Numbers 11
The patience of Moses was wearing thin, and the just anger of God was aroused. The prominent phenomena show how divine providence provides a fabric for divine requirements.
I. Moses had to lead a complaining people.
They do not celebrate their freedom or their future; they only complain about present inconvenience (Numbers 11:1–9). The miraculous deliverance of Passover (Exodus 12:23) and the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea was a distant memory. The celebration on that occasion (Exodus 15) has receded from spiritual consciousness. The confidence expressed has no influence on their response to the present sense of deprivation: “In your lovingkindness you have led the people you have redeemed; in your strength you have guided them to your holy habitation” (Exodus 15:13).
A. They focused on the adversity that accompanied the walk to freedom.
Now they do not focus on lovingkindness or guidance. That God reminded them of his holy purpose and his immediate power through fire in the fringes of the camp (1) provided a temporary shock to their spirit of dissatisfaction. They cried to Moses. He had led them thus far; could he not intercede now?
B. They yearn for the free food of the past rather than the promise of being a free people in the future.
That the fish, onions, leeks, garlic, and cucumbers—and free at that!—came with bondage to an idolatrous, pagan, power-worshipping nation receded in importance in the absence of excited taste buds. The lusts of the flesh come in many forms. A domineering appetite is one recurring desire that stultifies the spirit and minimizes its hunger for divine truth and eternal beauty, “All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied” (Ecclesiastes 6:7).
C. They complained about God’s provision of manna (4–6).
Provisions and rules for gathering were described in Exodus 16. They could not celebrate the promise of their future because they preferred the satisfying of their taste buds. They could gather it each morning and prepare it in a number of ways. Quail was provided in the evening (Exodus 16:13). They were not amazed that even in this wilderness their needs were met, but they wanted a greater variety of taste. The ability of us sinners to maximize the irrelevant and neglect the eternally significant is quite striking. Let us be warned. They had fallen into a trap of their deceitful hearts: “Put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his [a ruler’s] delicacies, for they are deceptive food” (Proverbs 23:2, 3).
II. Moses was a distressed leader (10–15; 21, 22).
This lack of variety of food caused great weeping across the camp of the Israelites, each family head at the doorway of his tent. This is truly a pitiful scene knowing God’s purpose for this nation. Through them the Messiah would take his human nature and live according to the eternal moral law revealed to them in order to bring justification to the elect of all the nations of the earth. They are crying over their boredom with the provision of Manna. God was angry and Moses was overwhelmed.
A. He asked a series of questions that showed the human impossibility of the task before him (11–13).
-
- He questions God’s choice of him—not the first time Moses did this (Exodus 3:11; 4:1, 10, 13). Moses let his personal sense of inadequacy cloud his vision of the purpose and power of God. He knows from the universality and the intensity of the complaints that he is utterly inadequate to the task. He would be having an easy life, comparatively speaking, were he only a tender of sheep in Midian. Sheep are more compliant and more easily satisfied.
- He questions if he has any natural responsibility for them. A brother and a sister were among them, but they had their own part in producing difficulties (Exodus 32; Numbers 12; Deuteronomy 9:20). An Israelite had threatened to expose the malfeasance of Moses causing him to flee from Egypt to Midian (Exodus 2:11–15). He had begotten no children among them, he had been absent for four decades, so what natural bond should give him any sense of intrinsic responsibility toward them? Isn’t God mandating an onerous task for which Moses has few if any bonds of deep affection? As we span the centuries and see the task to which the Son of God was called by eternal covenant, we can understand more of the redemptive pattern of this task to which Moses was commanded (Romans 5:6–11).
- Had Moses forgotten the provision of Manna when he asked, “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?” (13). This question is just a continuation of the exasperation Moses felt at this point. God made all things everywhere. If He had a purpose in the exodus and a promise to fulfill to Abraham, food for life would be no issue at all. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:1). As Moses extended this problem into verses 21, 22, the Lord answered, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not” (23). God points to His omnipotence and His faithfulness to assure Moses that all these supposedly invincible difficulties will not hinder Moses’s success in the thing to which he is called.
B. He declares his incapability (14).
Given all the reasons implied in the series of questions, Moses declared that he was unable “to carry all this people.” Yes, that was true, but God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness and His weakness is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul learned the lesson well that in God’s strength alone can we follow faithfully the calling he has given us (Philippians 4:10–13).
C. He asked God to kill him (15).
-
- He wanted to be sure that he was included in the saving grace of God. He knew enough by divine revelation of the eternal moral character of God and the certainty, therefore, of an eternal state of self-consciousness that he wanted assurance of God’s gracious inclusion of him in the hope of eternal life.
- He did not want the severity of this test to give full display to his wretchedness. He felt that if he continued long in this sense of futility in faithfulness, that his wretchedness would be uncovered to a degree that even he was unaware of. Prolonged testing and concomitant difficulties can open to our soul the depths of wretchedness that depravity has cast on us.
- We can learn from long and severe tests that we are without strength, without personal merit, tainted by corruption even at our most spiritual moments (Romans 7:19), and thus without exception, at any point, dependent on the grace of God.
III. God showed just anger and gave merciful provision.
A. God’s anger was expressed in death to violators of His holy provision and purpose.
-
- God sent a fire that destroyed a portion of the complainers (11:1). Probably he did not destroy every complainer but just a sampling as a warning and a lesson to bring about greater compliance. Paul used these judgments of God on Israel to warn Christians of the certainty of divine retribution: “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6).
- God’s anger is provoked again by the people’s complaint about the provisions of food (11:10). His anger was “kindled greatly” and would find expression in the plague that soon would consume many. God killed those who showed inordinate greed and passion for the meat of the quails (33, 34). They had within their affections only the meat that perishes, not that which endures to eternal life (John 6:27).
- The time of every person’s death is set by God. Some die as martyrs for the gospel (Acts 8:59, 60; 2 Timothy 4:6–8). Some die as a result of divine judgment (Acts 5:5–11; 1 Corinthians 11:30).
B. God provided human help for Moses.
-
- God had Moses select men who already had shown maturity and had gained respect among the people (16). To develop the necessary relations of a united people moving together toward godliness, factors must be operative within the human dimension to give unity of purpose and love.
- These men must be empowered and gifted by the Spirit of God to execute their office with true piety and in accordance with God’s word. The same empowerment that was with Moses would be on them (17, 25). Moses truly needed help for the massive task of teaching over 600,000 people all that had been revealed. Civil law, ceremonial law, and moral law would mold this people into a chosen people, a special treasure, the subjects of sovereign love (Deuteronomy 7:6, 7). Peter later would refer to the church among the Jews as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people of his own possession (1 Peter 2:9).
- New Testament passages show that God has given gifts of various sorts and of various durations to settle this new holy nation into patterns of life and worship that honor His character, believe His revelation, and pursue His purpose. Ephesians 4:11–16 Lists 4 spiritually-gifted offices to foster unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Romans 12:3–8 and 1 Corinthians both give a list of special gifts that God gave the church for the teaching and edification of each local church. Some of these gifts were necessary on a temporary basis; others would serve throughout the generations. Two officers to be set apart for the proper biblical order in every congregation are bishops (the same as elders and pastors) and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1–13; 5:17–20; Titus 1:5–9; Philippians 1:1).
Poem
The bondage that enthralls the world is sin’s pleasure for a season.
Cravings for comfort, the taste of food, the body’s desire captivate our reason.
The promise of eternal life, sin forgiven, holiness our home,
Do not compel the carnal mind to tame the heart’s desire to roam.
Awesome finally to behold
Perfect judgment of each soul.
Still mercy permeates God’s dealings with the remnant elect of grace.
Physical needs supplied, wise guidance granted, cleansing judgments come apace.
The overwhelming task of guiding sinners to see and love the truth
Calls for gifts given by God’s Spirit to instruct and counsel both aged and youth.
Give, O Lord, by patient grace
All we need to run this race.
No matter how expansive is the company of those released,
God’s power and wisdom persevere where human patience long has ceased.
In pursuit of purity and to manifest his holy zeal
Death surprised the congregation, brought the grave to their faithless meal.
Relent, O Lord, withhold your wrath;
Sustain us on a holy path.
