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The Book of Numbers 0002 - Lesson 6

Scripture Passage: 
Numbers 10:35-36; Numbers 11:1-35

Chapter 10 (Continued) (There is currently no audio for this lesson.)

Time to Journey (Continued)

  1. THE DEPARTURE (Numbers 10:33-36) (Continued)
    1. The Prayers of Moses (Numbers 10:35-36)
      1. Rise up.
        1. When the ark set forward
        2. Moses said
          1. Rise up, Lord.
          2. Let thine enemies be scattered.
          3. Let them that hate thee flee before thee.
      2. Return.
        1. When it rested
        2. Moses said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousand of Israel.
      3. This would be a great prayer for God’s people today.
        1. O Lord go before us.
          1. In preaching
          2. In witnessing
          3. In serving
        2. O Lord dwell with us.
          1. In preaching
          2. In witnessing
          3. In service

Chapter 11

The Beginning of Woes for the People of God

  1. INTRODUCTION
    1. The Turning Point of God’s People
      1. God’s people have demonstrated obedience in the first 10 chapters of the Book of Numbers.
      2. Chapter eleven is the complete opposite and demonstrates the heart of all of God’s people, both then and now.
    2. Division
      1. The turning point at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3)
      2. The lusting of the people (Numbers 11:4-9)
      3. The complaint of Moses (Numbers 11:10-15)
      4. God’s response to complaints of His people (Numbers 11:16-20)
      5. Moses questions God’s power to provide (Numbers 11:21-23).
      6. The institution of the elders (Numbers 11:24-30)
      7. The provision and judgment of God (Numbers 11:31-34)
      8. The journey to Hazeroth (Numbers 11:35)
  2. THE TURNING POINT AT TABERAH (Numbers 11:1-3)
    1. The Work of Complaining (Numbers 11:1)
      1. Complaining unveils the heart.
        1. The offended heart complains (John 6:56-61).
        2. The lustful heart complains (Jude 1:16).
        3. The words of murmuring identify an ungrateful heart (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45).
      2. Complaining hinders education (Isaiah 29:24).
        1. God sends us through trials that we may learn.
        2. Murmuring and complaining negates the lesson.
      3. Complaining troubles the soul (Psalm 77:3).
        1. Complaining adds to the burden of the soul.
        2. Christ wants us to cast our burdens on Him.
      4. Complaining breeds lies.
        1. The people said their soul was dried away (Numbers 11:6).
        2. The people said they had nothing to eat (Numbers 11:6).
        3. The Israelites said that Moses killed the people of the Lord (Numbers 16:41).
          1. The earth opened up and swallowed Korah’s people (Numbers 16:30-33).
          2. Then fire came out from the Lord and consumed 250 men that burned incense (Numbers 16:34-35).
        4. The Israelites said that God hated them (Deuteronomy 1:27).
          1. They said God hated them.
          2. They said that He brought them out to deliver them into the hand of the Amorites.
      5. Complaining is contagious.
        1. In Numbers 11:4 the mixt (mixed) multitude begins the trouble.
        2. In Numbers 11:4 the children of Israel begin weeping.
        3. By Numbers 11:11 Moses joins the group of complainers.
      6. Complaining displeases the Lord (Numbers 11:1).
        1. God plans the events in our life.
        2. Complaining is a direct attack on Him.
    2. The Complaining of the People (Numbers 11:1)
      1. This is the first occurrence of the word “complained” or any form of the word “complain” in the scriptures.
      2. It appears that this incident is different from the incident found in Numbers 11: 4-33.
        1. In this incident the Lord responds with fire, but in the next incident He responds with a plague.
        2. The name of this place is called Taberah whereas the name of the place where the next incident occurs is called Kibroth-hattaavah.
      3. If this is the case, we have no idea why the people were complaining.
    3. The Displeasure of the Lord (Numbers 11:1)
      1. The complaining of the people displeased the Lord.
      2. The Lord heard it.
      3. His anger was kindled.
      4. The fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost part of the camp.
      5. Note:  Anger in the scriptures seems to have a strong connection to fire.
        1. It is kindled (Exodus 4:14; Numbers 11:1; Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 15:14; Jeremiah 17:4).
          1. A little (Psalm 2:12)
          2. Greatly (Numbers 11:10; 1 Samuel 11:6)
        2. It waxes hot (Exodus 32:19).
    4. The Pleading of Moses (Numbers 11:2)
      1. The people cried unto Moses.
      2. Moses prayed unto the Lord.
      3. The fire was quenched.
    5. The Naming of the Place (Numbers 11:3)
      1. The place was named Taberah, meaning Burning.
      2. It was common to name places of disobedience (Exodus 17:7; Numbers 11:34; Deuteronomy 9:22).
      3. We should mark and remember the places where we failed the Lord so that we will not fall into the same errors again.
  3. THE LUSTING OF THE PEOPLE (Numbers 11:4-9)
    1. The Failure of the People of God (Numbers 11:4)
      1. Begins with the mixt (mixed) multitude
        1. Egyptians or Egyptian-Israelite mixed people who followed Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38)
        2. A picture of false followers of God who still long for the things of the world (2 Timothy 3:1-7; 1 John 2:19)
      2. They “fell a lusting” (James 1:13-16).
        1. We are tempted when we are drawn away by our own lusts and enticed.
        2. Lust, when it is finished brings forth sin.
        3. Sin, when it is finished brings forth death.
      3. The children of Israel are affected.
      4. They cry for flesh to eat (Psalm 78:18).
    2. The Marred Memories of God’s People (Numbers 11:5; Psalm 106:13-14; Ecclesiastes 7:10)
      1. They remembered the fancy foods (6 items).
      2. They forgot the heavy burdens (Exodus 1:11-14).
      3. They forgot their cry for deliverance (Exodus 2:23-25).
      4. They forgot their deliverance from the Egyptians (Exodus 14:29-31).
    3. The Manna from God (Numbers 11:6-9)
      1. What was it?
        1. It was as coriander seed (Numbers 11:7; Exodus 16:31).
        2. The color as the color of bdellium (Numbers 11:7)
        3. It was a small round thing (Exodus 16:14).
        4. The taste as the taste of fresh oil or as wafers made with honey (Numbers 11:8; Exodus 16:31)
      2. How to prepare it (Numbers 11:8)
        1. Ground it in mills
        2. Beat it in a mortar
          1. Baked it in pans
          2. Made cakes of it
      3. Its uniqueness
        1. A layer of dew was provided for it to rest upon (Numbers 11:9).
        2. It is called “angel’s food” (Psalm 78:25).
        3. It is called the “corn of heaven” (Psalm 78:24).
        4. Manna ceased when they could eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan (Joshua 5:12).
  4. THE COMPLAINT OF MOSES (Numbers 11:10-15)
    1. He Complains of the Burden of the People (Numbers 11:11-12).
      1. Why have you afflicted me?
      2. Why have I not found favor in your site?
      3. Have I conceived this people?
      4. Have I begotten them?
      5. You have asked me to
        1. Carry them in my bosom as a nursing father
        2. Unto the land which you swore to their fathers
    2. He Complains of the Burden of their Provision (Numbers 11:13).
      1. Where am I going to get this flesh to feed them?
      2. They are weeping unto me.
    3. He Complains of the Pressures of his Burden (Numbers 11:14).
      1. I am not able to bear this people alone.
      2. It is too heavy.
    4. He Complains of the Burden of His Own Wretchedness (Numbers 11:15).
      1. Kill me, if I have found favor in thy sight.
      2. He would rather die than face the troubles he has with the people of God.
    5. Moses is the Key to the Coming Judgment.
      1. The people are at fault here just as they were in the Numbers 11: 1-3.
      2. Moses interceded for the people in Numbers 11:1-3 and the judgment was minimal.
      3. Moses joins in the complaining here and the people were smote with a “very great plague.”
  5. GOD’S RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS OF HIS PEOPLE (Numbers 11:16-20)
    1. Seventy Elders for Moses (Numbers 11:16-17)
      1. Gather seventy men of the elders of Israel.
      2. Bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation.
      3. I will take of the spirit that is upon thee and put it upon them.
      4. They shall bear the burden of the people.
      5. That you do not bear it alone
    2. Flesh to Eat for the People (Numbers 11:18-20)
      1. Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow (Numbers 11:18).
      2. Ye shall eat flesh (Numbers 11:18-20).
        1. Not one day
        2. Not two days
        3. Not five days
        4. Not ten days
        5. Not twenty days
        6. But a whole month
        7. Until it comes out your nostrils
        8. Until it is loathsome to you
      3. Ye despised the Lord (Numbers 11:20).
  6. MOSES QUESTIONS GOD’S POWER TO PROVIDE (Numbers 11:21-23)
    1. Moses Questions God (Numbers 11:21-22).
      1. The people
        1. There are 600,000 soldiers (Numbers 1:45-46).
        2. You said
          1. You will give them flesh.
          2. They will eat it a whole month.
      2. The provision
        1. Shall the flocks and herds be slain for them?
        2. Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them?
      3. Parallel to the New Testament (John 6:7)
    2. God Questions Moses (Numbers 11:23).
      1. Is my hand waxed short?
      2. You will see whether my word will come to pass or not.
Andrew Ray

Daily Proverb

Proverbs 28:20

A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.