Numbers 11:16-35 NKJV
16 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. 17 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. 18 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. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 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?” ’ ”
21 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.’ 22 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?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
24 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. 25 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.
26 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. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
29 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!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 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. 32 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. 33 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. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
Moses had complained to God that he was unable, as one man, to fulfill his God given task of leading the people of Israel. The Lord responds by endowing others with the Holy Spirit to help Moses bear the burden of leadership. The elders gathered at the Tabernacle—as well as the absent Eldad and Medad—receive the Holy Spirit and begin prophesying. This was a special gift for preaching God’s word and applying it to others. This gift showed Israel that God had given them the same spirit as Moses and that they were to be obeyed as Israel was supposed to obey Moses. Moses rejoices in this gift from God, even when Joshua becomes jealous for his honor. Moses understands that if all Israel were endowed with the Holy Spirit as he was, they would speak God’s Word and apply it to themselves, living godly lives according to God’s word.
The Lord also answers Israel’s complaint, “Who will give us meat to eat?” (11:4). While Moses’ complaint was godly, the people’s complaint was sinful because they despised God’s provision of manna and yearned for the delicacies they enjoyed while living under Pharaoh’s tyranny. The Lord answered Israel’s complaint and sent them quail. Rather than repent for despising God’s provision and humbly giving thanks for the quail, “the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all next day, and gathered quail” (32). They gave free reign to their desire with no thought to their sin or God’s undeserved goodness. For their sin, the Lord struck them down. The place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, “graves of craving,” as a reminder to God’s people not to yield to sinful cravings.
God’s answers to both complaints teach us that God wants us to be filled with His Spirit, apply His word to ourselves, and reject the cravings of our sinful flesh. He wants His people to live according to His word, not the sinful desires of their flesh and be content with His provision—which is truly good—rather than yearn for the delicacies the sinful world offers.
Let us pray: Forgive us, O Lord, for craving what the world offers and the flesh desires. Give us Your Holy Spirit so that Your word dwells richly in us, and so that we may live godly lives according to Your word. Amen.