Lost (Numbers 11)

Lost
Numbers 11

INTRODUCTION:
A farmer asked the owner of a restaurant if he would be able to use a million frog legs. The owner asked where he could find so many frogs. “There’s a pond at home just full of them,” the farmer replied. “They drive me crazy night and day.”

They made an agreement for several hundred frogs, the farmer then returned home. He came back a week later with two scrawny frogs and a foolish look on his face. “I guess I was wrong,” he stammered. “There were just two frogs in the pond, but they sure were making a lot of noise!”

As much as it seems like pride is a natural condition of the human heart, it also seems that making noise - complaining - whining - is also natural to the human condition.

In regions of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry, boil their clothes in the hot springs, and then rinse them in the cold springs. A tourist watching this procedure commented to his Mexican guide: “They must think Mother Nature is generous to freely supply such ample, clean hot and cold water!” The guide replied, “No, señor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap.”

Patience. Anger. Sin. Trust. These broad concepts are found in the text we’re going to consider this evening - Numbers 11. The book of Numbers gets its name from the references to the population of Israel at the beginning of the book, right after they come out of the land of Egypt, and the population of Israel at the end of the book, after decades of sin and rebellion against God. It is remarkable, and is testimony to the grace of God, that the two numbers, spread out over 40 years, is very close, within 2,000 people.

Numbers 1:1 tells us that the events began in the second year after Israel came out of the land of Egypt, from slavery. They have been at Mount Sinai this whole time receiving the Law of Moses contained in Exodus and Leviticus.

At the beginning of the book, God commands Moses to take a census of the children of Israel and the number of men twenty and older numbered 603,500 (1:46). The Levites were numbered separately (3:22). God laid out the pattern of the camp in chapter 2 so that certain tribes would camp together, under the leadership of one tribe. The leading tribes were Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan.

I want to point out something to you. When God commanded Moses, Moses commanded Israel, and Israel did what God commanded. That point is emphasized thoroughly in these first several chapters of Numbers. Notice 1:19, 54; 2:33, 34; 3:16, 39, 42, 51; 4:37, 41, 45, 49; 5:4; 8:3, 20, 22; 9:5, 8, 18, 20, 23; 10:13. All of this shows that Israel was was largely obedient to the commands of Jehovah God.

In chapters 3-4, God assigned the Levites certain duties relative to the tabernacle and its supplies. Chapter 5 and chapter 6 give certain specific laws to Israel, such as the law regarding the Nazirites. In chapter 7, we see the leaders of Israel, leaders of the clans, offering gifts to God for the service of the tabernacle. In 8:4, we are told that Israel built the tabernacle after the pattern God had shown Moses on Mount Sinai.

Then, just before Israel breaks camp and begins their travel to the Promised Land, God commands Israel to observe the Passover, which they did in chapter 9. Also, before they begin traveling, God told them to make some trumpets so that they can communicate to the whole nation of Israel when it was time to pack up and move and when it was time to settle down for a while.

At 10:11, we are informed that three weeks after God spoke to Moses at the beginning of the book, God begins leading the Israelites toward the Promised Land. They have been stationary long enough. At 10:33, Israel has traveled three days. Three days have passed from the events recorded between chapters 1 and 10!

And that brings us to chapter 11… Patience. Anger. Sin. Trust.

THE PEOPLE COMPLAIN - 11:1-9:
Obedience, in and of itself, is not sufficient. God also does not tolerate complaining as it exhibits a lack of trust in Him.

First, we have a minor, more non-specific example of Israel complaining (11:1-3). God’s anger was burned against Israel and He sent a fire to consume them. Israel cried. Moses prayed. The Lord responded with grace. That specific campsite was named “Tabberah” which means “burning.” But Israel did not learn its lesson…

Secondly, some “rabble” (“mixed multitude,” which might be non-Israelites, like Egyptians, who came out of Egypt with Israel) had “greedy” desires (11:4-9). They were hard-headed and complained again, this time about the meat that was lacking in their diet. They missed the fish they ate in Egypt and they lament not having certain vegetables in their diet either. But the major complaint was “no meat.” Actually, God had responded before with quail in Exodus 16, an event which happened two and half months after they left Egypt. So, God can give meat and He does respond to prayer. But God does not tolerate complaining and whining.

COMPLAINING WEIGHS ON MOSES’ HEART - 11:10-15:
Leaders hear complaints, right? That’s the nature of leadership. Whether the complaints are legitimate or not, leaders feel the brunt of complaints. Moses was no exception. Verse 10 tells us that Jehovah God was angry (again) at Israel’s complaining but Moses, too, was displeased.

So, Moses essentially complains also! About the weight of leadership. The people are a burden on him (vs 11). Moses is not the one who conceived the nation of Israel. It was God, Moses says, who told Moses to carry Israel in his bosom, as a nurse carries an infant (vs 12).

Moses laments, where can he find enough meat to feed all those people? We usually estimate close to 2 million people. Even though Moses was given help back in Exodus 18 (as Jared discussed with us last week), he still felt like he was doing too much by himself. Moses finally asks God to just kill him and put him out of his misery of leading a people who liked too much to whine.

GOD GIVES MOSES HELP (AGAIN) - 11:16-30:
First, God tells Moses to gather 70 leaders from Israel, the heads of the tribes and other leaders and bring them to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. God says that He will “come down” (out of heaven) and take of the Holy Spirit from Moses and share the Spirit with these other leaders. Since the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person and cannot be “divided up,” I understand this imagery to be figurative, that is, God is taking from the Spirit’s miraculous abilities - perhaps miraculous wisdom or knowledge - and sharing those abilities with these other leaders. I think God words the plan as He does to show that the authority to make decisions will rest on these other men as it did on Moses.

Israel had to prepare themselves for this little ceremony (vs 18) and after that, God will provide meat for Israel. In verses 19-20, God emphasizes that they will have meat to eat for a month until “it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you” - notice verse 20 - “because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” God is angry with Israel for their lack of gratitude and ingratitude is a sign of a lack of faith, a lack of trust. And if we have no faith, no trust, in God, we tend to sin.

In verse 21, Moses expresses some doubt, some hesitation as to how God is going to provide meat to 600,000 men. Where will they find enough meat for a month? Will they have to slaughter their farm animals, their flocks and herds in order to do that? Moses is still looking at his own resources, isn’t he? God responds to that effect in verse 23: “Now you will see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

In verses 24-25, Moses did just as God commanded him and the Lord came down in a cloud and took of the Holy Spirit on Moses and gave miraculous abilities to the 70 elders of Israel. To illustrate to Moses’ senses and the senses of the Israelites, God allowed these men to prophesy. Exactly what they said and how they said it, we do not know. But, it was to visibly show Israel that these men were now being guided by the Spirit of God.

The last paragraph in this section (11:26-30) gives Moses an opportunity to express the desire that all God’s people would be guided by the Holy Spirit. Without knowing it, I’m sure, Moses anticipated, he foreshadowed the promise of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all God’s people, prophesied by Joel (2:28-32) and fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

GOD BLESSES AND PUNISHES - 11:31-35:
God brings a wind that blows quail into the camp of Israel. There was quail from one day’s journey from the camp to another day’s journey from the camp on the other side. This quail was 3 feet deep. Do you know how big quail are? When Rachel and the girls and I were in Romania in 2013, the national preacher grilled quail for us. The meat from a quail is probably less than a good-sized drumstick!

There were so many quail that the Israelites took two whole days and one whole night - 36 hours - to collect all those quail! In verse 32, Moses tells us that the ones who gathered the least amount of quail gathered 10 homers and one humor is equal to 11 bushels so we have 110 bushels of quail for one person! That’s a lot of drumsticks!

But, God will bless those who are faithful and He will punish those who are unfaithful. Verse 33 tells us that God still took out His holy indignation on those Israelites who whined about God’s gifts to them.

Just as Israel named the first place in chapter 11 “Taberah,” which means “burning,” so here, they named this place “Kibroth-hattaavah” - “graves of greediness.” There, they buried the people who had been greedy. Unfortunately, that was not the last time Israel would complain against God and it was not the last time God’s people have complained against God or against God’s leaders.

What do we learn from this text:

1. Humans have very short memories. God had provided for them for at least a year while they were assembled around Mount Sinai. He had provided water, manna, quail.
2. God provides for His people but He expects His people to trust that He will so provide.
3. Ingratitude is a sin in the eyes of God. It is refusing to see God’s blessings for what they are. It is always wanting more, and more, and more.
4. God will not only provide for His people who trust Him, but He will also punish His people who show a lack of trust, a lack of gratitude in His provisions.

Take home message: Let us be careful we do not whine about God’s gifts. If we need / want something, let us ask Him with patience, trust, and humility.