2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
October 23, 2019
Numbers 10, 11
Chapter 10:11-36. It is now the second month of the second year and God is beginning to move them towards the land that he has promised. So the cloud was lifted up and it moved now from the wilderness area of Mount Sinai towards the Promise Land and leading them into this area of Paran. The first tribes pack up and the Levites dismantled the tabernacle after Aaron’s sons had covered the holy things as God had commanded. Up to this moment they had only talked about doing it, now they were actually ready to move from Sinai. Moses ask his father in law to join them because he saw his father in law as helpful for the journey. His father in law was able to track in the desert; he was able to tell them where the water was and he had desert knowledge. But his father in law decided to go back to his own land and his own people. We don't see that in this text, but we know later that Moses father in law wasn't with them and had moved back to Midian. One of the reasons I see God leading Moses father in law to leave was so that Moses would trust in God and not man. This was a journey that required full trust in God. God would provide, not man. God was going to lead Moses in ways that his father in law would have steered him away from. God was going to lead the people to places where their natural supply was limited so he could show them his supernatural power. God wanted Moses to follow him exclusively. Moses couldn't follow two masters. The text says they traveled three days until they rested.
Chapter 11:1-3. You would think that the people of God would have learned how to trust God and trust God’s appointed and proven leaders. At this point, it was obvious that Moses was walking with God and that God was using and leading Moses. That didn't matter. Folks are never satisfied especially when they are ungrateful, envious and greedy. After three days of travel, the people began to complain severely. They were complaining about everything and complaining about God. This made the Lord angry and God sent fire to consume one end of the camp. Moses cried out to God and God caused the fire to die out sparing the rest of the camp. If God has already proven himself to you, don't complain about what you are going through, but ask God to help you. Don't speak evil to the one or about the one that can help you, ask for help.
Verses 4-6. There was a rabble (non Hebrews) that were traveling with the Hebrews that had left Egypt because life was harsh for them as well. They began to complain about the lack of meat and they caused the Hebrews to complain as well. They began to stir up dissention among the peoples about the fact that they were only eating manna. They were not the majority, but when complainers gripe about conditions or leaders that they’re not happy with, it can spread like wildfire among the whole congregation. Pretty soon, all of the sons of Israel were weeping about the "boring" manna and fondly reminiscing about how good they had it back in Egypt. This was amazing--they were slaves in Egypt, treated harshly by their masters. Now manna had sustained them for a year, but now they are tired of manna. The manna had kept them, and sustained them. The manna was exactly what they needed. It was a diet that kept them strong and healthy. But they were too ungrateful to see it. Don't ever complain about having all your needs met. They used words like "nothing" when they had all their needs met. We say crazy things too, like l don't have nothing to wear looking at a closet full of clothes. Or we say, I have nothing to eat, looking into a freezer full of food. They also complained about the old days, and began to even make up how good it was. If it was so good, why did they want to leave? We say crazy things like this all the time when we are ungrateful.
Verses 7-9. We are reminded about how the manna was free, how it looked, how it was cooked and prepared, and how readily available it was. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil. This was to say it was very good bread. The manna was the perfect meal for wilderness walking. Some of us are complaining about the perfect things that God has provided for us on our journey. Don't complain about the very thing God has supernaturally provided for your journey that is custom made for your mission.
Verses 10-15. After hearing the complaints and seeing all the people upset, Moses begins to question his own calling and is mission. Crazy church folks can do that to you. Folks have no idea the weight that the leaders of God’s people carry. Moses is about to have a major breakdown. Moses goes into a series of Why Me? Questions. Notice all of his questions to God were WHY ME. MEMEMEMEMEME. Moses assumed that the issue was something that he was supposed to handle and it never occurred to him that God is still in charge. Sometimes we can have these pity parties like God isn't able. God doesn't lead you to not provide for you. If you lead yourself that is something different. But if God leads you, he will provide and deal with the crazy folk around you.
Verses 16-20. God tells Moses go get the leaders and tell them to come before the tent. God does this because these leaders should have squashed the complaints. These leaders should have been speaking faith and telling the people to trust God, but instead they allowed the confusion to continue. This is a lesson for leaders. When you see nonsense going on, deal with it before it spread or God will hold you accountable. These leaders needed the anointing that was on Moses. So God gives them some of the spirit that was on Moses so they could lead better and help with the responsibility. The leaders were commanded to tell the rest of the people that they are to purify themselves and they would have meat. But they were going to get meat in a way that was going to make them not want meat again. God told them that they would get meat for a whole month until they were going to hate meat. God was going to give them what they wanted to show them that they didn't know what they really needed.
Verses 21-22. Moses hears this and he can't believe it. Where is God going to get meat and enough meat for 600k people? Moses has seen God do miracles, but for some reason this one is just too big. Moses had forgotten just how special the manna was. The manna had become so commonplace, Moses even forgot how miraculous it was. Beloved don't ever forget just how awesome God has been and is in your life.
Verse 23. God responds to Moses by asking is there any limit to MY power? God told Moses you will see soon enough that I am God. God is about to get mad with Moses. Moses is the last person that should be questioning God. The complainers have rubbed off on him as well.
Verses 24-30. Moses does what God commands and assembles the 70 leaders. Moses tells them what God said and when he does the spirit of God falls on the leaders and they began to utter words like prophets. They basically all look and sound like Moses. This goes on for a little while. Some of the leaders didn't go to the tent, but they began to speak like Moses as well and with authority. Joshua sees this and thinks it is an affront to Moses, but Moses shares with him that he is glad they all speak in such a way and he wishes that all could do that. Moses can see that God doesn't have to use him, but can put his spirit on anybody and use them the same way. Moses is humbled by this show of grace and power by God to anoint 70 men like he anointed Moses. Don’t ever think God can't use somebody just as well as God can use you!
Verses 31-35. God gave them meat, but when he provided them with meat, the meat caused a plague to break out. Even though they wanted meat, the wilderness is not a place for meat. Meat carries too many diseases to be eaten by so many people in the desert. God had to show them that what they wanted wasn’t good for them. This is a very good lesson for all of us. Just because we want it or have even had it in the past, doesn’t mean it will fit where we are in life. We can desire many things, but it is crucial to determine if those things are right for the season you are in at this moment. Something that seems okay might be very deadly to you in this moment of life. Something that seems harmless might break your heart and leave you in worst shape. Be careful about complaining about the thing that kept you and demanding something that might end up hurting you.
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