�UMBERS 11 COMME�TARYWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

I quote old and new authors in this study designed to bring together all that is available on this texts seldom studied or preached on. Sometimes I do not have the author of the quote, and if it can be shown to me who it is, I will gladly give credit. Sometimes I quote an entire sermon because of it unique value, and again, it the author does not wish his or her wisdom share in this way, they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com

I�TRODUCTIO�

1. Seed of Abraham Ministries,Inc., “We've just concluded some chapters in �umbers that gave us a lot of detailed information that has been a bit hard to slog through but it was needed, just as learning multiplication tables is needed if we're going to be able use math in our lives. �umbers chapter 11 however begins a section of Torah that, for me, is one of the most fascinating and informative. It tells the story of the 38 years of Israel wandering in the Wilderness. And the next several chapters have as their theme complaining, lack of faith, and outright rebellion. Even more they record the SEVERE punishments that Yehoveh responded with for these outrages against Him.

This section of the Torah also seemed to fascinate the Apostle Paul. He referred extensively to the Book of �umbers in his writings, particularly when he was writing and speaking to the Corinthians. Apparently he saw great parallels between the behavior and condition of those Corinthians, Jew and gentile, who had come to belief in Christ and those Israelites who trekked around the wilderness of the desert reaches of the Middle East, mostly south of Beer-Sheva, 13 centuries before his day.”

Fire From the LORD

1 �ow 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.

1. Many want to read into “the outskirts of the camp” that it means the Gentiles who followed the Israelites out of Egypt were the ones doing the complaining, and that they are the guilty ones, and the Jews were innocent. Verse ten makes it clear that every family was guilty of doing the complaining, and so you can't justify putting the blame on the rabble only. It was a general mood over all the people, for they were sick and tired of the same old thing day after day. It is somewhat surprising that God was angry with them, for who could be happy with the boring routine of desert living and the same menu every day? It is obvious that the complaining had to be directed at God himself for putting them in this mess. They had lost all gratitude for what God had done for them in delivering them from slavery in Egypt. God experienced here the anger of a parent with ungrateful kids who have been given everything, but who have no words of gratitude, but only griping that they don't get even more. God gets it when you want to smack your kids into next week.

1B. Barnes, “See the marginal rendering. They murmured against the privations of the march.The fire of the Lord - Probably lightning; compare Psa_78:21.

In the uttermost parts - Rather, in the end. The fire did not reach far into the camp. It was quickly quenched at the intercession of Moses.

2. Clarke, “And when the people complained - What the cause of this complaining was, we know not. The conjecture of St. Jerome is probable; they complained because of the length of the way. But surely no people had ever less cause for murmuring; they had God among them, and miracles of goodness were continually wrought in their behalf.

It displeased the Lord - For his extraordinary kindness was lost on such an ungrateful and rebellious people. And his anger was kindled - Divine justice was necessarily incensed against such inexcusable conduct.

And the fire of the Lord burnt among them - Either a supernatural fire was sent for this occasion, or the lightning was commissioned against them, or God smote them with one of those hot suffocating winds which are very common in those countries.

And consumed - in the uttermost parts of the camp - It pervaded the whole camp, from the center to the circumference, carrying death with it to all the murmurers; for we are not to suppose that it was confined to the uttermost parts of the camp, unless we could imagine that there were none culpable any where else. If this were the same with the case mentioned �um_11:4, then, as it is possible that the mixed multitude occupied the outermost parts of the camp, consequently the burning might have been confined to them.

3. Gill, “And when the people complained,.... Or "were as complainers" (p); not merely like to such, but were truly and really complainers, the כ, "caph", here being not a note of similitude, but of truth and reality, as in Hos_5:10. This Hebraism is frequent in the �ew Testament, Mat_14:5. What they complained of is not said, it being that for which there was no foundation; it is generally supposed to be of their journey; but if they were come but eight miles, as observed on �um_10:33; they could not be very weary; and especially as they were marching towards the land of Canaan, it might be thought they would be fond and eager of their journey. Some think it was for want of flesh, being weary of manna, and that this was only the beginning of their

complaints on that head, which opened more afterwards; but if that is the case, one would think that the fire, which consumed many of them, would have put a stop to that. Jarchi says, the word signifies taking an occasion, and that the sense is, that these men sought an occasion how to separate from the Lord; they wanted to return to Egypt again, that was what they were meditating and contriving; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and the ungodly of the people were in distress, and intended and meditated evil before the Lord:"

it displeased the Lord: a murmuring complaining spirit is always displeasing to him, when a thankful heart for mercies received is an acceptable sacrifice; murmurers and complainers God will judge at the great day, Jud_1:14,

and the Lord heard it: though it was an inward secret complaint, or an evil scheme formed in their minds; at most but a muttering, and what Moses had not heard, or had any knowledge of; but God, that knows the secrets of all hearts, and every word in the tongue before it is well formed or pronounced, he heard what they complained of, and what they whispered and muttered to one another about:

and his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them; from the pillar of fire, or from heaven, such as destroyed �adab and Abihu, Lev_10:1; the two hundred fifty men that had censers in Korah's company, �um_16:35; and the captains of fifties that came to take Elijah, 2Ki_1:14; and might be lightning from heaven, or a burning wind sent by the Lord, such as is frequent in the eastern countries. Thevenot (q) speaks of one in 1658, which destroyed at once twenty thousand men:

and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp; who very likely were the principal aggressors; or it began to arouse and terrify the body of the people, and bring them to repentance, who might fear it would proceed and go through the whole camp, the hinder part or rearward of which was the camp of Dan; and so the Targum of Jonathan.

4. Henry, “Here is, I. The people's sin. They complained, �um_11:1. They were, as it were, complainers. So it is in the margin. There were some secret grudgings and discontents among them, which as yet did not break out in an open mutiny. But how great a matter did this little fire kindle! They had received from God excellent laws and ordinances, and yet no sooner had they departed from the mount of the Lord than they began to quarrel with God himself. See in this, 1. The sinfulness of sin, which takes occasion from the commandment to be the more provoking. 2. The weakness of the law through the flesh, Rom_8:3. The law discovered sin, but could not destroy it; checked it, but could not conquer it. They complained. Interpreters enquire what they complained of; and truly, when they were furnished with so much matter for thanksgiving, one may justly wonder where they found any matter for complaint; it is probable that those who complained did not all agree in the cause. Some perhaps complained that they were removed from Mount Sinai, where they had been at rest so long, others that they did not remove sooner: some complained of the weather, others of the ways: some perhaps thought three days' journey was too long a march, others thought it not long enough, because it did not bring them into Canaan. When we consider how their camp was guided, guarded, graced, what good victuals they had and good company, and what care was taken of them in their marches that their feet should not swell nor their clothes wear (Deu_8:4), we may ask, “What could have been done more for a people to make them easy?” And yet they complained. �ote, Those that are of a fretful discontented spirit will always find something or other to quarrel with, though the circumstances of their outward condition be ever so favourable.

II. God's just resentment of the affront given to him by this sin: The Lord heard it, though it does not appear that Moses did. �ote, God is acquainted with the secret frettings and murmurings of the heart, though they are industriously concealed from men. What he took notice of his was much displeased with, and his anger was kindled. �ote, Though God graciously gives us leave to complain to him when there is cause (Psa_142:2), yet he is justly provoked, and takes it very ill, if we complain of him when there is no cause: such conduct in our inferiors provokes us.

III. The judgment wherewith God chastised them for this sin: The fire of the Lord burnt among them, such flashes of fire from the cloud as had consumed �adab and Abihu. The fire of their wrath against God burned in their minds (Psa_39:3), and justly does the fire of God's wrath fasten upon their bodies. We read of their murmurings several times, when they came first out of Egypt, Ex. 15, 16, and 17. But we do not read of any plagues inflicted on them for their murmurings, as there were now; for now they had had great experience of God's care of them, and therefore now to distrust him was so much the more inexcusable. �ow a fire was kindled against Jacob (Psa_78:21), but, to show how unwilling God was to contend with them, it fastened on those only that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. Thus God's judgments came upon them gradually, that they might take warning.

5. Jamison, “When the people complained it displeased the Lord, etc. — Unaccustomed to the fatigues of travel and wandering into the depths of a desert, less mountainous but far more gloomy and desolate than that of Sinai, without any near prospect of the rich country that had been promised, they fell into a state of vehement discontent, which was vented at these irksome and fruitless journeyings. The displeasure of God was manifested against the ungrateful complainers by fire sent in an extraordinary manner. It is worthy of notice, however, that the discontent seems to have been confined to the extremities of the camp, where, in all likelihood, “the mixed multitude” [see on Exo_12:38] had their station. At the intercession of Moses, the appalling judgment ceased [�um_11:2], and the name given to the place, “Taberah” (a burning), remained ever after a monument of national sin and punishment. (See on �um_11:34).

6. K&D, “After a three days' march the Israelites arrived at a resting-place; but the people began at once to be discontented with their situation.

(�ote: The arguments by which Knobel undertakes to prove, that in chs. 11 and 12 of the original work different foreign accounts respecting the first encampments after leaving Sinai have been woven together by the “Jehovist,” are founded upon misinterpretations and arbitrary assumptions and conclusions, such as the assertion that the tabernacle stood outside the camp (chs. �um_11:25; �um_12:5); that Miriam entered the tabernacle (�um_12:4-5); that the original work had already reported the arrival of Israel in Paran in �um_10:12; and that no reference is ever made to a camping-place called Tabeerah, and others of the same kind. For the proof, see the explanation of the verses referred to.)

The people were like those who complain in the ears of Jehovah of something bad; i.e., they behaved like persons who groan and murmur because of some misfortune that has happened to them. �o special occasion is mentioned for the complaint. The words are expressive, no doubt, of the general dissatisfaction and discontent of the people at the difficulties and privations connected with the journey through the wilderness, to which they gave utterance so loudly, that their complaining reached the ears of Jehovah. At this His wrath burned, inasmuch as the complaint was directed against Him and His guidance, “so that fire of Jehovah burned against them, and ate at the end of the camp.” בער ב signifies here, not to burn a person (Job_1:16), but to burn against. “Fire of Jehovah:” a fire sent by Jehovah, but not proceeding directly from Him, or

bursting forth from the cloud, as in Lev_10:2. Whether it was kindled through a flash of lightning, or in some other such way, cannot be more exactly determined. There is not sufficient ground for the supposition that the fire merely seized upon the bushes about the camp and the tents of the people, but not upon human beings (Ros., Knobel). All that is plainly taught in the words is, that the fire did not extend over the whole camp, but merely broke out at one end of it, and sank down again, i.e., was extinguished very quickly, at the intercession of Moses; so that in this judgment the Lord merely manifested His power to destroy the murmurers, that He might infuse into the whole nation a wholesome dread of His holy majesty.

7 Rev. Bruce Goettsche, “These Israelites sounded like a group of kids on vacation with their parents. Maybe they were saying things like,

• are we there yet?

• my feet are sore!

• I don't want to do that!

• Herschel is bothering me.

We know the kinds of things they were saying because we have said them ourselves. In their complaining these people were forgetting that God had brought them out of Egypt with a series of miracles that should have impressed even the most hard-hearted. They were overlooking the fact that they were no longer slaves of cruel taskmaster but were free. Every day God provided for the people. Their clothes and shoes did not wear out. (Deut. 29:5) They may have been in the dessert but they were being cared for by the Lord in a special and remarkable way.

God heard these ungrateful words and we are told that "fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp". There is some question as to whether this fire consumed just the shrubbery and tents of the people on the outskirts or whether it consumed some people as well. Either way, the people were afraid and then they called to Moses. Moses prayed and then the fire died down.

But this does not stop the complaining. We are told that the "rabble" began to complain about the menu. There are always "rabble" in every crowd. It only takes a few people to start complaining and it becomes contagious. That's why we have to be careful about hanging around too much with people who complain all the time . . . they infect us with their negative attitude.

To be honest, we do understand their complaint. There was not much variety to their menu. Every day it was manna. Manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, manna for dinner. I suspect they tried to be creative in how they prepared the manna, but it was still manna. They had manna bread, manna cakes, manna bars, manna mush, manna loaf, and manna soup. Maybe they had manna flakes for breakfast and snacked on manna chips! But the people (at least the rabble rousers) were sick of it.

Instead of talking about this to the Lord, the people began singing the praises of the "good ole days". Of course these were the days before God had rescued them. They remembered the fish (which they were probably sick of in Egypt), and the fresh produce that used to adorn their tables. They painted quite a picture of what used to be. Some of us don't realize how "bad" we have it until someone points it out to us!

Complainers remember selectively. We remember the good ole days of high school but forget how often we felt lost, excluded and confused. We remember the good ole days of past relationships and forget that the reason they were past relationships was because we didn't really get along all that well. We remember the great friends we used to have . . . but forget that if they

were such great friends we would still have them. Complainers remember the past selectively and magnify the problems of the present disproportionately. They are like the guy who during a power failure, complained of having gotten stuck for hours on the escalator

There are several things we need to keep in mind when we are tempted to complain in the demanding times of life (and we all do on occasion).

1. Complaining doesn't help anything and doesn't make us feel any better (even though you would think it must make us feel better because we do it so much)

2. Complaining is really a lack of appreciation for what God has provided . . it indicates a lack of gratitude

3. Complaining is really a lack of faith. We show that we do not have confidence in God's ability and wisdom to provide what's best. A faithful person sees and opportunity or a lesson rather than an obstacle.

4. Complaining focuses on problems rather than solutions 5. Complaining drags down the people around us

8. Ron Daniel, “If you're not reading the �ASB, you'll find a difference in your Bible translation in verse 1. The true Hebrew meaning comes through accurately in the �ew American Standard. Literally it is, "And the people were as complainers evil in the ears of the Lord."We should recognize this - they were like those who complain of adversity - they themselves were not in adversity. They were being led and provided for by God, and yet they were complaining.In the book of �ehemiah, the Levites prayed,�eh. 9:18-21 "Even when they made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, 'This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt,' And committed great blasphemies, Thou, in Thy great compassion, Didst not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, �or the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them, Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth, And Thou didst give them water for their thirst. Indeed, forty years Thou didst provide for them in the wilderness {and} they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.God had been, and would continue to, take care of them. But all they could do was complain, as if they were in some terrible adversity. So God became angry and began to judge the complainers.

9. Seed of Abraham Ministries,Inc., “ says that the people became a group of complainers. Actually we're not told exactly what they were complaining about. Yet we can infer that it had to do with the difficult marching they were currently enduring because the verses just preceding 11: 1 (that is the last several verses of chapter 10) are all about their marching and following the fire-cloud.

And in all fairness the degree of difficulty they were facing was formidable. Can you imagine the amount of choking dust kicked into the air by 2 -3 million people and hundreds of thousands of animals? They were not on some nicely groomed highway although they would have been following some type of known trail; but where I believe they were (north of Midian in the hilly and rocky desert terrain) was very challenging to walk over. Every family had small children. Every family had elderly and infirm. In the winter the nighttime temperatures often dropped below freezing; every day during in the extended summer season it was well over 100 degrees. This was not, under the best of circumstances, a pleasant time.

Worse they took their complaint directly to the Lord. And the text says it was bitter complaining. Actually the word for bitter complaint in Hebrew is " 'al ra'". Al meaning complaint and ra literally meaning evil. So while bitter is correct, we need to understand that the essence of the word bitter is rooted in evil. The idea of this phrase is that the Israelites responded to God's tov.....His kindness, His good......with ra'....... Evil, bitterness.

The result of this unbelievably brazen act was that God punished them with fire. What was this fire? Well, first and foremost it was divine and supernatural. It may have been lightening. It may have been similar to what Yehoveh rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Whatever it was it did �OT come from the Wilderness Tabernacle that was in their midst; and we can know this because it says the fire broke out on the "outskirts" of the encampment.

10. Dean Rhine, “In regions of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry, boil their clothes in the hot springs, and then rinse them in the cold springs. A tourist watching this procedure once commented to his Mexican guide, “They must think God is generous to provide so much free hot and could water!” The guide replied, “�o, s˜enor, there is much grumbling because he does not supply the soap!”

11. Spurgeon's helpful notes, “I have read of Caesar, that, having prepared a great feast for his nobles and friends, it fell out that the day appointed was so extremely foul that nothing could be done to the honor of their meeting; whereupon he was so displeased and enraged, that he commanded all them that had bows to shoot up their arrows at Jupiter, their chief god, as in defiance of him for that rainy weather; which, when they did, their arrows fell short of heaven, and fell upon their own heads, so that many of them were very sorely wounded. So all our mutterings and murmurings, which are so many arrows shot at God himself, will return upon our own pates, or hearts; they reach not him, but they will hit us; they hurt not him, but they will wound us therefore, it is better to be mute than to murmur; it is dangerous to contend with one who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29 note).—Thomas Brooks

God hath much ado with us. Either we lack health, or quietness, or children, or wealth, or company, or ourselves in all these. It is a wonder the Israelites found not fault with the want of sauce to their quails, or with their old clothes, or their solitary way. �ature is moderate in her desires; but conceit is insatiable.— Bp. Hall

Murmuring is a quarreling with God, and inveighing against him. "They spake against God" (�um. 21:5). The murmurer saith interpretatively that God hath not dealt well with him, and that he hath deserved better from him. The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy, of a murmuring spirit — God might have been a wiser and a better God. The murmurer is a mutineer. The Israelites are called in the same text "murmurers" and "rebels" (�um. 17:10); and is not rebellion as the sin of witchcraft? (1 Sam. 15:23). Thou that art a murmurer art in the account of God as a witch, a sorcerer, as one that deals with the devil. This is a sin of the first magnitude. Murmuring often ends in cursing: Micah's mother fell to cursing when the talents of silver were taken away (see note Judges 17:2). So doth the murmurer when a part of his estate is taken away. Our murmuring is the devil's music; this is that sin which God cannot bear: "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?" (�um. 14:27). It is a sin which whets the sword against a people; it is a land-destroying sin: "�either murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (1 Cor. 10:10). — Thomas Watson

Losing our temper with God is a more common thing in the spiritual life than many suppose.— F. W. Faber

Life is a field of nettles to some men. Their fretful, worrying tempers are always pricking out through the tender skin of their uneasiness. Why, if they were set down in Paradise, carrying their bad mind with them, they would fret at the good angels, and the climate, and the colors even of the roses.— Dr. Bushnell

I dare no more fret than curse or swear.— John Wesley

A child was crying in passion, and I heard its mother say, "If you cry for nothing, I will soon give you something to cry for" From the sound of her hand, I gathered the moral that those who cry about nothing are making a rod for their own backs, and will probably be made to smart under it.

2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down.

1. Prayer can quench fire as we see it here with the prayer of Moses. What could Moses do when he heard the cries of fear from the people who saw the flames? All he could do was pray. He had no fire truck to send to put out the blaze, and so he used the only weapon weak men can use against an overwhelming power beyond their means to fight. He went to the Lord in prayer, and that was the weapon that made the lack of all other weapons not a major issue. So many times in life, all we can do is pray, for the issue is out of our control and we have no other resource to deal with it. Prayer is all we have, and it is enough.

The people often complained of Moses too, but they knew he had a special relationship to God, and so when there was a crisis they turned to Moses for intercession with God. They had confidence in his ability to get God to modify his behavior for their benefit.

1B. Ron Daniel, “�otice that the fire didn't quit until Moses interceded in prayer. Moses had an awesome ministry of intercession between God and the Israelites. Every time you turn around, Moses is having to pray to God not to give the Israelites what they deserve.What an example for us! We are continually told in Scripture to appeal to the mercy of God - for those that don't deserve it. That is in fact the definition of mercy - not getting what you deserve. Thus, Jesus told us,Matt. 5:44 "...I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you"What a difficult but necessary lesson. What a godly example Moses shows us!

2. Gill, “And the people cried unto Moses,.... And entreated him to pray for them, being frightened at the fire which consumed many of them, lest it should spread and become general

among them: and when Moses prayed unto the Lord; as he did, in which he was a type of Christ, the mediator between God and man, the advocate of his people, an intercessor for transgressors: the fire was quenched; it stopped and proceeded no further; as through Christ's mediation God is pacified with his people for all that they have done, and his wrath, and all the effects of it, are turned away from them, and entirely cease with respect to them; or it "sunk down" (r) into its place, as the Targum of Jonathan, as if it rose out of the earth. This may serve to confirm the notion of its being a burning wind, to which the idea of sinking down and subsiding well agrees.

3. Henry, “The prevalency of Moses's intercession for them: When Moses prayed unto the Lord (he was always ready to stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of God) God had respect to him and his offering, and the fire was quenched. By this it appears that God delights not in punishing, for, when he has begun his controversy, he is soon prevailed with to let it fall. Moses was one of those worthies who by faith quenched the violence of fire.”

3 So that place was called Taberah, [a] because fire from the LORD had burned among them.

1. When you travel and see towns with strange names you know there is a story about why that name was chosen. So it is in the Bible. Many towns and places are named because of the events that took place there. This event of burning impressed everyone, and so it was a logical thing to give it this name of burning. This does not happen everyday, and so unique experiences lead to strange names being given to places. That place becomes a part of the history of God's people. They camped in many different places, but they did not get a name, for nothing happened there to make it stand out as a place to remember.

1B. Barnes, “Taberah - i. e. “burning:” not the name of a station, and accordingly not found in the list given in �um. 33, but the name of the spot where the fire broke out. This incident might seem (compare �um_11:34) to have occurred at the station called, from another still more terrible event which shortly followed, Kibroth-hattaavah.

2. Gill, “ And he called the name of the place Taberah,.... That is, "burning": Moses called it so; or it may be rendered impersonally, it was called (s) so in later times by the people:

because the fire of the Lord burnt among them; to perpetuate the, memory of this kind of punishment for their sins, that it might be a terror and warning to others; and this history is indeed recorded for our caution in these last days, that we murmur not as these Israelites did, and were destroyed of the destroyer, 1Co_10:10.

3. Henry, “. A new name given hereupon to the place, to perpetuate the shame of a murmuring

people and the honour of a righteous God; the place was called Taberah, a burning (�um_11:3), that others might hear, and fear, and take warning not to sin as they did, lest they should smart as they did, 1Co_10:10.

4. K&D, “From this judgment the place where the fire had burned received the name of “Tabeerah,” i.e., burning, or place of burning. �ow, as this spot is distinctly described as the end or outermost edge of the camp, this “place of burning” must not be regarded, as it is by Knobel and others, as a different station from the “graves of lust.” “Tabeerah was simply the local name give to a distant part of the whole camp, which received soon after the name of Kibroth-Hattaavah, on account of the greater judgment which the people brought upon themselves through their rebellion. This explains not only the omission of the name Tabeerah from the list of encampments in �um_33:16, but also the circumstance, that nothing is said about any removal from Tabeerah to Kibroth-Hattaavah, and that the account of the murmuring of the people, because of the want of those supplies of food to which they had been accustomed in Egypt, is attached, without anything further, to the preceding narrative. There is nothing very surprising either, in the fact that the people should have given utterance to their wish for the luxuries of Egypt, which they had been deprived of so long, immediately after this judgment of God, if we only understand the whole affair as taking place in exact accordance with the words of the texts, viz., that the unbelieving and discontented mass did not discern the chastising hand of God at all in the conflagration which broke out at the end of the camp, because it was not declared to be a punishment from God, and was not preceded by a previous announcement; and therefore that they gave utterance in loud murmurings to the discontent of their hearts respecting the want of flesh, without any regard to what had just befallen 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!

1. Barnes, “The mixt multitude - The word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (see Exo_12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt.

2. Clarke, “The mixed multitude - האספסף hasaphsuph, the collected or gathered people. Such as came out of Egypt with the Israelites; and are mentioned Exo_12:38. This mongrel people, who had comparatively little of the knowledge of God, feeling the difficulties and fatigues of the journey, were the first to complain; and then we find the children of Israel joined them in their complainings, and made a common cause with these demi-infidels.

2B. “We are also easily influenced by the crowd and those who appear to be the leaders of that

crowd. Hang out with a group of people who tend to criticize things around them and see what happens with your own spirit and heart, on the other hand this same principle is what makes going to Church so powerful, you're in a group, the focus of the group and the leadership is to worship and praise God … and so it affects you positively!

Discontent is a very real part of our fallen nature, the essence of the first sin was discontent with not being able to take from one tree, one whose fruit looked good, and discontent over a God who would keep them from knowledge and evil so they could be like God! Mankind's heart leans toward discontent!” author unknown

3. Gill, “And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting,.... These came out of Egypt with them, Exo_12:38; having either contracted affinity with them, or such intimacy of conversation, that they could not part, or being proselyted to the Jewish religion, at least in pretence; these were not only Egyptians, but a mixture of divers people, who having heard or seen the wonderful things done for Israel, joined them in hopes of sharing the blessings of divine goodness with them; so the Targum of Jonathan calls them proselytes, that were gathered among them: these "lusted a lusting" (t), as the words may be rendered; not after women, as some Jewish writers (u) think, even after such that were near akin to them, with whom they were forbidden to marry, and therefore desired to have those laws dissolved; but they lusted after eating flesh taken in a proper sense, as the latter part of the verse and the whole context show:

and the children of Israel also wept again; they lusted after flesh likewise, following the example of the mixed multitude; thus evil communication corrupts good manners, 1Co_15:33; and a little leaven leavens the whole lamp, 1Co_5:6; wicked men prove great snares to, and do much mischief among good men, when they get into their societies, Jer_5:26, and because the Israelites could not have what they would to gratify their lusts, they wept as children do, when they cannot have what they are desirous of; and they wept "again", for it seems they had wept before, either when they complained, �um_11:1; or at Rephidim, where they wanted water, Exo_17:1, as here flesh, or before that when they wanted bread, Exo_16:3,

and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? shall Moses, or even the Lord himself? from lusting they fell to unbelief and distrust of the power and providence of God; for so the Psalmist interprets this saying of theirs, Psa_78:19.

4. Henry, “These verses represent things sadly unhinged and out of order in Israel, both the people and the prince uneasy.

I. Here is the people fretting, and speaking against God himself (as it is interpreted, Psa_78:19), notwithstanding his glorious appearances both to them and for them. Observe,

1. Who were the criminals. (1.) The mixed multitude began, they fell a lusting, �um_11:4. The rabble that came with them out of Egypt, expecting only the land of promise, but not a state of probation in the way to it. They were hangers on, who took hold of the skirts of the Jews, and would go with them only because they knew not how to live at home, and were disposed to seek their fortunes (as we say) abroad. These were the scabbed sheep that infected the flock, the leaven that leavened the whole lump. �ote, A few factious, discontented, ill-natured people, may do a great deal of mischief in the best societies, if great care be not taken to discountenance them. Such as these are an untoward generation, from which it is our wisdom to save ourselves,

Act_2:40. (2.) Even the children of Israel took the infection, as we are informed, �um_11:4. The holy seed joined themselves to the people of these abominations. The mixed multitude here spoken of were not numbered with the children of Israel, but were set aside as a people God made no account of; and yet the children of Israel, forgetting their own character and distinction, herded themselves with them and learned their way, as if the scum and outcasts of the camp were to be the privy-counsellors of it. The children of Israel, a people near to God and highly privileged, yet drawn into rebellion against him! O how little honour has God in the world, when even the people which he formed for himself, to show forth his praise, were so much a dishonour to him! Therefore let none think that their external professions and privileges will be their security either against Satan's temptations to sin or God's judgments for sin. See 1Co_10:1, 1Co_10:2, 1Co_10:12.

5. Jamison, “the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting — These consisted of Egyptians. [See on Exo_12:38.] To dream of banquets and plenty of animal food in the desert becomes a disease of the imagination; and to this excitement of the appetite no people are more liable than the natives of Egypt. But the Israelites participated in the same feelings and expressed dissatisfaction with the manna on which they had hitherto been supported, in comparison with the vegetable luxuries with which they had been regaled in Egypt.

6. Seed of Abraham Ministries,Inc., “�ow the first words of verse 4 indicate that it was a certain group of people who began the complaint for meat and then the complaining spread throughout the camp. And that group of complainers is called, in Hebrew, 'asafsuf; and it means rabble, riffraff. This term is constructed very similarly to another unique Hebrew word that was used back in Exodus: 'erev rav, which means mixed multitude. Scholars are fairly unanimous that 'asafsuf is referring to that mixed multitude; the thousands of non-Israelites that followed along from Egypt and were required to camp on the outskirts of the Israelite encampment. In other words these complainers were resident aliens; they were the folks who were �OT Hebrews; they were foreigners who wished to remain foreign. �o doubt the reference to the fire breaking out in the outskirts of the camp in the first rebellion is connected with the use of the word 'asafsuf to describe just WHO it was who started all the complaining for more variety in their diets. These first two rebellions began due to the pagans who had attached themselves to Israel, but who also did not share their faith or their mission. They just wanted whatever benefit they could glean from being near this favored people, but also wanted to avoid the difficulties.”

7. Theodore Epp, “Complaining Is Contagious

The mixed multitude (�um. 11:4) was probably a group of Gentiles who left Egypt with the Israelites. Although the complaining was started by the mixed multitude, the Israelites were also guilty of complaining.

This indicates how infectious a complaining attitude can be. Because every person has a sin nature, it does not take long even for believers to become disheartened and to develop an attitude of complaining against the goodness of God.

After salvation, Christians too often remember what they enjoyed in the world and occasionally long for the pleasures of sin. When this happens, the believer is guilty of leaving his first love.

Christians who have not grown spiritually as they should, through the reading of God's Word and applying it to daily life, find it easy to murmur as the Israelites did.

Only a small minority may begin the complaining, but the Christian who is not mature is also susceptible. Just as the bark of one dog can start a whole group of dogs barking, one complaining believer can affect an entire group.

Many pastors have had their hearts broken, and church work has been greatly hampered by a few disgruntled people who influence the entire church.

Every church group seems to have a few people who find it easy to complain about anything. Unless the other believers are mature, they will soon follow the pattern of the murmuring, weak believer.

"Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door" (James 5:9, �ASB).

8. Charles Whitaker, Exodus 12:38 tells us the "mixed multitude went up with" the children of Israel. These folk fell in step with God's army as it marched out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. For how long? Their presence during the quail incident, cited above, indicates that these peoples were still with the Israelites at least one year after the first Passover. That means that the mixed multitude was present at Mount Sinai, some fifty days after the Red Sea crossing. This means they were present at the giving of the Law!Whoever they were, the peoples of the mixed multitude were much more than just witnesses of God's strength. Even the unbelieving Egyptians witnessed that! The mixed multitude partook of God's grace, experienced it with the children of Israel. Whoever they were, these people were fellow-travelers with Israel for a time, experiencing with them the power of God as He pulled them "out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 4:20; see also I Kings 8:51; Jeremiah 11:4).

Both Israel and the mixed multitude experienced His might as He destroyed the most powerful nation on earth at that time. They both experienced deliverance from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. They both experienced the shaking of Sinai as God thundered the Ten Commandments. They both ate the manna and drank water from the Rock! They both were baptized in the Red Sea (see I Corinthians 10:1-4). The folk God calls the "mixed multitude" were partakers with Israel!

9. John W. Ritenbaugh , “The Israelites were out in a wilderness area, and they were on the move. They did not have any gardens or stores to run to. There was nothing they could zip in and out of to get what they needed. They were completely dependent upon what God gave them. Even water wells were scarce and far between.They had their flocks and herds with them, but if they had eaten those things (remember, they numbered over two million people) they would soon have been gone. Additionally, because they were on the move, they could not stop and allow all the animals to reproduce and keep things going. They were between a rock and a hard place, as it were. God had to be the One who supplied their need.

What was God giving them? There would be an occasional rock that Moses would whack, and water would come out, and there was the manna every morning. Everyday, the people had

manna pancakes, then for lunch they had manna hamburgers, and for dinner they had manna salad and manna roast. Everything was manna! They ground it up, beat it, boiled it, baked it; they did everything they possibly could to get some kind of variety. But everyday they ate manna.

Would we enjoy eating the same basic thing everyday? Most of us would not. The Israelites did not either, but in this chapter there is a spiritual lesson that God was working out because He knew that, sooner or later, His church would come along and need to learn principles from the lives and experiences of these people.”

10. THE GRUMBLERS In country, town, or city, Some people can be found Who spend their lives a grumblin’ At everything around. They grumble, grumble, grumble �o matter what we say. For these are chronic grumblers; They grumble night and day. They grumble at the preacher; They grumble at his prayer; They grumble at the offering They grumble everywhere. They stay away from meetin’ Because it’s hot or cold Or when it looks like rainin’; A headache or a cold. They grumble when it’s rainin’ They grumble when it’s dry; And if a little chilly, they Grumble and they sigh. And when they go out shoppin’ And see the price is high, They grumble, grumble, grumble, They’ll grumble ’til they die. Author unknown

5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.

1. How long can you eat at the burger barn before you get a craving for Red Lobster? They remember the good old days as being all wonderful and great, even though they hated it enough to pack up and leave when they got the chance to do so. We all tend to fantasize about the good old days when we think everything was better, but seldom is it really true. I wrote a poem about this obsession with the past.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS BY GLE�� PEASE

I. In good old days so long ago, Cars were started with a crank. And if you had plenty of dough, Cans were safer than the bank.

Cooking was done on a wood stove. Grandma slaved over it long. People wore what they sewed or wove. Survival was for the strong.

Chorus: Though good old days were once a craze, I'd not go back if I could. I'm happy history's through that phase. Good old days are gone for good.

II. Farmer's labored with horse and mule, An acre took them all day. Cow's provided milk and fuel, And their kids could sleep on hay.

Children had to walk to school, Even though miles one way. The dunce sat upon a stool, Until he'd learn to obey.

III. Canned things were kept in the cellar Dug six feet under the ground. Pretty girls for a feller Were often hard to be found.

Dating called for a chaperone, And you couldn't stay out late. It was so hard to get alone, To sneak a kiss from your date.

IV. You had to walk to the biffy Every season of the year. Making it was sometimes iffy, And sometimes you froze your rear.

Corn cobs would then be your best bet �o Charmin would you find there. This was as good as it would get As you shivered cold and bare.

V. Church services lasted hours. The pews were of solid wood. It took great enduring powers, Even if preaching was good.

The sermon was often so long, Staying awake was a chore. They sang joyfully that last song, As they eyed that open door.

VI. Then, no doubt, some things were better, But life often was too hard. It took weeks to get a letter. Clothing you bought by the yard.

There was no computer or fax, �o one dreamed of a T.V. They watched their wood burn to relax. Children, for fun, climbed a tree.

VII. A quill pen was state of the art, If a letter you would write. Colored paper then played no part, You were limited to white.

Life was plain and life was simple, You had to create your fun. There was no cure for the pimple, Anywhere under the sun.

Chorus: Though good old days were once a craze, I'd not go back if I could. I'm happy history's through that phase. Good old days are gone for good.

1B. Barnes, “The natural dainties of Egypt are set forth in this passage with the fullness and relish which bespeak personal experience.

2. Clarke, “We remember, etc. - The choice aliments which those murmurers complained of having lost by their leaving Egypt, were the following: fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. A European may smile at such delicacies; but delicacies they were in that country. Their fish is excellent; their cucumbers and water melons highly salubrious and refreshing; and their onions, garlic, etc., exquisitely flavoured, differing as much from vegetables of the same species in these northern climes as a bad turnip does from a good apple. In short, this enumeration takes in almost all the commonly attainable delicacies in those countries.

2B. Seed of Abraham ministries, “�ow the next verse adds an interesting twist. Why were they complaining about meat? They had herds and flocks. The meat they wanted was fish! Why fish? Because that was their main diet for protein when they were slaves in Egypt.

A fascinating series of finds around Avaris, and at the foot of the pyramids of Giza, and near the fabulous underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, all confirm that the staple food for the laborers, the construction workers whether Hebrew or Egyptian was fish. Enormous quantities of fish bones were found everywhere scattered in what were obviously well equipped eating areas that could feed hundreds at a time. And that makes sense. The �ile was a great source of fish. It was a VERY long river that stretched the length of Egypt. So pretty much anywhere one was in Egypt fish was abundant and available. And, fish could be easily dried, preserved and transported. Cattle could only be raised in certain areas of Egypt where there was sufficient pastureland and beef spoiled in hours. So beef was more expensive and less available except to the wealthier of society.”

3. Gill, “We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely,.... Fish was food the Egyptians much lived upon; for though Herodotus says the priests might not taste of fish, the common people ate much; yea, he himself says that some lived upon nothing else but fish gutted and dried in the sun; and he observes, that the kings of Egypt had a great revenue from hence (w); the river �ile, as Diodorus Siculus (x) says, abounded with all kind of fish, and with an incredible number, so that there was a plenty of them, and to be bought cheap; and so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret the word freely, of a small price, as if they had them for nothing almost; but surely they forgot how dear they paid for their fish, by their hard toil, labour, and service. �ow this, with what follows, they call to mind, to increase their lust, and aggravate their present condition and circumstances:

the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; in the Hebrew language, the word for "cucumbers" has the signification of hardness, because they are hard of digestion In the Talmud (y) they are so called, because they are as harmful to the body as swords; though it is said in the same, that Antoninus always had them at his table; and Suetonius (z) and Pliny (a) say, that they were in great esteem with the emperors Augustus and Tiberias; though some think what they call cucumbers were melons. We are told (b), that the Egyptian cucumbers are very different from our European ones, which in the eastern countries serve only to feed hogs with, and not men; but the Egyptian cucumber, called "chate", differs from the common one in size, colour, and softness; and not only its leaves, but its fruit, are different from ours, being

sweeter to the taste, and of more easy digestion, and reckoned to be very wholesome to the bodies of men: and so their "melons" are different from ours, which they call "abdellavi", to distinguish them from others called "chajar", which are of little use for food, and not pleasant, and more insipid, and of a softer pulp (c): as for the "leeks, onions, and garlic", that these were commonly and in great plenty eaten of by the Egyptians appears from the vast sums of money spent upon the men that worked in building one of the pyramids, in radishes, onions, and garlic only, which Herodotus (d), Diodorus Siculus (e), and Pliny (f) make mention of. Indeed, in later times these were worshipped as gods, and not suffered to be eaten, as Pliny (g) and Juvenal (h) inform us; but there is little reason to believe that this kind of idolatry obtained so early as the time of Israel's being in Egypt; though some have thought that these were cheaper because of that, and so the Israelites could more easily come at them; but if that had been the case, it is more reasonable to believe that the Egyptians would not have allowed them to have eat of them at all: however, these are still in great plenty, and much used in Egypt to this day, as Vansleb (i) relates, who says, for desserts they have fruits, as onions, dried dates, rotten olives, melons, or cucumbers, or pompions, or such like fruits as are in season: thus carnal men prefer their sensual lusts and pleasures, and self-righteous men their righteousness, to Christ, the heavenly manna, his grace and righteousness.

4. Henry, “They magnified the plenty and dainties they had had in Egypt (�um_11:5), as if God had done them a great deal of wrong in taking them thence. While they were in Egypt they sighed by reason of their burdens, for their lives were made bitter to them with hard bondage; and yet now they talk of Egypt as if they had all lived like princes there, when this serves as a colour for their present discontent. But with what face can they talk of eating fish in Egypt freely, or for nought, as if it cost them nothing, when they paid so dearly for it with their hard service? They remember the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick (precious stuff indeed to be fond of!), but they do not remember the brick-kilns and the task-masters, the voice of the oppressor and the smart of the whip. �o, these are forgotten by these ungrateful people.

5. Jamison, “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely — (See on Exo_7:17). The people of Egypt are accustomed to an almost exclusive diet of fish, either fresh or sun-dried, during the hot season in April and May - the very season when the Israelites were travelling in this desert. Lower Egypt, where were the brick-kilns in which they were employed, afforded great facilities for obtaining fish in the Mediterranean, the lakes, and the canals of the �ile.

cucumbers — The Egyptian species is smooth, of a cylindrical form, and about a foot in length. It is highly esteemed by the natives and when in season is liberally partaken of, being greatly mellowed by the influence of the sun.

melons — The watermelons are meant, which grow on the deep, loamy soil after the subsidence of the �ile; and as they afford a juicy and cooling fruit, all classes make use of them for food, drink, and medicine.

leeks — by some said to be a species of grass cresses, which is much relished as a kind of seasoning.

onions — the same as ours; but instead of being nauseous and affecting the eyes, they are sweet to the taste, good for the stomach, and form to a large extent the aliment of the laboring classes.

garlic — is now nearly if not altogether extinct in Egypt although it seems to have grown anciently in great abundance. The herbs now mentioned form a diet very grateful in warm countries where vegetables and other fruits of the season are much used. We can scarcely wonder

that both the Egyptian hangers-on and the general body of the Israelites, incited by their clamors, complained bitterly of the want of the refreshing viands in their toilsome wanderings. But after all their experience of the bounty and care of God, their vehement longing for the luxuries of Egypt was an impeachment of the divine arrangements; and if it was the sin that beset them in the desert, it became them more strenuously to repress a rebellious spirit, as dishonoring to God and unbecoming their relation to Him as a chosen people.

6. K&D, “We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for nothing.” Even if fish could not be had for nothing in Egypt, according to the extravagant assertions of the murmurers, it is certain that it could be procured for such nominal prices that even the poorest of the people could eat it. The abundance of the fish in the �ile and the neighbouring waters is attested unanimously by both classical writers (e.g., Diod. Sic. i. 36, 52; Herod. ii. 93; Strabo, xvii. p. 829) and modern travellers (cf. Hengstenberg, Egypt, etc., p. 211 Eng. tr.). This also applies to the vegetables for which the Israelites longed in the desert. The קשאים, or cucumbers, which are still called katteh or chate in the present day, are a species differing from the ordinary cucumbers in size and colour, and distinguished for softness and sweet flavour, and are described by Forskal (Flor. Aeg. p. 168), as fructus in Aegypto omnium vulgatissimus, totis plantatus agris. אבטחים: water-melons, which are still called battieh in modern Egypt, and are both cultivated in immense quantities and sold so cheaply in the market, that the poor as well as the rich can enjoy their refreshing flesh and cooling juice (see Sonnini in Hengstenberg, ut sup. p. 212). חציר does not signify grass here, but, according to the ancient versions, chives, from their grass-like appearance; laudatissimus porrus in Aegypto (Plin. h. n. 19, 33). בצלים: onions, which flourish better in Egypt than elsewhere, and have a mild and pleasant taste. According to Herod. ii. 125, they were the ordinary food of the workmen at the pyramids; and, according to Hasselquist, Sonnini, and others, they still form almost the only food of the poor, and are also a favourite dish with all classes, either roasted, or boiled as a vegetable, and eaten with animal food. שומים: garlic, which is still called tum, tom in the East (Seetzen, iii. p. 234), and is mentioned by Herodotus in connection with onions, as forming a leading article of food with the Egyptian workmen. Of all these things, which had been cheap as well as refreshing, not one was to be had in the desert. Hence the people complained still further, “and now our soul is dried away,” i.e., faint for want of strong and refreshing food, and wanting in fresh vital power (cf. Psa_22:16; Psa_102:5): “we have nothing ( אין כל , there is nothing in existence, equivalent to nothing to be had) except that our eye (falls) upon this manna,” i.e., we see nothing else before us but the manna, sc., which has no juice, and supplies no vital force. Greediness longs for juicy and savoury food, and in fact, as a rule, for change of food and stimulating flavour. “This is the perverted nature of man, which cannot continue in the quiet enjoyment of what is clean and unmixed, but, from its own inward discord, desires a stimulating admixture of what is sharp and sour” (Baumgarten). To point out this inward perversion on the part of the murmuring people, Moses once more described the nature, form, and taste of the manna, and its mode of preparation, as a pleasant food which God sent down to His people with the dew of heaven (see at Exo_16:14-15, and Exo_16:31). But this sweet bread of heaven wanted “the sharp and sour, which are required to give a stimulating flavour to the food of man, on account of his sinful, restless desires, and the incessant changes of his earthly life.” In this respect the manna resembled the spiritual food supplied by the word of God, of which the sinful heart of man may also speedily become weary, and turn to the more piquant productions of the spirit of the world.

7. H. R. Mackintosh, “Here the poor human heart lets itself thoroughly out. Its tastes and its tendencies are made manifest. The people sigh after the land of Egypt, and cast back wistful looks-after its fruits and its fleshpots. They do not say anything about the lash of the taskmaster, and the toil of the brick-kilns. There is total silence as to these things. �othing is remembered now, save those resources by which Egypt had ministered to the lusts of nature. How often is this the case with us! When once the heart loses its freshness in the divine life — when heavenly things begin to lose their savor — when first love declines — when Christ ceases to be a satisfying and altogether precious portion for the soul — when the word of God and prayer lose their charm and become heavy, dull, and mechanical; then the eye wanders back toward the world, the heart follows the eye, and the feet follow the heart. We forget, at such moments, what the world was to us when we were in it and of it. We forget what toil and slavery, what misery and degradation, we found in the service of sin and of Satan, and think only of the gratification and ease, the freedom from those painful exercises, conflicts, and anxieties which attend upon the wilderness path of God's people.All this is most sad, and should lead the soul into the most profound self-judgement. It is terrible when those who have set out to follow the Lord begin to grow weary of the way and of God's provision. How dreadful must those words have sounded in the ear of Jehovah, "But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." Ah! Israel, what more didst thou need? Was not that heavenly food enough for thee! Couldst thou not live upon that which the hand of thy God had provided for thee?

Alas! that we should have to write thus. It is most sad but it is most needful; and we here put this question most pointedly to the leader, Dost thou really find Christ insufficient to satisfy thy heart? Hast thou cravings which He does not fully meet? If so, thou art in a very alarming condition of soul, and it behoves thee to look at once, and to look closely, into this solemn matter. Get down on thy face before God, in honest self-judgment. Pour out thy heart to Him. Tell Him all. Own to Him how thou hast fallen and wandered — as surely thou must have done when God's Christ is not enough fur thee. Have it all out in secret with thy God, and take no rest until thou art fully and blessedly restored to communion with Himself — to heart fellowship with Him about the Son of His love.”

6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

1. Gill, “But now our soul is dried away,.... Meaning their bodies, which, for want of flesh food, they pretended had no moisture in them, or they were half starved, and in wasting and consuming circumstances:

there is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes; which in itself was a truth and matter of fact; they had nothing to look to, and live upon but the manna, and that was enough, and with which, no doubt, many of them were contented, and satisfied and thankful for it, though the greater part were not; and therefore this, though a truth, was foolishly and wickedly spoken, being said in disdain and contempt of the manna: so Christ, the heavenly manna, the antitype of this, of which See Gill on Exo_16:14; See Gill on Exo_16:15; See Gill on Exo_16:16; See Gill on

Exo_16:17; See Gill on Exo_16:18; is indeed the only food that is set before us in the Gospel to feed and live upon; nor is there anything at all besides him, nor do true believers in him desire any other, but pray that evermore this bread may be given them; but carnal men and carnal professors slight the Gospel feast, of which Christ is the sum and substance; and at least would have something besides him, something along with him, something of their own in justification for him, or to give them a right unto him, or to trust in along with him; they cannot bear to have nothing at all but Christ; or that he, and he alone, should be exalted, and be all in all, as he is justification and salvation, and in the Gospel provision, in which nothing is set before us but him.

2. Henry, “They were sick of the good provision God had made for them, �um_11:6. It was bread from heaven, angels' food. To show how unreasonable their complaint was, it is here described, �um_11:7-9. It was good for food, and pleasant to the eye, every grain like an orient pearl; it was wholesome food and nourishing; it was not to be called dry bread, for it tasted like fresh oil; it was agreeable (the Jews say, Wisd. 16:20) to every man's palate, and tasted as he would have it; and, though it was still the same, yet, by the different ways of dressing it, it yielded them a grateful variety; it cost them no money, nor care, for it fell in the night, while they slept; and the labour of gathering it was not worth speaking of; they lived upon free quarter, and yet could talk of Egypt's cheapness and the fish they ate there freely. �ay, which was much more valuable than all this, the manna came from the immediate power and bounty of God, not from common providence, but from special favour. It was, as God's compassion, new every morning, always fresh, not as their food who live on shipboard. While they lived on manna, they seemed to be exempted from the curse which sin has brought on man, that in the sweat of his face should he eat bread. And yet they speak of manna with such scorn, as if it were not good enough to be meat for swine: Our soul is dried away. They speak as if God dealt hardly with them in allowing them no better food. At first they admired it (Exo_16:15): What is this? “What a curious precious thing is this!” But now they despised it. �ote, Peevish discontented minds will find fault with that which has no fault in it but that it is too good for them. It is very provoking to God to undervalue his favours, and to put a but upon our common mercies. �othing but manna! Those that might be very happy often make themselves very miserable by their discontents. (3.) They could not be satisfied unless they had flesh to eat. They brought flocks and herds with them in great abundance out of Egypt; but either they were covetous, and could not find in their hearts to kill them, lest they should lessen their flocks (they must have flesh as cheap as they had bread, or they would not be pleased), or else they were curious, beef and mutton would not please them; they must have something more nice and delicate, like the fish they did eat in Egypt. Food would not serve; they must be feasted. They had feasted with God upon the peace-offerings which they had their share of; but it seems God did not keep a table good enough for them, they must have daintier bits than any that came to his altar. �ote, It is an evidence of the dominion of the carnal mind when we are solicitous to have all the delights and satisfactions of sense wound up to the height of pleasurableness. Be not desirous of dainties, Pro_23:1-3. If God gives us food convenient, we ought to be thankful, though we do not eat the fat and drink the sweet. (4.) They distrusted the power and goodness of God as insufficient for their supply: Who will give us flesh to eat? taking it for granted that God could not. Thus this question is commented upon, Psa_78:19, Psa_78:20, Can he provide flesh also? though he had given them flesh with their bread once, when he saw fit (Exo_16:13), and they might have expected that he would do it again, and in mercy, if, instead of murmuring, they had prayed. �ote, It is an offence to God to let our desires go beyond our faith. (5.) They were eager and importunate in their desires; they lusted a lust, so the word is, lusted greatly and greedily, till they wept again for vexation. So childish were the children of Israel, and so humor some, that they cried because they had not what they would have and when they would have it. They did not offer up this desire to God, but would rather be beholden to any

one else than to him. We should not indulge ourselves in any desire which we cannot in faith turn into prayer, as we cannot when we ask meat for our lust, Psa_78:18. For this sin the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly against them, which is written for our admonition, that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted, 1Co_10:6. (6.) Flesh is good food, and may lawfully be eaten; yet they are said to lust after evil things. What is lawful of itself becomes evil to us when it is what God does not allot to us and yet we eagerly desire it.

3. John W. Ritenbaugh , “First, note that these people, spiritually, were so far from God that they did not take the first warning, the burning that took place on the outskirts of the camp. It was just a little thing from God to say, "Hey, wait a minute. You need Me. I am giving you the manna, and if it was not for that, you would die. �ot only that, I was the One who gave you freedom." But how quickly they were forgetting.What is the lesson here? They wanted variety; they felt they were leading a monotonous life. The Bible records no particular occasion for the beginning of their complaint except that they were bored with what they had to eat. Their words express dissatisfaction with privations incurred on their journey through the wilderness.

We are to learn from that. It is the Old Testament's form of whether or not we are willing to bear our cross—whatever comes upon us as a result of our repentance, our baptism, our receipt of God's Spirit, our entering into the covenant with Jesus Christ, and being His slave! Are we really willing to be His slaves and take what He dishes out?

What they wanted was food that had a sharper, more distinctive flavor, something more stimulating than manna, which tasted like pastry. They wanted cayenne powder, hot sauce, onions, garlic, spice. They wanted sauces and herbs for flavor that add a dimension to eating that otherwise would not be there.

It is interesting how quickly our taste can become perverted. Many people, for instance, put far too much salt on the foods they eat. Observe this the next time you are in a restaurant: There is a good chance that you will see diners pick up the salt and pepper shakers and shake them over their meals before they even taste the food. It is an ingrained habit, and their taste has become perverted.

That is what happened to the Israelites. They did not comprehend that God was feeding them angel's food, as it is called in the �ew Testament, the best possible diet they could get in their circumstance. Would we expect God to supply anything less than the best for the situation? Because He is a God of love, He will always do the best for us in every circumstance.

He was doing that for Israel, but their taste was perverted and so they were unwilling to be content with what God was supplying. Therein lies the lesson for us. Are we content with what God is supplying, or are we looking for stimulation that Christianity seems to lack? Are we looking for an edge? Are we craving flavor in our lives? Are we looking for something out of life in the way of entertainments or social contacts that we feel we are being denied because we are Christians? Do we feel this "privation" is a cross we are unwilling to bear? The lesson from these people is, if such a desire begins to gnaw at us, there is a chance we will give in to intense craving and begin complaining to God.

4. Our Daily Bread, “Many of our recurring complaints focus not on what we don't have, but on what we do have and find uninteresting. Whether it's our work, our church, our house, or our spouse, boredom grumbles that it's not what we want or need. This frustration with sameness has

been true of the human spirit since the beginning.

�otice the protest of God's people about their menu in the wilderness. Recalling the variety of food they ate as slaves in Egypt, they despised the monotony of God's current provision: "Our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!" (�umbers 11:6).

God provided exactly what they needed each day, but they wanted something more exciting. Are we tempted to do the same? Oswald Chambers said: "Drudgery is the touchstone of character. There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God's way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God."

During the boring times of life, God is working to instill His character in us. Drudgery is our opportunity to experience the presence of the Lord. —David McCasland

Steadfast, then, in our endeavor,Heavenly Father, may we be;

And forever, and forever,We will give the praise to Thee. —MacKellar

Blessing is found along the pathway of duty

7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin.

1. Clarke, “The manna was as coriander seed - Probably this short description is added to show the iniquity of the people in murmuring, while they had so adequate a provision. But the baseness of their minds appears in every part of their conduct. About the bdellium of the ancients the learned are not agreed; and I shall not trouble the reader with conjectures. See the note on Gen_2:12. Concerning the manna, see the notes on Exodus 16 (note).

�um_11:11-15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

2. Gill, “And the manna was as coriander seed,.... �ot in colour, for that is black or darkish, whereas the manna was white, as is generally observed; of which See Gill on Exo_16:31; however it might be like the coriander, because of its form and figure, being round, and because of its quantity, being small, Exo_16:14; Some think the mustard seed is meant, as Aben Ezra observes, which is the least of all seeds; it seems that the manna fell in small round grains, like to such seed. This, with what follows, is observed, to expose the folly and ingratitude of the Israelites, that

having such bread from heaven, angels food, that they should slight it, and hanker after other food:

and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium; not an aromatic gum, which Pliny (k) speaks of, which is clear as wax, for that is black or blackish, and not white as the manna; besides, this should be read, not "bdellium", but "bdeloah", and is a precious stone, and, according to Bochart, the pearl; so Ben Melech observes, that it is a precious stone; some say the diamond, and others a round white stone, which they bore and join stones together, and make a chain of, he doubtless means a pearl necklace; though Jarchi says it is the crystal, and so the Jewish writers commonly; See Gill on Gen_2:12; hence it appears the manna was very pleasant to look at, being of a round form, and of a pearl or crystal color.

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.

1. Gill, “And the people went about and gathered it,.... Went about the camp on all sides, where it fell in plenty; this they did every morning, and this was all the trouble they were at; they had it for gathering, without any expense to them:

and ground it in mills: in hand mills, as Aben Ezra; for though it melted through the heat of the sun, and became a liquid, yet, when gathered in the morning, it was hard like grains of corn, or other seeds, and required to be ground in mills:

or beat it in a mortar; with a pestle, as spices are beaten and bruised:

and baked it in pans; or rather boiled it in a pot, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, since it follows:

and made cakes of it; which were baked on the hearth; all which may denote the sufferings of Christ, who was beaten, and bruised, and broken, that he might become fit food for faith, Isa_53:4,

and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil; which is very grateful and pleasant, as well as very fattening and nourishing; so that the Israelites had no reason to complain of their being dried away by continual eating of it; See Gill on Exo_16:31.

9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

1. Gill, “And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night,.... As it usually, and even constantly did: the manna fell upon it; as constantly, and had thereby a clean place to fall on; and then another dew fell upon that, which kept it the cleaner still, and from any vermin creeping upon it; see Exo_16:14; so careful was the Lord of this their provision, and so constantly every morning were they supplied with it: and which fell in the night when they were asleep, and at rest, and without any labor of theirs; and was ready to their hands when they arose, and had nothing to do but gather it; and yet were so ungrateful as to make light of it, and despise it.

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.

1. Gill, “Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families,.... So general was their lusting after flesh, and their discontent for want of it; and so great their distress and uneasiness about it, that they wept and cried for it, and so loud and clamorous, that Moses heard the noise and outcry they made:

every man in the door of his tent: openly and publicly, were not ashamed of their evil and unbecoming behavior, and in order to excite and encourage the like temper and disposition in others; though it may have respect, as some have observed, to the door of the tent of Moses, about which they gathered and mutinied; and which better accounts for his hearing the general cry they made; and so in an ancient writing of the Jews it is said (l), they were waiting for Moses until he came out at the door of the school; and they were sitting and murmuring:

and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; because of their ingratitude to him, their contempt of the manna he had provided for them, and their hankering after their poor fare in Egypt, and for which they had endured so much hardship and ill usage, and for the noise and clamour they now made:

Moses also was displeased; with the people on the same account, and with the Lord also for laying and continuing so great a burden upon him, as the care of this people, which appears by what follows.

2. K&D, “When Moses heard the people weep, “according to their families, every one before the door of his tent,” i.e., heard complaining in all the families in front of every tent, so that the weeping had become universal throughout the whole nation (cf. Zec_12:12.), and the wrath of the Lord burned on account of it, and the thing displeased Moses also, he brought his complaint to the Lord. The words “Moses also was displeased,” are introduced as a circumstantial clause, to explain the matter more clearly, and show the reason for the complaint which Moses poured out before the Lord, and do not refer exclusively either to the murmuring of the people or to the wrath of Jehovah, but to both together. This follows evidently from the position in which the clause stands between the two antecedent clauses in �um_11:10 and the apodosis in �um_11:11, and still more evidently from the complaint of Moses which follows. For “the whole attitude of Moses shows that his displeasure was excited not merely by the unrestrained rebellion of the people against Jehovah, but also by the unrestrained wrath of Jehovah against the nation” (Kurtz). But in what was the wrath of Jehovah manifested? It broke out against the people first of all when they had been satiated with flesh (�um_11:33). There is no mention of any earlier manifestation. Hence Moses can only have discovered a sign of the burning wrath of Jehovah in the fact that, although the discontent of the people burst forth in loud cries, God did not help, but withdrew with His help, and let the whole storm of the infuriated people burst upon him.”

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?

1. Barnes 11-15, “The complaint and remonstrance of Moses may be compared with that in 1Ki_19:4 ff; Jon_4:1-3, and contrasted with the language of Abraham (Gen_18:23 ff) The meekness of Moses (compare �um_12:3) sank under vexation into despair. His language shows us how imperfect and prone to degeneracy are the best saints on earth.”

2. Gill, “And Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?.... Or "done evil" (m) to him, that which was distressing to him, and gave him trouble; namely, setting him at the head of the people of Israel, and laying the government of them on his shoulders; which surely was doing him honour, though that is not to be expected without care and trouble; Moses does not seem to be in a good frame of spirit throughout the whole of this discourse with the Lord: the best of men are not always alike in their frames, and sometimes act contrary to that for which they are the most eminent, as Moses was for his, meekness and humility:

and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight; he had found much favour in the sight of God, to have so many wonderful things done by him in Egypt, to be the instrument of the deliverance of Israel from thence, to be the leader of them through the Red sea, to be taken up to the mount with God, and receive the law from him to give to that people; but the favour he complains of that was denied him, is, his not being excused, when he desired it, from taking on him the office he was called unto, of being the deliverer and ruler of the people, Exo_4:10,

that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? with respect to matters heavier and more difficult; for as to lighter and lesser things, be was assisted and relieved by the officers placed over the various divisions of the people at the advice of Jethro, Exo_18:21; government is a burdensome thing, and especially when a people are prone to mutiny and rebellion, as the people of Israel were.

2. Henry, “Moses himself, though so meek and good a man, is uneasy upon this occasion: Moses also was displeased. �ow, 1. It must be confessed that the provocation was very great. These murmurings of theirs reflected great dishonour upon God, and Moses laid to heart the reproaches cast on himself; they knew that he did his utmost for their good, and that he neither did nor could do any thing without a divine appointment; and yet to be thus continually teased and clamoured against by an unreasonable ungrateful people would break in upon the temper even of Moses himself. God considered this, and therefore we do not find that he chided him for his uneasiness. 2. Yet Moses expressed himself otherwise than became him upon this provocation, and came short of his duty both to God and Israel in these expostulations. (1.) He undervalues the honour God had put upon him, in making him the illustrious minister of his power and grace, in the deliverance and guidance of that peculiar people, which might have been sufficient to balance the burden. (2.) He complains too much of a sensible grievance, and lays too near his heart a little noise and fatigue. If he could not bear the toil of government, which was but running with the footman, how would he bear the terrors of war, which was contending with horses? He might easily have furnished himself with considerations enough to enable him to slight their clamours, and make nothing of them. (3.) He magnifies his own performances, that all the burden of the people lay upon him; whereas God himself did in effect ease him of all the burden. Moses needed not to be in care to provide quarters for them, or victuals; God did all. And, if any difficult case happened, he needed not to be in any perplexity, while he had the oracle to consult, and in it the divine wisdom to direct him, the divine authority to back him and bear him out, and almighty power itself to dispense rewards and punishments. (4.) He is not so sensible as he ought to be of the obligation he lay under, by virtue of the divine commission and command, to do the utmost he could for his people, when he suggests that because they were not the children of his body therefore he was not concerned to take a fatherly care of them, though God himself, who might employ him as he pleased, had appointed him to be a father to them.

3. K&D 11-14, “In Moses' complaint there is an unmistakeable discontent arising from the excessive burden of his office. “Why hast Thou done evil to Thy servant? and why have I not found favour in Thy sight, to lay upon me the burden of all this people?” The “burden of all this people” is the expression which he uses to denote “the care of governing the people, and providing everything for it” (C. a. Lap.). This burden, which God imposed upon him in connection with his office, appeared to him a bad and ungracious treatment on the part of God. This is the language of the discontent of despair, which differs from the murmuring of unbelief, in the fact that it is addressed to God, for the purpose of entreating help and deliverance from Him; whereas unbelief complains of the ways of God, but while complaining of its troubles, does not pray to the Lord its God. “Have I conceived all this people,” Moses continues, “or have I brought it forth, that Thou requirest me to carry it in my bosom, as a nursing father carries the suckling, into the promised

land?” He does not intend by these words to throw off entirely all care for the people, but simply to plead with God that the duty of carrying and providing for Israel rests with Him, the Creator and Father of Israel (Exo_4:22; Isa_63:16). Moses, a weak man, was wanting in the omnipotent power which alone could satisfy the crying of the people for flesh. יבכו עלי , “they weep unto me,” i.e., they come weeping to ask me to relieve their distress. “I am not able to carry this burden

alone; it is too heavy for me.”

4. Spurgeon, ““Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?” — �umbers 11:11 (from Morning and Evening), “Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts his servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which are his own handiwork. When “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,” the Lord is honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which his vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions tend also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil? Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified? There are many other comfortable answers to the question with which we opened our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day long.”

5. Unknown author, “Moses knows where to turn, but he betrays his misguided thought. God is angry at the people for their sinful attitudes, but Moses is torqued at God's handling of the situation, for putting all this on Moses.The rabble's rebellion has affected Moses. Like an out-of-tune musician causing others in the orchestra to question whether they are in tune, Moses joins in with gripes of his own. The effect of the complaining people on Moses was pitiful; the people yielded to discontent; but Moses gave himself over to absolute despair. Why does Moses despair? What does he assume about God? Moses is sure all this is happening because God is angry with him.

Moses may be clear on God's sovereignty, but is weak on God's goodness. Certainly God in His sovereign plan could've kept Moses from being the leader. But when Moses stresses God's sovereignty over His goodness he misunderstands God in a very basic way. This misconception is seen in his second question: "What have I done to displease you?"

Certainly God could've answered with a list a mile long, given that Moses, like each of us, falls short of God's demand for absolute perfection. But the question betrays a misguided idea of how God deals with our sin. Moses reasons that the troubles he is facing is a direct result of something he's done to offend God. Moses pictures God as the cosmic disciplinarian who doles out evil in our lives whenever we slip up.

When we adopt this outlook on God, that our performance will command either God's smiling face to shine down on us or His angry disapproval when we fail, we will live in constant speculation as to our standing before God.

To conceive of God in this manner will cause us to interpret our daily circumstances in a twisted formula. When life is good, we'll think it is obviously due to our goodness. Likewise, when life is bad, it must be bad karma, some cosmic pay back for sin. We adopt a frame of mind which says:

"I was nasty to my wife this morning, that is why my boss is on my back." "I forgot to pray this morning, no wonder God is making my day so miserable." Or, "I was nice to this person, that's why my day is going smoothly."

When we adopt this scheme, the God of all grace fades into a Zeus hurling thunderbolts from heaven. But God's disposition, either good or bad, toward us is not dependent on us, on whether He loves us today and is angry with us tomorrow. Rather, when we trust that Christ is sufficient for our standing before the Father, then we must remember that His displeasure is placed on His own Son and that His love for us is dependent solely upon His Son's perfect record that is given to us.”

6. H. R. Mackintosh 11-15, “This is truly wonderful language. It is not that we would think for a moment of dwelling upon the failures and infirmities of so dear and so devoted a servant as Moses. Far be the thought. It would ill become us to comment upon the actings or the sayings of one of whom the Holy Ghost has declared that "he was faithful in all his house." (Heb. 3: 2) Moses, like all the Old Testament saints, has taken his place amongst the "Spirits Of just men made perfect," and every inspired Allusion to him throughout the pages of the �ew Testament tends only to put honour upon him, and to set him forth as a most precious vessel.But still we are bound to ponder the inspired history now before us — history penned by Moses himself. True it is — blessedly true — that the defects and failures of God's people, in Old Testament times, are not commented upon in the �ew Testament; yet are they recorded, with faithful accuracy, in the Old; and wherefore? Is it not for our learning? Unquestionably. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Romans 15: 4.

What then are we to learn from the remarkable outburst of feeling recorded in �umbers 11: 11-15? We learn this at least, that it is the wilderness that really brings out what is in the very best of us. It is there we prove what is in our hearts. and, inasmuch as the Book of �umbers is, emphatically, the book of the wilderness, it is just there we might expect to find all sorts of failure and infirmity fully unfolded. the Spirit of God faithfully chronicles everything. He gives us men as they are; and even though it be a Moses that "speaks unadvisedly with his lips," that very unadvised speaking is recorded for our admonition and instruction. Moses "was a man subject to like passions as we are;" and it is very evident that, in the portion of his history now before us, his heart sinks under the tremendous weight of his responsibilities.

It will, perhaps, be said, "�o wonder his heart should sink." �o wonder, surely, for his burden was far too heavy for human shoulders. But the question is, was it too heavy for divine shoulders? Was it really the case that Moses was called to bear the burden alone? Was not the living God with him? And was not He sufficient What did it matter whether God were pleased to act by one man or by ten thousand? All the power, all the wisdom, all the grace, was in Him. He is the fountain of all blessedness, and, in the judgement of which, it makes not one whit of difference as to the channel, or whether there is one channel, or a thousand and one.

This is a fine moral principle for all the servants of Christ. It is most needful for all such to remember that whenever the Lord places a man in a position of responsibility, He will both fit him for it and maintain him in it. It is, of course, another thing altogether if a man will rush unsent into any field of work, or any post of difficulty of danger. In such a case, we may assuredly look for a thorough break down, sooner or later. But when God calls a man to a certain position, be will endow him with the needed grace to occupy it. He never sends any one a warfare at his own charges; and therefore all we have to do is to draw upon Him for all we need. This holds

good in every case. We can never fail if we only cling to the living God. We can never run dry, if we are drawing from the fountain. Our tiny springs will soon dry up; but our Lord Jesus Christ declares that, "He that believeth in me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

This is a grand lesson for the wilderness. We cannot get on without it. Had Moses fully understood it, he never would have given utterance to such words as these: "'Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people" He would have fixed his eye only upon God. He would have known that he was but on instrument in the hands of God, whose resources were illimitable. assuredly, Moses could not supply that vast assembly with food even far a single day; but Jehovah could supply the need of every living thing, and supply it for ever.

Do we really believe this? Does it not sometimes appear as though we doubted it? Do we not sometimes feel as though we were to supply instead of God? And then is it any marvel if we quail, and falter, and sink? Well indeed might Moses say, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me." There was only one heart that could bear with such a company, namely, the heart of that blessed One, who, when they were toiling amid the brick-kilns of Egypt, had come down to deliver them, and who, having redeemed them out of the hand of the enemy, had taken up His abode in their midst. He was able to bear them, and He alone. His loving heart and mighty hand were alone adequate to the task; and if Moses had been in the full power of this great truth, He would not and could not have said, "If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I play thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight and let we not see my wretchedness."

This surely was a dark moment in the history of this illustrious servant of God. It reminds us somewhat of the prophet Elijah, when he flung himself at the base of the juniper tree and entreated the Lord to take away his life. How wonderful to see those two men together on the mount of transfiguration! It proves, in a very marked way, that God's thoughts are not as ours, nor His ways as ours. He had something better in store for Moses and Elijah than anything that they contemplated. Blessed be His name, He rebukes our fears by the riches of His grace, and when our poor hearts would anticipate death and wretchedness, He gives life, victory, and glory.”

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?

1. These are not my kids Lord, so why do I have to raise these bunch of babies. They are sick of Mana, and I am sick of them. You delivered us from Egypt, now deliver me from these spoiled brats who are driving me crazy with their endless complaining. They are like kids in the back seat traveling on vacation. Every two minutes complaining, “Are we there yet”, and “When are we going to eat?”

2. Gill, “Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them?.... Conceived them as a mother, or begotten them as a father? am I a parent of either sort to them, in a literal sense, that I should have the like care of them as parents of their children? but though this was not the case, yet, in a civil and political sense, he was their parent, as every king and governor of a country is, or should be, the father of it, and

should have a paternal affection for his subjects, and a tender care of them, and a hearty concern for their good and welfare: this, in a spiritual sense, may denote the weakness of the law of Moses, as Ainsworth observes, which has no concern in the regeneration of the spiritual Israel of God; who are born not of blood, nor of the will of men, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God; he only does and can regenerate men by his Spirit and grace; and though ministers of the word are instruments, yet it is not through the law, but through the Gospel that they beget souls to Christ, even by the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, by that word which lives and abides for ever; it is not through the doctrine of the law, but through the doctrine of faith, that the Spirit, as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, is received; faith, hope, and love, and every other grace, come the same way; see 1Co_4:15,

that thou shouldest say unto me; as in Exo_32:34; "go, lead the people unto the place", &c. which words, Jarchi thinks, are here referred to:

carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father beareth the sucking child,

unto the land which thou swarest to their fathers? the land of Canaan: kings should be nursing fathers; civil governors should rule with gentleness and mildness; such are most beloved, and most cheerfully obeyed by their people: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem interpret the word for "nursing father", by "pedagogue", which is the same word the apostle uses of the law, Gal_3:24; that indeed was a severe schoolmaster, that menaced, whipped, and scourged for every fault, and not a tender nursing father; there is not one kind tender word in the law; it accuses of sin, pronounces guilty of it, curses and condemns for it; but the Gospel ministry, and ministers of it, use men gently; the apostles of Christ were gentle, as a nurse cherisheth her children, 1Th_2:7; fed men as they were able to bear it; and when they delivered out their charges, it was in a kind manner, and even their reproofs were in love; and especially Christ himself was so, by whose meekness and gentleness the Apostle Paul beseeches men, 1Co_10:1; who gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young; and supplies them with food, and brings them all safely to Canaan's land, the heavenly glory, where the law and the deeds of it will never bring men, Isa_40:11.

3. Henry, “ He is not so sensible as he ought to be of the obligation he lay under, by virtue of the divine commission and command, to do the utmost he could for his people, when he suggests that because they were not the children of his body therefore he was not concerned to take a fatherly care of them, though God himself, who might employ him as he pleased, had appointed him to be a father to them.

4. Unknown author, “Moses' problem is pronounced by his pronouns. �otice the emphasis here, how often he uses first person pronouns. Verse 14 summarizes it well: "I cannot carry all these people by myself."But did God say to do that? Where did God ever say that the people's life or death is solely dependent on Moses? When did God say that Moses is indispensable? Moses's despair centers around his faulty conclusions that God intends for him to do it all. He took the people's sin as one of personal rejection. Moses was doing so much, but with this, he could not take it any more. He just got tired of doing what was right.

In his wonderful book, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, the great British pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones warns of the problem of growing weary in well-doing. Taken from Paul's admonition in Galatians 6:9 to persevere, Lloyd-Jones draws out the problem that many believers face as they go the long haul in the Christian life. While the initial experience of a relationship with Christ may be surprising and wonderful, there comes a point when new

discoveries wane. The Christian life become mundane, that which animated in the past is now passé and we succumb to the temptation to quit. The problem is God is wholly absent from the framework of our Christian life. He says:

"We have really been doing all that we have been doing, to satisfy self, in order to please ourselves, in order to be able to say to ourselves: `How wonderful you are and how much you do.' Self says that we are important. We have to admit that it has not all been for the glory of God, but for our own glory. We may say that we do not want the praise and that "to God be the glory", but we like to see results and we like it to appear in the papers and so on - self has come in and self is a terrible master. If we are working to satisfy and please self in any shape or form, the end is always going to be weariness and tiredness."

But whenever we vainly imagine that everything rests on us and when what rests on us is the weight of the world, we find ourselves crushed. It is no wonder that Moses cries out for God to kill him. He reached the point where death was a welcome relief from all the pressure.

It is as though Moses says, "If this is how you treat your friends... no wonder you have so few." At this point in his life, for Moses grace only means a nice, quick, painless death. But he betrays his own sinful heart when he thinks all this is about his own ruin.

When the burdens we carry, or believe we carry, become great enough to crush us we lose focus, we can lose rational judgment. We become angry. We blame God. We think God has done it to us. How many times have we thought: "Lord, look at what you've done to me? Why have you placed such a heavy load on me? Who can carry it?"

When the kids are overwhelming, how tempting is it to shake your fist at God. When the job demands more than you can give, how quick are you to forget God? How distant is God when those you love treat you with disdain? It is at times like that people will try to comfort you with hollow words. There is an old adage which we should discard immediately: "God never gives us more than we can handle."

I have some news for you. God always gives you and me more than we can handle for the simple reason that the successful Christian life is not about you handling your own problems. Our life is to be about faithful dependence on a loving Father who demands to be at the center of our life.

Moses's problem is not poor scheduling, it is not that he needs a week at the cabin in the mountains. His problem will not dissipate when the people are well fed and in a better mood. His problem is simple unbelief.

It is the nature of unbelief to turn inward, to rely on one's own resources. The heart of unbelief is simple self-reliance. Moses despairs because he sees what needs to be done and he tries his best to do it, all this without a thought of God's grace.

Unfortunately, you and I are far too capable for our own good. We don't have 3 million people asking for food in the desert. We just have the boss asking for the report in half the time it takes to produce it, a two year old whining for attention, parents who just don't seem to understand. So we think, we must dig deeper to do what we must, even to do what is right and good. This turn toward the self will either create a comfortable Pharisee, a pleasant hypocrite who gets by with coping or eventually it produces the pale of death, and you'll want to give up.”

13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep

wailing to me, 'Give us meat to eat!'

1. Gill, “Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?.... This seems to countenance the Israelites in their lusting after flesh, as if it was no evil in them, and as if it was but right they should have what they desired, though it was out of his power to give it them:

for they weep unto me, saying, give us flesh, that we may eat; he seems to pity them, whereas he ought to have reproved them for their murmurings and ingratitude, and put them in mind of the manna which was provided for them every day, and with which they ought to have been content.

2. Henry, “He takes too much to himself when he asks, Whence should I have flesh to give them (�um_11:13), as if he were the housekeeper, and not God. Moses gave them not the bread, Joh_6:32. �or was it expected that he should give them the flesh, but as an instrument in God's hand; and if he meant, “Whence should God have it for them?” he too much limited the power of the Holy One of Israel. (6.) He speaks distrustfully of the divine grace when he despairs of being able to bear all this people, �um_11:14. Had the work been much less, he could not have gone through it in his own strength; but had it been much greater, through God strengthening him, he might have done it. (7.) It was worst of all passionately to wish for death, and desire to be killed out of hand, because just at this time his life was made a little uneasy to him, �um_11:15. Is this Moses? Is this the meekest of all the men on the earth? The best have their infirmities, and fail sometimes in the exercise of that grace for which they are most eminent. But God graciously overlooked Moses's passion at this time, and therefore we must not be severe in our animadversions upon it, but pray, Lord, lead us not into temptation.

14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.

1. Gill, “I am not able to bear all this people alone,.... The burden of government of them, to take care of them and provide sustenance for them; but he was not alone, for, not to take notice of the rulers and officers in the several divisions of the people that assisted and eased him in lighter matters, advised to by Jethro, Exo_18:21, the Lord himself was with him in all matters of moment and difficulty; to whom he could apply at any time for advice, and who had promised to supply and did supply the people with suitable and proper provisions every day:

because it is too heavy for me; to answer the requests, redress the grievances, and supply the necessities of this people.

2. Henry, “He speaks distrustfully of the divine grace when he despairs of being able to bear all this people, �um_11:14. Had the work been much less, he could not have gone through it in his own strength; but had it been much greater, through God strengthening him, he might have done it. (7.) It was worst of all passionately to wish for death, and desire to be killed out of hand,

because just at this time his life was made a little uneasy to him.

3. Maclaren, “Detail the circumstances.The leader speaks the truth in his despondency. He is pressed with the feeling of his incapacity for his work. We may take his words here as teaching us what men need in him who is to be their guide, and how impossible it is to find what they need in mere men.

I. What men need in their guide.

These Israelites were wandering in the wilderness; they were without natural supplies for their daily necessities; they had a long hard journey before them, an unknown road, at the terminus of which was a land where they should rest. We have precisely the same necessities as those which Moses despairingly said that they had.Like them, we wander hungry, and need a Leader who can satisfy our desires and evermore give us bread for our souls even more than for our bodies. We need One to whom we can ‘weep,’ as the Israelites did to Moses, and not weep in vain. We need One who can do for us what Moses felt that the Israelites needed, and that he could not give them, when he almost indignantly put to God the despairing question, ‘Can I carry them in my bosom as a nursing father beareth the sucking child?’ Our weakness, our ignorance, our heart-hunger, cry out for One who can ‘bear all this people alone.’ who in his single Self has resources of strength, wisdom, and sufficiency to meet not only the wants of one soul but those of the world. For He who can satisfy the poorest single soul must be able to satisfy all men.

II. The impossibility of finding this in men.

Moses’ experience here is that of all leaders and great men. He is overwhelmed with the work; feels his own utter impotence; has himself to be strengthened; loathes his work; longs for release from it. See how he confesses

His human dependence.

His incapacity to do and be what is needed.

His impatience with the people

His longing to be rid of it all.

That is a true picture of the experience of the best of men—a true picture of the limitations of the noblest leaders.

But it is not only the leaders who confess their inadequacy, but the followers feel it, for even the most enthusiastic of them come sooner or later to find that their Oracle had not learned all wisdom, nor was fit to be taken as sole guide, much less as sole defence or satisfaction. He who looks to find all that he needs in men must take many men to find it, and no multiplicity of men will bring him what he seeks. The Milky Way is no substitute for the sun. Our hearts cry out for One great light, for One spacious home. Endless strings of pearls do not reach the preciousness of One pearl of price.III. The failures of human leaders prophesy the true Leader.

Moses was prophetic of Christ by his failures as by his successes. He could not do what the people clamoured to have done, and what he in the mood of despair in which the text shows him, sadly owned that he could not. In that very confession he becomes an unconscious prophet. For that he should have so vividly set forth the qualifications of a leader of men, as defined by the people’s cries, and should have so bitterly felt his incapacity to supply them, is a witness, if there is a God

at all, that somewhere the needed Ideal will be realised in ‘a Leader and Commander of the people,’ God-sent and ‘worthy of more glory than Moses.’

The best service that all human leaders, helpers or lovers, can do us, is to confess their own insufficiency, and to point us to Jesus.

All that men need is found in Him and in Him alone. All that men have failed, and must always fail, to be, He is. Those eyes are blessed that ‘see no man any more save Jesus only.’ We need One who can satisfy our desires and fill our hungry souls, and Jesus speaks a promise, confirmed by the experience of all who have tested it when He declares: ‘He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger.’ We need One who will dry our tears, and Jesus, when He says ‘Weep not,’ wipes them away and stanches their sources, giving ‘the oil of joy for mourning.’ We need One who can hold us up in our journey, and minister strength to fainting hearts and vigour to weary feet, and Jesus ‘strengthens us with might in the inner man.’ We need One who will bring us to the promised land of rest, and Jesus brings many sons to glory, and wills that they be ‘with Him where He is.’ So let us turn away from the multiplicity of human insufficiencies to Him who is our one only help and hope, because He is all-sufficient and eternal.

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."

1. Gill, “And if thou deal thus with me,.... Let the whole weight of government lie upon me, and leave the alone to bear it:

kill me, I pray thee, out of hand; take me out of the world at once, or "kill me now, in killing" (n); dispatch me immediately, and make a thorough end of me directly:

if I have found favour in thy sight; if thou hast any love for me, or art willing to show me a kindness, to remove me by death, I shall take as one:

and let me not see my wretchedness; or live to be the unhappy man I shall be; pressed with such a weight of government, affected and afflicted with the wants of a people I cannot relieve, or seeing them bore down with judgments and punishments inflicted on them for their sins and transgressions I am not able to prevail upon them to abstain from: so the Targum of Jerusalem,"that I may not see their evil, who are thy people;''so Abendana, and in the margin of some Hebrew copies, it is read,"this is one of the eighteen words, the correction of the scribes;''who, instead of "my wretchedness" or evil, corrected it, "their wretchedness" or evil; but Aben Ezra says there is no need of this correction.

2. Henry, “Is this Moses? Is this the meekest of all the men on the earth? The best have their infirmities, and fail sometimes in the exercise of that grace for which they are most eminent. But

God graciously overlooked Moses's passion at this time, and therefore we must not be severe in our animadversions upon it, but pray, Lord, lead us not into temptation.

3. Rev. Bruce Goettsche, “Moses says he's had enough. Moses feels the burden is too great. He's worn out, discouraged and tired of messing with these people. He says he would rather die than have to continue to deal with these folks. After all, he never asked for this crummy job anyhow! Have you ever felt that way?

• unappreciated

• over worked

• taken advantage of

• unsuccessful

• can't please anyone

• giving all you can but people just keep wanting more

Complainers don't realize the effect they have on those who lead. Constant complaining eats away at those in leadership. Complainers don't increase courage in leaders, they decrease it. We have all battled discouragement at one time or another. And when the battle rages there are several things to remember.

• you are not unique in your feelings. In times of discouragement remember Moses, Elijah and others who faced this same demon.

• you are not alone. Even when we feel most alone, the Lord stands by our side.

• God understands, sees, and appreciates the work you are doing. He does not measure things as the world does.

• Sometimes discouragement comes because we have been drifting from the Lord. Our first step in combating discouragement should be to throw off our sin and return to the Lord. Sometimes we feel discouraged because we are trying to "do it on our own" rather than trusting the Lord.

• Discouragement is the tool of the Devil. We must not let the Devil gain the upper hand.

4. Alan Carr has an excellent sermon on this battle of Moses, and I want to share the whole of it, for it is a message of value to every believer.THAT'S IT, I QUIT!

Intro: A small monument made from a few stones marks the spot on Mount Washington where a young girl died on bitterly cold night. Yet, her death was something that did not have to occur. It seems that she and her father had decided to climb that great mountain without hiring a guide. As darkness fell and the biting cold sapped the last of their strength, they became discouraged and sat down on the trail. During the night the girl died from exposure and heart failure due to the cold. When the morning light dawned on that wind ravaged mountainside, her distraught father soon discovered that if they had walked just a few more feet they would have seen the lights of a place called "Tiptop Cabin". A place where a crackling fire would have warmed their bodies. A place where they would have been safe and protected from the cold and from the icy fingers of death. What prevented them from reaching that place of safety? In a word: discouragement!

In our text, we see discouragement in the life of one of the greatest men who ever walked on this planet; a man named Moses. As Moses climbed the mountain of leading God's people, he became discouraged because of the burdens he had been called upon to bear. As a result, he came to the place where he just wanted to thrown in the towel and quit.

Have you ever been there yourself? Are you there this evening? This passage gives us some insights into why this event occurred in the life of Moses. Hopefully, it also teaches us some truths we need when we fight the battles of discouragement day by day. I want to preach for a while on the thought "That's It, I Quit!" You may feel like saying that tonight, but before you do, let me show you what God has to say about this matter. I believe there is help for the hurting heart in the word of God this evening.

I. V. 1-10 THE PROBLEMS MOSES PO�DERED

(Ill. The discouragement faced by Moses had its roots in all the burdens he was trying to bear as he led the children of Israel to Canaan. As those problems added up, he allowed himself to become discouraged in the midst of the journey. It may help us to look at what Moses was dealing with.)

A. V. 1-3 Moses Faced A People Problem - The children of Israel were nothing but complainers! They were never satisfied by anything! After a while, this would have driven anyone over the edge! (�ote: We all have "people problems" from time to time! Anytime there is a relationship between any two people there will always be the potential for problems! As one writer said, "To live above with saints we love, oh won't that be glory! But to love below with saints we know, well that's another story!" Let me encourage you in this matter of dealing with others. A three step plan will guarantee you that you can overcome a problem with any other person. 1.) Love them like Jesus loves them, Matt. 22:39. 2.) Forgive them of anything and everything you think they have done to you, Eph. 4:32. 3.) Pray for them everyday! It is impossible to carry a prayer for someone in your heart and hate them at the same time!)

B. V. 4-9 Moses Faced A Provision Problem - These verses remind us that Moses was leading 2 million people through the wilderness and that they had nothing to eat but Manna. Of course, they did not like the Manna and they complained bitterly about it too! They tried everything they could to make the Manna taste like the food of Egypt, but it never worked and they griped, whined and complained about it every day! (Ill. Remember when your kids didn't want to eat something and all the faces they made? Imagine 2 million people making a face every day when they awoke to the Manna once again!) (�ote: Sometimes we face provisional problems. In our situation, it may be some unexpected tragedy that befalls us and takes our funds. It may be medical bills, or job cut backs. It may be that there is just more month than there is money. Either way, I will remind you of something that we forget. Moses forgot it too! God did not call Moses to feed the children of Israel! He called Moses to lead the children of Israel. It is God's responsibility to feed His children! If you are facing a provisional problem this evening, let me remind you that if you are His and He is directing your life, then your provisional problems are His problems to solve and not your own! I remind you that He is Jehovah-jireh! I remind you that when He does the leading, He also does the feeding, Matt. 6:25-33; Phil. 4:6-7; 19! It may not be what you want all the time, but it will get you through the wilderness just like the Manna did Israel. They may not have always liked what the Lord gave them, but I never read where any of them starved to death!)

C. V. 10 Moses Faced A Personal Problem - Because of the weight of the load he was bearing, Moses allowed himself to become utterly discouraged. The word "displeased" means to be "broken to pieces, to be utterly destroyed". Moses had a breakdown! If we

are not careful, the problems we face in life can produce this attitude in our hearts! It happened to Moses! It happened to Elijah, 1 Kings 19. It happened to Jonah, Jonah 4. It can happen to us too! (�ote: What was the problem here? Moses had allowed the problems he faced to become larger than the God he served! Anytime that we allow that to happen in our lives, we are in danger of a major breakdown! We need to come to the place where we remember that every problem we face has the potential to be greater than our ability to handle that problem! Since that is true, we need to keep our eyes on the Lord as we face our problems. We must remember that He, not us, is the One Who fights the battles of life. He fights and we just get to enjoy the victory! (Ill. David and Goliath!)

II. V. 11-15 THE PRAYER MOSES PRAYED

(Ill. As Moses begins to talk to God about his problem, he talks to God is a way that reveals to us the condition of his heart! He takes a tone with God that is angry and irreverent! He shows us how not to pray in the time of a crisis!)

A. V. 11-12a Moses Prayed A Prayer Of Confusion - Moses seems to be asking God "Why?" He seems to be saying to the Lord, "These are Your people! I didn't give birth to them! They are your problem and not mine! Why then am I having to bear them and

their burdens?" Moses couldn't grasp the "why" of the situation. Moses failed to remember that the details were God's responsibility and not his! God had called Moses to lead the people, not feed them! (�ote: We have problems in this area too. I hear people pray and I hear them ask God "Why me?" They will come to me and say "Preacher, why is this happening to me?" There is no good answer to our why questions! However, I would propose that we need to adopt a different mind set concerning the troubles we face. I would suggest that instead of asking "Why?", we need to learn to ask two different questions:

1. Ask "Why not me?" - Jesus said that we could expect trouble in this life, John 16:33. Job said that we could expect trouble in this life, Job 14:1. Why then should we expect to live lives free from troubles and trials? When trouble comes to you, don't ask "Why?", instead learn to give thanks in the midst of trouble, 1 Thes. 5:18.

2. Ask "What?" - When the Lord sends trouble into your life, remember that it must be part of His plan for you, Rom. 8:28. He is merely growing you and showing you a new and more marvelous side of Himself! His purpose in the valleys He sends us through is to change us so that we become for like Him! (Ill. Thomas Watson said, "Affliction is the furnace in which God tries His gold!") Therefore, let us ask God, "Lord, what is the lesson that I have been sent here to learn? What new view of you am I going to get from this vantage point?" The question "What?" will produce far more favorable answers that the question "Why?"!

B. V. 12b-14 Moses Prayed A Prayer Of Confession - Moses came to the place to which we all need to come! He came to the place where he saw, felt and confessed his weaknesses. He knew that he was insufficient to the task at hand. He described himself as a father attempting to nurse a child! He had no ability to provide anything for those 2

million people! (Ill. This must have been how Paul felt as he felt the pain of that "thorn

in the flesh". Yet, when he received God's great promise of grace, Paul was able to rejoice in his difficulty because he knew that his weakness merely opened the door for God's power to walk in, 2 Cor. 12:7-10.) (�ote: It is difficult to come to the place of total weakness and dependence before the Lord. But until we do, we will never know Him and His power in our problems! Friends, the sooner we come to the place where we know for sure that we can't, that is the sooner will arrive at the place where we will know that He can!) (�ote: I am acutely aware of the fact that I do not possess the ability within my self to do the things God has called me to do! If the messages are prepared and preached; if the souls are saved; if the sick are comforted; if the needs of people's hearts are met, then it will be the Lord that must do it! I am like Moses, sometimes I am overwhelmed by all the burdens of life and ministry, but I serve a God Who is ever able to do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us!") (�ote: I will finish my course, but not through my own strength. I will do it through His and His alone!)

C. V. 15 Moses Prayed A Prayer Of Capitulation - In this verse, Moses is giving God an ultimatum! He says, "Either get me out of this mess or kill me!" Moses also confesses the fact that he cannot bear the thought of facing total failure of his hopes, plans and dreams. Moses has come to the place where he is ready to offer up his resignation. He is quitting! (�ote: How many of us have walked in these shoes? The problems of life have become so overwhelming and the burdens so great that we begin to ask to be delivered from them, even by death. Can I suggest to you that it is not a good idea to give God ultimatums? It's all right to reach the end of your rope, but it is never all right to just quit on God! My friends, there is no place to get off! Many are trying, but God is not pleased! Make up your minds that you will remain faithful to Him regardless of what others do, 1 Cor. 15:58!)

III. V. 16-25 THE PRICE MOSES PAID

(Ill. Whenever we come to the place that we allow the problems of life to eclipse the face of God, there will always be a price to pay. Moses paid that price and so will we if we allow things to become larger than God.)

A. V. 16-17 Moses Paid A Price In The Realm Of Authority - Instead of being the sole leader, Moses now had to share leadership with 70 other men. Of course, this means that the responsibility for the people was spread thinner. (�ote: The best of all worlds is one where leadership is shared. In the church, there should be no little dictators or authoritative rulers. Leadership should be shared. However, we need to remember that when the time comes that we can not carry out the responsibilities given to us by the Lord, He will find others to do His work. This was the great fear of the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 9:27. Moses had been called to be the leader of the people, but he gave up that lone leadership position and had to share his place with others.)

B. V. 25 Moses Paid A Price In The Realm Of Ability - Verses 17 and 25 tell us that God also anointed these 70 elders for the task to which He was assigning them. Did you notice where God got the anointing that He gave them? He took from the spirit He had given to Moses and gave it to others! Moses became no less than he had ever been, but it is my opinion that his potential to be greater had become less than it had ever been. You see, what Moses had failed to recognize, and what the actions of the Lord pointed out, was the fact that Moses already possessed all he needed to get the

job done for the Lord! (�ote: When we come to the place where we are ready to quit on God, we have better be ready for God to remove His hand of blessing from our lives! You may think that you cannot make it, but if you are saved, then God has already equipped you with all you need to fight the battle you face. Ill. David and Goliath - Saul tried to give David his armor. David knew that what he already had, his sling, a few smooth stones and the presence of God was enough to win the day! If God has placed you in it, He has prepared you to handle it! If you quit, He will give the honor and the blessing to one who will stand and do His perfect will. He did it with Moses and He will do it with you and me!)

Conc: What will you do when you hit the end of your rope? If you are like Moses, you will try to find a place to get off and let someone else take the heat. If you do what is right, you will submit to that which the Lord is doing in your life and you will trust Him to meet all the needs, answer all the questions and solve all the problems! There was one thing Moses did right in this whole affair: he turned to the Lord in a moment of crisis. Is that what you need to do this evening? If so, the way is open. Come to Him, tell Him all about it and trust Him to take care of it! People used to say that when you reached the end of your rope, you should just tie a knot in it and hang on. A far better piece of advice is for you to let go of the rope altogether and rest in the arms of a God Who is able to hold you while He solves the problems in your life.

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.

1. Seed of Abraham Ministries, “Moses says, where am I supposed to get all this variety of food that they're all complaining about? How am I supposed to please everyone at the same time? One wants this, the other wants that. On second thoughts, just shoot me. I mean Moses was REALLY in a mood. Interestingly after Moses blows up at God, God doesn't chastise him for it. Rather He goes about addressing the requests. I recall my dear departed father telling me so many years ago, that it was OK to get mad at God and to tell Him just how you feel. He can take it. And you know, in reality, the closer a relationship we have with someone the more we're free to communicate and share our fears and disappointments and concerns. And that is actually what Moses was doing. Moses had an honest relationship with God. He told God of his frustrations. He told God what was going on inside of Him. And God didn't punish Him or say "don't YOU ever talk to me like that". See Yehoveh isn't insecure; He knows who He is and who you are. We're told to approach God, pray, in spirit and in truth. Well Moses approached God in truth, even if it wasn't in a particularly edifying spirit. We should follow that example.

So here is God's solution to the gripes: take 70 elders (lay leaders of Israel) and bring them to the

front of the Tabernacle. In other words, present them to God so they can be authorized to share the burden. Recall that God called for 70 elders to come part way up the side of Mt. Sinai, with Moses, way back in Genesis. Understand: this was not a council designed to give Moses more advice (he already had more advice and suggestions than he could handle). Rather these men were to take on part of the burden. They were to DO, not to suggest.”

1B. Barnes, “Seventy men of the elders of Israel - Seventy elders had also gone up with Moses to the Lord in the mount Exo_24:1, Exo_24:9. Seventy is accordingly the number of colleagues assigned to Moses to share his burden with him. To it, the Jews trace the origin of the Sanhedrim. Subsequent notices �um_16:25; Jos_7:6; Jos_8:10, Jos_8:33; Jos_9:11; Jos_23:2; Jos_24:1, Jos_24:31 so connect the elders with the government of Israel as to point to the fact that the appointment now made was not a merely temporary one, though it would seem to have soon fallen into desuetude. We find no traces of it in the days of the Judges and the Kings.

Elders of the people, and officers over them - In English idiom, “elders and officers of the people.” Both elders and officers appear in Egypt (Exo_3:16; Exo_5:6 ff): the former had headed the nation in its efforts after freedom; the latter were the subordinate, though unwilling, agents of Egyptian tyranny. The two classes no doubt were working together; and from those who belonged to either, perhaps from those who were both eiders and officers, the council of Seventy was to be selected.

2. Gill, “And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Without making any reflection upon him, or upbraiding him with his unbecoming speeches to him, but in a kind and tender manner directs for his assistance and case:

gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel; out from among them, such as were not only men in years, but men of gravity, prudence, and wisdom; elders there were among the people in Egypt, Exo_3:16; and it was from among such as those the seventy men were to be taken; we read of seventy elders before this time, that went up to the mount with Moses, Exo_24:1; but they are supposed only to be selected for that purpose at that time, and did not continue as a separate body, or in any office: according to this number seventy, the great sanhedrim, or court of judicature the sat at Jerusalem in later times, consisted of seventy persons, with a prince or president at the head of them, as Moses was at the head of those: and so our Lord, besides his twelve apostles, sent out seventy disciples to be assisting in his work and service, Luk_10:1,

whom thou knowest to be elders of the people; either in age, or in some sort of office and authority among them, or, however, to be good and just men, and had a considerable share of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom:

and officers over them; such as Jethro advised to constitute, Exo_18:21; and it is not improbable that these seventy were chosen out of them:

and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee; and be seen by all the people what honour was done them, what authority was conferred upon them, and what gifts were bestowed on them, qualifying them for their office, in which they were to be treated with respect by them.

3. Henry, “We have here God's gracious answer to both the foregoing complaints, wherein his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious.

I. Provision is made for the redress of the grievances Moses complains of. If he find the weight of government lie too heavy upon him, though he was a little too passionate in his remonstrance, yet he shall be eased, not by being discarded from the government himself, as he justly might have been if God had been extreme to mark what he said amiss, but by having assistants appointed him, who should be, as the apostle speaks (1Co_12:28), helps, governments (that is, helps in government), not at all to lesson or eclipse his honour, but to make the work more easy to him, and to bear the burden of the people with him. And that this provision might be both agreeable and really serviceable,

1. Moses is directed to nominate the persons, �um_11:16. The people were too hot and heady and tumultuous to be entrusted with the election; Moses must please himself in the choice, that he may not afterwards complain. The number he is to choose is seventy men, according to the number of the souls that went down into Egypt. He must choose such as he knew to be elders, that is, wise and experienced men. Those that had acquitted themselves best, as rulers of thousands and hundreds (Exo_18:25), purchase to themselves now this good degree. “Choose such as thou knowest to be elders indeed, and not in name only, officers that execute their office.” We read of the same number of elders (Exo_24:1) that went up with Moses to Mount Sinai, but they were distinguished only for that occasion, these for a perpetuity; and, according to this constitution, the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which in after ages sat at Jerusalem, and was the highest court of judgment among them, consisted of seventy men. Our Saviour seems to have had an eye to it in the choice of seventy disciples, who were to be assistants to the apostles, Lu. 10.

4. Jamison, “the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders — (Exo_3:16; Exo_5:6; Exo_24:9; Exo_18:21, Exo_18:24; Lev_4:15). An order of seventy was to be created, either by a selection from the existing staff of elders or by the appointment of new ones, empowered to assist him by their collective wisdom and experience in the onerous cares of government. The Jewish writers say that this was the origin of the Sanhedrin, or supreme appellate court of their nation. But there is every reason to believe that it was only a temporary expedient, adopted to meet a trying exigency.

5. K&D, “There was good ground for his complaint. The burden of the office laid upon the shoulders of Moses was really too heavy for one man; and even the discontent which broke out in the complaint was nothing more than an outpouring of zeal for the office assigned him by God, under the burden of which his strength would eventually break down, unless he received some support. He was not tired of the office, but would stake his life for it if God did not relieve him in some way, as office and life were really one in him. Jehovah therefore relieved him in the distress of which he complained, without blaming the words of His servant, which bordered on despair. “Gather unto Me,” He said to Moses (�um_11:16, �um_11:17), “seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest as elders and officers (shoterim, see Exo_5:6) of the people, and bring them unto the tabernacle, that they may place themselves there with thee. I will come down (see at �um_11:25) and speak with thee there, and will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them, that they may bear the burden of the people with thee.”

6. Unknown author, “Moses despaired of what God wanted him to do as long as he believed his own press releases, as long as he thought that it really did depend on him. Moses vastly overestimated his own importance. God set him straight rather quickly with a simple command: "Get seventy of Israel's elders."

�otice what God does here. He takes 70 others who are known to be leaders, has them come to the Tabernacle. There they stand, just like Moses, before the presence of God and there God places on them the same Spirit that is on Moses. In verses 24-25 see what happens when the Spirit came on them; they prophesied. The clear message to Moses is this: "You are not alone. It all doesn't depend upon you." But we all struggle with this simple lesson. We like to believe in our own self-importance.

As Garrison Keillor explained, we all want to think we are great, that the world can't survive without us. In Lake Woebegone Days, Garrison tells about growing up without praise and the inner hunger it created in him to be important.

He admitted that when he received compliments he would say how he didn't deserve the praise. Then he said, "Under this thin veneer of modesty lies a monster of greed. I drive away faint praise beating my little chest, waiting to be named Sun-god, King of America, Idol of Millions, Bringer of Fire, The Great Haji, Thun-Dar the Boy Giant. I don't want to say, 'Thanks, glad you liked it.' I want to say, 'Rise, my people. Remove your faces from the carpet, stand, look me in the face.'"

Keillor struggles with what we all face everyday: self-centeredness. Be it an overblown and boisterous ego or a timid self-effacing shyness, we are all too easily bound by the chains of our own self-sufficiency. But the dead end of that life is despair. It is for that reason God calls us to share the load with others. We must let go of the lie of our own self-importance and realize that God graciously provides others to share our load.

In the story the elders do not parcel out the quail when they arrive. In fact we don't hear of them again. But they served as an illustration for Moses - God's grace comes to us in so many different ways, but often it comes in the simple assistance we receive from someone else. The same God who was at work in Moses is the God who would empower these men whenever he deemed it necessary.”

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.

1. Barnes, “I will take of the spirit which is upon thee - Render rather separate from the spirit, etc.; i. e. they shall have their portion in the same divine gift which thou hast.

2. Clarke, “I will take of the spirit which is upon thee - From this place Origen and Theodoret take occasion to compare Moses to a lamp, at which seventy others were lighted, without losing any of its brightness. To convince Moses that God had sufficiently qualified him for the work which he had given him to do, he tells him that of the gifts and graces which he has given him he will qualify seventy persons to bear the charge with him. This was probably intended as a

gracious reproof. Query. Did not Moses lose a measure of his gifts in this business? And is it not right that he whom God has called to and qualified for some particular office, should lose those gifts which he either undervalues or refuses to employ for God in the way appointed? Is there not much reason to believe that many cases have occurred where the spiritual endowments of particular persons have been taken away and given to others who made a better use of them? Hence the propriety of that exhortation, Rev_3:11 : Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. The gracious God never called a man to perform a work without furnishing him with adequate strength; and to refuse to do it on the pretense of inability is little short of rebellion against God. This institution of the seventy persons to help Moses the rabbins consider as the origin of their grand council called the Sanhedrin. But we find that a council of seventy men, elders of Israel, had existed among the people a year before this time. See Exo_24:9 (note); see the advice given to Jethro to Moses, Exo_18:17 (note), etc., and the notes there.

3. Gill, “And I will come down and talk with thee there,.... Descend from heaven, by some visible token of his power and presence, and in a friendly manner converse with him face to face; which was an instance of great condescension and grace, and especially when Moses had showed a very froward peevish spirit; yet all is overlooked, and the Lord vouchsafes the most intimate communion with him, and does him honour before the people:

and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee; the spirit of government, and the spirit of prophecy, the gifts of the spirit qualifying for these things, of which Moses had a large measure:

and will put it upon them; that is, gifts of the same kind with his; not that his gifts were diminished, or that properly speaking anything was taken from Moses and given to the seventy elders; but from the same fountain and fulness of the spirit Moses partook of, they were furnished with like gifts and qualifications, he having not at all the less for what was communicated to them; see 1Co_12:4; several of the Jewish writers, and particularly Jarchi, illustrate it by the lamp in the golden candlestick in the sanctuary, which was always burning, and at which all the rest were lighted, without any diminution of its light at all:

and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone: assist in the government of them, take part in all weighty and difficult matters, hear the complaints of the people, and bear a share of the blame and reproach they at any time should cast upon their rulers.

4. Henry, “God promises to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the employ, they should be made fit, else they might prove more a hindrance than a help to Moses, �um_11:17. Though Moses had talked too boldly with God, yet God does not therefore break off communion with him; he bears a great deal with us, and we must with one another: I will come down (said God) and talk with thee, when thou art more calm and composed; and I will take of the same spirit of wisdom, and piety, and courage, that is upon thee, and put it upon them. �ot that Moses had the less of the Spirit for their sharing, nor that they were hereby made equal with him; Moses was still unequalled (Deu_34:10), but they were clothed with a spirit of government proportionable to their place, and with a spirit of prophecy to prove their divine call to it, the government being a Theocracy. �ote, (1.) Those whom God employs in any service he qualifies for it, and those that are not in some measure qualified cannot think themselves duly called. (2.) All good qualifications are from God; every perfect gift is from the Father of lights.

5. Jamison, “I will come down — that is, not in a visible manner or by local descent, but by the tokens of the divine presence and operations.

and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee — “The spirit” means the gifts and influences of the Spirit (�um_27:18; Joe_2:28; Joh_7:39; 1Co_14:12), and by “taking the spirit of Moses, and putting it upon them,” is not to be understood that the qualities of the great leader were to be in any degree impaired but that the elders would be endowed with a portion of the same gifts, especially of prophecy (�um_11:25) - that is, an extraordinary penetration in discovering hidden and settling difficult things.

6. Seed of Abraham Ministries, “In verse 17 God says that He is going to anoint these 70 elders as leader-assistants for Moses. But in order for these 70 to be not just ordinary run-of-the-mill supervisors and accountants and judges God was going to put upon these men the same spirit that was upon Moses. This was the O�LY way these men would carry the authority of God, which was absolutely necessary to carry out their new duties. Actually what it says is that God was going to SHARE or DRAW UPO� the Spirit that was upon Moses, with the 70. The Hebrew is ve-'atsalti min, and literally it means to reserve or to withdraw.

So is what we have here a Spirit transplant from Moses to the 70? Does the thought of a spirit transplant sound a little odd or strange to you? Well this sort of thing is going to happen again 13 or so centuries later on Pentecost. During the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost in Greek) immediately after Christ's death, the same spirit that empowered Yeshua was now to be shared and bestowed among men. It is interesting that Yeshua says that the Spirit could not come until He was gone. Why not? Well this is a matter that requires some speculation. Was it, possibly, that since His baptism and the Spirit of God descending upon Him, that Yeshua was the SOLE container of the Holy Spirit on Earth for a time? Was this, perhaps, all patterned after Moses whereby for a time Moses seemed to be the O�LY human upon whom God had endowed His spirit? Therefore when it came time for Moses' authority and duties to be shared, it had to drawn FROM Moses (the sole earthly container of it) onto the 70 men.

Of course I do think that is what is happening...... in some way that is almost impossible to verbalize. Our Messiah instructed us that it is the job of every spirit-filled Believer to feed the flock; to care for the body of disciples; to take the HIS message to the world and make new disciples. It is the job of certain spirit-filled Believers to lead other Believers. But we're not to do any of it in our own power......though we could succeed (at least outwardly) to some level. And, we were to start doing this after Jesus left, and in the same power and authority that He had: the Ruach HaKodesh....the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was with us in person, He bore the burden Himself. �ow WE are to share the burden with Him. This is what is meant by we are to pick up our OW� cross and follow Him. This is all about burden sharing. Frankly, this whole teaching makes our general Christian passivity look pretty irresponsible, doesn't it?

Let me be clear: it's not that the Holy Spirit has some finite amount to Him. But there is only O�E spirit of God. I don't believe I can explain this much better nor do I think there is a better word-picture of how the Ruach, the Holy Spirit works, than right here in �umbers with Moses and the 70. And how it was after this pattern that it's �T version, first in Christ and then from Christ to the Believing community, would be manifest.

By the way: notice that the 70 HAD to be brought before the Lord......be brought to the Wilderness Tabernacle. Why? Because it was God doing the Spirit transplant, not Moses. And by doing it at the Sanctuary of God it was clear to all that it was �OT by the power of Moses it was by the power of God that the miracle of the Spirit would be attributed. It's the same with us. We can witness to folks, and we can say we brought people to the Lord. True enough. But like Moses who led those 70 to the Tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, that's as far as we can take them. In a certain sense we can persuade and get them to agree to come before the Lord, but from that point forward it is strictly a miracle and work of God that the Holy Spirit be transplanted into each new Believer.”

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!" �ow the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it.

1. Gill, “And say thou unto the people,.... For what follows respects them, as what goes before regarded himself:

sanctify yourselves against tomorrow; or prepare yourselves, as the Targums of Onkelos, and Jonathan, either to receive mercies, or to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments; so Jarchi interprets it,"prepare for punishments,''for what is said should be, and what they had, was not as a blessing, but in a way of punishment:

and ye shall eat flesh; which they lusted after, wept for, and could not be easy without:

for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord; complaining of him, and which he has taken notice of:

saying, who shall give us flesh to eat? for though they so earnestly desired it, they despaired of it, and even called in question the power of God to give it:

for it was well with us in Egypt; where they had their fleshpots, as well as their cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic, Exo_16:3; but they forgot how ill it went with them by reason of their hard bondage, when their lives were made bitter by it, notwithstanding their fleshpots, and of which there is not much reason to believe any great share came to them: like to them were their posterity in later times, Jer_44:17,

therefore the Lord will give you flesh; to show his power:

and ye shall eat; to your shame and confusion, not for pleasure or profit.

2. Henry, “Even the humour of the discontented people shall be gratified too, that every mouth

may be stopped. They are ordered to sanctify themselves (�um_11:18), that is, to put themselves into a posture to receive such a proof of God's power as should be a token both of mercy and judgment. Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, Amo_4:12.

3. Jamison, “say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh — that is, “prepare yourselves,” by repentance and submission, to receive to-morrow the flesh you clamor for. But it is evident that the tenor of the language implied a severe rebuke and that the blessing promised would prove a curse.

4. K&D 18-20, “Jehovah would also relieve the complaining of the people, and that in such a way that the murmurers should experience at the same time the holiness of His judgments. The people were to sanctify themselves for the next day, and were then to eat flesh (receive flesh to eat). to prepare themselves by purifications for the revelation of the glory of ,(as in Exo_19:10) התקדשGod in the miraculous gift of flesh. Jehovah would give them flesh, so that they should eat it not one day, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty, but a whole month long (of “days,” as in Gen_29:14; Gen_41:1), “till it come out of your nostrils, and become loathsome unto you,” as a punishment for having despised Jehovah in the midst of them, in their contempt of the manna given by God, and for having shown their regret at leaving the land of Egypt in their longing for the provisions of that land.

5. Ron Daniel, “A month of meat. The people will eat meat until it comes out their nostrils. This will be a curse of abundance. Sometimes, when we bug God enough, He will give us what we want to our own demise. A single woman begs and begs God to marry some unsaved guy. He allows it happen, knowing how devastating it is. We push and push for a job. We say, "God, I'm going to keep pushing until you lock the door." But God won't violate your free will. In exasperation, He says, "fine, take this job you want so much - but you're really going to regret it."I think of Balaam the prophet. "God, these guys want me to go curse Israel - can I go?" "�o, of course you can't go," God says. "But God, they want to give me bunches of money. Can't I just go and not curse them?" �o, you can't go." "But God..." "Fine, go. But whatever happens to you is going to be on your head." In the same way, God here is saying, "you want meat? Fine, you'll have meat till it's coming out your nose."�ow this will be the punishment for their rejection of God. When did they reject God? When they complained about God's provision. When they said that what they had in Egypt in slavery was better than the freedom they had following God. Complaining about the lot in life God's given you is equivalent to rejecting Him. Ouch!

19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days,

1. Gill, “Ye shall not eat one day,.... Only, as in Exo_16:12, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even thirty days, a whole month, as in �um_11:20.

2. Henry, “God promises (shall I say?) - he threatens rather, that they shall have their fill of flesh, that for a month together they shall not only be fed, but feasted, with flesh, besides their daily manna; and, if they have not a better government of their appetites than now it appears they have they shall be surfeited with it (�um_11:19, �um_11:20): You shall eat till it come out at your nostrils, and become loathsome to you. See here, (1.) The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but not satisfy: spiritual pleasures are the contrary. As the world passes away, so do the lusts of it, 1Jo_2:17. What was greedily coveted in a little time comes to be nauseated. (2.) What brutish sins (and worse than brutish) gluttony and drunkenness are; they put a force upon nature, and make that the sickness of the body which should be its health; they are sins that are their own punishments, and yet not the worst that attend them. (3.) What a righteous thing it is with God to make that loathsome to men which they have inordinately lusted after. God could make them despise flesh as much as they had despised manna.

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?" '

1. Gill, “But even a whole month,.... So long the Israelites continued at Taberah or Kibrothhattaavah, as the Jews (o) conclude from this clause:

until it come out at your nostrils; being vomited up, through a nausea of it, the stomach being overfilled and glutted with it; in which case, it will make its way through the nostrils, as well as out of the mouth:

and it be loathsome unto you; being surfeited with it; or it shall be for "dispersion" (p), scattered about from the mouth and nostrils:

because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you; who dwelt in the tabernacle that was in the midst of them, whom they despised by treating the manna with contempt he so plentifully spread about their camp, and by distrusting his power to give them flesh, and by murmuring and complaining against him on the account of their having none: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,"because ye have loathed the Word of the Lord, whose Shechinah (or the glory of whose Shechinah, as Jonathan) dwelleth among you;''the essential Word, and who was figured by the manna they tasted and despised:

and have wept before him; complaining of him, and murmuring against him:

saying, why came we forth out of Egypt? suggesting it would have been better for them if they had stayed there; thus reflecting on the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, displayed in the deliverance of them, and for which they had the utmost reason to be thankful.

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!'

1. Gill, “And Moses said,.... By way of objection to what God had promised, distrusting his power to perform:

the people amongst whom I am; among whom he dwelt, of whom he was a part, and over whom he was a ruler:

are six hundred thousand footmen; that were able to travel on foot, and were fit for war: this was the number of them when they came out of Egypt, Exo_12:37; they amounted in their last numbering to 3,550 more, which lesser number is here omitted, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, and only the round number given: some say that all above the six hundred thousand were destroyed by the fire at Taberah, �um_11:1,

and thou hast said, one will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month; this Moses could not tell how to credit.

2. Henry, “Moses objects the improbability of making good this word, �um_11:21, �um_11:22. It is an objection like that which the disciples made, Mar_8:4, Whence can a man satisfy these men? Some excuse Moses here, and construe what he says as only a modest enquiry which way the supply must be expected; but it savours too much of diffidence and distrust of God to be justified. He objects the number of the people, as if he that provided bread for them all could not, by the same unlimited power, provide flesh too. He reckons it must be the flesh either of beasts or fishes, because they are the most bulky animals, little thinking that the flesh of birds, little birds, should serve the purpose. God sees not as man sees, but his thoughts are above ours. He objects the greediness of the people's desires in that word, to suffice them. �ote, Even true and great believers sometimes find it hard to trust God under the discouragements of second causes, and against hope to believe in hope. Moses himself could scarcely forbear saying, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? when this had become the common cry. �o doubt this was his infirmity.

3. Jamison, “�umbers 11:21-23 , “Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand ... Shall the flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? — The great leader, struck with a promise so astonishing as that of suddenly furnishing, in the midst of the desert, more than two millions of people with flesh for a whole month, betrayed an incredulous spirit, surprising in one who had witnessed so many stupendous miracles. But it is probable that it was only a feeling of the moment - at all events, the incredulous doubt was uttered only to himself - and not, as afterwards, publicly and to the scandal of the people. (See �um_20:10). It was, therefore, sharply reproved, but not punished.

4. K&D 21-23, “When Moses thereupon expressed his amazement at the promise of God to provide flesh for 600,000 men for a whole month long even to satiety, and said, “Shall flocks and

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

them, to suffice them?” he was answered by the words, “Is the arm of Jehovah too short (i.e., does it not reach far enough; is it too weak and powerless)? Thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

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?"

1. Clarke, “Shall the flocks and the herds be slain - There is certainly a considerable measure of weakness and unbelief manifested in the complaints and questions of Moses on this occasion; but his conduct appears at the same time so very simple, honest, and affectionate, that we cannot but admire it, while we wonder that he had not stronger confidence in that God whose miracles he had so often witnessed in Egypt.

2. Gill, “Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them?.... Suggesting that if all their cattle, their sheep, and oxen were killed, which they and the mixed multitude brought out of Egypt, they would not be sufficient for them to live upon a whole month; and intimating also, that it would be an unwise thing, and very improper, to slay them all, were they sufficient, since then they would have none for sacrifice, or to breed when they came into the land of Canaan; the Targum of Jonathan is,"shall the sheep that are in Arabia and the oxen that are in �abatea be slain for them, and be sufficient for them?"

or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them? of the great sea, as Jonathan; which, to gather together, is, humanly speaking, impossible; indeed, if it could be done, they would not suffice such a number of people a month together: Moses takes notice only of the flesh of beasts and of fishes, and seems not to have thought of the flesh of fowls with which, and not the other, the Lord afterwards fed them a whole month.

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."

1. Clarke, “Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? - Hast thou forgotten the miracles which I have already performed? or thinkest thou that my power is decreased? The power that is unlimited

can never be diminished.

2. Gill, “And the Lord said unto Moses,.... In answer to his objection, without upbraiding him with his sin of unbelief:

is the Lord's hand waxed short? or his power diminished since the creation, when he formed all things out of nothing, and what is it then he is not able to do? or since he wrought the wonders in Egypt, divided the Red sea, rained down manna from heaven, and smote the rock at Horeb, from whence waters flowed sufficient for all this people, and their flocks and herds; and he that did all this could give them flesh that would suffice them a whole month, see Isa_59:1,

thou shall see now whether my words shall come to pass unto thee or no; whether I am able to make good my promise; a short time will decide it, it shall be seen presently whether I am and will do what I have said.

3. Henry, “God gives a short but sufficient answer to the objection in that question, Has the Lord's hand waxed short? �um_11:23. If Moses had remembered the years of the right hand of the Most High, he would not have started all these difficulties; therefore God reminds him of them, intimating that this objection reflected upon the divine power, of which he himself had been so often, not only the witness, but the instrument. Had he forgotten what wonders the divine power had wrought for that people, when it inflicted the plagues of Egypt, divided the sea, broached the rock, and rained bread from heaven? Had that power abated? Was God weaker than he used to be? Or was he tired with what he had done? Whatever our unbelieving hearts may suggest to the contrary, it is certain, (1.) That God's hand is not short; his power cannot be restrained in the exerting of itself by any thing but his own will; with him nothing is impossible. That hand is not short which measures the waters, metes out the heavens (Isa_40:12), and grasps the winds, Pro_30:4. (2.) That it has not waxed short. He is as strong as ever he was, fainteth not, neither is weary. And this is sufficient to silence all our distrusts when means fail us, Is any thing too hard for the Lord? God here brings Moses to this first principle, sets him back in his lesson, to learn the ancient name of God, The Lord God Almighty, and puts the proof upon the issue: Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass or not. This magnifies God's word above all his name, that his works never come short of it. If he speaks, it is done.

4. Rev. Bruce Goettsche, “God tells Moses that He is going to take care of the menu problem. He says He is going to provide meat for the evening's meal . . . and what's more, He will give them meat to eat for an entire month!Moses is skeptical. In his head he is doing the math and concludes that there aren't enough animals or money to feed this great group of people for even one night . . . much less for a month.

Reminds me of the story of the feeding of the 5000 in the �ew Testament. Jesus was teaching a large group of people (it numbered 5000 men). It was getting close to dinner time and the disciples were getting hungry so they suggested that Jesus send the people into the nearby villages to get something to eat. Jesus smiled and said, "�aw, you guys feed them."

The disciples I'm sure, looked at each other, raised and eyebrow and went to inventory their resources. They returned to report that they had five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, "Great!"

I suspect the disciples wondered if Jesus thought this was going to be His portion. Someone surely said, "Lord, that's everything . . . that's all we have for all these people." Jesus said, "O.K.

well you better divide it and start passing it out to the people." The disciples looked at each other and raised an eyebrow and more than one thought, "We should have had Him stand in the shade!"

Yet, when they began to distribute the baskets (they couldn't bear to watch), the people had plenty. When dinner was over they brought back 12 full baskets of leftovers.

The situation is similar to this occasion with Moses. He knows it is impossible to feed these people. But he is forgetting something. He is forgetting the greatness of the Lord.

8. Spurgeon, “God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? �o; he who makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks, it is done—done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: “Has the Lord’s hand waxed short?” May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, “Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

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.

1. Gill, “And Moses went out,.... Either out of his own tent, about which the people assembled, complaining and weeping, �um_11:10; or rather, as Aben Ezra, out of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the sanctuary where he had been conversing with God, about the affairs complained of both by the people and by himself; so the Targum of Jonathan says, he went out of the tabernacle, the house of the Shechinah or divine Majesty:

and told the people of the words of the Lord; what he had ordered him to do for his ease in the government of them, and how he had promised to give them flesh on the morrow:

and gathered the seventy men of the elders of Israel; sent for them by name, and ordered them to assemble at such a time and place; and though two of them came not, after mentioned, �um_11:26, yet the full number of seventy is given:

and set them round about the tabernacle; they seem to be set not promiscuously in a body together, but distinctly, one by another, in a circular form; that they might be seen, observed, and taken notice of by the people that came about the tabernacle, who they were, what were done to them, and what befell them.

2. Henry, “We have here the performance of God's word to Moses, that he should have help in the government of Israel.

I. Here is the case of the seventy privy-counsellors in general. Moses, though a little disturbed by the tumult of the people, yet was thoroughly composed by the communion he had with God, and soon came to himself again. And according as the matter was concerted, 1. He did his part; he presented the seventy elders before the Lord, round the tabernacle (�um_11:24), that they might there stand ready to receive the grace of God, in the place where he manifested himself, and that the people also might be witnesses of their solemn call. �ote, Those that expect favour from God must humbly offer themselves and their service to him.

3. Jamison, “Moses ... gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, etc. — The tabernacle was chosen for the convocation, because, as it was there God manifested Himself, there His Spirit would be directly imparted - there the minds of the elders themselves would be inspired with reverential awe and their office invested with greater respect in the eyes of the people.

4. K&D, “After receiving from the Lord this reply to his complaint. Moses went out (sc., “of the tabernacle,” where he had laid his complaint before the Lord) into the camp; and having made known to the people the will of God, gathered together seventy men of the elders of the people, and directed them to station themselves around the tabernacle. “Around the tabernacle,” does not signify in this passage on all four sides, but in a semicircle around the front of the tabernacle; the verb is used in this sense in �um_21:4, when it is applied to the march round Edom.

5. Ron Daniel, “When the Spirit came upon each of the elders, they prophecied. Remember that although we often think of prophecy as foretelling the future, it is actually forth-telling the Word of God. Sometimes that is related to the future, but often it is speaking the Scriptures as well. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,1Cor. 14:3 But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.The gift of prophecy brings three things: Edification - building up people. Exhortation - strongly encouraging them to love, good works, and holiness. Consolation - a reassurance from God.So the elders all began to prophecy when the Spirit came upon them.”

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. [b]

1. Barnes, “They prophesied - i. e. under the extraordinary impulse of the Holy Spirit they uttered forth the praises of God, or declared His will. Compare the marginal references.

And did not cease - Rather, and added not, i. e. they prophesied at this time only and not afterward. The sign was granted on the occasion of their appointment to accredit them in their office; it was not continued, because their proper function was to be that of governing not prophesying.

2. Clarke, “When the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied - By prophesying here we are to understand their performing those civil and sacred functions for which they were qualified; exhorting the people to quiet and peaceable submission, to trust and confidence in the goodness and providence of God, would make no small part of the duties of their new office. The ideal meaning of the word נבא naba is to pray, entreat, etc. The prophet is called נביא nabi, because he prays, supplicates, in reference to God; exhorts, entreats, in reference to man. See on Gen_20:7 (note).

3. Gill, “And the Lord came down in a cloud,.... In a cloud of glory, or a glorious one, as the Targums; either in the same that went before the people in the wilderness, or in one distinct from it, and only used on this occasion, as a visible token of the presence of God:

and spake unto him; to Moses, talked with him, as he said he would, �um_11:17,

and took of the Spirit which was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders; See Gill on �um_11:17,

and it came to pass that when the Spirit rested upon them they prophesied; either they sung the praises of God, which is sometimes the sense of prophesying, 1Ch_25:1; blessing God for the honour done them, and the gift bestowed on them; or they opened and explained the laws of God, in virtue of the gifts they had received, according to which they were to assist Moses in the government of the people, or they foretold things come: the Jews say they prophesied of the quails, but that is not very likely:

and did not cease; from prophesying; the spirit of prophecy continued with them, which, in some cases, might be necessary: or, they ceased not to prophesy all that day, though they afterwards did: and in the Hebrew text it is, "they added not" (q), that is, to prophesy, and Jarchi says they only prophesied that day, as it is interpreted in an ancient book of theirs, called Siphre: wherefore this spirit of prophecy is thought only to be given them as a temporary thing, for the confirmation of their having received the spirit of government, or gifts qualifying them for that, and to make them respectable among the people, and to show that they were appointed it by divine authority, and that this was not a device of Moses to ease himself.

4. Henry, “ God was not wanting to do his part. He gave of his Spirit to the seventy elders (�um_11:25), which enabled those whose capacities and education set them but on a level with

their neighbours of a sudden to say and do that which was extraordinary, and which proved them to be actuated by divine inspiration: they prophesied, and did not cease all that day, and (some think) only that day. They discoursed to the people of the things of God, and perhaps commented upon the law they had lately received with admirable clearness, and fulness, and readiness, and aptness of expression, so that all who heard them might see and say that God was with them of a truth; see 1Co_14:24, 1Co_14:25. Thus, long afterwards, Saul was marked for the government by the gift of prophecy, which came upon him for a day and a night, 1Sa_10:6, 1Sa_10:11. When Moses was to fetch Israel out of Egypt, Aaron was appointed to be his prophet, Exo_7:1. But, now that God had called Aaron to other work, in his room Moses has seventy prophets to attend him. �ote, Those are fittest to rule in God's Israel that are well acquainted with divine things and are apt to teach to edification.

5. Jamison, “when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease — As those elders were constituted civil governors, their “prophesying” must be understood as meaning the performance of their civil and sacred duties by the help of those extraordinary endowments they had received; and by their not “ceasing” we understand, either that they continued to exercise their gifts uninterruptedly the first day (see 1Sa_19:24), or that these were permanent gifts, which qualified them in an eminent degree for discharging the duty of public magistrates.

6. K&D, “Jehovah then came down in the cloud, which soared on high above the tabernacle, and now came down to the door of it (�um_12:5; Exo_33:9; Deu_31:15). The statement in ch. �um_9:18., and Exo_40:37-38, that the cloud dwelt (שכן) above the dwelling of the tabernacle during the time of encampment, can be reconciled with this without any difficulty; since the only idea that we can form of this “dwelling upon it” is, that the cloud stood still, soaring in quietness above the tabernacle, without moving to and fro like a cloud driven by the wind. There is no such discrepancy, therefore, as Knobel finds in these statements. When Jehovah had come down, He spoke to Moses, sc., to explain to him and to the elders what was about to be done, and then laid upon the seventy elders of the Spirit which was upon him. We are not to understand this as implying, that the fulness of the Spirit possessed by Moses was diminished in consequence; still less to regard it, with Calvin, as signum indignationis, or nota ignominiae, which God intended to stamp upon him. For the Spirit of God is not something material, which is diminished by being divided, but resembles a flame of fire, which does not decrease in intensity, but increases rather by extension. As Theodoret observed, “Just as a person who kindles a thousand flames from one, does not lessen the first, whilst he communicates light to the others, so God did not diminish the grace imparted to Moses by the fact that He communicated of it to the seventy.” God did this to show to Moses, as well as to the whole nation, that the Spirit which Moses had received was perfectly sufficient for the performance of the duties of his office, and that no supernatural increase of that Spirit was needed, but simply a strengthening of the natural powers of Moses by the support of men who, when endowed with the power of the Spirit that was taken from him, would help him to bear the burden of his office. We have no description of the way in which this transference took place; it is therefore impossible to determine whether it was effected by a sign which would strike the outward senses, or passed altogether within the sphere of the Spirit's life, in a manner which corresponded to the nature of the Spirit itself. In any case, however, it must have been effected in such a way, that Moses and the elders received a convincing proof of the reality of the affair. When the Spirit descended upon the elders, “they prophesied, and did not add;” i.e., they did not repeat the prophesyings any further. ו|א יספו is rendered correctly by the lxx, καὶ οὐκ ἔτι προσέθεντο; the rendering supported by the Vulgate and Onkelos, nec ultro

cessaverunt (“and ceased not”), is incorrect. התנבא, “to prophesy,” is to be understood generally, and especially here, not as the foretelling of future things, but as speaking in an ecstatic and elevated state of mind, under the impulse and inspiration of the Spirit of God, just like the “speaking with tongues,” which frequently followed the gift of the Holy Ghost in the days of the apostles. But we are not to infer from the fact, that the prophesying was not repeated, that the Spirit therefore departed from them after this one extraordinary manifestation. This miraculous manifestation of the Spirit was intended simply to give to the whole nation the visible proof that God had endowed them with His Spirit, as helpers of Moses, and had given them the authority required for the exercise of their calling.

7. Coffman, “The diverse opinions about this verse are a bit perplexing, but we feel perfectly safe in receiving the meaning to be as it is in our version. Wade noted that, Their gift was only

temporary.F20 The gift was temporary, solely to mark their entrance into their sacred office.F21

Unger also pointed out that the Hebrew here literally has, and added not; and from this Owen gave as an alternate meaning of the passage that: They prophesied only that which the Spirit gave them and did not add anything to it

8. Seed of Abraham Ministries, “In response to the Lord's concession of providing meat Moses (skeptical as always) responds: how are you going to provide meat, out here in the middle of nowhere, for 600,000 men? Remember the 600,000 number is simply the size of the Israelite army.....men of fighting age. Add to that women and children and feeble and lame and elderly and we likely are nearing 3 million people. And, its not just meat for a day or two, but God says He is going to provide meat for 1 full month!

�ow that the Lord has stated how the two problems are going to be resolved, He sets about to accomplish it. The 70 elders are brought to the Wilderness Tabernacle. And, then, in a cloud, it says that Yehoveh descended and "He drew upon the spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the 70 elders". Even more, when it happened, the 70 began speaking "in ecstasy". Your bibles may say, "prophesied" instead of speaking in ecstasy. My only qualm with using the word "prophesy" is that for us, today, and really for the remainder of the Bible, prophesy communicates something different than went on here. Here, they were not teaching the Word of the Lord, which is one meaning of the term "prophesy", nor did they speak of the future, another meaning of the term "prophesy". Rather, it was some kind of very excited speech; what it was we don't know. What we DO know is that these 70 did �OT become prophets, and we have no indication of these elders ever being involved with this experience again. In fact, it is specifically stated in verse 25 that whatever ability or meaning there was to this short period of ecstatic speech "did not continue" in these men. The idea of all this is that their strange, excitable speech validated that indeed they had received the spirit of God.

�ow, does any of this sound the least bit familiar to you? Was there another time when the Holy Spirit descended upon people and they began speaking in a special way? Sure there was, and most children who have attended Sunday School for any length of time know about it. How about at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended and those Jewish Believers who received the spirit started "speaking in other tongues"?

�AS Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

My, my. Once again it seems that the entire concept of the Spirit of God descending upon men, with the result being some special kind of speech as proof, was �OT a brand new �T revelation after all; but rather the repeat of a pattern set down 1300 years earlier, told of in the Torah, here in �umbers 11.”

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.

1. Barnes, “Of them that were written - i. e. enrolled among the Seventy. The expression points to a regular appointment duly recorded and permanent.

2. Gill, “But there remained two of the men in the camp,.... Of the seventy who were summoned, that came not out of the camp of Israel to the tabernacle when the rest did:

the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: who, according to the Targum of Jonathan, were brethren of Moses by his mother's side; for it says, they were the sons of Elizaphan the son of Parnac, whom Jochebed the daughter of Levi brought forth at the time that Amram her husband dismissed her, and she was married to him before she brought forth Moses; but it is elsewhere said (r), that Elizaphan married her after the death of Amram; and Eldad and Medad were born unto them:

and the Spirit rested upon them; as it did upon the rest of the seventy that came to the tabernacle; these two had the same gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon them as they had:

and they were of them that were written; among the seventy whose names were put down in the summons Moses gave them to attend the tabernacle; for as for the notion of the Jews about schedules and pieces of paper put into an urn to draw lots with, there is no foundation in the text:

but went not out unto the tabernacle; out of the camp to it, when they were summoned to come together; which they declined, as is commonly said, out of modesty, thinking themselves unfit for such an high office; and therefore, as Saul hid himself among the stuff when he was about to be chosen king, so did they, or something like it: the Targum of Jonathan is express for it, which adds, because they hid themselves to flee from government; but the Spirit of God found them out, and filled them with his gifts, and constrained them to prophesy, whereby they were discovered:

and they prophesied in the camp; perhaps in a private manner, it may be in their own houses; which, how it came to be known is after related: what they prophesied of cannot be said; according to the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, and other Jewish writers (s), they prophesied of the quails, and of the death of Moses, and the succession of Joshua, of Gog and Magog, and their armies, and of their destruction by the Messiah, and of the resurrection of the dead; but these are things not to be depended on.

4. Henry, “Here is the particular case of two of them, Eldad and Medad, probably two brothers.1. They were nominated by Moses to be assistants in the government, but they went not out

unto the tabernacle as the rest did, �um_11:26. Calvin conjectures that the summons was sent them, but that it did not find them, they being somewhere out of the way; so that, though they were written, yet they were not called. Most think that they declined coming to the tabernacle out of an excess of modesty and humility; being sensible of their own weakness and unworthiness, they desired to be excused from coming into the government. Their principle was their praise, but their practice in not obeying orders was their fault.

2. The Spirit of God found them out in the camp, where they were hidden among the stuff, and there they prophesied, that is, they exercised their gift of praying, preaching, and praising God, in some private tent. �ote, The Spirit of God is not tied to the tabernacle, but, like the wind, blows where he listeth, Joh_3:8. Whither can we go from that Spirit? There was a special providence in it that these two should be absent, for thus it appeared that it was indeed a divine Spirit which the elders were actuated by, and that Moses gave them not that Spirit, but God himself. They modestly declined preferment, but God forced it upon them; nay, they have the honour of being named, which the rest have not: for those that humble themselves shall be exalted, and those are most fit for government who are least ambitious of it.

5. Jamison, “�umbers 11:26-29 But there remained two of the men in the camp — They did not repair with the rest to the

tabernacle, either from modesty in shrinking from the assumption of a public office, or being prevented by some ceremonial defilement. They, however, received the gifts of the Spirit as well as their brethren. And when Moses was urged to forbid their prophesying, his answer displayed a noble disinterestedness as well as zeal for the glory of God akin to that of our Lord (Mar_9:39).

6. K&D, “But in order to prove to the whole congregation that the Spirit of the Lord was working there, the Spirit came not only upon the elders assembled round Moses, and in front of the tabernacle, but also upon two of the persons who had been chosen, viz., Eldad and Medad, who had remained behind in the camp, for some reason that is not reported, so that they also prophesied. “Them that were written,” conscripti, for “called,” because the calling of the elders generally took place in writing, from which we may see how thoroughly the Israelites had acquired the art of writing in Egypt.

7. Coffman, “We do not know why these two were not with the others before the Tent, for they were written among them, meaning that they surely belonged. Amazingly, their absence did not prevent their also receiving the blessing. Perhaps one reason for the inclusion of this incident by the Divine author was the typical nature of the response of Moses. Moses' unselfish forgiveness of others and his total lack of any desire for the glory of men were indeed typical of those same wonderful qualities in the Saviour himself.

In a similar way, the disciples of John the Baptist were jealous for their leader and complained that the Lord's disciples were baptizing more people than were the followers of John the Baptist. The traits of men appear to be the same in all ages.

27 A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

1. Clarke, “Eldad and Medad do prophesy, etc. -

Eldad, they said, and Medad there,Irregularly bold,By Moses uncommission’d, dareA separate meeting hold!And still whom none but heaven will own.Men whom the world decry,Men authorized by God alone,Presume to prophesy!

2. Gill, “And there ran a young man,.... From the camp to the tabernacle, who had heard Eldad and Medad prophesy; which he thought was not right, being done without the knowledge and approbation of Moses, and in a private tent in the tabernacle, not among the elders, but the common people: who this young than was is not material to know; some of the Rabbins, as Jarchi says, affirm he was Gershon the son of Moses; whoever he was, no doubt, it was with a good design, consulting the glory of God and the honour of Moses, and therefore in great haste ran to him with the information:

and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp; who seem by this, to be persons well known, and of some note and figure; since not only the young man could call them by their names, but there needed no other description of them to Moses and those with him.

3. Henry, “Information of this was given to Moses (�um_11:27): “Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp; there is a conventicle in such a tent, and Eldad and Medad are holding forth there, from under the inspection and presidency of Moses, and out of the communion of the rest of the elders.” Whoever the person was that brought the tidings, he seems to have looked upon it as an irregularity.

4. K&D, “This phenomenon in the camp itself produced such excitement, that a boy (הנער, with the article like הפליט in Gen_14:13) reported the thing to Moses, whereupon Joshua requested Moses to prohibit the two from prophesying. Joshua felt himself warranted in doing this, because he had been Moses' servant from his youth up (see at Exo_17:9), and in this capacity he regarded the prophesying of these men in the camp as detracting from the authority of his lord, since they had not received this gift from Moses, at least not through his mediation. Joshua was jealous for the honour of Moses, just as the disciples of Jesus, in Mar_9:38-39, were for the honour of their

Lord; and he was reproved by Moses, as the latter afterwards were by Christ.

5. Dr. Woodrow Kroll Back to the Bible Zealous for What?

How easy it is to misplace our zeal. Around 1420 A.D., "golfe" or "the Gouf" became so popular that King James II of Scotland feared the pastime placed the country at risk in its ongoing war with England. He reasoned that his men were spending too much time chasing the "golfe" ball and too little time practicing archery. Consequently the king persuaded his government to pass an act of parliament banning "golfe." Obviously, his zeal was misplaced, not to mention ineffective.

Joshua also had a misplaced zeal. As the assistant to Moses, he considered it his responsibility to make sure his master's power and influence were not threatened. Since part of Moses' authority stemmed from the fact that God spoke through him, the thought of others prophesying or speaking for the Lord disturbed Joshua. In his enthusiasm to protect his master's position, he was ready to hinder the proclamation of God's Word.

Over the centuries, God has used many instruments to proclaim His Word. Sometimes these instruments possessed questionable motives. The apostle Paul noted that some "preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely" (Phil. 1:16). His conclusion? "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice" (v. 18).

Our zeal must primarily focus on the message, not the messenger. If the Word of God is being faithfully proclaimed, let's rejoice. God sometimes chooses the least likely to speak for Him. If someone is not a true spokesman for Him, God will take care of that. We need not worry.

Be zealous for the message; God will judge the messenger.

8. Ron Daniel 27-30, “A young guy came and told Moses what had happened. Joshua interjects, saying, "Moses, tell them to knock it off! They're not part of the group!" But Moses praises God, saying, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if everyone got filled with the Spirit?"Often, we fall into Joshua's thinking - "If they're not part of our group, then they're not of God!" But believe it or not, there are more people saved in your city than the ones that go to your church! Jude wrote to Christians everywhere,Jude 3 ...I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation...Our flesh doesn't like the concept of a common salvation. We like to believe that only in our denomination can be found true salvation. That those crazies in the church down the street swinging from the chandeliers aren't really saved. That those guys in suits at that "dead" church don't really know Christ. But I believe that we're going to be surprised at the diversity of people we see in heaven. Remember Paul writing to the Ephesians said, "Show...Eph. 4:2-6 ...forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Even if they're not in "our group," we should praise God that He has blessed others with His Spirit and gifts.”

28 Joshua son of �un, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!"

1. Clarke, “My lord Moses, forbid them -

How often have I blindly doneWhat zealous Joshua did,Impatient to the rulers run,And cried, “My lords, forbid!Silence the schismatics, constrainTheir thoughts with ours t’ agree,And sacrifice the souls of menTo idol unity!”

2. Gill, “And Joshua the son of �un, the servant of Moses,.... That waited upon him, and ministered to him, and executed his orders, especially in civil things, and was to be his successor:

one of his young men; not that Joshua was a young man in age, for he must be now between fifty and sixty years of age; see Gill on Exo_33:11; nor does the word necessarily suppose that those men were young among whom Joshua was; but choice excellent persons, the principal servants of Moses, at the head of whom Joshua was being his prime minister: the Targum of Onkelos and the Syriac version render it, "from his youth", joining it with the word servant, as if he was the servant of Moses from his youth, or ever since he was a young man; but Moses had not been out of Midian but about two years, where he had kept his father's sheep; however, he

answered and said, my lord Moses, forbid them; prophesying, restrain them from it, suffer them not to go on in it; he would have him exert his authority as the chief magistrate, which he thought was affected by their prophesying without his knowledge and consent; and because a word from the root here used signifies a prison, some here interpret it,"put them in prison,''which is a sense Jarchi mentions; but it can hardly be thought that Joshua meant that such rigorous measures should be taken, only that they should be rebuked for what they had done, and be charged for the future to be silent.

3. Henry, “ Joshua moved to have them silenced: My lord Moses, forbid them, �um_11:28. It is probable that Joshua himself was one of the seventy, which made him the more jealous for the honour of their order. He takes it for granted that they were not under any necessitating impulse, for the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets, and therefore he would have them either not to prophesy at all or to come to the tabernacle and prophesy in concert with the rest. He does not desire that they should be punished for what they had done, but only restrained for the future. This motion he made from a good principle, not out of any personal dislike to Eldad and Medad, but out of an honest zeal for that which he apprehended to be the unity of the church, and concern for the honor of God and Moses.

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!"

1. Barnes, “Enviest thou for my sake? - (Compare Mar_9:38 ff) The other members of the Seventy had been with Moses (compare �um_6:16, �um_6:24-25) when the gift of prophecy was bestowed on them. They received “of the spirit that was upon him,” and exercised their office visibly through and for him. Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp seemed to Joshua to be acting independently, and so establishing a separate center of authority.

2. Clarke, “Enviest thou for my sake? -

Moses, the minister of God,Rebukes our partial love,Who envy at the gifts bestow’dOn those we disapprove.We do not our own spirit know,Who wish to see suppress’dThe men that Jesu’s spirit show,The men whom God hath bless’d.

Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets -

Shall we the Spirit’s course restrain,Or quench the heavenly fire?Let God his messengers ordain,And whom he will inspire.

Blow as he list, the Spirit’s choiceOf instruments we bless;We will, if Christ be preached, rejoice,And wish the word success.

Can all be prophets then? are allCommission’d from above?�o; but whome’er the Lord shall callWe joyfully approve.

O that the Church might all receiveThe spirit of prophecy,And all in Christ accepted live,And all in Jesus die!

Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, by Charles Wesley, M. A., and Presbyter of the Church of England. Bristol, 1762. 2 vols. 12mo.

These sentiments are the more particularly remarkable as they come from one who was sufficiently bigoted to what was called ecclesiastical orders and regularity.

3. Gill, “Moses said unto him, enviest thou for my sake?.... Lest his authority should be weakened, and his honour lessened, because they began not to prophesy in his presence, and at the tabernacle, and among the rest of the elders, and so seemed not to have received of the Spirit that was upon him, and to be independent of him:

would God that all the Lord's people were prophets; this is not to he understood in the most absolute sense, as if Moses wished that every individual person among the people of Israel were prophets, as the word may signify a set and order of men, and an office in the church or state, as ministers of the word extraordinary or ordinary; for then there would be none to prophesy to, or to teach and instruct; and so likewise not rulers, or helps and assistants in government, for then there would be none to be governed; but it is to be taken comparatively, and is designed to show how far Moses was from an envious spirit at the gifts of others, that he could wish, if it was the will of God, and consistent with the order of things, that every man had as great or greater gifts than he had, qualifying them for public service and usefulness; such was the modesty and meekness of Moses: there is a sense indeed, in which all the Lord's people, all good men, are and should be prophets, and for which by the grace of the Spirit of God they are qualified; and should act as such, by praying and singing praises, which are sometimes meant by prophesying, and by spiritual conferences in private with one another, building up each other on their most holy faith, and by teaching and instructing all under their care in their families:

and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them; the gifts of it, which are necessary to fit men for public service in church or state, or for private usefulness, 1Co_12:7.

4. Henry, “. Moses rejected the motion, and reproved him that made it (v. 29): “Enviest thou for my sake? Thou knowest not what manner of spirit thou art of.” Though Joshua was Moses's particular friend and confidant, though he said this out of a respect to Moses, whose honour he was very loth to see lessened by the call of those elders, yet Moses reproves him, and in him all that show such a spirit. (1.) We must not secretly grieve at the gifts, graces, and usefulness of others. It was the fault of John's disciples that they envied Christ's honour because it shaded their master's, Joh_3:26, etc. (2.) We must not be transported into heats against the weaknesses and infirmities of others. Granting that Eldad and Medad were guilty of an irregularity, yet Joshua was too quick and too warm upon them. Our zeal must always be tempered with the meekness of wisdom: the righteousness of God needs not the wrath of man, Jam_1:20. (3.) We must not make even the best and most useful men heads of a party. Paul would not have his name made use of to patronise a faction, 1Co_1:12, 1Co_1:13. (4.) We must not be forward to condemn and silence those that differ from us, as if they did not follow Christ because they do not follow him with us, Mar_9:38. Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned, or restrain any from doing good because they are not in every thing of our mind? Moses was of another spirit; so far from silencing these two, and quenching the Spirit in them, he wished all the Lord's people were prophets, that is, that he would put his Spirit upon them. �ot that he would have any set up for prophets that were not duly qualified, or that he expected that the Spirit of prophecy should be made thus common; but thus he expresses the love and esteem he had for all the Lord's people,

the complacency he took in the gifts of others, and how far he was from being displeased at Eldad and Medad's prophesying from under his eye. Such an excellent spirit as this blessed Paul was of, rejoicing that Christ was preached, though it was by those who therein intended to add affliction to his bonds, Phi_1:16. We ought to be pleased that God is served and glorified, and good done, though to the lessening of our credit and the credit of our way.

5. K&D, “Moses replied, “Art thou jealous for me? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!” As a true servant of God, who sought not his own glory, but the glory of his God, and the spread of His kingdom, Moses rejoiced in this manifestation of the Spirit of God in the midst of the nation, and desired that all might become partakers of this grace.

6. F B MeyerWould God that all the Lord’s people were prophets! (r.v.)

This one saying proves the incomparable greatness of Moses’ character. Little souls are monopolists. They like to be good and gifted, because it gives them a kind of superiority to others; but they dislike to see a leveling-up process at work by which the Eldads and Medads are lifted to stand by their side.

This was the mistake of Joshua. — When he heard that Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp, he said, “My lord Moses, forbid them!” But he was immature, a saint in the process of manufacture, and smitten with jealousy, for the sake of his master and friend.

This was the complaint of John’s disciples, when they saw the crowds ebbing away from their great teacher.

This was the quarrel of the Pharisees, that Jesus made religion so cheap and accessible to all, that even the publicans and sinners received his priceless wares.

But when a man is really great and good, he longs that all should be as he is, and better; he takes a deep delight in the spread of vital godliness; he is glad when others are endowed with greater gifts than himself, that they may make the Gospel better known than he could ever do; he is content to decrease, if Christ may only increase; he is willing that affliction should be added to his bonds, if only Christ way be magnified; he prays that the Lord would put his Spirit on all his people. This is very unnatural to any of us; but God, the Holy Spirit, waits to baptize us even into this, and to make the glory of God the object of our life. Make haste, O blessed Paraclete, and do this for me!

8. Seed of Abraham Ministries, “So, here we get this picture of the Holy Spirit descending upon people (in this case, 2 men) inside the camp of Israel and 70 men outside the camp of Israel. The obvious symbolism is that the Holy Spirit was not just intended for the higher classes, or dignitaries. Rather, the Holy Spirit could be bestowed on someone of any class, those who were within the camp of Israel, or even others who were outside of it. God would cross boundaries to give the Holy Spirit to those He deemed as His. There could be no clearer pattern or message here than what Yehoveh intended to do in times future, with Yeshua as the means and the messenger of this plan that the Holy Spirit would be available to all.

And, fittingly, when it was noticed by the Israelites that Eldad and Medad had received the spirit, some people start yelling, "Moses, some people got God's Spirit but they shouldn't have". Joshua, who would eventually take over for Moses, even pled with Moses to tell Eldad and

Medad to stop speaking their ecstatic language because he just couldn't fathom how this could be possible let alone appropriate.

Moses, in the same attitude that our Lord and Master Yeshua would display says, "I wish ALL of the Lord's people were prophets......I wish Yehoveh would put His Spirit in ALL of them!"

Let's not miss a chance to connect the dots again between this Torah experience and the �T. Listen to Paul in 1Timothy.

�AS 1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Moses, the Savior of Israel, desired that all men would receive the Spirit; Yeshua, God our Savior, desires all men to receive the Spirit (to be saved).

Moses, despite his flaws, was such an exceptional human being. Joshua was all concerned that these two men, Eldad and Medad, who received the spirit completely apart from Moses being in charge of the process, might show up Moses. In fact they were just kind of standing around combing their hair, far away from Moses and the 70 at the Tabernacle, when it happened. Moses had no interest in personal power or in being seen as special. �or did it matter to him that others were given gifts from the Lord that rivaled even his own. He simply wanted what the Lord wanted for the people, whether he understood it or not. �ow THAT is a Godly leader. Is it any wonder that Moses is so greatly revered by the Jewish people to this very day?

9. H. R. Mackintosh, “This is perfectly beautiful. Moses was far removed from that wretched spirit of envy which would let no one speak but himself. He was prepared, by grace, to rejoice in any and every manifestation of true spiritual power, no matter where or through whom. He knew full well that there could be no right prophesying save by the power of the Spirit of God; and wherever that power was exhibited, who was he that he should seek to quench or hinder?Would there were more of this excellent spirit! May we each cultivate it! May we have grace to rejoice unfeignedly in the testimony and service of all the Lord's people, even though we may not see eye to eye with them, and though our mode and our measure may vary. �othing can be more contemptible than that petty spirit of envy and jealousy which will not permit a man to take an interest in any work but his own. We may rest assured that where the spirit of Christ is in action in the heart, there will be the ability to go out and embrace the wide field of our blessed Master's work and all His beloved workmen: there will be the hearty rejoicing in having the work done, no matter who is the doer of it. A man whose heart is full of Christ will be able to say — and to say it without affectation, "Provided the work is done — provided Christ is glorified — provided souls are saved — provided the Lord's flock is cared for and fed, it matters nothing to me who does the work."

This is the right spirit to cultivate, and it stands out in bright contrast with the narrowness and self occupation which can only rejoice in work in which "I, myself have a prominent place. may the Lord deliver us from all this, and enable us to cherish that temper of soul expressed by Moses when he said, "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 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

1. Gill, “And Moses got him into the camp,.... From the door of the tabernacle, where he had been settling the elders in their office, and now betook himself to the camp of Israel, perhaps to look more particularly into the affair of Eldad and Medad, and settle that, and put them among the elders; for they were of them that were written, whose names were put down for elders in the paper Moses had written for that purpose, and in the summons that were given; or more generally to do public business, to exercise rule and government, with this new assistance granted him, as follows:

he and the elders of Israel; he went in company with them, to impart to them the honour and glory they were to share with him in the government, as Aben Ezra observes; or they went together, to observe what would be done for the people, according to the promise of the Lord, to give them flesh; who had made good his word to Moses, by taking of his Spirit and putting it on seventy men for his assistance; the other remained to be done, and was done as follows.

2. Henry, “The elders, now newly ordained, immediately entered upon their administration (�um_11:30); when their call was sufficiently attested by their prophesying, they went with Moses to the camp, and applied themselves to business. Having received the gift, they ministered the same as good stewards. And now Moses was pleased that he had so many to share with him in his work and honour. And, (1.) Let the testimony of Moses be credited by those who desire to be in power, that government is a burden. It is a burden of care and trouble to those who make conscience of the duty of it; and to those who do not it will prove a heavier burden in the day of account, when they fall under the doom of the unprofitable servant that buried his talent. (2.) Let the example of Moses be imitated by those that are in power; let them not despise the advice and assistance of others, but desire it, and be thankful for it, not coveting to monopolize wisdom and power. In the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

3. K&D, “Moses returned with the elders into the camp, sc., from the tabernacle, which stood upon an open space in the midst of the camp, at some distance from the tents of the Levites and the rest of the tribes of Israel, which were pitched around it, so that whoever wished to go to it, had first of all to go out of his tent.

(�ote: For the purpose of overthrowing the historical character of this marvellous event, the critics, from Vater to Knobel, have identified the appointment of the seventy elders to support Moses with the judicial institute established at Sinai by the advice of Jethro (Ex 18), and adduce the obvious differences between these two entirely different institutions as arguments for the supposed diversity of documents and legends. But what ground is there for identifying things so totally different from one another? The assertion of Knobel, that in Deu_1:9-18, Moses “evidently” refers to both events (Ex 18 and �um 11), is unfounded and untrue. Or are the same official duties and rank assigned to the elders who were chosen as

judges in Ex 18, as to the seventy elders who were called by God, and endowed with His Spirit, that they might help Moses to govern the people who had rebelled against him and against Jehovah on account of the want of flesh, and to restore and uphold the authority of Moses as the divinely chosen leader of Israel, which had been shaken thereby? Can the judges of a land be identified without reserve with the executive of the land? The mere fact, that this executive court was chosen, like the judges, from the whole body of elders, does not warrant us in identifying the two institutions. �or does it follow from the fact, that at Sinai seventy of the elders of Israel ascended the mountain with Moses, Aaron, and his sons, and there saw God (Exo_24:9.), that the seventy persons chosen here were the same as the seventy mentioned there. The sameness of the numbers does not prove that the persons were the same, but simply that the number seventy was the most suitable, on account of its historical and symbolical significance, to form a representation of the whole body of the people. For a further refutation of this futile objection, see Ranke, Unterss. üb. d. Pent. II. pp. 183ff.)

�o account has been handed down of the further action of this committee of elders. It is impossible to determine, therefore, in what way they assisted Moses in bearing the burden of governing the people. All that can be regarded as following unquestionably from the purpose given here is, that they did not form a permanent body, which continued from the time of Moses to the Captivity, and after the Captivity was revived again in the Sanhedrim, as Talmudists, Rabbins, and many of the earlier theologians suppose (see Selden de Synedriis, l. i. c. 14, ii. c. 4; Jo. Marckii sylloge dissertatt. phil. theol. ad V. T. exercit. 12, pp. 343ff.). On the opposite side vid., Relandi Antiquitates, ss. ii. 7, 3; Carpz. apparat. pp. 573f., etc.

31 �ow a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It brought them [c] down all around the camp to about three feet [d] above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction.

1. Barnes, “The southeast wind, which blew from the neighboring Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea, brought the quails Exo_16:13.

Two cubits high - Better, “two cubits above the face of the ground:” i. e. the quails, wearied with their long flight, flew about breast high, and were easily secured by the people, who spread them all abroad for themselves �um_11:32, in order to salt and dry them. The quail habitually flies with the wind, and low.

2. Clarke, “A wind from the Lord - An extraordinary one, not the effect of a natural cause. And brought quails, a bird which in great companies visits Egypt about the time of the year, March or April, at which the circumstance marked here took place. Mr. Hasselquist, the friend and pupil of the famous Linnaeus, saw many of them about this time of the year, when he was in Egypt. See his Travels, p. 209.

Two cubits high upon the face of the earth - We may consider the quails as flying within two

cubits of the ground; so that the Israelites could easily take as many of them as they wished, while flying within the reach of their hands or their clubs. The common notion is, that the quails were brought round about the camp, and fell there in such multitudes as to lie two feet thick upon the ground; but the Hebrew will not bear this version. The Vulgate has expressed the sense, Volabantque in aere duobus cubitis altitudine super terram. “And they flew in the air, two cubits high above the ground.”

3. Gill, “And there went forth a wind from the Lord,.... Both an east wind and a south wind, according to Psa_78:26; either first one wind, and then another; one to bring the quails, or whatever are meant, to a certain point, and then the other to bring them to the camp of Israel; or a southeast wind, as the Jewish writers interpret it: however, it was not a common wind, but what was immediately raised by the Lord for the following purpose:

and brought quails from the sea; the Red sea, from the coasts of it, not out of it. Josephus (t) says, there were great numbers of this sort of fowl about the gulf of Arabia; and Diodorus Siculus (u) says, near Rhinocalura, a place not far from those parts, quails in flocks were brought from the sea, which the people caught and lived upon. After Job Ludolphus, who has wrote a learned dissertation on locusts, many are of opinion with him, that locusts are intended here, and think that what is hereafter related best agrees with them; it is pretty difficult to determine which is most correct; there are learned advocates, and much to be said, for both (w):

and let them fall by the camp: the camp of Israel, and round about it on all sides, as follows; which agrees well enough with locusts, which are usually brought by a wind, as the locusts of Egypt were by an east wind, which fall, rest, and settle on the earth, and sometimes in heaps, one upon another; and these, whatever they were, fell as thick as rain, and were as dust, and as the sand of the sea. The Jewish writers, who understand them of quails, interpret this not of their falling to the ground, but of their flying low, two cubits from the earth, about the breast of a man, so that they had no trouble in taking them; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abendana; but this seems to be without any foundation:

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; on the north side, and on the south side, as the Targum of Jonathan explains it; but it doubtless means on all sides, since they fell round about the camp; and from thence they lay thick upon the ground, a day's journey every way; which some compute at sixteen, others at twenty miles on which space there must be a prodigious number of quails or locusts; and it is certain the latter do come in great numbers, so as to darken the air, and to cover a country, as they did Egypt; and the quails also, in some countries, have been taken in great numbers; in Italy, on the coast of Antium, within a month, in the space of five miles, 100,000 quails were taken every day (x):

and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth; as they fell they lay one upon another, the height of two cubits; which it is thought better agrees with locusts than with quails, since the quails, by lying one upon another such a depth, must be suffocated; whereas the locusts, through the length of their feet, and the thinness of their wings, would not.

4. Henry, “God, having performed his promise to Moses by giving him assessors in the

government, thereby proving the power he has over the spirits of men by his Spirit, he here performs his promise to the people by giving them flesh, proving thereby his power over the inferior creatures and his dominion in the kingdom of nature. Observe, 1. How the people were gratified with flesh in abundance: A wind (a south-east wind, as appears, Psa_78:26) brought quails, �um_11:31. It is uncertain what sort of animals they were; the psalmist calls them feathered fowl, or fowl of wing. The learned bishop Patrick inclines to agree with some modern writers, who think they were locusts, a delicious sort of food well known in those parts, the rather because they were brought with a wind, lay in heaps, and were dried in the sun for use. Whatever they were, they answered the intention, they served for a month's feast for Israel, such an indulgent Father was God to his froward family. Locusts, that had been a plague to fruitful Egypt, feeding upon the fruits, were a blessing to a barren wilderness, being themselves fed upon. 2. How greedy they were of this flesh that God sent them. They flew upon the spoil with an unsatiable appetite, not regarding what Moses had told them from God, that they would surfeit upon it

5. Jamison, “�umbers 11:31-35 There went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, etc. — These

migratory birds (see on Exo_16:13) were on their journey from Egypt, when “the wind from the Lord,” an east wind (Psa_78:26) forcing them to change their course, wafted them over the Red Sea to the camp of Israel.

let them fall a day’s journey — If the journey of an individual is meant, this space might be thirty miles; if the inspired historian referred to the whole host, ten miles would be as far as they could march in one day in the sandy desert under a vertical sun. Assuming it to be twenty miles this immense cloud of quails (Psa_78:27) covered a space of forty miles in diameter. Others reduce it to sixteen. But it is doubtful whether the measurement be from the center or the extremities of the camp. It is evident, however, that the language describes the countless number of these quails.

as it were two cubits high — Some have supposed that they fell on the ground above each other to that height - a supposition which would leave a vast quantity useless as food to the Israelites, who were forbidden to eat any animal that died of itself or from which the blood was not poured out. Others think that, being exhausted with a long flight, they could not fly more than three feet above the earth, and so were easily felled or caught. A more recent explanation applies the phrase, “two cubits high,” not to the accumulation of the mass, but to the size of the individual birds. Flocks of large red-legged cranes, three feet high, measuring seven feet from tip to tip, have been frequently seen on the western shores of the Gulf of Akaba, or eastern arm of the Red Sea [Stanley; Shubert].

6. K&D, “�umbers 11:31-32 As soon as Moses had returned with the elders into the camp, God fulfilled His second promise.

“A wind arose from Jehovah, and brought quails (salvim, see Exo_16:13) over from the sea, and threw them over the camp about a day's journey wide from here and there (i.e., on both sides), in the neighbourhood of the camp, and about two cubits above the surface.” The wind was a south-east wind (Psa_78:26), which blew from the Arabian Gulf and brought the quails - which fly northwards in the spring from the interior of Africa in very great numbers - from the sea to the Israelites. גוז, which only occurs here and in the Psalm of Moses (Psa_90:10), signifies to drive over, in Arabic and Syriac to pass over, not “to cut off,” as the Rabbins suppose: the wind cut off the quails from the sea. נטש, to throw them scattered about (Exo_29:5; Exo_31:12; Exo_32:4).

The idea is not that the wind caused the flock of quails to spread itself out as much as two days' journey over the camp, and to fly about two cubits above the surface of the ground; so that, being exhausted with their flight across the sea, they fell partly into the hands of the Israelites and partly upon the ground, as Knobel follows the Vulgate (volabant in aëre duobus cubitis altitudine super terram) and many of the Rabbins in supposing: for נטש על המחנה does not mean to cause to fly or spread out over the camp, but to throw over or upon the camp. The words cannot therefore be understood in any other way than they are in Psa_78:27-28, viz., that the wind threw them about over the camp, so that they fell upon the ground a day's journey on either side of it, and that in such numbers that they lay, of course not for the whole distance mentioned, but in places about the camp, as much as two cubits deep. It is only in this sense of the words, that the people could possibly gather quails the whole of that day, the whole night, and the whole of the next day, in such quantities that he who had gathered but little had collected ten homers. A homer, the largest measure of capacity among the Hebrews, which contained ten ephahs, held, according to the lower reckoning of Thenius, 10,143 Parisian inches, or about two bushels Dresden measure. By this enormous quantity, which so immensely surpassed the natural size of the flocks of quails, God purposed to show the people His power, to give them flesh not for one day or several days, but for a whole month, both to put to shame their unbelief, and also to punish their greediness. As they could not eat this quantity all at once, they spread them round the camp to dry in the sun, in the same manner in which the Egyptians are in the habit of drying fish (Herod. ii. 77).

7. Rev. Bruce Goettsche , “The sky becomes dark with quail. In fact the Quail are flying so low that the people are able to just grab them out of the sky! God brings enough fresh meat in so that we read that the person who grabs the least gathered 10 omers. This is the equivalent to 65 bushels of quail! One omer was considered to be one camel load. The person who gathered least gather ten camel loads of meat!What an object lesson this should have been to Moses . . . and to us. When life gets demanding we too quickly forget who we belong to. We forget the nature, power, and strength of our great God. We feel overwhelmed and forget that He is able to supply "all our needs abundantly". He is equal to any situation.”

8. Seed of Abraham Ministries, “Suddenly, a wind starts to blow. It is described in verse 31 as a wind coming from the Lord. And quail...birds.... coming from the direction of the Red Sea begin falling from the sky, widespread, all over the camp. And, note how it says that they fell from "a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey from that side". The idea being, that the marching column of the 3 million Israelites probably stretched a distance of 2 days journey; or, in more modern terms, it was a column of people some 20 miles in length. And, the Lord willed that those quails fall all over that long, spread out column of weary and grumbling Israelites, so that all could partake if they chose.

�ow, it wasn't that merely a sufficient amount of quails fell over this 2-days journey distance; it was they fell over this vast area something on the order of 3 feet deep! Hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of quails........hundreds of tons of quails....were there for the taking. So, in verse 32, the people began to gather the quail and the LEAST a person gathered was 10 homers of quail......or, about 50 bushels of quail. Several Psalms recall this astounding event, so great was its impact on the Hebrew psyche. Listen to Psalm 78: verse 26-32.

�AS Psalm 78:26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He directed the south wind. 27 When He rained meat upon them like the dust, Even winged fowl like the sand

of the seas, 28 Then He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their dwellings. 29 So they ate and were well filled; And their desire He gave to them. 30 Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, 31 The anger of God rose against them, And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. 32 In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works.

Could this event have actually happened? Is there enough quail on all the earth for this to even be a possibility?

Here is what Josephus says �OT about that event, but about the migration of quails as a regular and normal thing across the Arabian and Sinai Peninsulas:

"In March and April they cross the Mediterranean coming from the south in large bands, and returning southwards from Europe in even more enormous flights towards the end of September. On both migrations they are netted for the market; the flesh of the birds caught in the spring is commonly dry and indifferent, but that of those taken in the autumn is excellent. Though they rise rapidly on the wing, they seldom fly far except on their migrations, and then they are often overtaxed and simply drop, exhausted, into the sea or even onto passing ships."

That God would have caused this natural thing that was normally enormous in scope to happen on a Super-natural scale fits within His pattern of operation as we saw in the various plagues He set upon Egypt to liberate His people from Pharaoh.

But, even more this attests to the accuracy of this event when it says the Israelites "spread them out all around the camp". This does not mean that they laid the quails all over the place. Rather, spreading them out mean they plucked them, split them, and spread them open to dry.

It was the common Egyptian method to preserve meat by drying it. They did it with fish, beef, and fowl. In fact, the meat was rarely cooked either before or after it was dried. Once dried, cured, they simply ate it just as it was. And, these Israelites would naturally have followed the Egyptian way for they had been Egyptian for 400 years and knew nothing else.”

32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. �o one gathered less than ten homers. [e] Then they spread them out all around the camp.

1.Clarke, “The people stood up, etc. - While these immense flocks were flying at this short distance from the ground, fatigued with the strong wind and the distance they had come, they were easily taken by the people; and as various flocks continued to succeed each other for two days and a night, enough for a month’s provision might be collected in that time. If the quails had

fallen about the tents, there was no need to have stood up two days and a night in gathering them; but if they were on the wing, as the text seems to suppose, it was necessary for them to use dispatch, and avail themselves of the passing of these birds whilst it continued. See Harmer, and see the note on Exo_16:13.

And they spread them all abroad - Maillet observes that birds of all kinds come to Egypt for refuge from the cold of a northern winter; and that the people catch them, pluck, and bury them in the burning sand for a few minutes, and thus prepare them for use. This is probably what is meant by spreading them all abroad round the camp. Some authors think that the word שלוים salvim, rendered quails in our translation, should be rendered locusts. There is no need of this conjecture; all difficulties are easily resolved without it. The reader is particularly referred to the note on Exo_16:13 (note).

2. Gill, “And the people stood up all that day,.... The day on which they fell in the morning:

and all that night; the night following:

and all the next day; after that, even the space of thirty six hours:

and they gathered the quails; not took them flying, as the Jewish writers suggest, before observed, but from the earth where they fell, in order to lay them up as a provision for time to come; or otherwise, had they taken them only for present use, they would not have been so long in gathering them; but they seemed greedy of them, and therefore took up all they could, or knew what to do with:

he that gathered least gathered ten homers; or so many ass loads, as some interpret it; the words for an ass and an homer being near the same: an homer in measure is the same with the "cor", and held ten ephahs; and, according to Bishop Cumberland (y), contained seventy five wine gallons, seven pints, and somewhat more, which must hold a vast quantity of quails; though not the measure, but the number of fowls, is commonly given. Some render the word "heaps", as in Exo_8:14; and is supposed better to agree with locusts; but then it will be difficult to assign a reason why the number of them should be given, since heaps might be greater or lesser:

and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp; according to some, they were taken alive, and put into cages, which were hung round the camp, so that all places were full of them, in which they were kept, and used as they wanted them; but they seem rather, be they what they will, to be dead, and to be spread about to be dried in the sun, being salted; and so the Vulgate Latin version renders the word, "and they dried them" (z); and agrees both with quails, which, according to some writers (a), used to be salted for food for time to come; and with locusts, on which the inhabitants of some parts of Ethiopia always lived, as Pliny (b) says, being hardened in smoke, and with salt, and was their food for the year round. And this custom was used in Arabia; for Leo Africanus (c) relates, that the people of Arabia Deserta, and of Lybia, reckon the coming of the locusts an happy omen; for either boiled, or dried with the sun, they beat them into meal (or powder) and eat them: and of the �asamones, a people in Africa, it is said (d), that they hunt locusts, and dry them in the sun, and grind them, and then, sprinkling milk upon them, sup them up.

4. Henry, “How greedy they were of this flesh that God sent them. They flew upon the spoil with

an unsatiable appetite, not regarding what Moses had told them from God, that they would surfeit upon it, �um_11:32. Two days and a night they were at it, gathering flesh, till every master of a family had brought home ten homers (that is, ten ass-loads) at least. David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem, but would not drink it when he had it, because it was obtained by venturing; much more reason these Israelites had to refuse this flesh, which was obtained by murmuring, and which, they might easily perceive, by what Moses said, was given them in anger; but those that are under the power of a carnal mind will have their lusts fulfilled, though it be to the certain damage and ruin of their precious souls. 3. How dearly they paid for their feasts, when it came into the reckoning:

5. Jamison, “people stood up — rose up in eager haste - some at one time, others at another; some, perhaps through avidity, both day and night.

ten homers — ten asses’ loads; or, “homers” may be used indefinitely (as in Exo_8:14; Jdg_15:16); and “ten” for many: so that the phrase “ten homers” is equivalent to “great heaps.” The collectors were probably one or two from each family; and, being distrustful of God’s goodness, they gathered not for immediate consumption only, but for future use. In eastern and southern seas, innumerable quails are often seen, which, when weary, fall down, covering every spot on the deck and rigging of vessels; and in Egypt they come in such myriads that the people knock them down with sticks.

spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp — salted and dried them for future use, by the simple process to which they had been accustomed in Egypt.

6. Coffman, “The exact size of this measure is not known. Whitelaw gave it as 5 1/2 bushels, Plaut as 10 bushels, and others as a donkey's load. The meaning is clear that they had more than enough!

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.

1. Barnes, “Ere it was chewed - Better, ere it was consumed. See �um_11:19-20. The surfeit in which the people indulged, as described in �um_11:32, disposed them to sickness. God’s wrath, visiting the gluttonous through their gluttony, aggravated natural consequences into a supernatural visitation.

2. Clarke, “The wrath of the Lord was kindled - In what way, and with what effects, we cannot precisely determine. Some heavy judgment fell upon those murmurers and complainers, but of what kind the sacred writer says nothing.

3. Gill, “And while the flesh was yet between their teeth,.... When they had just got it into their mouths, and were about to bite it:

ere it was chewed; or "cut off"; or cut into pieces by the "incisores", or fore teeth, and then ground by the "molares", or grinders, and so became fit to be swallowed. Both quails and locusts were eaten as food; the former is a fat and delicious fowl, and the latter, some sorts of them, at least, were allowed clean food for the Jews, and were fed on by many people:

the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people; for their lusting after flesh, and despising the manna:

and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague; the pestilence, as Aben Ezra; or with fire, as Bochart (e), who gives the following reasons why the people were so severely punished now, and not before, when they murmured on a like account; because their sin's were greater, and more aggravated, they falling again into the same sin which had been forgiven them; and besides, they were before pressed with famine, now they had a plenty of manna every day; and also were better instructed, having received the law, which was not yet given when they were just come out of Egypt. Sulpitius (f) the historian says, 23,000 perished at this time.

4. Henry, ““How dearly they paid for their feasts, when it came into the reckoning: The Lord smote them with a very great plague (�um_11:33), some bodily disease, which probably was the effect of their surfeit, and was the death of many of them, and those, it is likely, the ringleaders in the mutiny. �ote, God often grants the desires of his own people in love. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul, Psa_106:15. By all that was said to them they were not estranged from their lusts, and therefore, while the meat was in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, Psa_78:30, Psa_78:31. What we inordinately desire, if we obtain it (we have reason to fear), will be some way or other a grief and cross to us. God satiated them first, and then plagued them, (1.) To save the reputation of his own power, that it might not be said, “He would not have cut them off had he been able to supply them.” And, (2.) To show us the meaning of the prosperity of sinners; it is their preparation for ruin, they are fed as an ox for the slaughter

5. Jamison, “while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed — literally, “cut off”; that is, before the supply of quails, which lasted a month (�um_11:20), was exhausted. The probability is, that their stomachs, having been long inured to manna (a light food), were not prepared for so sudden a change of regimen - a heavy, solid diet of animal food, of which they seem to have partaken to so intemperate a degree as to produce a general surfeit, and fatal consequences. On a former occasion their murmurings for flesh were raised (Exo_16:1-8) because they were in want of food. Here they proceeded, not from necessity, but wanton, lustful desire; and their sin, in the righteous judgment of God, was made to carry its own punishment.

6. K&D, “But while the flesh was still between their teeth, and before it was ground, i.e., masticated, the wrath of the Lord burned against them, and produced among the people a very great destruction. This catastrophe is not to be regarded as “the effect of the excessive quantity of quails that they had eaten, on account of the quails feeding upon things which are injurious to man, so that eating the flesh of quails produces convulsions and giddiness (for proofs, see Bochart, Hieroz. ii. pp. 657ff.),” as Knobel supposes, but as an extraordinary judgment inflicted by God upon the greedy people, by which a great multitude of people were suddenly swept away.

34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, [f] because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

1. Clarke, “Kibroth-hattaavah - The graves of lust; and thus their scandalous crime was perpetuated by the name of the place.

1. St. Jude speaks of persons who were murmurers and complainers, walking after their own lusts, Jud_1:16, and seems to have this people particularly in view, whom the sacred text calls µεµψιµοιροι, complainers of their lot. They could never be satisfied; even God himself could not please them, because they were ever preferring their own wisdom to his. God will save us in his own way, or not at all; because that way, being the plan of infinite wisdom, it is impossible that we can be saved in any other. How often have we professed to pray, “Thy will be done!” And how seldom, very seldom, have our hearts and lips corresponded! How careful should we be in all our prayers to ask nothing but what is perfectly consistent with the will of God! Many times our prayers and desires are such that, were they answered, our ruin would be inevitable. “Thy will be done!” is the greatest of all prayers; and he who would pray safely and successfully, must at least have the spirit of these words in all his petitions. The Israelites asked flesh when they should not have asked for it; God yields to their murmuring, and the death of multitudes of these murmurers was the consequence! We hear of such punishments, and yet walk in the same way, presuming on God’s mercy, while we continue to provoke his justice. Let us settle it in our minds as an indisputable truth, that God is better acquainted with our wants than we are ourselves; that he knows infinitely better what we need; and that he is ever more ready to hear than we are to pray, and is wont to give more than we can desire or deserve.

2. In no case has God at any time withheld from his meanest followers any of the spiritual or temporal mercies they needed. Were he to call us to travel through a wilderness, he would send us bread from heaven, or cause the wilderness to smile and blossom as the rose. How strange is it that we will neither believe that God has worked, or will work, unless we see him working!

2. Gill, “ And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah,.... That is, Moses called it so, or it was called by the children of Israel, and by others in later times, by this name, which signifies "the graves of lust"; dug by lust, or which lust was the cause and occasion of, and where those that indulged it were buried, as follows:

because there they buried the people that lusted; not all that lusted, for the lusting was pretty general; but all that died through their gluttony and intemperance, and the judgment of God on them; or who were the most inordinate in their lust, and encouraged others in it, and were the ringleaders in the murmur and mutiny.

3. Henry, “Lastly, The remembrance of this is preserved in the name given to the place, �um_11:34. Moses called it Kibroth-hattaavah, the graves of lusters or of lust. And well it had been if these graves of Israel's lusters had proved the graves of Israel's lust: the warning was designed to be so, but it had not its due effect, for it follows (Psa_78:32), For all this, they sinned still.

4. Jamison, “Kibrothhattaavah — literally, “The graves of lust,” or “Those that lusted”; so that the name of the place proves that the mortality was confined to those who had indulged inordinately.

5. K&D, “From this judgment the place of encampment received the name Kibroth-hattaavah, i.e., graves of greediness, because there the people found their graves while giving vent to their greedy desires.

35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.

1. Gill, “And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth,.... After having stayed there a month or more, as is gathered from �um_11:20,

and abode at Hazeroth; at least seven days, as appears from �um_12:15; which, according to Bunting (g), was eight miles from Kibrothhattaavah, or Taberah, which were the same place.

2. Jamison, “Hazeroth — The extreme southern station of this route was a watering-place in a spacious plain, now Ain-Haderah.

3. K&D, “From the graves of greediness the people removed to Hazeroth, and there they remained (היה as in Exo_24:12). The situation of these two places of encampment is altogether unknown. Hazeroth, it is true, has been regarded by many since Burckhardt (Syr. p. 808) as identical with the modern Hadhra (in Robinson's Pal. Ain el Hudhera), eighteen hours to the north-east of Sinai, partly because of the resemblance in the name, and partly because there are not only low palm-trees and bushes there, but also a spring, of which Robinson says (Pal. i. p. 223) that it is the only spring in the neighbourhood, and yields tolerably good water, though somewhat brackish, the whole year round. But Hadhra does not answer to the Hebrew חצר, to shut in, from which Hazeroth (enclosures) is derived; and there are springs in many other places in the desert of et Tih with both drinkable and brackish water. Moreover, the situation of this well does not point to Hadhra, which is only two days' journey from Sinai, so that the Israelites might at any rate have pitched their tents by this well after their first journey of three days (�um_10:33), whereas they took three days to reach the graves of lust, and then marched from thence to Hazeroth. Consequently they would only have come to Hadhra on the supposition that they had been about to take the road to the sea, and intended to march along the coast to the Arabah, and so on through the Arabah to the Dead Sea (Robinson, p. 223); in which case, however, they would not have arrived at Kadesh. The conjecture that Kibroth-hattaavah is the same as Di-Sahab (Deu_1:1), the modern Dahab (Mersa Dahab, Minna el Dahab), to the east of Sinai, on the Elanitic Gulf, is still more untenable. For what end could be answered by such a

circuitous route, which, instead of bringing the Israelites nearer to the end of their journey, would have taken them to Mecca rather than to Canaan? As the Israelites proceeded from Hazeroth to Kadesh in the desert of Paran (�um_13:3 and �um_13:26), they must have marched from Sinai to Canaan by the most direct route, through the midst of the great desert of et Tih, most probably by the desert road which leads from the Wady es Sheikh into the Wady ez-Zuranuk, which breaks through the southern border mountains of et Tih, and passes on through the Wady ez-Zalakah over el Ain to Bir-et-Themmed, and then due north past Jebel Araif to the Hebron road. By this route they could go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea in eleven days (Deu_1:2), and it is here that we are to seek for the two stations in question. Hazeroth is probably to be found, as Fries and Kurtz suppose, in Bir-et-Themmed, and Kibroth-hattaavah in the neighbourhood of the southern border mountains of et Tih.