CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Numbers 11
Chapter 11 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in Numbers 11
The people complain and God sends fire on the edges of the camp. Then they cry for meat instead of manna. Moses feels overwhelmed, so God appoints seventy elders to help him lead. God sends quail for the people, but also sends a plague to punish their greed.
Scripture
Numbers 11
Fire at Taberah
Study note
The people began to complain about their hardships, and the Lord heard them. His anger burned against them, and fire from the Lord broke out at the edges of the camp. The people cried to Moses, he prayed, and the fire died down. They named the place Taberah, meaning 'burning.'
1 The people started grumbling about their difficulties. When the Lord heard them, his anger flared up. Fire from the Lord blazed out and burned the outskirts of the camp. And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
2 The people screamed for help from Moses. Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire went out. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3 They named that place Taberah, meaning 'burning,' because the Lord's fire had burned among them. And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
The People Crave Meat
Study note
The mixed crowd among the Israelites began to crave other food. They remembered the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic they had eaten freely in Egypt. Now all they had was manna, which was like small white seeds that could be ground and baked into cakes tasting like pastries made with olive oil.
4 Among them was a mixed group of foreigners who started craving other food. Soon the Israelites themselves were crying and saying, "We wish we had some meat to eat!" And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 "We remember the fish we ate for free back in Egypt. We also had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic." We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 "But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna, and nothing else!" But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
7 The manna looked like small coriander seeds with a pale, resin-like color. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
8 People would go around gathering it, then grind it in a hand mill or crush it in a bowl. They would cook it in a pot or shape it into flat cakes. It tasted like pastry made with olive oil. And 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.
9 Each night when dew settled on the camp, the manna came down with it. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
Moses Cries Out to God
Study note
Moses was deeply troubled when he heard the people weeping in every family at the doors of their tents. He poured out his frustration to God, asking why he had been given the burden of carrying all these people alone. Moses even asked God to kill him rather than let him face such misery.
10 Moses could hear families all over the camp crying at the doors of their tents. The Lord's anger burned intensely, and Moses was deeply upset. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
11 Moses said to the Lord, "Why are you putting me through this? What did I do wrong that you would dump the responsibility for all these people on me?" And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
12 "Am I their mother? Did I give birth to them? Why should I have to carry them like a nurse carries a baby, all the way to the land you promised their ancestors?" Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
13 "Where am I supposed to find meat for all these people? They keep coming to me crying, 'Give us meat to eat!'" Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 "I cannot handle all these people by myself. This responsibility is way too heavy for me." I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 "If this is how you plan to treat me, then please end my life right now. If you care about me at all, do not make me watch my own downfall." And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
God Appoints Seventy Elders
Study note
God responded to Moses' prayer by telling him to gather seventy elders. God would take some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on them so they could share the burden of leading the people. God also told the people they would have meat to eat, not for one or two days, but for a whole month until they were sick of it.
16 The Lord told Moses, "Bring me seventy elders of Israel, men you know to be respected leaders and officials. Have them meet you at the tent of meeting and stand there with you." And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
17 "I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit that rests on you and share it with them. Then they can help you carry the responsibility for the people, so you are not doing it all alone." And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
18 "And tell the people: Get yourselves ready for tomorrow, because you are going to eat meat. You were crying where the Lord could hear you, saying, 'Who will feed us meat? Life was better in Egypt!' Well, the Lord is going to give you meat, and you will eat it." And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
19 "And it will not be just for one day, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days." Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 "You will eat meat for an entire month, until you are so sick of it that it comes out your nose and you cannot stand it anymore. This is because you rejected the Lord, who is right here among you, and whined, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
21 Moses protested, "I am surrounded by 600,000 men on foot, and you are saying you will feed them meat for a whole month?" And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22 "Even if we butchered every animal in our flocks and herds, would that be enough? Even if we caught every fish in the sea, would that be enough?" Shall 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?
23 The Lord responded, "Is there any limit to my power? You are about to find out whether or not my words come true." And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
The Spirit on the Elders
Study note
When God's Spirit came on the seventy elders, they prophesied. Two men named Eldad and Medad had stayed in the camp but still received the Spirit and prophesied there. When Joshua wanted Moses to stop them, Moses responded with one of the most generous statements in the Bible, wishing that all of God's people could be prophets.
24 Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He gathered seventy elders and positioned them around the tent of meeting. And 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.
25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit settled on them, they prophesied, though they did not do so again afterward. And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the 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.
26 Two men named Eldad and Medad had not gone out to the tent but had stayed behind in the camp. They were on the list of elders, and the Spirit came on them there, so they started prophesying in the camp. But 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 that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 A young man raced over to Moses and reported, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying back in the camp!" And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 Joshua son of Nun, who had served as Moses' assistant since his youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, make them stop!" And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29 Moses answered, "Are you worried about my reputation? I wish every one of the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!" And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
30 Then Moses and the elders went back to the camp. And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Quail and a Plague
Study note
God sent a wind that brought huge numbers of quail from the sea. They piled up around the camp about three feet deep. The people gathered quail greedily for two days. But while the meat was still in their mouths, God struck them with a severe plague. They named the place Kibroth-hattaavah, meaning 'graves of craving,' because they buried the people who had been greedy.
31 The Lord sent a powerful wind that drove quail in from the sea. The birds piled up around the camp about a day's journey in every direction, stacked roughly three feet deep on the ground. And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
32 The people went out all that day, all night, and all the next day collecting quail. Nobody collected less than about sixty bushels. They spread the birds out all around the camp to dry. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
33 But while the meat was still in their mouths, before they could even finish chewing, the Lord's anger erupted against the people. He struck them with a devastating plague. And 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.
34 They named that place Kibroth-hattaavah, which means 'graves of craving.' They buried the people there who had given in to their hunger for meat. And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people traveled on to Hazeroth, where they stayed for a while. And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.
Key Themes
Themes in Numbers 11
The danger of complaining and ingratitudeLeadership burnout and honest prayerGod's provision and disciplineShared leadership and the Spirit
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Numbers 11:25-29 Acts 2:17-18
The Spirit resting on the seventy elders, and Moses' wish that all God's people were prophets, anticipates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on all believers.
Apply This Today
Living Numbers 11
Ingratitude poisons the soul and dishonors the God who provides. Moses' raw, honest prayer to God in His exhaustion shows that God can handle our frustration. God's solution was shared leadership, reminding us that no one is meant to carry the burden alone.
Go Deeper
Study Numbers in Covenant Path
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