Numbers, Chapter 11

This chapter is about fire & quail from God. It gets serious for the Israelites in this chapter. God gets a little mad at them. Moses gets a little help. It gets crazy. Enjoy!

Now the Israelites started complaining about their hardships in the hearing of what God was saying. When God heard them, God’s anger was aroused.

Then fire from God burned among them. It (the fire) consumed some of outskirts of the camp. The people cried out to Moses, he posted to God. The fire died down. So this place was called Taberah (means burning), because fire from God had burned among them.

The riff raff with them began stirring the pot, wanting food other than the manna. So the Israelites started saying, “Wish we had some meat to eat! Even the Egyptians have us fish to eat! And we didn’t even have to pay for the fish either! We even had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, & garlic. We’re not even hungry now. All we see is this manna ALL the time.”

[They give a bit of a description of the manna here.] The manna was like coriander seed & looked like resin. The people gathered it. Then ground it in a hand mill or crushed in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. It tasted like something made with olive oil. When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

Moses heard everyone complaining. God was REALLY REALLY mad! Moses was troubled. Moses asks God, “What did you do to me? Did I make you mad somehow? You put a really big burden on me. It’s a LOT of people! Did I give birth to all these people? Why do you make me hold these people hands, like they’re babies? Just so we can get to some promised land that you didn’t even really promise us but our forefathers. Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying about wanting to eat meat! I can’t do this by myself anymore. I need some help. (I love this next line!) If this is how you’re gonna treat me, kill me now. If I’ve found favor in your eyes, don’t let me face my own ruin.” (So basically Moses told God off.)

God tells Moses to get 70 of elders, who were known leaders & officials among the people. They were to the entrance of the Tent. God would then come down & speak to Moses there. God would then take His spirit that was on Moses & put it on them. They would help Moses carry the burden of the people. So he didn’t have to carry it alone.

The people also were informed to consecrate themselves in preparation for the next day. Because God heard them complaining, He’s giving them meat to eat. And that they had to eat it for a whole month, until “it comes out of your nostrils” & they hate it.

All this because they rejected God, who’s among them (which means He can actively hear what they’re saying, all the time.). And because they were all like “Why did we leave Egypt?”

Moses started to doubt God. He wondered where all the food was gonna come from to feed everyone for that long. God swiftly shot Moses a “Really, bro? Do you know who you’re talking to?”

Moses went & told the people what God has said. The 70 elders were brought together & they stand around the Tent.

Then God came down in the cloud & spoke to Moses. God took the Spirit that was on Moses & put the Spirit on the 70 elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied & continued to do so.

However, 2 men, whose names were Eldad & Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders but didn’t go to the Tent. The Spirit rested on them anyway. They began to prophesied in the camp. Someone ran & told Moses about this.

Joshua (we will be getting more into him later), whose Moses’ aide since a youth tells Moses to stop them. But Moses says, “You jealous bro? Don’t be on my account. I wish all God’s people were prophets. And that God would put His Spirit on them!” Moses & the elders went back to the camp.

Now a wind, that came from God, drive quail in from the sea. They flew down all around the camp to about 3 feet (or about 1 meter) above the ground. As far as day’s walk in any direction. All that day & night & all the next day the people went out & for the quail. Nobody got less than 60 bushels (or about 2.2 kiloliters). They spread them out all over camp.

However, while the meat was in their mouths but before it could be swallowed, God’s anger burned against the people. He struck them with a severe plague. (They don’t say exactly what the plague was. Like they did in Exodus.)

So the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (means graves of craving), because this is where they buried the people who had craved other food. From Kibroth Hattaavah, the Israelites traveled to Hazeroth & stayed there.