God sends fire – Numbers 11:1-3.
V1-3 This passage records the first of many times when the Israelites complained on their journey. In the camp near Sinai Mountain, they had obeyed God completely. However, on their journey to the Promised Land, often they did not obey Him. They complained often.
The Israelites had travelled for three days only, and they had begun to complain already. The text does not tell us why they complained. Perhaps they did not like the desert, or maybe they were tired. But they were not trusting God to care for them. They did not thank Him because He was leading them to the Promised Land. This grieved the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Therefore, the Israelites had removed themselves from God’s protection.
On this first occasion, God sent fire into the camp to show that He was angry. When the people saw the fire, they were afraid. They asked Moses to speak to God on their behalf. Moses did this and the fire stopped.
In chapter 33, there is a list of places where the Israelites camped.
God provides food
V4-9 When the Israelites left Egypt, some foreigners came with them. We are not told why these foreigners came. Perhaps some of them were slaves who wanted to escape, too, or perhaps they realised how special the Israelites were and that they had a special God who quite clearly cared for them and even performed miracles on their behalf. But they did not know God. They complained because they had no meat. Then, the Israelites followed suit and started to complain, too.
God was providing food for them every day. They called this food ‘manna’. Manna can be translated ‘what is it’ There is also a description of manna in Exodus 16:14-16. They had plenty of it and it tasted good. Exodus 16:31 says that the manna had the flavour of honey/coriander. However, the people became fed up with manna and wanted something different to eat. They talked about the foods that they had eaten in Egypt and yearned for them. They reminded each other of the food they had there. Life was hard then but apparently the food was good, or was it? We are often guilty of this, we imagine that things were better in the ‘good old days’, but in reality, they were probably not.
They were ungrateful that God had rescued them. They were ungrateful that he was providing lots of food in the desert. They did not thank God because he gave them food. Instead, they complained about it! The manna had not changed. But the people had changed. They had become ungrateful, greedy and selfish.
There is a lesson here for us. Nothing can satisfy people who are greedy and selfish. They are unhappy because always they want more. How often do we become dissatisfied with what God provides for us? We want something ‘new’.
We must remember to thank God always for everything that He provides. We must be grateful for the good things that we have. Remember that what He gives satisfies fully.
Moses complains to God.
V11-15 Even though God had chosen Moses to be the Israelites’ leader, he felt that God had given to him too many responsibilities. Let’s face it they were not an easy crowd to control, but times haven’t changed much! He was desperate, feeling inadequate, he prayed about the matter. And he told God about how he felt. Moses had obeyed God and had led the people out of Egypt. He realised that he could not do the work of a leader alone. He felt that he was failing as a leader and was so desperate that he asked God to let him die.
God answered his prayer, but God did not let him die. God did not expect him to do all the work of a leader without any help. The work was God’s work. So, God would provide the help that Moses needed. God would tell Moses what he had to do.
Moses chooses 70 helpers.
V16-17 God did not let him die. Rather, he answered Moses’ prayer, but not in the way that Moses expected. God had given His Spirit to Moses. God’s Spirit is the Holy Spirit. He gave his Spirit to the 70 leaders, too. God’s Spirit gave them special authority to lead his people and the power to do what God wanted.
These leaders were not priests. But they had special tasks to do. Unlike after Pentecost in Acts of the Apostles, when The Holy Spirit was given to believers to indwell us and never leave us, in the Old Testament, God gave his Spirit to particular people to do particular work for him. God gave his Spirit to Moses. So, the people recognised that God was with Moses in a special way. Like Moses, these leaders could prophesy. So, the people would recognise that God was with these leaders, too.
In the New Testament, we read about how God gives his Holy Spirit to all Christians (Romans 8:9 and 8:14-17). The Holy Spirit helps us to do things for God that we could not do alone. Whenever we need God’s power and strength, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us.
God promises meat.
V18-23 God solved Moses’ other problem. The people wanted meat, so God promised to provide it. Moses was angry that they said they preferred to live as slaves in Egypt. So, he promised to provide so much meat that they would hate it!
Moses argued with God as he was looking for a natural solution to the problem. God intended to solve the problem with a miracle. God did not become angry with Moses even though Moses had doubts. He told Moses to wait. God would do what he had said.
‘Tell the people to prepare themselves so that I will accept them’ (verse 18). God would provide food for the people by means of a miracle. The people had to prepare themselves to receive this wonderful gift. Instead of being grateful they were greedy and were complaining. So, they needed to change their bad attitude. They needed to prepare themselves so that God would accept them.
God gives authority to the leaders.
V 24-30 When God gave his Spirit to the 70 leaders, they all prophesied. They did not do this by natural, human means. God’s Spirit gave to them the power to do this. This included Eldad and Medad, who had stayed in the camp. We do not know why they had stayed in the camp. But they began to prophesy too. A young man went to Moses and told him. We know that Eldad and Medad had God’s Spirit because they prophesied. This shows that they were not doing anything wrong.
However, Joshua, Moses’ helper, was worried about what was happening. Perhaps he thought that Moses might lose all of his authority, but Moses was not worried. He was happy that these men had God’s Spirit. He was happy that they were not complaining. Instead, they were praising God. In this case, which is what the word ‘prophesy’ means. These men were not telling people what would happen in the future. They were not doing the special work of a prophet. But they were praising God. And they were speaking about the wonderful things that God does. This would encourage the people to praise God, too (1 Corinthians 14:3). The Holy Spirit gave to them the power to do this (Joel 2:28).
The LORD provides meat.
V31-32 ‘The piles of meat were about a metre high’ (verse 31). God provided as much meat as he had promised. There were piles of birds everywhere! It is possible to translate this sentence in a different way. The Hebrew words could mean also that the birds were flying about a metre from the ground. Anyway, the birds were easy to collect.
The people dried the meat so that they could keep it for a long time.
V33-34 God gave to the people what they wanted, but it was also a punishment. They had not prepared themselves as God had ordered. They had not changed their attitude so that God would accept them (Numbers 11:18). God had given them an opportunity to do this, however, they had not done it. Still, they were greedy and ungrateful. So many of them died from disease.
The Hebrew word that we have translated as ‘greedy’ means ‘to want something very much.’ That thing can be good or bad. They were greedy for the wrong things. So many of them died.
V35 ‘Hazeroth’ comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘a place to make a home.’ It was a temporary home for the Israelites as they travelled north to the Promised Land.
