Num 11:1-10 | KingComments | STEP | This chapter draws our attention to the behavior of the Israelites in the wilderness. Unfortunately, it is a history of constant unfaithfulness and revolt. At the same time it is also a history of the long-suffering and grace of God. It is an utmost humbling picture that we get to see, but also very instructive. The first described events of the wilderness journey are not those of a people who are thankfully and joyfully on their way to the promised land. God has given them every reason to do so. In Numbers 1-10 He has given them His directions and means as preparations for the journey through the wilderness. God has provided all things, He guides them. The journey would not last long, only eleven days ( ). Already in Numbers 13 they arrive at the border of the land. But we hear nothing about their joy. Only three days they are on the road or they are starting to complain. That is the first thing we read. The people are, as the footnote in the Darby translation reads, “like men complaining of evil”. That is, they behave like people who sigh and moan about an accident that has happened to them. A general feeling of dissatisfaction has arisen. They complain about something they can’t name by name, and this after so much goodness from God. They are simply not satisfied with what God has given them. It is inevitable that they will show their displeasure about the troubles and hardships that they feel result from the wilderness journey. This is also the case in the Christian dispensation. We see that for example in the first letter to the Corinthians. In that letter we read about the laxity that prevails in the church. There it is not so much the result of dissatisfaction, but rather of their gloating, their pride in all their gifts. But the origin is the same. They don’t think of the Giver, but of themselves. There the fire of the Lord, as it were, kindles, which we see from the many who are “weak and sick” among them, “and a number sleep” ( ). The fire of God’s judgment begins at the outskirts of the camp. Those who are furthest from the center of God fall first under God’s punishing hand. Fortunately for the people there is an intercessor. By the intercession of Moses, the judgment, of which fire speaks, comes to an end. In the church people complain and whine about the conditions that may prevail, but where is the help to get rid of evil by intercession? There would never have been a twenty-first century for Christianity if there had not been a true Moses praying to God. By the intercession of the Lord Jesus ( ; ) the fire of God’s wrath is averted. Every blessing, every revival is the result of that intercession.

‏ Numbers 11:1-10

Introduction

This chapter draws our attention to the behavior of the Israelites in the wilderness. Unfortunately, it is a history of constant unfaithfulness and revolt. At the same time it is also a history of the long-suffering and grace of God. It is an utmost humbling picture that we get to see, but also very instructive.

The People Complain and Are Punished

The first described events of the wilderness journey are not those of a people who are thankfully and joyfully on their way to the promised land. God has given them every reason to do so. In Numbers 1-10 He has given them His directions and means as preparations for the journey through the wilderness. God has provided all things, He guides them. The journey would not last long, only eleven days (Deu 1:2). Already in Numbers 13 they arrive at the border of the land.

But we hear nothing about their joy. Only three days they are on the road or they are starting to complain. That is the first thing we read. The people are, as the footnote in the Darby translation reads, “like men complaining of evil”. That is, they behave like people who sigh and moan about an accident that has happened to them.

A general feeling of dissatisfaction has arisen. They complain about something they can’t name by name, and this after so much goodness from God. They are simply not satisfied with what God has given them. It is inevitable that they will show their displeasure about the troubles and hardships that they feel result from the wilderness journey.

This is also the case in the Christian dispensation. We see that for example in the first letter to the Corinthians. In that letter we read about the laxity that prevails in the church. There it is not so much the result of dissatisfaction, but rather of their gloating, their pride in all their gifts. But the origin is the same. They don’t think of the Giver, but of themselves. There the fire of the Lord, as it were, kindles, which we see from the many who are “weak and sick” among them, “and a number sleep” (1Cor 11:30).

The fire of God’s judgment begins at the outskirts of the camp. Those who are furthest from the center of God fall first under God’s punishing hand. Fortunately for the people there is an intercessor. By the intercession of Moses, the judgment, of which fire speaks, comes to an end. In the church people complain and whine about the conditions that may prevail, but where is the help to get rid of evil by intercession?

There would never have been a twenty-first century for Christianity if there had not been a true Moses praying to God. By the intercession of the Lord Jesus (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25) the fire of God’s wrath is averted. Every blessing, every revival is the result of that intercession.

The Food of Egypt and the Manna

The recently executed wrath of the LORD has not caused any lasting fear for Him in the hearts of the people. There is a general feeling of discontent in Num 11:1-3, now a concrete evil is mentioned that arises with the “rabble”. This “rabble” is made up of people who went with the people from Egypt, also called “a mixed multitude” (Exo 12:38a). They do not belong to those who have a hope before them. They do not long for the promised land. They live only for the here and now and not for the future. The history of Christianity has many nominal Christians, people who only bear the name ‘Christian’, meaning that they have no life from God.

With their negative attitude they contaminate the whole people of God. So nominal Christians always get the carnal Christians on their side. People who have joined God’s people just because of the pleasant feelings this gives, have never been separated from the world. If Christian life does not give them what they expected, they will, in pictures, long back to Egypt. For the sake of convenience, they do not think of the heavy slavery, but of its pleasurable sides. The unpleasant things are pushed away.

In Exodus we only hear the people moaning about the heavy service. After a short stay in the wilderness they have forgotten this and their only thought is of the food of Egypt (Num 11:5-6). That food consists of six kinds. They are all without nutritional value. Some are spicy in taste, but cause a bad breath. It is a striking picture of what the world has to offer: magazines, films, music, that are attractive to the flesh, but do not satisfy the heart. Also a consequence of consuming this food is that there is a bad smell around us; our behavior is corrupted by it. On the other hand, there is the food of the land. This consists of seven nutritious and tasty kinds (Deu 8:8). The use of that food will give us a behavior and radiance in which the Lord Jesus is seen.

“Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ” with which God has blessed us (Eph 1:3) fade away if we feel neglected in relation to the wealth in which the people of the world sometimes bathe. But the real reason is that we despise the food that God gives, the manna.

The manna is a picture of the Lord Jesus as “the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (Jn 6:50). He is our food. We feed on Him when we read about Him in the Gospels, when we think about the way He went His way on earth, the mind in which He did everything, the words He spoke, the deeds He did and His feelings accompanying all this. This food is the food of eternity. If He is not satisfactory now, how will it be in eternity? In heaven we have nothing and no one else but Him.

The only difference between now and later is that we won’t have the flesh anymore. The Lord Jesus is and remains the same, but the flesh longs for the things of the world. We want the pleasure of the world, but not the judgment. If the world attracts us again, it is because we despise the Lord Jesus as it were, that we think that He does not offer us enough. The heart then no longer knows the power of the words the Savior has spoken: “He who comes to Me will not hunger” (Jn 6:35).

The description of the manna is done in terms of equation (Num 11:7; Exo 16:14 ; 31). It is compared with coriander seed and with the bdellium, a precious stone. It gives the features of the life of the Lord Jesus. That is like the coriander seed: white, perfectly pure and perfectly balanced. He who sees Him and has an eye for Him sees in Him “a precious corner[stone]” (1Pet 2:6).

The people deal with the manna in a way that God has not commanded (Num 11:8). It is like flavoring the Bible. We recognize this in making Bible translations with the aim of making them marketable. The truths of Scripture are popularly translated or even filmed and then offered to the public. But it is all because people can no longer bear the unmixed truth of the Lord Jesus. They are looking for something that suits them well (2Tim 4:3).

There is still the taste of oil, a picture of the Holy Spirit. It is still brought as something that speaks of God. The Holy Spirit sometimes wants to use it to convince people that they are dealing with God. The fact that “its taste was like wafers with honey” (Exo 16:31) is not mentioned here. The sweetness of the relationship with the Lord Jesus that we enjoy when we read the Word of God (Eze 3:3) is not present in it.

The manna is connected with the dew (Num 11:9; Exo 16:14). Dew is a refreshment. Manna refreshes the soul. God provides the food while the people sleep. His care is there day and night. When they rise, they can take what God has laid out. The manna is the daily testimony of God’s daily care.

Moses Complains

The weeping is general. Moses is displeased at the attitude of the people toward the gift of God in the manna. He complains about the people with the LORD. It’s all going to be too much for him. In his words it sounds that he thinks he should take care of flesh and that he should carry the people. He has forgotten that it is not for him to take care of flesh or carry the people, but for God to do so (Exo 19:4; Deu 1:31). God does not expect these things from him either.

When the Lord entrusts us with the task of leading among the people, we may sometimes feel what we observe with Moses here. We too may think that we should carry the whole testimony of God on our shoulders. Then we become just like Moses. Then we take something on us that God has not imposed on us. We may entrust everything to Him. He Himself will safely bring His people to the end. It is good to feel the need of the people and at the same time to realize that God knows this need, even better than we do. This may make us pray.