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.’
- What happened when the people complained? And how were they satisfied?
- Why was Miriam punished?
- Who were these giants that the spies saw?
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