This passage sums up COVID-19 life in America. We certainly long for our old lives like the Israelites longed for their previous lives in Egypt. The Israelites were sick and tired of manna and wanted meat. We’ve been cooped up and want to move freely. God gave them droves of quail to eat and then they were struck with a plague because of their greed. We opened things up in American and then were struck with the five highest days for new COVID-19 cases. Don’t get me wrong here—America is not Israel. But the parallels are eye-opening. What is not happening in this passage is the people drawing toward God and being thankful that they are on the path from slavery to eventually their own land. America is not drawing close to God as a nation. We haven’t been for some time. However, drawing close to God and sharing the Gospel is what America needs more than anything right now.

Achieving genuine internal peace and being at peace with others comes through Christ.

Numbers 11

The People Complain

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

31 Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. 32 And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ What were the Israelites complaining about”? [v1—15]

+ What rested on the prophets in order for them to prophesy? [v25]

+ What caused the plague? [v31—35]

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there a sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ How can you draw closer to God today—prayer, Bible, meditation, service, fasting, etc?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?

+ Who can you share the Gospel with today?

STUDY GUIDE [ WWW.ESV.ORG ]

+ Num. 11:1–3 This is a general complaint by the people. As on other occasions, Moses’ intercession stops God’s judgment (Ex. 32:11–14, 31–32; Num. 12:13–15; 14:11–25).

+ Num. 11:4–35 The people complain about the monotony of their diet of manna. What they really want, however, are the pleasures of Egypt (vv. 4–5). They are not satisfied with God’s plans.

+ Num. 11:7 Bdellium is a pale yellow resin found in desert areas.

+ Num. 11:16–23 Though God gives his people the meat they want, he punishes them for their ungrateful attitude.

+ Num. 11:24–30 These seventy elders prophesied for only a short time (they did not continue doing it), but this was enough to give them credibility as Moses’ assistants. Their prophesying would have involved speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is unclear whether Eldad and Medad were attached to the group of 70. In any case, they prophesied in a different place (in the camp), whereas the 70 had prophesied around the tent (v. 24). This made their prophesying much more obvious to the other Israelites, which was a concern to Joshua (vv. 27–28). Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets! Moses’ positive response (v. 29) will later be echoed by the prophet Joel’s vision of the “day of the LORD,” when “your sons and daughters shall prophesy” (Joel 2:28; compare Acts 2:17). When the OT speaks of the work of the Spirit, it is focusing on the empowering of the Spirit for service, rather than on an internal, personal experience.

+ Num. 11:31–34 Quail (small partridges) migrate north across the Sinai Peninsula in the spring and fall, so these were not a regular food item. There were so many quail that anyone could collect at least ten homers (v. 32), roughly 60 bushels (480 dry gallons or 2,200 liters)! The people’s greed was punished by a very great plague (v. 33). It led to many deaths, and the place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, “graves of craving” (v. 34).