Numbers 11

Soon after setting out from Mount Sinai, the people began to groan and complain. Even after God sent fire among them as a sign of His displeasure, “the people of Israel…wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at’” (vv. 4-6). Oh, how easy it is—and what a clever trick of the devil—to fix our minds and cravings on the temporary pleasures we experienced while in captivity to our enemy. 

To this, “the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased” (v. 10). Moses proceeds, then, to do some complaining of his own to God, accusing the LORD of dealing poorly with him and laying an unsustainable burden upon him (v. 11). Moses concludes his monologue by stating, “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness” (vv. 14-15; emphasis added). In response to Moses’s cry for help, and in His mercy, God instructs Moses to gather seventy men to serve as elders of the Israelite nation, thus creating a Spirit-filled infrastructure whereby the burden felt by Israel’s leader would be shared by other able men. 

Before we are too critical of Moses over his desperate (and perhaps exaggerated) cry to God, let us think about our own lives for a moment. Have you ever been tempted to tell God something like this: “I have been doing all that you’ve asked of me. I’ve been faithful to your call. Yet I’m still experiencing hardship and affliction. Where are you, God?” We must be mindful that our obedience does not carry with it the assurance of an easy road. Oftentimes, it’s quite the opposite, as those who follow Jesus are cautioned to expect suffering, difficulty, and troubles (John 16:33; Matthew 7:14). 

God then informs Moses to tell the people that the meat they were longing for would soon come, and it would come in droves. “You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you…” (vv. 19-20; emphasis added). G. Campbell Morgan says, “There are times when God grants an unwarranted request in order that men may learn through experience the folly of their desires.”[i] Such appears to be the case here. Moses then reminds God of the number of people for whom He would be providing this meat, trying to determine how something of this magnitude would be possible (vv. 21-22). “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Is the LORD’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not’” (v. 23). And if you read to the end of Numbers 11, you will see that it does.

If you read on into the New Testament, you will notice a similar display of God’s power recorded in Matthew 14:13-21, when Jesus feeds about 5,000 men (not including women and children) with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Over and over again in Scripture, we are confronted with the reality that our frame of reference is so limited when it comes to the vastness of God’s abilities. No matter how much we seek to know more of Him (and we should), we must acknowledge that we will never scratch the surface of God’s character.

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       What is the fault in thinking that our obedience to God somehow carries with it an easier, less troublesome life? 

·       Has there ever been a time when God granted to you an unwarranted request so that you could learn through experience the folly of your desires?

[i] Morgan, G. C. (2010). Exposition of the whole Bible. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 67.