Notes used to present a Zoom lesson during the summer of 2020.  

Anxiety abounds in the world today. We seem to be living in an especially difficult time that causes anxiety on all fronts. If we are not personally affected by one thing, then we will be by another. Disease, Economic woes, Civil Unrest, Unjust politicians. The list just seems to go on and on. It is like a comment I read on FB recently: 

“I always wondered what it was like to live during the times of the Civil War, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, Watergate and the Dust Bowl…all at once.”

 It is what it is. We are surrounded by people who are looking out for themselves. People who have no respect for God or those who believe in Him. People who have become so confused by their own thoughts and actions that they behave in ways that are completely illogical. They tell us that what is up is down and what is round is square and what is right is wrong.

 Isaiah 5:20-21

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,

And prudent in their own sight!

 

They think they are wise. Without seeking God’s counsel or even the counsel of wise men, they look to themselves for all the answers and find Satan freely giving out his own form of intelligence. 

And we are left with what is happening around us. What are we to do? How are we to respond when the country we love is divided and filled with people who have lost their moral compass? 

The division and the evil surrounding us causes anxiety which results in poor decisions and actions on our part. When we are anxious, we tend to go into survival mode and think of what is important to me, right now, so that I can live to see another day. 

Let us look at two people who were in a stressful situation that was causing great anxiety and see what we can learn by how they reacted to that anxiety: the children of Israel and their leader, Moses. 

We are all familiar with the story. Moses was chosen by God to free the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery where they had been for about 400 years. The children of Israel had grown to accept their fate and even learn to appreciate some of the benefits of living in Egypt, even though they were not free. They were builders as slaves. They had all grown up learning how to build the beautiful buildings that Egypt is known for. 

Moses had been born a slave but was taken into the household of the Pharoah through the providence of God to be reared as an Egyptian of high ranking. He then was forced to flee when he attempted to help his brethren, the slaves.

 Long story short, Moses and the children of Israel witnessed many awesome miracles that God performed to show His power of the Egyptian Pharaohs which caused the Egyptians to insist the Israelites leave their country at once. Just like that, they were free and their journey to their new land, the promised land began. 

All Looks Good At this Point 

The miracles did not stop in Egypt, God continued showing them great signs that He was all powerful and was there to guide and protect them. He gave them a law with specific instructions on how to worship Him, how to live their lives, and even how to build a place of worship. All seemed promising. God gave clear instructions; the people did what they were told. 

Numbers 1:54

Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.

 It is easy to do what God wants us to do when times are good. It is when the going gets tough that things get difficult and we begin thinking about ourselves — our wants, our needs — instead of thinking about God. 

That is where we find the children of Israel in Numbers 11. God had been providing for them for 2 years already at this point. They had crossed through the Red Sea. They had spent time at the foot of Mt Sinai and had even heard the voice of God which brought them to their knees in fear. They had built the tabernacle and all the accessories that go with it. They had organized their camps the way God told them to. They set out for the first time the way God told them to. God had even been feeding them daily with food that just appeared every morning. No one had to work for food, except to go out and gather it from the ground. They had everything they needed. 

Trouble Begins To Brew 

After a while, after the newness wore off, they began to think about the good old days. They were tired of living like nomads. They had been promised a new land that flowed with milk and honey and here they were out in the middle of nowhere living in tents, worshiping God in a tent. They were being told what to do, where to go, what to eat, when to eat it by an old man who said God was talking to him. They started grumbling and complaining. 

Number 11:1

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. 

As you can see, God was not pleased with their complaining and He issued an immediate and painful punishment. We are not told what the complaining was about at this point. Just that they complained. 

They Take Their Trouble To Moses 

This fire that God sent to consume the outskirts of the camp was not what the Israelites had hoped for or expected. So, they took their problem to Moses, who prayed to God and the fire stopped. 

Numbers 11:2-3

Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them. 

Right away we see a contrast developing between the way the Israelites handled a problem they were having and the way Moses handled a problem he was having — that of the Israelites begging for his help. 

God sent fire on the Israelites. God answered Moses’ prayer.

 The Complaining Becomes Intense 

This sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. Let us continue reading: 

Numbers 11:4-6

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? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

 What started as complaining in the first verse has escalated to intense craving and the children of Israel weeping. Thinking back to the good old days when they had all the food in an endless variety that they wanted. Never mind that they were slaves performing hard labor for the Pharaoh. 

They had a problem — discontentment. They worked themselves up into such a state that they cried about their lack of the comforts they had left behind. 

Moses Is Displeased — God Is Displeased 

All this carrying on did not escape Moses’ ears or God’s ears. Here the Israelites were standing out in front of their tents crying for meat. Just that morning they had benefited from the manna that God gave them every day. They were not hungry. They had plenty of food. They just did not have the kind of food that they wanted. 

Numbers 11:10

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. 

The result of their grumbling and complaining? Moses was displeased but even more importantly, God’s anger was greatly aroused. The Israelites had seen what God could and would do to other people who had angered him — Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea comes to mind. Even so they easily gave into their selfishness and without a thought complained to God. They deserve whatever comes their way. 

Moses Humbly Prays to God 

Moses has a choice to make. He could side with the Israelites and join in their complaining, crying to God to give them what they want, or he could humbly pray to God, present his case, and ask for help. Of course, that is exactly what he did. He presented his case before God in a logical way. Not complaining, not whining but genuinely asking God for help in this difficult situation. 

Numbers 11:11-15

So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? 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? 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.’ I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!”

 Moses has asked for help in dealing with the Israelites. “Where am I going to get meat for all these people?” he says. They cry, “Give us meat, that we may eat.” Sounds like a protest chant. Give us meat that we may eat. Give us meat that we may eat. Moses did not know how he was going to handle this situation. You may notice that in his prayer he lays it all out for God. He even tells God to just kill him now because he just cannot handle it. 

God Takes Care Of Moses First 

 What is God’s reaction? He deals with Moses’ problem first. Moses asked humbly and with good logic he presented his case. He did not complain or whine about anything. He just poured his heart out to God. He gives Moses 70 elders who will “bear the burden of the people with” him. 

Numbers 11:16-17

So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 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.

 Then God Takes Care Of The Israelites 

But what about the Israelites? God answers their problem too. God is going to give them meat to eat, just like they asked for. 

Numbers 11:18

Then you shall 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 well with us in Egypt.” Therefore, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.

 Blessings And Then Punishment 

What a great day! The Israelites cried and whined and complained and God gave them what they wanted. They will have meat to eat…but wait…God has more to say. 

Numbers 11:19-20

You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 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?”  

Sure, God will give them meat. He will give them enough for 1 day, 2 days…He will give them enough meat for a whole month. They will have so much meat to eat that they will hate the very thing they begged for. Be careful what you ask for or Be careful how you ask for it. God plans to give them exactly what they asked for and more. So much more that they are going to wish they had never asked for it. Why? Because with all the kindness God has shown them, they turn against Him saying they wish they had never left Egypt. What an insult. God has chosen these people to be His own. He has taken them from the torment they were living in and is prepared to give them a beautiful land all their own and they are not thankful. They want to go back. 

Moses Doubts 

But Moses is not completely sure about all this. He cannot figure out how God is going to provide any meat for this many people much less enough for a whole month. 

Numbers 11:21-22

And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”

 I can see where he is coming from. They are out in the middle of a desert. Where are they going to find the animals? Even after seeing the wonderful miracles that God performed bringing the people out of Egypt, even after appearing before God talking directly with God, Moses has some doubt how this is going to all be done. 

God Reminds Moses Who He Is 

Does God get angry at Moses for his doubt? Moses has shown no disrespect. It is just that he, in his finite human mind, cannot imagine how God will feed all these people. God simply reminds Moses that He can do this and to wait to see how it will be done. 

Numbers 11:23

And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”

 Moses Obeys God 

Moses does as God tells him to. He gathers the people together and lets them know what God has said. He gathers the 70 men together and God designates them as the men who will lighten Moses’ burden. 

Numbers 11:24-25

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 

The narrative takes a little turn at this point and begins talking about an event that happened when Moses called the 70 elders together. You can read that on your own. It is fascinating in its own right but is not necessary for this lesson. 

The Israelites Get Their Meat 

Now it really gets exciting! Those complaining, whining, grumbling Israelites are about to get what is coming to them. They will not even be able to comprehend the magnitude of what God is about to do for them and to them. 

Numbers 11:31-32

Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 

The Israelites have received what they wanted — meat. Cannot you just imagine the joy! The unthankful, glutinous joy! As Danny used to say when I would give into the demands of a whining little boy, “You cried and you got what you want.” Yes, the Israelites cried and they got what they wanted but God is not a doting mom. He is the Almighty. He was not about to let the Israelites get by with their selfish, unthankful behavior without some form of punishment. 

And Then They Got Their Punishment 

I might just add here that this is such a good example for parents to learn from. God could have killed them all or a good portion of them right then and there. There are a number of punishments he could have used to teach them a lesson but God, in His infinite wisdom, let the punishment fit the crime. They want meat? He gave them meat. And then used the very thing they wanted to teach them a lesson they never would forget. 

Numbers 11:33-34

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. So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving. 

I am sure there was a lot of celebrating going on. The joy of having all this meat just appear. And did you notice how much meat there was? For a day’s journey on either side of the camp there was quail. Just fluttering there ready to be snatched up by those greedy hands of the Israelites. They did not even have to hunt them down. Just go out there and get them. They had so much quail that they dried them out for future use. What a great day! 

And then they started eating their bounty. Notice how the NKJV says it, “While it was still between their teeth, before it was chewed…” Right at the moment they had so longed for — getting to eat the precious meat — God struck them with a plague. Those who had given into their greed (or yielded to their craving) died right there. So, the place that started out to be a place of celebration ended up being a burial ground for those who had sinned. 

What a lesson for us to learn. Two people with two problems. One — the Israelites — complained and insulted God. The other — Moses — humbly opened his heart to God and presented his case. One — the Israelites were punished for their lack of thankfulness. The other — Moses — was given the help he so muchly needed and deserved. 

God is so wise. He knows what we need. He wants us to ask Him for what we need. He wants us to express the desires of our hearts. He will bless us when we do. But He despises unthankful, complainers. He will not help them in fact, He will punish them. 

As we are trying to make our way through the trials we currently find ourselves in, let us make sure that we are not complainers who are only looking out for ourselves. We want justice. We want reform. We want things to go our way. Do not be one who joins in with the crowd creating more noise. 

Let us be like Moses who approaches the throne of God with the boldness He has promised we have a right to. Present our case in a thoughtful, humble, heartfelt manner. Wait patiently for an answer from God. Calmly, quietly, humbly, obediently ask God for what we need. 

The manner in which we approach God will make all the difference. 

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Matthew 6:6-8

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

 Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.