or turned into cakes and tasted like the taste of fresh olive oil, reminding the people of honey. So they clearly tried different ways of making it enjoyable. Had their faith been strong they would have accepted it gladly from the hand of God because their satisfaction was elsewhere and was spiritual. But they were carnal and their food meant a lot to them, while God did not. So they broke down at the thought of what they were missing, they ‘wept’. They felt sorry for themselves.
9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
It fell during the early morning after the dew. It was ‘from heaven’. The reason for giving this information about the manna was in order to remind all of us of how good God was being to His people.
10 Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.
The influence of the rabble, no doubt deliberately spread among the remainder so as to undermine Moses, had reached deep into the hearts of the ordinary people. This comes out in that Moses heard them weeping ‘throughout their families’ in their tents. That is quite a disturbing statement and illustrates the state that some of them were in. We must not underestimate it. Their faith had collapsed, and they were totally disillusioned.
We must not see these as people in a fairly good state of mind just muttering because they were dissatisfied. Rather, because their thoughts were not on God, they were very vulnerable and were being deeply affected by the rabble. They had begun to feel very sorry for themselves and did not have sufficient faith to sustain them. They were collapsing inwardly.
The picture is quite vivid. The whole of Israel were weeping. This was hardly natural, but after all their sufferings this round of discontent had proved one step too much. The traumatic effect of making their way through the desert and the wilderness, and the way our Holy God provided for them had clearly been brought home to them in a forceful way through the complaining of the rabble so that they were genuinely on the point of despair, and in a desperate state of mind. All their fears and worries were coming out as a result. They were on the verge of break down. They had passed the point of being able to cope. But had their hearts been fixed on Yahweh it would not have happened. The problem was that all their thoughts were fixed on themselves.
Yahweh saw it and was ‘angry’. That is, in His righteousness He felt an aversion to their behavior, for He knew what lay at the root of it, unbelief. He had delivered them from Egypt, He had provided them with the manna, and they were so ungrateful and so worldly minded that they were actually despising both and wishing He had never bothered. They were forgetting, as He had not, how desperate they had been then (Exodus 2.23). All that He had planned for them now did not matter to them at all. All they wanted was to enjoy filling their bellies with delicious food. How strange man is that he can allow temporary longings to so replace his confidence in eternal realities for such an unimportant reason.
.11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?
Moses was aware of how the people were feeling, and how deeply it had gone. As he walked around the camp and heard their distress he found it hard to bear. He felt the pressures piling up on him too as he witnessed their condition. And he went to Yahweh with his problems. He did have sufficient faith, but it needed bolstering.
He asked Yahweh why He had brought on him the burden of this people, a burden he was finding too difficult. Why had Yahweh dealt so ill with him? Why had Yahweh’s graciousness to him been so lacking? He was finding it hard to cope with their misery. Why had he been given the responsibility of a father for children not his own?
12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,’ to the land which You swore to their fathers?
He used the illustration of a father and mother who recognized their responsibility for their own children. But, he pointed out, he was not their father, he had not conceived them. Nor was he their mother who had brought them forth into the world. They were not relations of his. Why then should he have to act towards them as a nursing-father, carrying them in his bosom like a father carries his babes in a sling? Why had he to be the one to bring them to the land of their fathers which Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give them? Why should he have to carry their burdens?
Moses probably intended here an indirect reminder to God of Who it was Who Was their father, Who it Was Who had begotten them and brought them forth. They were really God’s problem not his. He was pointing out that while God could cope with them, he could not.
It is clear that the people’s distress had really bitten deeply into Moses. Up to this point he had been mainly sustained by seeing their gratitude to be free of Egypt, and their willingness in spite of some failures to respond, and by his desire to bring glory to Yahweh. But now it appeared to him that all that had gone and he was being made responsible for it all. The people were not behaving as he had expected. And he felt unable to cope. He felt at a total loss. He felt it was no longer worthwhile.
How often we begin something enthusiastically when all seems to be going well. But then the problems set in and people become lethargic and even grumble and murmur. It is at that point that we often feel like giving up. But if it is of God we have no right to consider giving up. What we must do is what Moses did. Cast ourselves on God, grit out teeth, and go on.
13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat.’
The heart of Moses comes out here. He had a real concern for the people, and his inability to meet their needs was really hurting. He too had begun to cease looking to Yahweh. Instead his eyes were on the people and their need, and he could not cope with it. It was breaking his heart. That is why he wanted to be done with it.
It is a reminder that when we face the great need of others we must beware of being so taken up with the need that we forget God, otherwise it will be too much for us. It will get us down too. Sometimes we can only survive by fixing our minds on doing God’s will rather than letting people’s conditions affect us. Otherwise it will destroy us like it was destroying Moses. Sometimes, when conditions are really bad, love has to be harsh, and keep itself held in, in order to survive. There are limits to what a man can take. God alone can keep us under such conditions.
So in his love for the people Moses felt totally inadequate. He felt that he was just unable to help them. The situation was impossible. They were deeply upset, and clearly on the edge of breaking down. But where on earth was he going to get meat for all these people in the wilderness? The whole situation was getting on top of him, and he felt very much alone.
14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.
He frankly told God that he could no longer carry this entire burden on his own. It was too much for him. The burden was too heavy. When we find ourselves in what seems an impossible position it pays to be frank with God. It will not make Him any different, but it will help us considerably.
15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!”
Indeed he was so upset that he asked God that he might die. He was staring failure in the face. If God had any pity on him let Him kill him as He had once sought to do (Exodus 4.24). He could not bear any longer seeing his own inadequacy in the face of the crying needs of these people. He could not bear the wretchedness and helplessness that he felt. He could not bear the thought of letting God down. He wanted out.
At Moses’ plea Yahweh graciously responded to both his problems, not by killing him, but by providing helpers for him and subsequently meat for the people. God does not desert those who trust Him simply because they sometimes have doubts. If we trust Him and come to Him God is never without an answer to our problems. First He calmly tells us, as He did Moses, to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and rather do something about it, then He explains that He too will do something about it.
We should note the contrast between the seventy elders and the people. This is a deliberate contrast. The giving of the Spirit is described like a breath of fresh air in the midst of the people’s craving for flesh and its provision to their cost. Here on the one hand are these men receiving the Spirit. And there on the other is the people craving flesh. Both are blessed by Yahweh’s ruach (‘spirit, wind’ - the one by the spirit, the other by the wind), but in the one case it is permanent and results in a permanent transformation, in the other it results in greed and plague. This was due, not to God’s perversity, but to the perversity of the people. God longs to bless all, but only those who will receive it are truly blessed.
16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.
He told him to choose out seventy elders of Israel, men whom he knew to be true and reliable elders, with officers over them (thus he must include the most senior elders), and bring them to the Tent of meeting. The purpose was that they might stand there with Moses before Yahweh, as those who would be his assistants. They were to be endued in order to perform the supervisory task that up to this time he had borne alone.
The number seventy indicated divine perfection intensified (7x10) and would demonstrate that they were chosen by God and that they represented the patriarchate (the seventy) that had ‘entered Egypt’ when they too fled because of shortage of food (Exodus 1). Here again ‘the seventy’ would be in authority over Yahweh’s people.
Then, Yahweh promised, He would Himself ‘come down’ and talk with Moses there. And He would take some of the Spirit that He had put on Moses and put it on them. Thus fortified by the Spirit they would be able to help to bear the burden of the people so that Moses need not bear it alone. This did not mean that somehow Moses would lose some of the Spirit that was within him. It was a declaration to all that these men would succeed because they had received something of the Spirit that possessed Moses. Moses was like a burning flame. Fire could be taken from him without him being diminished. It was still to Moses that all should look. Joshua understood this rightly (verse 28). Joshua’s understanding failed was in that he did not recognize that it was still open to Yahweh to work as He would, and Moses’ yearning that all the people might have the Spirit.
There can be no real doubt that we are to see here the ‘Spirit of God’. It was He Who possessed Moses. Now He would come on the selected elders too. God Himself would possess them and guide them.
18 Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
Then he was to call the people together and call on them to ‘sanctify themselves’ ready for the next day when He would act and provide them with meat. That is, they had to wash their clothing and ensure that they were ritually clean. By doing this they were made to recognize that what followed did come from Yahweh. They could only receive it by preparing themselves. God wanted this to be a spiritual experience for them which would then turn them to the things of the Spirit.
So Moses must not allow them to get away scot free. They were to be made aware that God knew of their behavior. When they had wept they had wept in the ears of Yahweh. He had been fully aware of their weeping, and the true reason that lay behind it. They had said, “Who will give us flesh to eat for it was well with us in Egypt” ’. They had turned away from God’s purposes for them, back to Egypt. Hopefully when they heard this they would feel ashamed for the truth was that it had not been well with them in Egypt. The Egyptians had not come to them saying, ‘Here you are, have as much meat as you want’. But now Yahweh would. Yahweh would give them flesh to eat.
19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ” 21 And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
Moses could not believe his ears. Where was Yahweh going to get so much meat from? Were there not six hundred units of foot men to be fed, to say nothing of their families? And yet Yahweh had promised that they would have food for a whole month. Would it mean killing their flocks and herds? That was something that they did not wish to do. They would need those when they entered the land. Or were there enough fish available in the nearest sea to meet their needs? He was clutching at straws. He did not believe that God could do it. How quickly even Moses had forgotten what God had done in Egypt.
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
Yahweh challenged him in return. Did he really think that Yahweh’s arm had been foreshortened? Did he really think that anything was too hard for Him? Let him wait and see. He would soon see whether Yahweh’s promise came about or not.
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle.
As ever Moses obeyed Yahweh. Firstly he informed the whole people of what Yahweh had said, and then he elected out and appointed the seventy elders. Having done so he brought them round the Tent of meeting, Yahweh’s Tabernacle.
There is an interesting spiritual contrast here. The people were told that they would receive flesh but the elders would receive the Spirit, and the people were not jealous. As far as they were concerned the elders could have the Spirit if they could have the flesh! It illustrated their state of heart.
25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
Then Yahweh Himself came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Moses was still pre-eminent. And He took from him something of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. The evidence of what had happened was revealed in that they ‘prophesied’. They spoke in a way which made it clear to all that the Spirit was speaking through them, although what they said was not recorded. We may probably assume that it was in praise of Yahweh. However, they did not become prophets. It was a once for all occurrence. ‘They did so no more’. But it was now clear to all that these were Yahweh’s men, empowered and illuminated by Him.
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.
But two of the men, Eldad and Medad, for some reason had not gone out to the Tent. However, our Great God Yahweh knew where they were (we need not fear, He always knows where we are), and the Spirit also came on them and they prophesied in the camp. God ensured that the number was complete, and that not one was lacking. This also emphasizes that the experience was not one aroused by the atmosphere in which they had gathered.
27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
The phenomenon was so striking that a youth ran from the camp to tell Moses. Moses had many who were loyal to him and jealous for his reputation and standing. The youth told him that Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the camp. Possibly he feared treachery and a rival ministry to that of Moses.
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
Joshua who was with Moses as he ever was because he was his loyal ‘servant’, and who was also one of the seventy immediately stood up for his master. He turned loyally to Moses and called on him to forbid them from prophesying. Moses must ensure that he maintained his authority.
29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
But Moses knew that it was of Yahweh. He was not concerned for his own position, only for what was to the glory of Yahweh. And he turned to Joshua and assured him that he did not need to seek to defend Moses’ position when God was at work. Indeed his longing was that all Yahweh’s people might be prophets and that Yahweh would put His Spirit on them all. Burdened with their constant yearning for flesh to eat he would have loved it if only their yearning had been for the Spirit. If only all of them had wanted to supplant him as prophets in the will of Yahweh, his problems would be no more.
30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Then Moses and all the elders left the Tent and returned to the camp. There was clearly a sense in which the Tabernacle was seen as separate from the camp even though it was in its midst. It was holy ground. To enter it was for a while to leave the camp. But while they left the Tabernacle the Spirit of Yahweh still remained on them. They returned to the camp with the Spirit, to a camp whose only thought was the flesh.
In the same way we can enter ‘the heavenly places’ when we pray. Our bodies may remain on earth, but we in our spirits move into God’s domain. Indeed Paul could tell us that those who walk with Him walk constantly in heavenly places where we are seated in Christ (Ephesians 2.6), for we are to ‘pray without ceasing’. And so, as with the seventy, the Spirit will continue with us and never leave us. We walk in Heaven while we walk on earth.
In accordance with His second promise to Moses Yahweh now sent meat from the skies. A ‘ruach’ (spirit, wind) from Yahweh brought quails to the camp in huge quantities. But the people immediately demonstrated their unbelief. They stored the quails instead of trusting Yahweh for His daily provision (compare what some did with the manna - Exodus 16.19-20) and the quails went bad and brought a great plague.
31 Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground.
As the Lord promised He sent meat for the people in abundance. Quails were driven towards the camp. The quails came in abundance and fell to the ground beside the camp in huge quantities.
32 And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
When the people saw this they raced to gather them, and spent about 36 hours gathering as many as they could. They gathered huge quantities and stored them around the camp. But they were so many that they could not properly dry them out. Ten homers was about 2,200 liters. What a sad state of heart is revealed here. We do not read that they became excited because the Spirit came on the elders. But we do read that when meat came they were clearly so excited that they had no time to think about what had happened to the elders. They overlooked that God had come among them in spiritual power, that the Spirit’s power was being revealed. All they could think of was that there was meat to be had!
In doing so they forgot, or ignored, Yahweh’s demand that they did not touch dead bodies lest they be rendered ‘unclean’. To take the exhausted quails and kill and eat them was one thing. To store them as dead meat by laying them out to dry and then eating them was another. It was in direct disobedience to Yahweh, and, as we now know, in a hot country was asking for trouble.
33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.
The result was that even while they were eating them they were smitten with a great plague. This was the result of the ‘anger of Yahweh’. They were acting in gross disobedience. Had they only eaten quails which they slew and ate immediately as fresh meat they would not have suffered? But they did not trust Yahweh to continue His provision and stored the birds and then ate of their dead carcasses. Thus they rendered themselves deliberately ‘unclean’, and therefore liable to ‘wrath’. And birds in such a condition, insufficiently dried out, could only spread disease.
We are intended to see the contrast between these people and the godly elders. The elders had gone into a holy place, the place of life, to receive their blessing. Their thoughts were centered on Yahweh. They enjoyed ‘life’. The people had gone ‘outside the camp’ to receive flesh, and had sinned. Their thoughts were on the satisfaction of their own selfish desires. And the result was that they became entangled with ‘death’, and therefore their blessing became a curse. And yet both were living together in the camp. The same is so true today. There are those who would enjoy true blessing, and while they must live in the world, they seek their blessing in His holy place, in Heaven itself. Others are filled with the desires of life, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the mind and the pride of life. And they are so taken up with these that the Spirit passes them by. We must never secularize holy things. We must choose between life and death, not compromise them.
34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
Here was their epitaph. The name of the place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, ‘the graves of craving’ because there the people’s craving led in many cases to their deaths. It was there that they buried the people who were so greedy. The mind of the flesh leads to death, the mind of the Spirit leads to life and peace (Romans 8.6). If only they had craved the Spirit it would have led them to mountains of blessing not graves of craving.
