CHAPTER 11

(1490 B.C.)

COMPLAINT

¹And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it (complaining means unbelief, and unbelief always leads to spiritual death; before they came to Sinai, the Lord had passed over similar murmurings without any chastisement [Ex. 15:24; 16:2]; but He will not let this pass; by now, they should know better; we must never take Gods Mercy and Grace as a condoning of sin; if sin continues, as it did here with Israel, chastisement will ultimately come); and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them who were in the uttermost parts of the camp (most probably, this fire came from the Holy of Holies, striking down the complainers, exactly as it did Nadab and Abihu [Lev. 10:1-2]).

²And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched (Moses served as a Type of Christ, our Intercessor).

³And he called the name of the place Taberah (a burning): because the fire of the LORD burnt among them (because of unbelief).

ISRAELS DEMAND

⁴And the mixed multitude who was among them fell a lusting (this mixed multitude were Egyptians, who had come out of Egypt with Israel; this proves the fact that although they were in Israel, they were not of Israel; they lusted for flesh to eat, registering dissatisfaction with what the Lord had provided; complaints, as here, generally draw sympathy from the disgruntled): and the Children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? (They had flocks and herds, but the increase of them would little more than suffice for sacrifice; so, they could not slaughter them for ordinary eating.)

⁵We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick (unbelief forgot the slavery, as unbelief always forgets that which it should not forget, and remembers that which it should not remember):

⁶But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes (it only needed the test of the Wilderness to make visible the incurable unbelief and ignorance of their hearts; forgetting the lash of the taskmaster, they recalled the perishing bread of Egypt and turned away with loathing from the Manna! To a heart not in communion with God, Christ, the True Manna, becomes distasteful, and nourishment is sought in the world, which holds in bondage those who go down to it).

⁷And the Manna was as coriander seed (a flavoring type of seed, which probably had the capacity to flavor the Manna to whatever was desired), and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium (white [Ex. 16:31]).

⁸And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil (in Exodus 16:31, it is said to have tasted like wafers made with honey).

⁹And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the Manna fell upon it (there seems to be little or no connection between the dew and the Manna; when the dew evaporated in the morning, it left a deposit of Manna upon the ground).

MOSES COMPLAINS

¹⁰Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent (such was the contagion of evil, that every family was infected; they seemed to be acting as a petulant child, who, throwing a tantrum, thinks thereby to get his way): and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased (the complaining was directed against God, and against Moses as His Minister).

¹¹And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore have You afflicted Your Servant? (These passionate complaints were clearly wrong, because exaggerated) and wherefore have I not found favor in Your sight, that You lay the burden of all this people upon me? (In a word, Moses forgot himself and his duty as mediator, and, in his indignation at the sin of the people, committed the same sin himself.)

¹²Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that You should say unto me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father bears the sucking child, unto the land which You swear unto their fathers?

¹³Whence should I have flesh (meat) to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

¹⁴I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me (evidently, Jethros advice seemed ultimately to be of no consequence; in fact, it was of no consequence [Ex., Chpt. 18]).

¹⁵And if you deal thus with me, kill me, I pray you, out of hand, if I have found favour in Your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness (like Elijah, Moses petulantly calls upon God to kill him out of hand; and yet, these two men appeared with the God of Glory upon the Mount of Transfiguration!).

SEVENTY MEN

¹⁶And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto Me seventy men of the Elders of Israel, whom you know to be the Elders of the people, and officers over them (these were chosen by God, and not by Jethro; it is believed that the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Israel, originated with the Seventy Elders); and bring them unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with you.

¹⁷And I will come down and talk with you there: and I will take of the Spirit (Holy Spirit) which is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone (a pitying Grace relieved him of the weight of his charge while upbraiding him; however, Moses was, in truth, no whit less burdened, for the spiritual power granted to the Seventy Elders was taken from him).

¹⁸And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh: for you have wept in the Ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt (this is what they said, and what came up into the ears of the Lord. What a travesty! It wasnt well with them in Egypt. They were slaves, and, thereby, begging God to deliver them [Ex. 3:9]): therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you shall eat.

¹⁹You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;

²⁰But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that you have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? (We as Believers had better be careful for what we pray. It might be answered!)

²¹And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen (men of war, beside those younger and older, and the women and children); and You have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month (unbelief is registered in Moses statement).

²²Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? (Moses had complained, so it hindered his faith. Complaining always hinders faith. If Moses faith, in the world of that day, could be hindered, what about us presently?)

²³And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORDs Hand waxed short? you shall see now whether My Word shall come to pass unto you or not (there is no situation which the Lord cannot handle, if His people will only believe Him).

²⁴And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the Elders of the people, and set them round about the Tabernacle (evidently, the Lord told Moses to place these Elders in a certain place and position).

²⁵And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke unto him, and took of the Spirit (Holy Spirit) that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy Elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. (The cloud was the perpetual Presence with them. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon the Elders, they could then function in the service of the Lord. Without that Presence, they could do nothing. The crying need of the Church at this hour is a fresh enduement of power from on high.

Concerning Moses and this situation, Theodoret says, Just as a man who kindles a thousand flames from one flame does not lessen the first in communicating light to others, so God did not diminish the Grace imparted to Moses by the fact that he communicated of it to the seventy. The prophesying of these men, no doubt, was a declaration of Gods wonderful Works.)

²⁶But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them who were written, but went not out unto the Tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. (These two were of the seventy. However, because of other duties, more than likely, that demanded their attention, they could not accompany the others to the Tabernacle. Nevertheless, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them as well, even where they were, wherever that may have been.

This is a symbol of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which would begin at the Tabernacle, i.e., Temple in Jerusalem, but would quickly spread all over the world. Peter said so [Acts 2:39].)

²⁷And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.

²⁸And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them (whereas Joshua, although wrong, was not wrong from a malicious spirit; regrettably, untold numbers of modern Church leaders are now trying to do what Moses would not do, forbid them).

²⁹And Moses said unto him, Do you envy for my sake? would God that all the LORDs People were Prophets, and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them! (This is the correct spirit of all true men and women of God.)

³⁰And Moses got him into the camp (left the Tabernacle, and went into the camp), he and the Elders of Israel.

GOD SENDS QUAIL

³¹And there went forth a wind from the LORD (a wind Divinely sent for this purpose [Ps. 78:26]), and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a days journey on this side, and as it were a days journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits (3 feet) high upon the face of the Earth (this doesnt mean that the quails were piled upon the ground to a height of 3 feet, but that they flew at that height, and so were easily captured).

³²And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he who gathered least gathered ten homers (about 60 bushels): and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.

THE PLAGUE

³³And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the Wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. (What the plague was, we arent told. As well, as to how many were stricken, we arent told. Israel desired Gods gifts, but had no heart for the Giver. To accept the gifts of that bountiful Hand, and to seek to enjoy them independently of it, brings death into the soul. There is indication that some of them gave credit to one of the gods of the Egyptians for the quail instead of Jehovah, hence the judgment.)

³⁴And he (Moses) called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people who lusted (whatever the plague was, it killed some of the people).

³⁵And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth. (Kibroth-hattaavah means graves of greediness.)