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Reading
– Numbers 11:1-20; 12:1-16
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
The
final seven weeks that the children of Israel spent at Mt. Sinai were packed
with activities. The tabernacle was completed, and Moses had set it up
according to all of God’s instructions. Over an eight-day period, Moses
inducted Aaron and his sons into the priesthood. The children of Israel
celebrated Passover marking the one-year anniversary of leaving Egypt. The
leaders of each tribe brought dedication offerings to God, one leader each day.
The armies of Israel were introduced and presented before God and the people.
The camp was organized around the tabernacle. Those who were unclean and
couldn’t participate in Passover were allowed to celebrate on the fourteenth
day of the second month. Six days after this additional Passover observance,
the armies of Israel broke camp and headed to the Promised Land. The journey should
have taken eleven travel days with added days allowed for rest. However, complaints
from the outermost camp and the innermost circle extended their journey.
On
the twentieth day of the second month, the silver trumpets signaled that it was
time to break camp. The camp of Judah, led by Nahshon, set out first. It must
have been an incredible sight to see the armies, over six hundred thousand
strong, marching out in orderly ranks! This first stage of their journey lasted
three days.
Numbers 10:33-34 NKJV 33 So they
departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark
of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days' journey, to
search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was above
them by day when they went out from the camp.
The
emotional high of leaving Mt. Sinai didn’t last long. As they rested after the
initial three-day journey, the mixed multitude, camped around the tribes of
Israel, began to complain.
Numbers 11:1 NKJV 1 Now when the
people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger
was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in
the outskirts of the camp.
The
children of Israel acted similarly to when they first came out of Egypt the
previous year. At that time, after they had successfully crossed the Red Sea,
the cloud of the LORD led them on a three-day journey. They found that the
place where they expected to be able to find fresh water had only bitter water.
Exodus 15:22-24 NKJV 22 So Moses
brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of
Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now
when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they
were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people
complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
The
murmuring at Marah was in response to a genuine challenge. They hadn’t found
water during the three days of their journey, and they desperately needed
water. When Moses cried out to the LORD, the LORD showed Moses a tree that he
was to throw in the water which would make the water sweet. This was a test of
their faith in God and their obedience to God’s voice.
Exodus 15:25b-26 NKJV 25b And there He
tested them, 26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD
your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and
keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have
brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you."
A
year later, after a similar three-day journey, the people had no cause for
complaint. They had manna every day to eat and water from the rock to drink.
They were on their way to take the land promised to them. The scriptures don’t
give any reason for their complaints; they were just complaining. Remember, God
had, over the last six weeks, emphasized the importance of maintaining holiness
within the camp! These complaints constituted evil speech. God could have
struck a large portion of the camp with leprosy making them all unclean.
However, He chose to respond by sending a fire to consume the outskirts of the
camp. Nadab and Abihu experienced the same fiery judgment when they brought
strange fire before the LORD.
The
outskirts of the camp would have consisted of those who were outside the camp
because of uncleanness and those making up the mixed multitude who fled Egypt
with the children of Israel. The fire of the LORD only ceased when Moses
interceded.
Numbers 11:2-3 NKJV 2 Then the people
cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3
So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had
burned among them.
This
place was given the name Taberah, number 8404 in Strong’s Concordance, meaning
burning. This is where the camp of Israel burned! After this event, we would
think that the people would be humbled and be obedient to God’s words through
Moses. However, the complaints merely shifted focus. The mixed multitude, who
suffered most from the fire of the LORD, began to complain about the manna and
state their longing for the food of Egypt.
Numbers 11:4-6 NKJV 4 Now the mixed
multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of
Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat? 5 "We
remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 "but now our whole being is dried up;
there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"
While
in Egypt, these people were slaves. The question needs to be asked, “Did they
really have such easy access to these foods?” Would the taskmasters who made
their lives so difficult that they wouldn’t even provide straw to make bricks
really provide abundant or even ample food for them to eat? Were they really
remembering what things were like in Egypt or were they glamorizing their life
in Egypt? In idealizing their lives in Egypt, they were overtaken with intense
craving. The Hebrew word translated as craving is “aw-vaw,” number 183, meaning
to wish for, covet, desire, or lust. The
intensity of this craving is emphasized in the Hebrew with the repetition of
the word “aw-vaw.” Literally, “they lusted with lust.”
As
is so often the case, discontent spread throughout the camp until entire
families were weeping unashamedly as they longed for the life they had in
Egypt!
Numbers 11:10 NKJV 10 Then Moses heard
the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent;
and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.
Moses
cried out to God for help to take care of the people. The burden of all their
physical, emotional, and spiritual needs was more than he could handle. Even
with Aaron and his two sons as priests, the burden fell on Moses.
Numbers 11:12-14 NKJV 12 "Did I
conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry
them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which
You swore to their fathers? 13 "Where am I to get meat to give to all
these people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may
eat.' 14 "I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden
is too heavy for me.
God
responded to Moses’ need for help by having him appoint seventy elders to help
bear the burden.
Numbers 11:17 NKJV 17 "Then I
will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon
you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the
people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.
The
sages differ in whether they believe these elders were to replace the seventy
elders appointed at Mt. Sinai, or whether these were an additional seventy who
would have the role of assisting Moses by providing guidance and leadership.
The sages who believe that these elders replace the earlier elders claim that
the earlier ones must have died in the fire that consumed the outskirts of the
camp.[i]
In
the early days of the believers in Yeshua, the disciples encountered a similar
problem. There were complaints that the widows among the Hellenist Jews were
being neglected. The disciples appointed seven elders to minister to the
people.
Acts 6:3-4 NKJV 3 "Therefore,
brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the
Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 "but we
will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the
word."
In
addition to responding to Moses’ need for help, God dealt directly with the
lusts of the complainers. God declared that He would send so much quail that
they would become ill from eating it.
Numbers 11:19-20 NKJV 19 'You shall
eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20 'but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes
loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have
wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever come up out of
Egypt?"'"
This
intended rest stop, most likely would have only lasted a few days. However,
instead of rest, they experienced plague and probably stayed there for the
entire thirty days while God flooded the camp with quail! God sent so many
quail that it covered the ground all around the camp two cubits or three feet
deep! The people fell into a frenzy collecting it! The least amount collected
was ten omers. In contrast, the amount of manna collected each day for one
person was only two omers! As soon as the people began to eat the meat, God
struck them with a plague.
Numbers 11:33-34 NKJV 33 But while the
meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD
was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very
great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because
there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
The
place that had already been named “Taberah” because the fire of the LORD that
had broken out against the camp, was now given a second name, Kibroth
Hattaavah. This name, number 6914, means “graves of the longing.” Those people
who died in the plague because they gave in to their intense cravings were
buried there! This place, which was intended to be a respite from their travels,
became the place of burning and the place of the graves of their longing!
Paul
warns that those who give in to their lusts will not see the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 5:3-6 NKJV 3 But fornication
and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is
fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse
jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you
know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the
sons of disobedience.
Some
people might point out that the complaints began on the outskirts of the camp
with the mixed multitude who weren’t really a part of the camp. They reason
that by closing ranks and keeping out those who don’t quite fit in with their
group, they are weeding out those who would cause sin to spread through their
camp. In fact, Jude warns against allowing in the ungodly who have “crept in
unnoticed.”
Jude 1:12-13 NKJV 12 These are spots
in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only
themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late
autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves
of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness forever.
However,
envy and complaints can arise from anywhere within the body as we see in the
next problem arises for the children of Israel. After the thirty days of quail
in Kibroth Hattaavah, the children of Israel journey on to Hazeroth. This time
the complaints came from the inner camp and the very top of the hierarchy. Miriam
and Aaron complained about Moses and the woman he married.
Numbers 12:1-2 MKJV 1 And Miriam and
Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken. For
he had taken a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, Has the LORD indeed spoken only
by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us? And the LORD heard.
We’re
not given information about what it was about Moses’ wife that they complained
about. Was it that she wasn’t Hebrew? Was this a different woman than Zipporah
who was a Midianite and calling her a Cushite was some kind of insult? Did she
cause trouble in the camp? Some of the Jewish sages suggest that Miriam was
angry with Moses on her behalf because Moses refrained from marital relations
in order to be ritually clean at all times so he could always be ready to hear
from God. The Stone Edition Chumash comments:
Not realizing that God had instructed
Moses to do so (that is refrain from marital relations), and
feeling that it was an unjustifiable affront to Zipporah, Miriam shared the
news with Aaron, who agreed with her. They were critical of Moses, contending
that since the two of them were also prophets, but were not required to
withdraw from normal life, neither was Moses.[ii]
God
was not happy with Miriam and Aaron and immediately called Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam to the tabernacle of meeting where He appeared before them in a pillar
of cloud.
Numbers 12:6-8 MKJV 6 And He said,
Hear now My words. If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself
known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream. 7 Not so, My
servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house. 8 I will speak with him mouth to
mouth, even clearly, and not in dark speeches. And he shall behold the likeness
of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?
Miriam
and Aaron may have been prophets, but Moses was at a higher level of sanctity
and intimacy with God! They were speaking against God’s chosen leader! As a
result, God struck Miriam with leprosy.
Numbers 12:9-11 NKJV 9 So the anger of
the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed. 10 And when the cloud
departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as
snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. 11 So Aaron
said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we
have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.
It
is interesting that Aaron appeals to Moses for forgiveness and not to God.
Since Moses was the person they offended, Aaron and Miriam needed to seek
Moses’ forgiveness. Moses, in turn, appealed to God to heal Miriam. God healed
Miriam, but she was still required to undergo the required ritual to be
declared clean from leprosy including staying outside the camp for the seven
days.
Numbers 12:14-15 NKJV 14 Then the LORD
said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be
shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward
she may be received again." 15 So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven
days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.
These
two incidents, one coming from the outskirts of the camp, and the other coming
from the inner circle, probably delayed the children of Israel for thirty-seven
days. Instead of arriving at Kadesh Barnea in the Wilderness of Paran ready to
go into the Promised Land, the children of Israel arrived there reeling from
these major setbacks.
James,
the brother of Yeshua, warns about the dangers of malicious talk.
James 3:6 NKJV 6 And the tongue is a
fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it
defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on
fire by hell.
What
is the solution to this tendency to lust after our former lives and to use our
tongues for evil? The solution is remembrance and gratitude. God instructed
Moses to have the children of Israel remember and rehearse all that He had done
for them when He brought them out of Egypt. In particular, when they brought
their first fruits to the LORD, they were to recite the events of the Exodus
concluding with these words.
Deuteronomy 26:8-10 NKJV 8 'So the
LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm,
with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 'He has brought us to this
place and has given us this land, "a land flowing with milk and
honey"; 10 'and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land
which you, O LORD, have given me.' Then you shall set it before the LORD your
God, and worship before the LORD your God.
Paul,
after warning that those who give in to their lusts won’t enter the kingdom of
God, instructs his readers to walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8-9 NKJV 8 For you were
once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
He
reminds them that Yeshua appointed people to various offices and skills to
encourage and build up the body.
Ephesians 4:11-13 NKJV 11 And He
Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Finally,
in his first letter to the Thessalonian congregation, Paul concludes with these
instructions.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 NKJV 14 Now we
exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted,
uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil
to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this
is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
As
we walk on our journey of faith to the eternal Promised Land and God’s kingdom,
let us focus on being thankful for all that God has done for us. Let us be
active in encouraging our fellow believers. Let us always rejoice.
Study
Questions:
2.
The mixed multitude looked back on their lives
in Egypt and idealized it. Where do we find others in the Bible who also looked
back and longed for their previous life or lives? How should we respond to our
tendency to do the same thing?
3.
God gave Moses seventy elders to help
“carry the people.” How do apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers, as Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4, help to “carry the people?”
General
Portion Questions
4.
When are the silver trumpets used in the
wilderness? When were they to be used after they entered the Promised Land?
5.
What was the purpose of the second
Passover? Hezekiah observed Passover in the second month (2 Chron. 30). What
were the circumstances? How does it compare to this second Passover in Numbers
9?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
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