NUMBERS LESSON 15


     We will begin this lesson in Numbers 11:1 "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."

     This is the beginning of a long journey. The journey was long,
because of their lack of faith. They started complaining the very
first thing. Instead of putting their faith in God, they started
murmuring against God. The fire of the Lord had come from the altar
and killed two of Aaron's sons. This fire came from the outer areas.
It could have been lightning, or it could have been a brush fire.
Whatever it was, God sent it in punishment for their complaining.

     Numbers 11:2 "And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses
prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched."

     Suddenly, they realize they have sinned, and come to Moses to
speak to God on their behalf. Moses does pray for them, and the fire
is stopped.

     Numbers 11:3 "And he called the name of the place Taberah:
because the fire of the LORD burnt among them."

     "Taberah" means burning. God's wrath had come, because of their
complaining. God is quick to forgive, when Moses prays. He names the
place burning, as a memory of what happened here. The unfaithfulness
of these people had gotten them in terrible trouble. We must take a
lesson from this. God will not permit us to be unfaithful. Without
faith, it is impossible to please God.

     Numbers 11:4  "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?"

     The mixed multitude are not of the twelve tribes. These are
people who came along for the blessings, but wanted no part of the
hardships of the journey to the promised land. Some of them were,
possibly, half Egyptian and half Hebrew. They immediately start
complaining about the food.  The manna was falling from heaven to feed
all of them, but they were not satisfied with the manna. They wanted
meat to eat. They complained, until the children of Israel joined in
with them in complaining about the food.  They had just gotten over
their last problem, and immediately started complaining again. This
time they are wishing for the food of Egypt. "Egypt" symbolizes the
world. They are really lusting for things to satisfy their flesh,
instead of seeking more of a spiritual walk.

     Numbers 11:5 "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:"

     They have forgotten the hardships of Egypt, and are just thinking
of the food they left behind. Sometimes, the good old days are better
looking back on them, than when they were actually happening.

     Numbers 11:6 "But now our soul [is] dried away: [there is]
nothing at all, beside this manna, [before] our eyes."

     Souls is used very loosely here. The soul has to do with the will
of man. It appears from this, their will to go on has been dampened
greatly, because they do not have meat, melons, garlic, and other
things of Egypt to eat. They have become tired of Manna.

     Numbers 11:7  "And the manna [was] as coriander seed, and the
colour thereof as the colour of bdellium."

     It appears, the manna did not have much color, or much flavor.
"Manna" means whatness, or what is it. It was like bread made with
honey.
The way it fell and sustained the nearly 3,000,000 people was a
miracle. Exodus 16:14 "And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold,
upon the face of the wilderness [there lay] a small round thing, [as]
small as the hoar frost on the ground." Exodus 16:15 "And when the
children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] manna:
for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is]
the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."  The following
Scriptures tells what it was in the spiritual sense.  John 6:50 "This
is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof, and not die." John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came
down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for
ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world."

     Numbers 11:8 "[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."

     In other Scriptures, it speaks of it tasting like a wafer with
honey. In this, it says it tasted like oil. All of these things could
be true. It appeared there were several ways to fix it for eating.

     Numbers 11:9 "And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night,
the manna fell upon it."

     There was just enough on the ground to feed everyone. They were
not to hoard it up, but to gather each day, except the day before
sabbath, and then they were to gather enough for two days. It was
miracle bread from heaven to take care of the needs of the people, not
their greed.

     Numbers 11:10  "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."

     The evil of the complaining has spread to all of the people. They
are feeling sorry for themselves, because they cannot have exactly
what they want to eat. They are not thankful for the manna
miraculously falling from heaven to feed them. Their weeping was
showing their displeasure with the way God was handling things. Even
Moses was upset with the people. They soon forgot the hardships, they
had been freed from. God does not like murmuring.

     Numbers 11:11 "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?"

     Moses is tired of these ungrateful people. He asks God why He
thought so little of him to put him in charge of so ungrateful a
people? Of course, he was not responsible for feeding them, or
actually, for any of their care. God had done all of that. He was just
the mediator between them and God. All Moses needed to do, was exactly
what God told him to. That is what he was responsible for. He was just
disappointed in the people. That is why he made such a remark. His
responsibility was to God, not to these people. He felt responsible
for them, because God had him leading them. Ministers could learn a
lesson from this. It is not the minister's responsibility to get
people saved.  It is their responsibility to bring the gospel message.
What they do with that message, is between them and God.

     Numbers 11:12 "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?"

     Moses is so ashamed of their actions, that he tells God, they are
not his children. He did not birth any of them. God is the Father of
all of us. Moses is insinuating that since God is their Father, it is
His responsibility to nurse them through. God uses individuals to
carry out His purposes on the earth.

     Numbers 11:13 "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this
people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may
eat."

     They knew that Moses did not have flesh. They came to Moses,
because they knew he was in better standing with God, than they were.

     Numbers 11:14 "I am not able to bear all this people alone,
because [it is] too heavy for me."

     The pressure of leading such a rebellious people is almost too
much for Moses. Close to 3,000,000 people were coming directly to
Moses to complain. It is a tremendous heavy load to bare alone.

     Numbers 11:15 "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."

     Moses feels like a failure. He wishes for death, so someone else
can take on this tremendous task of leading this ungrateful group of
people.

     Numbers 11:16  "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."

     The LORD has heard Moses' cry for help. These 70 men will take
care of the minor problems, and refer the major problems to Moses.
This will take the pressure of the day to day complaining away from
Moses, and give him some rest. Seventy is an interesting number.
"Seven" means spiritually complete, and "ten" has to do with world
government.  Then, this could be God spiritually completing the
dealings with the people. This number was chosen as a number to deal
with the worldly problems of the people. God completed it with the
seventy. These seventy men would deal with day to day problems. The
weightier spiritual problems would still be settled by Moses. This
group of seventy is subordinate to Moses.

     Numbers 11:17 "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."

     God, Himself, will empower them with the knowledge and
understanding for the job. These will take some of the pressure off of
Moses.

     Numbers 11:18 "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."

     They were to cleanse themselves in preparation for eating the
meat the LORD would send. They were to prepare themselves, not only
for the food, but for a revelation of the power and holiness of God.
It would be no problem for God to rain down meat.

     Numbers 11:19 "Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five
days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;" Numbers 11:20 "[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?"

     They would eat so much meat in that month, that they would be
sick of meat. They were extremely ungrateful. God will teach them a
lesson in this. They will be so stuffed of meat, that it will come out
their nostrils. This speaks of sickness. Their constant comparison of
holy God with Egypt is showing they despise the LORD. "Egypt"
symbolizes the world. They are not willing to give up the world for
God. It was easy for God to get them out of Egypt, but it is near
impossible, it seems, to get Egypt out of them. Worldliness and God's
ways will not mix. We must be careful in our churches to keep the
worldliness out of them.

     Numbers 11:21 "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."

     Now Moses has started to question. Moses could not have doubted
the power of God after all the miracles. He just knew this would take
a giant miracle.

     Numbers 11:22 "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?"

     To feed 3,000,000 people a month would take a tremendous amount
of meat. It would take all the animals they possessed. Moses got a
little carried away, when he spoke of all the fish of the sea. Moses
is asking God, "Where will all this meat come from"?

     Numbers 11:23 "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 Hand that opened the Red Sea, the Hand that sent the manna,
was it so short it could not send the meat? God will prove Himself one
more time to this people.

     Numbers 11:24  "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."

     Moses is still the messenger to bring God's message to the
people. He tells them God's answer. He, also, gathers the seventy men
in the tabernacle, for God to put His Spirit upon them.

     Numbers 11:25 "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."

     God took of the fulness of the Holy Spirit, which He had placed
on Moses, and gave the power of the Spirit to the seventy to minister.
In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God empowers His people
to do the tasks He has called them to do. It is the filling with the
Spirit that empowers a person to minister. One of the gifts of the
Spirit is prophecy. Luke 1:67 "And his father Zacharias was filled
with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying," Luke 1:41 "And it came
to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe
leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:"
Luke 1:42 "And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed
[art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb." We
see from all of this, that when the Spirit comes upon a person he
begins to prophecy.

     Numbers 11:26 "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."

     There were two that did not come to the tabernacle for the
anointing. This did not stop the Holy Spirit of God from anointing
them. They were filled with the Spirit of God, and began to speak
under that anointing. They were written down as part of the seventy,
but something kept them from meeting with Moses in the tabernacle.
This is a type and shadow of the fact that the Gentiles would be
baptized with the Holy Spirit, even though they were not Jews. The
tabernacle is not what makes a person Spirit filled. This is an
anointing of God on whomever He desires to have it.

     Numbers 11:27 "And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and
said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp."

     This person reported this to Moses, questioning whether they had
the authority to prophesy.

     Numbers 11:28 "And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses,
[one] of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid
them."

     The Jews were a very class conscious people. Joshua wanted Moses
to forbid them to prophesy, because they were not anointed in the
tabernacle.

     Numbers 11:29 "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!"

     Moses was not jealous. In fact, he was one of the humblest men
that ever lived. It would simplify the work of Moses, if all the
people were guided by the Spirit of God, rather than being guided by
the lust of their flesh. Moses actually wished that God would pour out
of His Spirit upon all flesh.

     Numbers 11:30 "And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders
of Israel."

     This is saying, they were part of the ministering body in the
camp.

     Numbers 11:31  "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."

     Two cubits high, means the quails were three feet deep around all
the camp, and even out several miles on each side. They had to eat
them to get rid of them. There was no place to get away from the
quails.  This should be ample meat to satisfy these rebellious people.
This was not an ordinary wind. It was a miraculous wind from God that
brought the quails. The wind, God sent, threw the quails down on the
camp.

     Numbers 11:32 "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."

     They were so greedy, they stayed up all night and gathered these
quails. The least that anyone gathered was 320 pecks. This was a
tremendous amount of meat. They dried the meat in the sun to keep it
from ruining.

     Numbers 11:33 "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."

     God poured the abundance of the meat upon them in anger. They
were more concerned with pleasing their flesh, than they were in
pleasing God. While they were consuming the meat God had miraculously
provided, God sent a plague to them in punishment.

     Numbers 11:34 "And he called the name of that place Kibroth-
hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted."

     "Kibroth-hattaavah" means graves of greediness. They ate to
satisfy the lust of their flesh, and it killed them. The were buried
in the very place of their lust. This should have been a tremendous
lesson for these people.

     Numbers 11:35 "[And] the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah
unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth."

     The people that moved were those not killed in the plague. We
must learn in this lesson, that it is very dangerous to pray for
things that satisfy our flesh. We might get the answer to our prayer.
The flesh is an enemy of the spirit.












                        Numbers 15 Questions


1.  What did God do, when the people complained?
2.  Why would the journey through the wilderness be so long?
3.  What are some of the possibilities of where the fire came from?
4.  When was the fire quenched?
5.  What was the name of the place called?
6.  What does the name "Taberah" mean?
7.  What lesson can we learn from this?
8.  Who are the mixed multitude?
9.  What do they complain about?
10. "Egypt" symbolizes the _______.
11. What are they really lusting for?
12. What foods from Egypt did they remember?
13. What does the soul have to do with?
14. "Manna" means __________.
15. Quote Exodus chapter 16 verses 14 and 15.
16. What answer did Jesus give about what the manna was?
17. Where did they find the manna to eat?
18. What did the manna taste like?
19. What displeased Moses, and angered God?
20. What does their weeping show?
21. Moses is ________ of these ungrateful people.
22. What really was Moses' obligation?
23. What is a minister's responsibility?
24. Moses is so ashamed of them, in verse 12, he tells God what?
25. What question does Moses ask God in verse 13?
26. Moses feels like a ________.
27. How many helpers does God give Moses?
28. What makes them capable of ministry?
29. How does God bring flesh to eat to the people?
30. How long are they to eat it?
31. Quote Luke chapter 1 verse 67.
32. Quote Luke chapter 1 verse 41.
33. What happens to those who are filled with God's Spirit?
34. Why did someone complain about the two prophesying in the camp?
35. Why did Moses wish everyone to be filled with the Spirit of God?
36. How deep were the quails?
37. How many pecks did each person gather?
38. What happened to them, as they ate the flesh?
39. What does "Kibroth-hattaavah" mean?
40. Where did they go to next?