February
21st Numbers 11 B. Forward march God sends fire
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. 2: And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses
prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3: And he called the name of the
place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
God
sends quail
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 garlick:
6: But our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna,
before our eyes. 7: And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof
as the colour of bdellium. 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. 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 favour 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 me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour 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 there they buried the people that lusted. 35:
And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at
Hazeroth.
Numbers
12 Miriam is punished
1: And Miriam and Aaron spake
against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had
married an Ethiopian woman. 2: And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only
by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. 3: (Now the man
Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
4: And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam,
Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came
out. 5: And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the
door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6: And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD
will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7: My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8: With him
will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the
similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to
speak against my servant Moses? 9: And the anger of the LORD was kindled
against them; and he departed. 10: And the cloud departed from off the
tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked
upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. 11: And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas,
my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done
foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. 12: Let her not be as one dead, of whom
the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. 13: And Moses
cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. 14: And the
LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be
ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after
that let her be received in again. 15: And Miriam was shut out from the camp
seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. 16:
And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness
of Paran.
Numbers
13 The Spies sent out
1: And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 2: Send thou men, that they may search the land
of Canaan, which I give unto the
children of Israel:
of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among
them. 3: And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness
of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4: And
these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5:
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6: Of the tribe of Judah,
Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7: Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of
Joseph. 8: Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9: Of the tribe of
Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10: Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son
of Sodi. 11: Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi
the son of Susi. 12: Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13: Of the
tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14: Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi
the son of Vophsi. 15: Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16: These
are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called
Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17: And Moses sent them to spy out the land of
Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the
mountain: 18: And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth
therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19: And what the land is
that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they
dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20: And what the land is,
whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of
good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of
the firstripe grapes. 21: So they went up, and searched the land from the
wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22: And they ascended by
the south, and came unto Hebron;
where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23: And
they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one
cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought
of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24: The place was called the brook
Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down
from thence. 25: And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
26: And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation
of the children of Israel,
unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and
unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27: And they
told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely
it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28: Nevertheless
the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and
very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29: The Amalekites
dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the
Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by
the coast of Jordan.
30: And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once,
and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31: But the men that went
up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are
stronger than we. 32: And they brought up an evil report of the land which they
had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through
which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants
thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33:
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we
were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
The Children of Israel set out on
their journeying in the wilderness and first they find that the Lord is
displeased by their complaining so the fire of the Lord burns among them and
consumes those who are rebelling, even to the farthest part of the camp. The
Lord will not have disunity among his people. Then we find that the people
longed for meat. They wanted flesh to eat. And they complained to the Lord. The
Manna was ok but they wanted something to chew on. Moses was constantly in the
firing line from the people. Moses was finding the pressure of being the leader
alone so the Lord told him to gather seventy leaders of the people. And the
Lord put spirit on these men that he had given to Moses. And they bore the
burden of leadership. When the Spirit of the Lord rested on them they
prophesied and no one was able to stop them. Then the Lord gave them meat until
they were sick of eating it, day after day. The Lord sent a wind and brought
Quails from the east. The quails fell up to 1 meter high. The people gathered
the birds and ate them but while the meat was in their mouths the wrath of God
fell on them and they died of plague. The next crisis is a crisis that came to
the family of Moses. His elder sister Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses
because Moses has married an Ethiopian woman. She questioned his calling and
ability to lead Gods people. Previously Moses had demonstrated a temper but the
Spirit of God had made Moses the meekest man n earth. Meekness of the ability
to control temper in a dispute. The Lord called Moses Aaron and Miriam to come
and speak to him outside the camp, and the Lord told them that he would appear
to prophets in dreams by Moses he would speak him mouth to mouth. (He was the
first inspired man.) When the cloud departed Miriam was found to be a leper.
Moses pleaded for Miriam and the Lord healed her and she was out of the camp
for seven days. As the children of Israel came near to the land of
promise the Lord said to Moses send spies into the land to see the land.
- Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
- Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
- Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
- Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
- Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
- Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
- Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
- Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
- Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
- Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
- Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
- Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
- Oshea Joshua the son of Nun
They were told to inspect the land,
the people, the strength of the military force, the quality of the fields, the
cities, tents and strongholds, the quality of the livestock, the extent of the
forestry, the morale of the enemy. They went right through the land and they
collected a single bunch of grapes that could only be carried by two men. And
they carried pomegranates and figs. They were in the land for 40 days. They
reported back that the fruit of the land was indeed very lush. However they saw
the sons of Anak. (They were Giants like in the time of Noah) The Amalekities,
Hittites, Jebusities, Amorities and Canaanites. Caleb calmed the people saying
that they should go up straightaway because we are well able to conquer them.
As the childrens song goes… ‘Some saw giants strong and tall - some saw God was
in it all.’
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