Numbers 11:4-35

E. BITTER EXPERIENCE AT THE GRAVES OF LUST (KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH), vv. 4-35
TEXT

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? 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 garlic; 6. But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes. 7. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. 8. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. 9. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

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. 11. And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? 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? 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. 14. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15. And if thou deal thus with them, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
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. 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. 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. 19. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; 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? 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. 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? 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.
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. 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. 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. 27. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 28. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 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. 30. And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
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. 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. 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. 34. And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because they buried the people that lusted. 35. And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 11:4. And the mixed multitude among them lusted greatly. And the children of Israel also wept again, saying, Who will give us meat to eat? 5. We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6. but now our soul is withered away: there is nothing at all excepting this manna for us to see. 7. And the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like the color of bdellium. 8. The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or boiled it in a pot and made cakes of it: and its taste was like that of a cake baked with oil. 9. When the dew fell upon the camp during the night, the manna fell with it.

10. And Moses heard the entire families of the people weeping, each man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the Lord burned greatly, and Moses was displeased. 11. And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you afflicted your servant? and why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all these people upon me? 12. Have I not conceived all these people? have I not begotten them, that you should say to me, -Carry them in your bosom as a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land you have pledged unto their fathers?-' 13. From what source should I have meat to give to all these people? because they weep to me, saying, -Give us meat for us to eat.-' 14. I am not able to bear all these people alone; it is too heavy for me. 15. And if you deal this way with us, kill me, I pray, here and now if I have found favor in your sight. Do not let me see my own misery.
16. Then the Lord said unto Moses, Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them stand there with you. 17. I will come down and talk with you there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon you, and I will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you shall not bear it all alone. 18. And say to the people, -Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat-'; for you have wept in the ears 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 ten days, nor twenty days, 20. but an entire month, until it comes out your nostrils, and is loathsome to you; because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why did we leave Egypt?-' 21. And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 foot soldiers; yet you have said, -I will give you meat to let them eat for an entire month.-' 22. Shall flocks and herds be killed for them, to satisfy them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to satisfy them? 23, And the Lord said to Moses, Is the Lord's hand too short? You shall see now whether my word will come to pass to you or not.
24. So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the Tent. 25. Then the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit who was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders; and it happened that when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied; but they did not do it again. 26. But two men had remained in camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the second, Medad: and the Spirit rested upon themthey were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the Tentand they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. 28. Then Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses from his youth, answered and said, Moses my lord, restrain them. 29. But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them! 30. Then Moses retired into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31. Now a wind went forth from the Lord and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall by 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 three feet deep on the surface of the ground. 32. And the people stood up all that day, and all that 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. And while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a grave plague. 34. Therefore he called the name of that place Qivroth-hatta-'wah (Graves of Lust), because there they buried the people who lusted. From Qivroth-hatta-'wah they traveled to Hatseroth, and they stayed at Hatseroth.

COMMENTARY

The term mixed multitude is generally understood to mean those riff-raffs who had attached themselves to Israel when leaving Egypt. Some have thought them to be renegade Israelites; others believe they were combination marriages of Israelites and Egyptians. They are mentioned twice elsewhereas a group in Exodus 12:38, and in an individual instance in Leviticus 24:10; both times the occasions are altogether unfavorable. How many of them there were is an unsettled question, but any appreciable number could cause a deterioration of morale quickly. Their wish here is for some of the rich, strongly flavored foods they had enjoyed in Egypt. The wish is shared by Israel, which also wept again. The flesh for which they cry is a general term for all meat. The animals which Israel brought forth with them during the exodus would hardly have kept their tables supplied with meat, and no real help might have been gained from the locale. Wild animals are sparse enough to be rare.

However unusual it might seem to our tastes that the complaint was for such items as leeks, onions and garlic, we must remember that all of these were delicacies to the Egyptians, as well as other residents of the Middle East. We should not assume, as Numbers 11:5 suggests, that the Israelites were given their food for nothing, literally, for as RCP shows, the Egyptians were unwilling even to give them the straw necessary for bricks, p. 134. The same source further affirms that the people were murmuring on a trumped-up pretext, since the text would later say that the Children of Reuben had much cattle, (Numbers 32:1). Their statement that their souls had withered away may have been correct (Numbers 11:6); but they were entirely incorrect in attributing the fact to the matter of their food. The obvious fact is that they had lost their faith in a providential Godassuming that this rabble had had some faith in Him earlier.

The description of manna given in Numbers 11:7-9 is only a brief summary of that in Exodus 16:14-30. In the fuller passage, we learn of the versatility of manna: it was capable of being baked or boiled, suggesting a food like our potato whose use is limited only to the genius of the cook herself. Evidently God provided the manna with a careful balance of nutrients to safeguard the health of the people who would eat little else for forty years.

Is the factor of food the only cause for the unhappiness among the Israelites? It is not likely, and the Talmud suggests that the root cause was actually the firm line Jehovah had taken against the marriage of near of kin to one another. Their protests annoy both the Lord and Moses. The former is displeased because of the ingratitude and ungoverned passions of His people; Moses is disturbed because of the consequences of their complaints. They have placed an unbearable burden upon him. His situation is similar to that described in Exodus 18, when Jethro suggested a relief from the intensity of judging all difficulties through the appointment of judges for lesser problems. Moses is entirely correct when he says, I am not able to bear all these people alone; and God did not intend for it to be his sole responsibility.

The dialogue of 10-20 is one of several intimate glimpses we have of the relationship Moses enjoyed with Jehovah. The conversation is much too frank and realistic to have been imagined. We gain a very human picture of Moses, lending strong credence to the genuineness of the text. We are also shown once more the intensity with which this great man identifies himself with his people; even when they are under strong threat. If they are to perish, he will go with them.

In giving of His Spirit to the seventy elders of the people, nothing of the Divine Presence in Moses was diminished, (Numbers 11:17). The Holy Spirit may indwell every living person alive at any given time to the full capacity of each. Such is certainly a part of our concept of the omnipresence of God. The seventy will be specially heightened in their powers of weighing right and wrong in settling disputes; they will thus shoulder a portion of the load which has, to this point been Moses-' exclusively.

It is fascinating to realize now that God insisted upon having all the people prepare themselves for His revelation by undergoing the process of sanctification: and the purpose of this revelation is to demonstrate His righteous wrath. Severe punishment will follow. Their false words, that all had been well in Egypt, are typical of a spirit of ungratefulness, and show what short memories they had. The arduous burdens of servitude are forgotten, and the few occasional pleasures such as the foods, have been remembered disproportionately. We can only think of them as rather typicaltoo very much like ourselves.

For many of the murmurers, the food they are about to eat will constitute their last meal. God promises meat in such abundance that they shall eat for an entire month, adding the graphic picture that the food will come out of their nostrils and be loathsome to them. The points to be established are clear: the people must be sternly rebuked for their complaints and ingratitude; they must be brought to see the mighty power of God again as He provides such a vast quantity of food for them, demonstrating that His hand is by no means shortened; they must come to trust Him to provide their every need, but not to cater to their trivial whims and wants; they must be brought to realize that their present state is infinitely better than their former, and the promised covenant land will shortly be available to them, unless their faith falters. The real key to the Lord's words is the statement that they have despised the Lord, (Numbers 11:20). In this state, we should not be surprised at any actions or any foolish words. The emerging pattern is clear: their love has cooled, they take up unfounded complaints, and the next step would be rebellion.

We can hardly blame Moses for wondering where the Lord will find an adequate quantity of meat for the soldiers, not to mention their families and all the Israelites. He had been frustrated before, as Israel stood at the beach of the Red Sea, having not the least idea of God's plan to divide the waters. He had been uncertain as the Israelites murmured for water. How can he conceivably anticipate the actions of God, when the promise is made to feed the people for an entire month on meat which is not their own? His suggestion that the answer may come from fish out of the sea is typical of his confusion. They are a great distance from any sizeable body of waterat least 20 miles from the Gulf of Aqabaand whether or not any quantity of fish might be available from this source is highly doubtful. God's rebuke once more is spoken with the typical intimacy between Himself and Moses. Even the great leader needed prodding occasionally, which brings us to see that he was, after all, only a man, however noble. The figure of God's shortened hand suggests His inability to accomplish His purposes. Isaiah used the figure with the same meaning (Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 59:1). It is both simple and expressive, occurring here rhetorically. The answer Moses must give is a resounding No.

The Lord's descent into the Tabernacle is indicated by the cloud once more, and this time under abnormal circumstances. The seventy specially appointed elders are at hand as the Spirit of the Lord is shared. The scene is allegorized by RCP: What was Moses like at that moment? He was like a light placed in a candlestick from which everyone kindles additional lights, and yet the illumination of the original light is by no means diminished, (p. 136). Their prophesying is limited to this day alone; but it served to demonstrate to the people that God had in fact set them apart unto a holy work. It was a faith-building demonstration.

We cannot know why Eldad and Medad did not join with the others at the Tabernacle. They were, nevertheless, equally endowed with the Spirit and empowered to prophesy. No doubt their reason for abstention was acceptable to the Lord. We cannot fault them, nor can we criticize the young man who reported their works. He might have thought their actions were deliberate disobedience which he was obligated to report. Even Joshua considers their actions in error, and asks for their correction and restraint. He is mildly rebuked by Moses, who sees the deeper issue: God has evidently approved their conduct, since they have shared in the gift of His Spirit. If God approves of their situation, they should be encouraged rather than condemned. It is more to be desired that all of the people might share in this charisma. With this preliminary sign, God has prepared the way for the great miracle which is to follow.

A specially prepared wind from the Lord, said to have come from the south and east (Psalms 78:26) rained quail upon the camp in vast quantities. Great migrations of quail have been seen in this area, flying from Africa to Europe in the spring. Using the great wind, He sent the quail off their normal course and directly to the camp. There they were literally said to have been thrown down among the Israelites to the depth of about three feet, where they were gathered in vast quantities by the people. It is difficult to say exactly how large these quantities were, since the homer was a variable measure. The size of the homer is often given as ten ephahs, or about two bushels. Whatever the precise amount might have been, it was quite sufficient to show that this was no normal phenomenon. God was keeping His word literally that there would be enough to suffice for one month. All this would both shame their unbelief and punish their greediness, (KD, p. 73). No doubt the quail would have been widely spread over the earth to dry, since their consumption would require many days.

The account now takes an unexpected turn. PC proposes to explain the visitation of divine wrath, attributing it to the greediness of the people in gathering such great measures of the quail in anticipation of later feasts, while postponing their enjoyment of the divinely given food, p. 112. It may rather be that, despite this great manifestation of God's providence, the hearts of the murmurers were unmoved, ungrateful and still disrespectful toward the Lord. Their motive is indicated by the name attached to the place: Graves of greediness; a greedy spirit cannot allow for gratitude. The location of the spot is not known, nor do we know how long the camp remained. It is certain they were not now permitted to eat of the meat for the thirty days; the patience of the Lord had been exhausted.

Hazeroth, to which Israel is now led, has been identified with a fountain named Ain el Hadhera; but the identification is based solely upon similarity of the words. Like most of the other desert stations, it would be more remarkable if they could be identified than if they could not, since they represent only temporary campsites.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

199.

Discuss the mixed multitude among the Israeliteswho they were, why they were a source of difficulty, and the purported reasons for their complaints.

200.

Why were the murmurings of these people of such concern to the Lord?

201.

Why did the Israelites not supplement the manna with meat gained from hunting?

202.

In what ways were these complainers misrepresenting their situation in Egypt? Show how their position was typical of human nature.

203.

Suggest some of the ways in which manna might have been prepared.

204.

What was the possible underlying cause for all the unhappiness of the crowd?

205.

How is Moses-' situation here similar to his previous experience in judging the people?

206.

Analyze the warmly human characteristics of Moses as they emerge in his dialogue with the Lord (Numbers 11:10-20).

207.

Why did Moses continually identify himself with his people, rather than recognize the foolishness of their complaining natures?

208.

For what immediate purposes did the Lord grant His Spirit to the seventy elders? Why did they prophesy? Why did this special gift not continue?

209.

What purposes would be served if the Lord provided enough meat for all the children of Israel to eat for one month?

210.

Why did Moses not simply accept the fact that God would be able to accomplish this feat?

211.

Explain the phrase, Is the Lord's hand waxed short?

212.

Were there legitimate reasons that Eldad and Medad did not go with the other elders to the Tent of Meetings? How can you justify their absence?

213.

How could such a vast quantity of quail be at precisely this place at the exact time the Lord had foretold their coming?

214.

Why is the action of the wind important in this event?

215.

How long did the Israelites spend in gathering the birds? In what quantities were they taken?

216.

God had said the people would eat of the meat for one month; what actually happened, and why?

217.

Why is it difficult to identify many of the stations at which the Israelites camped in the wilderness?