Numbers 11:15-3515And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. 16And 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. 17And 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. 18And 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. 19Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; 20But 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? 21And 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. 22Shall 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? 23And 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. 24And 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. 25And 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. 26But 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. 27And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 28And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29And 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! 30And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 31And 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. 32And 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. 33And 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. 34And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. 35And the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth. (Numbers 11:15‑35)
If we, like Moses, look at the difficulties of the way, or at the people of God with all their troubles and complaints, it will undoubtedly seem too much for us, but if we look beyond the difficulties, and see the people of God as dear to Him, it is very different indeed. Moses said, “Let me not see my wretchedness,” for there is no place where we learn our own wretchedness like being in the Lord’s presence and attempting to serve Him. We see our lack of patience, our helplessness, and our lack of wisdom, over and over again, as we try to serve the One who is so perfect in patience, wisdom, and power, in spite of all our failures.
As we remarked last week, the Lord had others whom He could use when Moses was unwilling, but there was no more power for the Lord said, “I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them.” It was the same Spirit that came upon the seventy elders of Israel and they propsied. This lack of willingness to bear the burden of the people was soon followed by unbelief of God’s power, and of His ability to meet their needs. When we are unwilling to go forth to serve the Lord as He would have us, it soon comes out that we have really questioned His power. How weak we are when left to ourselves and how impossible to walk the path of faith in human strength! And so here, Moses began to question how God could give enough meat to feed six hundred thousand footmen for a month out in the wilderness. Such is man’s reasoning, but God says we must believe before we see (John 11:4040Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:40)). Moses soon found out that God was able to do as He had said.
When the Spirit of God came upon the seventy elders of Israel, there were two of them, Mad and Medad, who remained in the camp and prophesied there. Now God had said they were to be gathered to the tabernacle of the congregation, but these two men did not come out—they remained where they were. Joshua a very zealous—young man—wanted to forbid them prophesying, because of their wrore position. Undoubtedly they were disobedient in that they did not come out to the place the Lord had appointed yet God, who loves His people, allowed them to prophesy where they were. Joshua thought Moses would be envious of what they were doing (for undoubtedly they had a “good hearing” in the more popular position—the camp), but Moses simply said, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would lout His Spirit upon them!” This is a most beautiful attitude, and we do well to imitate it. We cannot go with Christians who are in a wrong position, but let us not forbid them to serve, nor let us envy the blessing they have. We should rather rejoice that Christ is preached by whomsover He may use and in whatever position they are found. It is the Lord’s work, and we must own His rights to use whom He pleases, and to work where He please.
Soon God showed that He was able to meet the needs of the people. Be sent a wind which brought up quails to them in great numbers, and the children of Israel went out to gather them. They were so anxious for them that they stayed up all night gathering these quails, but God was displeased, and He punished the people for their unbelief, taking away many of them in death. Sometimes, if we are very insistent, the Lord lets us have what we want, but to our own sorrow, as with the children of Israel here.
ML 09/23/1951