Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 11:1) 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.
In the last chapter and post, the people had just removed from Sinai and traveled three days' journey to Paran. Now we read the people complained. We aren't told exactly what they complained about, but I don't think that matters. The Lord was with them all the time; He was their guide through the wilderness; He provided their food; He was bringing them to a place flowing with milk and honey, a place they had done nothing to earn. He took care of their needs; what did they have to complain about? I used to really marvel at how ungrateful the Israelites in the wilderness were, as there will be many more instances of their complaining in the chapters to come. However, what an illustration of our own complaining in our current circumstances! Most of us have a roof over our heads, a warm bed in which to sleep, food to eat, some mode of transportation, and many more comforts that people in third world countries never dream of having, yet it seems we can always come up with something to complain about!
The Lord was very displeased about the complaining. We humans can understand that. Think of a husband who thinks he gives his all to his family, but his wife complains it's not enough. Think of the wife who feels she does everything for her family, but receives only complaints it is not good enough. Think of parents who give all to their children, but the children complain of mistreatment. There is no way to even compare the kind of blessings the Lord gives to our human efforts, so it is very understandable that the Lord would be displeased about this complaining. His anger was kindled, and His fire consumed the people who were in the outermost parts of the camp. I can hear the outcries about how a loving God could get angry and kill His own people who complained against Him. However, I believe everything the Lord did was an effort to bring His people back to Him, to have them learn to depend on Him, their only source of life. Isn't it loving and merciful to discipline a child? To allow a child to always get his way and to complain when things don't go his way does no service to him, but can make him a very obnoxious adult.
As far as why one person has to die to teach others a lesson, I have come to have peace with that. When we realize this earth is not our home, and that nothing on this earth comes close to comparing with our rewards to come, when we realize that we each have a purpose from our Creator, we can be joyful that He used us to bring about His purposes! For those who have ever wondered what purpose their life has--it may be to live a Christ-led life as an example to others. When people see the joy and peace one can have, even in the worst troubles, it can make them seek the source of that peace and joy. When we truly understand that to die off this earth is not the end, but the beginning of a glorious eternal life, we have no reason to mourn for those who are taken before their time. What about a person who is taken in the midst of wrongdoing? Does he not get the chance to repent and come to Christ? Again I have come to realize there is no need to worry about this. God knows our hearts. He knows what we have done and what we will ever do. He is a fair and just God. It's His very nature! He can't help but do the "right" thing! God is not a vengeful God just waiting to catch someone not acting right so He can show His awesome power and zap them from the face of the earth! He may show His awesome power to teach us a lesson for our own good and for our life everlasting; and if someone is taken from this world prematurely, you can bet your life the Lord will give him his just reward, and the reward he would have deserved if he had lived 50 years longer. God knows the heart, and what the heart has done and what it will do forevermore.
(2) And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched.
The people cried out to Moses, being frightened at the fire which consumed many of them, lest it should spread and consume them, too. When Moses prayed to the Lord on behalf of the people, the fire ceased. Moses was the mediator between God and the people, an intercessor, as Christ is our intercessor for our transgressions we will certainly commit.
(3) And he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
Moses called the place Taberah, which literally meant "burning", for the obvious reason that the fire of the Lord had burned among them there.
(4) And the mixed multitude who were among them fell into a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?"
In Exodus 12:38, we learned that a "mixed multitude" came out of Egypt with the Israelites. Perhaps some came because they could see that the Lord of the Israelites was the one true God and wanted to follow Him, but very probably many left because their own land had been laid waste by the plagues. Why would this kind of people have been allowed to come with the Israelites? I believe to again teach us a lesson. It seems the mixed multitude were the first to start complaining about not having meat to eat, but the children of Israel listened to their complaints and readily began to agree with them. Once again, the children of Israel were complaining. How easily can a few malcontents sow discord! The Bible refers to this time and again: "Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners." (1 Corinthians 15:33) "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5:6b) "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses,
contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them." (Romans 16:17). While it may have been the mixed multitude who started it, the Israelites far too easily forgot the care and blessings of their Lord! They began crying out about who would give them meat to eat.
(5) “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic."
The people reminisced about "the good ol' days" in Egypt when they ate of an abundance of fish, cucumbers, melons, etc. Imagine whining about missing something in Egypt, from the place where they were in miserable slavery, from the terrible place from which their Lord rescued them! Once again, I used to be awestruck at the Israelites doing this, but I am quite sure each of us is quite capable of romanticizing his past and longing for it, not recognizing the current blessings of the Lord who may have rescued him from his past.
(6) "But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes."
The Israelites complained they were wasting away and half-starved because all they had was that manna! I'll have more to say about that after the next few verses:
(7) And the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. (8) The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, 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 on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
I believe these verses were inserted to show how unreasonable the complaints of the Israelites were. The manna was like small round seeds that fell every night on the dew. It was the color of bdellium. There is some discrepancy among Biblical scholars about what this might mean. Bdellium is defined as a fragrant yellowish transparent gum. Genesis 2:12 spoke of the gold of the land with bdellium and the onyx stone. The original word translated as "bdellium" was "bedolach", and some believe that rather than bdellium, "bdeloah" was meant, which was said to be a precious stone, perhaps like a pearl. Whether golden or like pearls, the sense is that manna was very pleasant, both in appearance, and in taste. Having the taste of fresh oil meant it was not dry and tasteless. The people didn't have to work or search for their food. It fell every night while they slept, and they had only to gather it and prepare it as they desired, and it was good! Yet they dared to complain.
(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.
Moses heard the people weeping and moaning throughout their families; it seems it must have been very general throughout the camps. It seemed every man was publicly weeping at the door of his tent, not content to keep his complaining to himself. The anger of the Lord was understandably great against them. He provided their every need, but instead of gratefulness and thanksgiving, they complained and lusted for what they did not have. They even longed for what they had had in Egypt, for which they had endured so much hardship and ill treatment! From that which the Lord had rescued them, they longed to go back to! It seems unbelievable, but I don't doubt for a minute, that we can sometimes do this very thing, not recognizing the many blessings of the Lord in our lives. Even Moses was displeased with this unreasonable exhibition by the people after so many blessings of their Lord.
(11) And Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in
Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?"
Here we see that Moses's displeasure was not just because the people complained against His Lord, but also because he was burdened with leading this ungrateful lot. When you think about it, you can see that Moses demonstrated some of the same ungratefulness to His Lord as did the Israelites; he undervalued the great honor God had bestowed on him. The one thing Moses did that the people did not was to take his problem to the Lord. The people could have prayed to the Lord, thanking Him for His blessings, but that if it be His will, might they also have a little meat. It still would have shown some selfish ungratefulness, but would have been better to take their request to God, than to gin up discontent among all the people. Moses seemed to be doing his own wailing to the Lord asking why he was so mistreated by the Lord. Had he not found favor in that the Lord bestowed this great honor on him that he should be the leader of God's own people? Rather than thankfulness for that, and praying for help in this situation, as he had consulted the Lord many times before when he needed guidance, he went into a pity party of his own.
(12) "Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing father bears the suckling child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers?"
Moses began to lay on the complaining and self-pity a bit thickly. He complained that these weren't his children or his responsibility, that the Lord should make him take care of them and carry them into the land that the Lord had promised, maybe even insinuating that he, Moses, was not the one who wanted them to go to this land.
(13) “Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep to me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’"
Moses now gets to the problem with which he needs help, where was he to get the meat that the people cried to him for? Note how Moses magnified his own performance. Even in the verse before this one--was he really the one who carried the children of Israel? Did not the Lord guide them, protect them, and give them food? Now he acts as though it is his burdensome responsibility to get them meat, as if he was the one who gave them manna to eat. He even acts as though it was a reasonable request, rather than reproving them for their complaining and ingratitude, and reminding them of the manna which was provided for them every day, with which they should have been content.
(14) "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me."
Did Moses forget he was not at all alone? Without God leading and providing and advising, he would have seen what a heavy burden it really could have been! Additionally, back in Exodus 18, Moses's father-in-law advised him to select rulers who could judge the smaller matters, which he did, and it was only the hard cases that were brought to Moses. However, it was true that Moses alone was the mediator between the people and God, and he was responsible for the hardest cases.
(15) "And if You deal this way with me, please kill me, out of hand, if I have found favor in Your sight; and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
Moses told God that if He continued to lay this burden on him, he asked that God kill him immediately; if God looked on Moses favorably, Moses felt He could do this for him and take him out of his misery.
(16) "And the LORD said to Moses, “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be
the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the
tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with you."
God graciously overlooked Moses's unbecoming speeches to Him, and told him to gather seventy men of the elders of Israel, men Moses knew to be the elders and officers of the people, very likely some of the rulers that had been selected according to his father-in-law's advice in Exodus 18:21. God told Moses to bring the seventy men to the tabernacle to stand with him.
How wonderful and gracious of God to not admonish Moses! God lovingly allowed a mere man to speak to Him in that way. What a wonderful example to show that it's okay to take our frustrations to God and pour our hearts out to Him! He was angry with the people who murmured and complained to each other and stirred up strife and dissent, but helped Moses in his misery when Moses had taken the problem directly to Him, the only One who could fix the problem. I am reminded of the Shunammite woman in a later passage in 2 Kings 4. The prophet Elisha promised her a son which she did, in fact, conceive and had a baby boy. When the son was older, he had an accident and died. She grabbed her son and rode directly to the man of God who had prophesied that son. When Elisha's servant ran out to meet the woman, he asked her if all was well with her and with her son. She answered ALL WAS WELL! It certainly was not well, but there was no need to complain to this man who could do nothing about it. She took her problem directly to the one who had given her the son, as far as she knew. She even complained to him that she had not asked for this son, and reminded him that she had told him not to deceive her about it, in essence, meaning not to do this cruel thing of giving her a son only to take him away. Elisha rebuked his servant who had tried to come between the woman and Elisha, saying to let her alone as he could see her soul was terribly vexed. In the end, Elisha prayed to God and the son's life was restored. In this same way, Moses's soul was vexed under the weight of his burden, but he did not spread his unhappiness and feelings of unfairness to the people; he took it directly to God, and God honored that. Job did this. When his wife told him to curse God and die because of all his afflictions, he did not. It's true that God did verbally admonish Job somewhat when he continually questioned his fate, but in the end, God blessed him mightily and gave him twice as much as he had had before. I think this proves that it's okay to complain to God in our misery! He understands our human weaknesses, but it's important to take it to Him, and if our feelings are in error, He will show us the way and help us through it.
(17) "And I will come down and talk with with you there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon you and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone."
Once again we hear a patient and gracious God. Although Moses had spoken so boldly to God, He did not break off communication with him, but rather said He would "come down and talk with" him, possibly by some visible sign of his presence, but surely at the very least by an audible one. God told Moses He would give the same Spirit He had given to Moses and give it to these seventy men so that they could righteously judge the people, so that Moses would not have to bear the burden alone. Note that God equips those He calls with what is necessary for them to do what He has called them to do. One might argue that God had given Moses what He needed to do this job God had called him to do. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, suggested that this was a mild reproof by God to tell Moses that he had been given the spiritual gifts he needed to do the job God had called him to do, but He graciously agreed to give the same Spirit to the seventy men to help him.
(18) "And you say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.'"
Moses was to tell the people to sanctify themselves and prepare to meet the power of their God the next day. He was to tell them that they had wept and complained openly and audibly, and the Lord had heard them. They had wondered who would give them meat, for it had been well with them in Egypt, so the Lord was going to give them meat and they would eat.
(19) "‘You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, (20) But even a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
Think about what the people had suggested. Who would give them meat? Who was it who was with them continually supplying all their needs? They said that it had been well with them in Egypt, implying that it had been an injury to them for God to bring them out of bondage in Egypt. They despised their Lord among them and His continual blessings, and lusted for more. God would give them what they lusted for. It occurs to me that perhaps the Lord would match the amount of meat He would give them to the measure of their greedy excessive lust. They would have meat for a whole month until they were sick of it and vomiting it, and until it was completely loathsome to them.
(21) And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand footmen, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ (22) Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
Moses spoke back to the Lord telling Him, as if He didn't know, that there were 600,000 men on foot, or footmen or soldiers ready for war, besides the women and children, and He had said He would give them meat for a month? He questions how it will be done. It's as if Moses questions God's word or His power to provide what He said He would.
(23) And the LORD said to Moses, "Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether My word shall come to pass to you or not.”
This does sound like a rebuke to Moses. Had His power diminished? Was the same power that parted the Red Sea, rained down manna from heaven for all the people to eat daily, and brought water from a rock for all the people to drink, now suddenly unable to give the people meat to eat for a month? God told Moses he would see whether or not what He had said would come to pass.
(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 placed them around the tabernacle.
Moses went out to the people and told them what the Lord had said. He gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and brought them around the tabernacle.
(25) And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it came to pass, that when the spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but did not do so again.
The Lord came down in a cloud, probably the pillar of cloud that was continually among the people, and spoke to Moses. He took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and placed the same upon the seventy elders. The exact wording is particularly interesting. Did God take from the Holy Spirit that was upon Moses and distribute it among the seventy elders? My first impulse was of course not! The Holy Spirit is not a finite thing that must be cut into parts. This probably means that the same Holy Spirit God had given Moses was given to the seventy elders. However, Adam Clarke had an interesting take:
"To convince Moses that God had sufficiently qualified him for the work which he had given him to do, he tells him that of the gifts and graces which he has given him he will qualify seventy persons to bear the charge with him. This was probably intended as a gracious reproof. Query. Did not Moses lose a measure of his gifts in this business? And is it not right that he whom God has called to and qualified for some particular office, should lose those gifts which he either undervalues or refuses to employ for God in the way appointed? Is there not much reason to believe that many cases have occurred where the spiritual endowments of particular persons have been taken away and given to others who made a better use of them? Hence the propriety of that exhortation, Rev. 3:11: Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. The gracious God never called a man to perform a work without furnishing him with adequate strength; and to refuse to do it on the pretense of inability is little short of rebellion against God."
This very much speaks to me. How often I have fretted and agonized over troubles in my life, even when I believe the Lord has shown me otherwise. I must hold fast to that word of my Lord and give it all over to Him, trusting in the One who has, countless times in my life, shown Himself to be working for me. How can I possibly doubt his ability now? He loves us and works all things to the good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). Just like with Moses, God had shown His power time and time again, yet Moses seemed to doubt His ability in this; if Moses can be described as rebelling against God, how much more so would be the charge against me!
When the Spirit rested on the seventy elders, they prophesied, but did not do so again. This appears to be the best translation of this scripture. The KJV said "they prophesied, and did not cease." However, almost all other translations say that they did not do it again. Indeed the original word "yasaph" translated as "cease" in the KJV, was only used that way in this one verse. Most often the word is used to mean "more", "again", or "add". As a matter of fact, out of all the dozens, perhaps even hundreds of times it was used in scripture, the meaning was always something like adding, increasing, doing again, except for this one time when it was translated as "cease". I think it's pretty obvious the meaning was meant to be that they did not continue to prophesy. Perhaps this prophesying occurred at the moment they received the Spirit, demonstrating that they had indeed received It. However, there was no need for them to continue prophesying, as their measure of God's Holy Spirit was to be used for governing, not prophesying. On this occasion, the prophesying was just evidence that they had received the Spirit. If indeed the Lord took of the Spirit that Moses had had all along, this prophesying would certainly have been visual and audible proof to Moses that he had had all along God's Spirit to perform the duties he had been called to perform.
(26) But there remained two men in the camp, the name of 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 they did not go out to the tabernacle, and they prophesied in the camp.
Two men, Eldad and Medad, were among the seventy elders that had been referenced above, but they remained in the camp, rather than going to the tabernacle, as had been instructed, to stand with Moses when the Lord came down to speak with him and give His Spirit to the seventy elders (v. 16-17). Why they didn't do as instructed, we are not told; perhaps it was out of modesty and humility, or a sense of their weakness and inability to do what was being asked of them. The point is, God's Spirit reached them in their camp, and they prophesied there in the camp.
(27) And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
A young man who heard Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp, ran to tell Moses about it, thinking it must be without the knowledge of Moses and perhaps diminishing his authority.
(28) And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, "My lord Moses, forbid them."
Joshua, a servant of Moses and one of his close inner circle of men, it seems, called on Moses to forbid them from prophesying, fearing perhaps that it might lead to division or rebellion.
(29) And Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”
Moses asked Joshua if he was jealous (or zealous, as the word can also mean) for Moses's sake. Moses declared he wished all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His spirit on all of them. A similar incident occurred in the New Testament in Mark 9:38-40, when John told Jesus that he and other disciples had seen someone casting out devils in Jesus's name, and they forbade him to do it because he did not follow their group. Jesus told him not to prevent the man from doing what he was doing. After all, could mortal man perform a miracle in the name of the Lord without His spirit upon him? Could these men in the camp prophesy without God's Spirit on them? Obviously to Moses, they prophesied because of the Spirit of God, and he wished all the Lord's people could do likewise. Charles Wesley wrote a hymn about this very thing:
Moses, the minister of God,
Rebukes our partial love,
Who envy at the gifts bestow’d
On those we disapprove.
We do not our own spirit know,
Who wish to see suppress’d
The men that Jesu’s spirit show,
The men whom God hath bless’d.
Shall we the Spirit’s course restrain,
Or quench the heavenly fire?
Let God his messengers ordain,
And whom he will inspire.
Blow as he list, the Spirit’s choice
Of instruments we bless;
We will, if Christ be preached, rejoice,
And wish the word success.
Can all be prophets then? are all
Commission’d from above?
No; but whome’er the Lord shall call
We joyfully approve.
O that the Church might all receive
The spirit of prophecy,
And all in Christ accepted live,
And all in Jesus die!
*Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy
Scriptures, by Charles Wesley, M. A., and Presbyter of the Church of
England. Bristol, 1762. 2 vols.
(30) And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Moses and the seventy elders of Israel then left the door of the tabernacle and returned to their camp.
(31) And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the
other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
The Lord caused a wind to come forth bringing quails from the sea. He let them fall on the camp, as wide as a day's journey on either side of the camp, actually all sides of the camp, as they fell all around the camp. They fell about two cubits, or about a yard, above the face of the earth, easily within reach of the people.
(32) And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails; he who gathered the least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
The fact that the people stood up for two days gathering quails, indicates that the quail did not fall to the ground, but rather fell to about two cubits above the ground, so that the people could grab them as they flew. They gathered so many that even the person who gathered the fewest gathered ten homers, over 60 bushels. The people spread them out all around the camp so that they might dry and perhaps be salted and preserved for future use. Adam Clarke supposed that they may have done as was a custom in Egypt, plucked and then buried the birds in the hot sand for a few minutes, thus preparing them for use.
(33) And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.
While the flesh of the birds was yet between their teeth, before it was even chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against them, and he struck them with a very great plague. Think of the lustful greed and gluttony of the people to collect more than 60 bushels of quail each! Consider how the Lord had told them through Moses (v. 19 above) that they would have meat until they were sick because they had despised the goodness and provision of the Lord and had longed for their days in Egypt. He had warned them they would be sick and told them why, but they were lustful anyway. God often grants the desires of our hearts, but if it be an inordinate lust for it, it may be that He grants it to teach us a valuable lesson. A couple of the psalms spoke of this incident:
He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
They were not estranged from their lust;
But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the fattest of them,
And struck down the chosen men of Israel.
- Psalm 78:27-31
They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
And He gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
- Psalm 106:13-15
Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, made an interesting comparison between the Israelites here and David in 2 Samuel 23: "David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem, but would not drink it when he had it, because it was obtained by venturing; much more reason these Israelites had to refuse this flesh, which was obtained by murmuring, and which, they might easily perceive, by what Moses said, was given them in anger; but those that are under the power of a carnal mind will have their lusts fulfilled, though it be to the certain damage and ruin of their precious souls."
Mr. Henry, in his Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, wrote the following commentary on David's refusal of the water for which he had longed:
David once earnestly longed for the water at the well of Bethlehem. It
seems to be an instance of weakness. He was thirsty; with the water of
that well he had often refreshed himself when a youth, and it was
without due thought that he desired it. Were his valiant men so forward
to expose themselves, upon the least hint of their prince's mind, and so
eager to please him, and shall not we long to approve ourselves to our
Lord Jesus, by ready compliance with his will, as shown us by his word,
Spirit, and providence? But David poured out the water as a
drink-offering to the Lord. Thus he would cross his own foolish fancy,
and punish himself for indulging it, and show that he had sober thoughts
to correct his rash ones, and knew how to deny himself. Did David look
upon that water as very precious which was got at the hazard of these
men's blood, and shall not we much more value those benefits for
purchasing which our blessed Saviour shed his blood? Let all beware of
neglecting so great salvation.
Should not the Israelites have so valued the providence of their Lord?
(34) And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.
Whether "he" referred to God or perhaps Moses, the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, which literally meant “graves of lust”, because there they buried the people who lusted. This shows that the plague did not seize all the people, but just those who inordinately lusted for the meat, or if it did seize all the people who ate of the quail, it only killed the ones with an excessive and seemingly insatiable lust.
(35) And the people journeyed from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, and camped at Hazeroth.
The people then journeyed from Kibroth Hattaavah to Hazeroth, where they camped again. In the last chapter we were told that the people journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran. At the beginning of this chapter, we were told that the place where they camped was called Taberah. Kibroth Hattaavah was either the same place, renamed after the plague from lust, or perhaps it could have been a neighboring place, also in the wilderness of Paran.
Adam Clarke's words sum up this chapter nicely:
We hear of such punishments, and yet walk in the same way, presuming on God’s mercy, while we continue to provoke his justice. Let us settle it in our minds as an indisputable truth, that God is better acquainted with our wants than we are ourselves; that he knows infinitely better what we need; and that he is ever more ready to hear than we are to pray, and is wont to give more than we can desire or deserve...In no case has God at any time withheld from his meanest followers any of the spiritual or temporal mercies they needed. Were he to call us to travel through a wilderness, he would send us bread from heaven, or cause the wilderness to smile and blossom as the rose. How strange is it that we will neither believe that God has worked, or will work, unless we see him working!
