The People Complain
“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. 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 (Burning), because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
Now the mixed multitude who were among them lusted intensely (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!”
Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
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. 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 responsibility/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/ solemnly promised 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!”
The Seventy Elders
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 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. 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?” ’ ”
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?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? (Is the Lord’s power limited?)Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” 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.
But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
The Lord Sends Quail
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. 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 (Graves of Craving), because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving. From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
God has given Moses marching orders and everything appears to be fine, but there’s always some somebody ready to complain. God is so angry that He sends holy fire to consume the worst complainers. Only the prayers of Moses prevent others from suffering a similar fate. One might think that the remaining Israelites would learn a lesson, but they don’t!
“Now the mixed multitude who were among them lusted intensely (yielded) to intense craving…” Who is this “mixed multitude?” Remember that the night of the Exodus, God struck all the first born people and animals in Egypt dead, terrorizing the Egyptians. There were non-Israelites who fled Egypt along with the Israelites. Perhaps some of these people were slaves from other countries, or from Egypt. Even though these people have witnessed all God’s miracles to date, they still aren’t believers; they are merely hanging on hoping for a better deal from the Israelites than they got in Egypt. Once this wayward bunch begins whining, the Israelites take up the complaints as well. Listening to these complaints, you realize the complainers are close kin to Esau, who was willing to sell his birthright for a big bowel of soup! Even though these people have escaped slavery, all they can think about is the food they enjoyed in Egypt. God is sending manna and these people are whining for leeks, onions, melons, garlic, and fish.
Fed up and exhausted, Moses is ready to quit when God does two things. First, God empowers seventy Israelite elders to help bear the burden of leadership with Moses. Second, God sends an enormous covey of quail. But those who have spoken out of their lusts die while the meat is still in their mouths. Dead quail and dead people-no wonder Moses calls the place “Graves of craving!”
APPLICATION: I have previously explained the Yiddish term “kvetch.” A kvetcher is one who is a total pain in the ear-nothing is right or sufficient. Notice that the Israelites don’t really begin to whine seriously until the non-Israelites have already begun complaining. And look at the complaint: “our whole being is dried up!” But these people have enough strength left to complain bitterly. Yes, these people are truly kvetchers.
Until now, Moses has been trying to shoulder the burdens of leadership alone. God has to step in and anoint seventy elders to share those burdens with Moses. At some point, Moses’ father-in-law also advises Moses to appoint leaders at various levels to settle disputes so that Moses is free to lead rather than being caught up in a web of complaints. Delegating authority is not always easy and sometimes God has to step in before we realize it’s time to do so.
Why is God so hard on those who have been CRAVING Egyptian food? Quite likely, the food issue is merely the top of a large pyramid of unrest. As slaves, the Israelites have been protected; after all, if the Egyptians don’t take care of their slaves, who will build all those pyramids and temples? And prior to the ten plagues, Egypt was a very prosperous place. Religiously, Egypt is a weird mixture; however, the main thing is that the Israelites have been accustomed to doing whatever they want when they want. Now God has brought the Israelites into a wilderness where they must depend totally on Him for everything and He has given commandments rather than suggestions. Little wonder that the Israelites are now setting new records for wailing.
How do we respond when God leads us into difficult places where the only means of escape is obedience? We might tell ourselves that we would never have complained; however, it’s likely that many of us would have been salivating for those quails. When God sets us in situations where the problems appear endless and the future bleak, do we trust God or begin kvetching? Tough situations afford us the opportunity to glorify God with our obedience. Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…” (Job 13:15) Sometimes the only way out of a difficult situation is to trust God and hang on. But while you are hanging on, make sure you are not kvetching!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust where we cannot see and to continue to obey You even when things seem dark. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
For a very funny but accurate description of these complaints, watch Keith Green’s video, “So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qokgHJeUqTg
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