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Numbers Chapter 11

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¹ And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

² And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.

³ And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

⁴ And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵ We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

⁶ But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

⁷ And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.

⁸ And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

⁹ And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

¹⁰ Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

¹¹ And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

¹² Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

¹³ Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

¹⁴ I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

¹⁵ And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

¹⁶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.

¹⁷ And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

¹⁸ And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.

¹⁹ Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

²⁰ But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

²¹ And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

²² Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?

²³ And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

²⁴ And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.

²⁵ And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.

²⁶ But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷ And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

²⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

²⁹ And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

³⁰ And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹ And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

³² And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

³³ And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

³⁴ And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

³⁵ And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

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View All Numbers Chapter 11 Comments...

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 11 comment about verse 23 on 4/30/2023, 7:47pm...

Pt.2



Moses was also bringing his complaint to God, but God was not angry with Moses as He was with the complaining multitude. God was merciful to Moses and explained that the Holy Spirit would be placed upon 70 elders along with Moses. These elders spoke by the Holy Spirit to the people throughout the camp. I imagine that what they said did not conflict with each other because the Holy Spirit would not do that.

Here Moses learned that he did not have to carry the burden of being the spokesman for the LORD by Himself-God was bigger than that! he also learned that the Holy Spirit was so great that He could be placed upon many people and not just one-himself. Then Moses in verse 29 states to Joshua that he desired for all of God's people to have the Holy Spirit upon them and would prophesy for the LORD.

After the seventy were endowed with the Holy Spirit, Moses and these men went into the camp. God brought in an enormous amount of quail on a strong wind. The quail was stacked waist high or more in the area. The people went out and collected the quail and distributed it evenly throughout the camp. The people gorged themselves on the quail and God sent a plague upon the people. Those who lusted for the meat died and they were buried at this place Moses named Kibroth-hattaavah.

Then the nation travelled from this place to Hazeroth, where they abode.

What lessons Moses and the people were learning from their disobedience and distrust of God. They had not learned yet that God is what they truly need above all else. Perhaps this is why He gave them a daily diet of Manna, so that they would realize that food is not what sustains them but YHWH. A varied diet that they had to cultivate and work for would get their eyes off of YHWH and trust in themselves and their own skill at producing food. They even could not eat of the flocks since these were for the sacrifices and for them to bring into the promised land. They were to resist temptation, but had difficulty with that

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 11 comment about verse 23 on 4/30/2023, 7:22pm...

In this chapter is an account of the people complaining for food other than the manna. It is similar to Exodus chapter 16, so I do not know if it is the same incident or another. If it is another incident then the Israelites did not learn their lesson the first time they asked for meat, did they!

The complaining of the people always cause God to be angry with them. He was their portion and was able to fill them with what He knew they needed. The people complained to God and His holy fire went and burned those in the outskirts of the camp. They cried out to Moses to get YHWH to stop the fire. Moses interceded and God stopped the burning fire.

Among the Israelites were people who were mixed-some were of Israeli/Gentile parentage; others were gentiles. These mixed peoples began to lust for meat and for the type of diet they enjoyed in Egypt. The Israelites joined them in this lusting. They complained in their tents where only God would know. They complained with weeping about the manna being the only food before their eyes. Moses went about the tents and heard them weeping and complaining.

Moses was fed up. He was overwhelmed. He was discouraged. He was so low that he asked God to kill him so he would be free of the burdens of his life. Is there a hint of Moses believing in an afterlife free of wretchedness in vs. 15? The verse says that Moses considered it to be favored of God to be killed to be freed.

Regardless, Moses was unable to bear the burdens of the needs of the people any longer. He was at the breaking point, equating the burden of the welfare of the multitude to that of mother of multiples whom she was trying to nurse each and everyone to satisfaction. Nursing and infant is not very much of a burden. It is necessary for the child to consume what the mother alone could supply by God's design, but when a pregnancy results in triplets, quads, quints and more, one mother just cannot successfully meet the nourishment needs of all of them. .. cont. to pt. 2

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