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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>N U M B E R S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Hitherto things had gone pretty well in Israel; little interruption had
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been given to the methods of God's favour to them since the matter of
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the golden calf; the people seemed teachable in marshalling and
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purifying the camp, the princes devout and generous in dedicating the
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altar, and there was good hope that they would be in Canaan presently.
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But at this chapter begins a melancholy scene; the measures are all
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broken, God has turned to be their enemy, and fights against them--and
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it is sin that makes all this mischief.
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I. Their murmurings kindled a fire among them, which yet was soon
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quenched by the prayer of Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. No sooner was the fire of judgment quenched than the fire of sin
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breaks out again, and God takes occasion from it to magnify both his
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mercy and his justice.
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1. The people fret for want of flesh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:4-9">ver. 4-9</A>.
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2. Moses frets for want of help,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:10-15">ver. 10-15</A>.
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Now,
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(1.) God promises to gratify them both, to appoint help for Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:16,17">ver. 16, 17</A>),
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and to give the people flesh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:18-23">ver. 18-23</A>.
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And,
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(2.) He presently makes good both these promises. For,
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[1.] The Spirit of God qualifies the seventy elders for the government,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:24-30">ver. 24-30</A>.
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[2.] The power of God brings quails to feast the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:31,32">ver. 31, 32</A>.
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Yet
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[3.] The justice of God plagued them for their murmurings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:33-35">ver. 33</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Nu11_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Murmurings of the Israelites.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And <I>when</I> the people complained, it displeased the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> heard <I>it;</I> and his anger was kindled; and the fire of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> burnt among them, and consumed <I>them that were</I> in the
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uttermost parts of the camp.
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2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the fire was quenched.
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3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> burnt among them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The people's sin. They <I>complained,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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<I>They were, as it were, complainers.</I> So it is in the margin.
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There were some secret grudgings and discontents among them, which as
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yet did not break out in an open mutiny. But how great a matter did
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this little fire kindle! They had received from God excellent laws and
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ordinances, and yet no sooner had they departed from the mount of the
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Lord than they began to quarrel with God himself. See in this,
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1. The sinfulness of sin, which takes occasion from the commandment to
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be the more provoking.
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2. The weakness of the law through the flesh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:3">Rom. viii. 3</A>.
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The law discovered sin, but could not destroy it; checked it, but could
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not conquer it. They <I>complained.</I> Interpreters enquire what they
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complained of; and truly, when they were furnished with so much matter
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for thanksgiving, one may justly wonder where they found any matter for
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complaint; it is probable that those who complained did not all agree
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in the cause. Some perhaps complained that they were removed from Mount
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Sinai, where they had been at rest so long, others that they did not
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remove sooner: some complained of the weather, others of the ways: some
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perhaps thought three days' journey was too long a march, others
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thought it not long enough, because it did not bring them into Canaan.
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When we consider how their camp was guided, guarded, graced, what good
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victuals they had and good company, and what care was taken of them in
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their marches that their feet should not swell nor their clothes wear
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:4">Deut. viii. 4</A>),
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we may ask, "What could have been done more for a
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people to make them easy?" And yet they complained. Note, Those that
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are of a fretful discontented spirit will always find something or
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other to quarrel with, though the circumstances of their outward
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condition be ever so favourable.</P>
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<P>
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II. God's just resentment of the affront given to him by this sin:
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<I>The Lord heard it,</I> though it does not appear that Moses did.
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Note, God is acquainted with the secret frettings and murmurings of the
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heart, though they are industriously concealed from men. What he took
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notice of his was much displeased with, and his <I>anger was
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kindled.</I> Note, Though God graciously gives us leave to complain to
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him when there is cause
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+142:2">Ps. cxlii. 2</A>),
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yet he is justly provoked, and takes it very ill, if we complain of him
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when there is no cause: such conduct in our inferiors provokes us.</P>
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<P>
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III. The judgment wherewith God chastised them for this sin: <I>The
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fire of the Lord burnt among them,</I> such flashes of fire from the
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cloud as had consumed Nadab and Abihu. The fire of their wrath against
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God burned in their minds
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:3">Ps. xxxix. 3</A>),
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and justly does the fire of God's wrath fasten upon their bodies. We
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read of their murmurings several times, when they came first out of
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Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:1-17:16">
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Exod. xv., and xvi., and xvii.</A>. But
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we do not read of any plagues inflicted on them for their murmurings,
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as there were now; for now they had had great experience of God's care
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of them, and therefore now to distrust him was so much the more
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inexcusable. Now a <I>fire was kindled against Jacob</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:21">Ps. lxxviii. 21</A>),
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but, to show how unwilling God was to contend with them, it fastened on
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those only that were <I>in the uttermost parts of the camp.</I> Thus
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God's judgments came upon them gradually, that they might take
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warning.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Their cry to Moses, who was their tried intercessor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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<I>When he slew them, then they sought him,</I> and made their
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application to Moses to stand their friend. Note,
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1. When we complain without cause, it is just with God to give us cause
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to complain.
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2. Those that slight God's friends when they are in prosperity would be
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glad to make them their friends when they are in distress. <I>Father
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Abraham, send Lazarus.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. The prevalency of Moses's intercession for them: <I>When Moses
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prayed unto the Lord</I> (he was always ready to stand in the gap to
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turn away the wrath of God) God had respect to him and his offering,
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and <I>the fire was quenched.</I> By this it appears that God delights
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not in punishing, for, when he has begun his controversy, he is soon
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prevailed with to let it fall. Moses was one of those worthies who
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<I>by faith quenched the violence of fire.</I></P>
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<P>
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VI. A new name given hereupon to the place, to perpetuate the shame of
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a murmuring people and the honour of a righteous God; the place was
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called <I>Taberah,</I> a <I>burning</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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that others might hear, and fear, and take warning not to sin as they
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did, lest they should smart as they did,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:10">1 Cor. x. 10</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Nu11_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Nu11_15"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 And the mixt multitude that <I>was</I> among them fell a lusting:
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and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall
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give us flesh to eat?
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5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the
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cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the
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garlick:
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6 But now our soul <I>is</I> dried away: <I>there is</I> nothing at all,
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beside this manna, <I>before</I> our eyes.
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7 And the manna <I>was</I> as coriander seed, and the colour thereof
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as the colour of bdellium.
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8 <I>And</I> the people went about, and gathered <I>it,</I> and ground
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<I>it</I> in mills, or beat <I>it</I> in a mortar, and baked <I>it</I> in pans,
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and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of
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fresh oil.
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9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna
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fell upon it.
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10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families,
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every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was
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kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
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11 And Moses said unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Wherefore hast thou afflicted
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thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight,
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that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
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12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that
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thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing
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father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou
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swarest unto their fathers?
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13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for
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they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
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14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because <I>it is</I>
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too heavy for me.
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15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of
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hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my
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wretchedness.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These verses represent things sadly unhinged and out of order in
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Israel, both the people and the prince uneasy.</P>
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<P>
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I. Here is the people fretting, and speaking against God himself (as it
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is interpreted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:19">Ps. lxxviii. 19</A>),
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notwithstanding his glorious appearances both to them and for them.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. Who were the criminals.
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(1.) The <I>mixed multitude</I> began, they <I>fell a lusting,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The rabble that came with them out of Egypt, expecting only the land of
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promise, but not a state of probation in the way to it. They were
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hangers on, who took hold of the skirts of the Jews, and would go with
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them only because they knew not how to live at home, and were disposed
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to seek their fortunes (as we say) abroad. These were the scabbed
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sheep that infected the flock, the leaven that leavened the whole lump.
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Note, A few factious, discontented, ill-natured people, may do a great
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deal of mischief in the best societies, if great care be not taken to
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discountenance them. Such as these are an <I>untoward generation,</I>
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from which it is our wisdom to <I>save ourselves,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:40">Acts ii. 40</A>.
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(2.) Even <I>the children of Israel</I> took the infection, as we are
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informed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The holy seed joined themselves to the people of these abominations.
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The mixed multitude here spoken of were not numbered with the children
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of Israel, but were set aside as a people God made no account of; and
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yet the children of Israel, forgetting their own character and
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distinction, herded themselves with them and learned their way, as if
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the scum and outcasts of the camp were to be the privy-counsellors of
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it. The children of Israel, a people near to God and highly privileged,
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yet drawn into rebellion against him! O how little honour has God in
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the world, when even the people which he formed for himself, to show
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forth his praise, were so much a dishonour to him! Therefore let none
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think that their external professions and privileges will be their
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security either against Satan's temptations to sin or God's judgments
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for sin. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:1,2,12">1 Cor. x. 1, 2, 12</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. What was the crime: they lusted and murmured. Though they had been
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lately corrected for this sin, and many of them overthrown for it, as
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God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the smell of the fire was still
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in their nostrils, yet they returned to it. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:22">Prov. xxvii. 22</A>.
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(1.) They magnified the plenty and dainties they had had in Egypt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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as if God had done them a great deal of wrong in taking them thence.
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While they were in Egypt they sighed by reason of their burdens, for
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their lives were made bitter to them with hard bondage; and yet now
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they talk of Egypt as if they had all lived like princes there, when
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this serves as a colour for their present discontent. But with what
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face can they talk of eating fish in Egypt freely, or for nought, as if
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it cost them nothing, when they paid so dearly for it with their hard
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service? They <I>remember the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks,
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and the onions, and the garlick</I> (precious stuff indeed to be fond
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of!), but they do not remember the brick-kilns and the task-masters,
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the voice of the oppressor and the smart of the whip. No, these are
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forgotten by these ungrateful people.
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(2.) They were sick of the good provision God had made for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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It was bread from heaven, angels' food. To show how unreasonable their
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complaint was, it is here described,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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It was good for food, and pleasant to the eye, every grain like an
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orient pearl; it was wholesome food and nourishing; it was not to be
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called <I>dry bread,</I> for it tasted like fresh oil; it was agreeable
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(the Jews say,
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<U>Wisd. xvi. 20</U>)
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to every man's palate, and tasted as he
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would have it; and, though it was still the same, yet, by the different
|
|
ways of dressing it, it yielded them a grateful variety; it cost them
|
|
no money, nor care, for it fell in the night, while they slept; and the
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|
labour of gathering it was not worth speaking of; they lived upon free
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quarter, and yet could talk of Egypt's cheapness and the fish they ate
|
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there freely. Nay, which was much more valuable than all this, the
|
|
manna came from the immediate power and bounty of God, not from common
|
|
providence, but from special favour. It was, as God's compassion, new
|
|
every morning, always fresh, not as their food who live on shipboard.
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|
While they lived on manna, they seemed to be exempted from the curse
|
|
which sin has brought on man, that in the <I>sweat of his face should
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|
he eat bread.</I> And yet they speak of manna with such scorn, as if it
|
|
were not good enough to be meat for swine: <I>Our soul is dried
|
|
away.</I> They speak as if God dealt hardly with them in allowing them
|
|
no better food. At first they admired it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+16:15">Exod. xvi. 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>What is this?</I> "What a curious precious thing is this!" But now
|
|
they despised it. Note, Peevish discontented minds will find fault with
|
|
that which has no fault in it but that it is too good for them. It is
|
|
very provoking to God to undervalue his favours, and to put a
|
|
<I>but</I> upon our common mercies. Nothing but manna! Those that might
|
|
be very happy often make themselves very miserable by their
|
|
discontents.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They could not be satisfied unless they had flesh to eat. They
|
|
brought flocks and herds with them in great abundance out of Egypt; but
|
|
either they were covetous, and could not find in their hearts to kill
|
|
them, lest they should lessen their flocks (they must have flesh as
|
|
cheap as they had bread, or they would not be pleased), or else they
|
|
were curious, beef and mutton would not please them; they must have
|
|
something more nice and delicate, like the fish they did eat in Egypt.
|
|
Food would not serve; they must be feasted. They had feasted with God
|
|
upon the peace-offerings which they had their share of; but it seems
|
|
God did not keep a table good enough for them, they must have daintier
|
|
bits than any that came to his altar. Note, It is an evidence of the
|
|
dominion of the carnal mind when we are solicitous to have all the
|
|
delights and satisfactions of sense wound up to the height of
|
|
pleasurableness. <I>Be not desirous of dainties,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:1-3">Prov. xxiii. 1-3</A>.
|
|
|
|
If God gives us food convenient, we ought to be thankful, though we do
|
|
not eat the fat and drink the sweet.
|
|
|
|
(4.) They distrusted the power and goodness of God as insufficient for
|
|
their supply: <I>Who will give us flesh to eat?</I> taking it for
|
|
granted that God could not. Thus this question is commented up on,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:19,20">Ps. lxxviii. 19, 20</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Can he provide flesh also?</I> though he had given them flesh with
|
|
their bread once, when he saw fit
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+16:13">Exod. xvi. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they might have expected that he would do it again, and in mercy,
|
|
if, instead of murmuring, they had prayed. Note, It is an offence to
|
|
God to let our desires go beyond our faith.
|
|
|
|
(5.) They were eager and importunate in their desires; they <I>lusted a
|
|
lust,</I> so the word is, lusted greatly and greedily, till they wept
|
|
again for vexation. So childish were the children of Israel, and so
|
|
humoursome, that they cried because they had not what they would have
|
|
and when they would have it. They did not offer up this desire to God,
|
|
but would rather be beholden to any one else than to him. We should not
|
|
indulge ourselves in any desire which we cannot in faith turn into
|
|
prayer, as we cannot when we <I>ask meat for our lust,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:18">Ps. lxxviii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
For this sin the <I>anger of the Lord was kindled greatly against
|
|
them,</I> which is written for our admonition, that we should not
|
|
<I>lust after evil things as they lusted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:6">1 Cor. x. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
(6.) Flesh is good food, and may lawfully be eaten; yet they are said
|
|
to lust after evil things. What is lawful of itself becomes evil to us
|
|
when it is what God does not allot to us and yet we eagerly desire
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Moses himself, though so meek and good a man, is uneasy upon this
|
|
occasion: <I>Moses also was displeased.</I> Now,
|
|
|
|
1. It must be confessed that the provocation was very great. These
|
|
murmurings of theirs reflected great dishonour upon God, and Moses laid
|
|
to heart the reproaches cast on himself; they knew that he did his
|
|
utmost for their good, and that he neither did nor could do any thing
|
|
without a divine appointment; and yet to be thus continually teased and
|
|
clamoured against by an unreasonable ungrateful people would break in
|
|
upon the temper even of Moses himself. God considered this, and
|
|
therefore we do not find that he chided him for his uneasiness.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet Moses expressed himself otherwise than became him upon this
|
|
provocation, and came short of his duty both to God and Israel in these
|
|
expostulations.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He undervalues the honour God had put upon him, in making him the
|
|
illustrious minister of his power and grace, in the deliverance and
|
|
guidance of that peculiar people, which might have been sufficient to
|
|
balance the burden.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He complains too much of a sensible grievance, and lays too near
|
|
his heart a little noise and fatigue. If he could not bear the toil of
|
|
government, which was but running with the footman, how would he bear
|
|
the terrors of war, which was contending with horses? He might easily
|
|
have furnished himself with considerations enough to enable him to
|
|
slight their clamours, and make nothing of them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He magnifies his own performances, that <I>all the burden of the
|
|
people lay upon him;</I> whereas God himself did in effect ease him of
|
|
all the burden. Moses needed not to be in care to provide quarters for
|
|
them, or victuals; God did all. And, if any difficult case happened, he
|
|
needed not to be in any perplexity, while he had the oracle to consult,
|
|
and in it the divine wisdom to direct him, the divine authority to back
|
|
him and bear him out, and almighty power itself to dispense rewards and
|
|
punishments.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He is not so sensible as he ought to be of the obligation he lay
|
|
under, by virtue of the divine commission and command, to do the utmost
|
|
he could for his people, when he suggests that because they were not
|
|
the children of his body therefore he was not concerned to take a
|
|
fatherly care of them, though God himself, who might employ him as he
|
|
pleased, had appointed him to be a father to them.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He takes too much to himself when he asks, <I>Whence should I have
|
|
flesh to give them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
as if he were the housekeeper, and not God. <I>Moses gave them not the
|
|
bread,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:32">John vi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nor was it expected that he should give them the flesh, but as an
|
|
instrument in God's hand; and if he meant, "Whence should God have it
|
|
for them?" he too much limited the power of the Holy One of Israel.
|
|
|
|
(6.) He speaks distrustfully of the divine grace when he despairs of
|
|
being <I>able to bear all this people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Had the work been much less, he could not have gone through it in his
|
|
own strength; but had it been much greater, through God strengthening
|
|
him, he might have done it.
|
|
|
|
(7.) It was worst of all passionately to wish for death, and desire to
|
|
be killed out of hand, because just at this time his life was made a
|
|
little uneasy to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Is this Moses? Is this the meekest of all the men on the earth? The
|
|
best have their infirmities, and fail sometimes in the exercise of that
|
|
grace for which they are most eminent. But God graciously overlooked
|
|
Moses's passion at this time, and therefore we must not be severe in
|
|
our animadversions upon it, but pray, <I>Lord, lead us not into
|
|
temptation.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Assistance Provided for Moses.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>is</I> upon thee, and will put <I>it</I> upon
|
|
them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee,
|
|
that thou bear <I>it</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for <I>it was</I>
|
|
well with us in Egypt: therefore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>But</I> even a whole month, until it come out at your
|
|
nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have
|
|
despised the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> which <I>is</I> among you, and have wept before him,
|
|
saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
|
|
21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I <I>am,</I> <I>are</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Is the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s hand waxed
|
|
short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto
|
|
thee or not.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here God's gracious answer to both the foregoing complaints,
|
|
wherein his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so
|
|
much the more illustrious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Provision is made for the redress of the grievances Moses complains
|
|
of. If he find the weight of government lie too heavy upon him, though
|
|
he was a little too passionate in his remonstrance, yet he shall be
|
|
eased, not by being discarded from the government himself, as he justly
|
|
might have been if God had been extreme to mark what he said amiss, but
|
|
by having assistants appointed him, who should be, as the apostle
|
|
speaks
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:28">1 Cor. xii. 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>helps, governments</I> (that is, helps in government), not at all to
|
|
lesson or eclipse his honour, but to make the work more easy to him,
|
|
and to <I>bear the burden of the people with him.</I> And that this
|
|
provision might be both agreeable and really serviceable,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Moses is directed to nominate the persons,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The people were too hot and heady and tumultuous to be entrusted with
|
|
the election; Moses must please himself in the choice, that he may not
|
|
afterwards complain. The number he is to choose is seventy men,
|
|
according to the number of the souls that went down into Egypt. He must
|
|
choose such as he knew to be elders, that is, wise and experienced men.
|
|
Those that had acquitted themselves best, as <I>rulers of thousands and
|
|
hundreds</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+18:25">Exod. xviii. 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
purchase to themselves now this good degree. "Choose such as thou
|
|
knowest to be elders indeed, and not in name only, officers that
|
|
execute their office." We read of the same number of elders
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+24:1">Exod. xxiv. 1</A>)
|
|
|
|
that went up with Moses to Mount Sinai, but they were distinguished
|
|
only for that occasion, these for a perpetuity; and, according to this
|
|
constitution, the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which in
|
|
after ages sat at Jerusalem, and was the highest court of judgment
|
|
among them, consisted of seventy men. Our Saviour seems to have had an
|
|
eye to it in the choice of seventy disciples, who were to be assistants
|
|
to the apostles,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+10:1-24">Luke x.</A></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. God promises to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the
|
|
employ, they should be made fit, else they might prove more a hindrance
|
|
than a help to Moses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though Moses had talked too boldly with God, yet God does not therefore
|
|
break off communion with him; he bears a great deal with us, and we
|
|
must with one another: <I>I will come down</I> (said God) <I>and talk
|
|
with thee,</I> when thou art more calm and composed; <I>and I will take
|
|
of the same spirit</I> of wisdom, and piety, and courage, <I>that is
|
|
upon thee,</I> and <I>put it upon them.</I> Not that Moses had the less
|
|
of the Spirit for their sharing, nor that they were hereby made equal
|
|
with him; Moses was still unequalled
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+34:10">Deut. xxxiv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
but they were clothed with a spirit of government proportionable to
|
|
their place, and with a spirit of prophecy to prove their divine call
|
|
to it, the government being a Theocracy. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those whom God employs in any service he qualifies for it, and
|
|
those that are not in some measure qualified cannot think themselves
|
|
duly called.
|
|
|
|
(2.) All good qualifications are from God; every <I>perfect gift is
|
|
from the Father of lights.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Even the humour of the discontented people shall be gratified too,
|
|
that every mouth may be stopped. They are ordered to <I>sanctify
|
|
themselves</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, to put themselves into a posture to receive such a proof of
|
|
God's power as should be a token both of mercy and judgment. <I>Prepare
|
|
to meet thy God, O Israel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+4:12">Amos iv. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. God promises (shall I say?)--he threatens rather, that they shall
|
|
have their fill of flesh, that for a month together they shall not only
|
|
be fed, but feasted, with flesh, besides their daily manna; and, if
|
|
they have not a better government of their appetites than now it
|
|
appears they have they shall be surfeited with it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
You shall eat <I>till it come out at your nostrils, and become
|
|
loathsome to you.</I> See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but not
|
|
satisfy: spiritual pleasures are the contrary. As the world passes
|
|
away, so do the lusts of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:17">1 John ii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
What was greedily coveted in a little time comes to be nauseated.
|
|
|
|
(2.) What brutish sins (and worse than brutish) gluttony and
|
|
drunkenness are; they put a force upon nature, and make that the
|
|
sickness of the body which should be its health; they are sins that are
|
|
their own punishments, and yet not the worst that attend them.
|
|
|
|
(3.) What a righteous thing it is with God to make that loathsome to
|
|
men which they have inordinately lusted after. God could make them
|
|
despise flesh as much as they had despised manna.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Moses objects the improbability of making good this word,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is an objection like that which the disciples made,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+8:4">Mark viii. 4</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Whence can a man satisfy these men?</I> Some excuse Moses here, and
|
|
construe what he says as only a modest enquiry which way the supply
|
|
must be expected; but it savours too much of diffidence and distrust of
|
|
God to be justified. He objects the number of the people, as if he that
|
|
provided bread for them all could not, by the same unlimited power,
|
|
provide flesh too. He reckons it must be the flesh either of beasts or
|
|
fishes, because they are the most bulky animals, little thinking that
|
|
the flesh of birds, little birds, should serve the purpose. God sees
|
|
not as man sees, but his thoughts are above ours. He objects the
|
|
greediness of the people's desires in that word, <I>to suffice
|
|
them.</I> Note, Even true and great believers sometimes find it hard to
|
|
trust God under the discouragements of second causes, and <I>against
|
|
hope to believe in hope.</I> Moses himself could scarcely forbear
|
|
saying, <I>Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?</I> when this had
|
|
become the common cry. No doubt this was his infirmity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. God gives a short but sufficient answer to the objection in that
|
|
question, <I>Has the Lord's hand waxed short?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
If Moses had remembered <I>the years of the right hand of the Most
|
|
High,</I> he would not have started all these difficulties; therefore
|
|
God reminds him of them, intimating that this objection reflected upon
|
|
the divine power, of which he himself had been so often, not only the
|
|
witness, but the instrument. Had he forgotten what wonders the divine
|
|
power had wrought for that people, when it inflicted the plagues of
|
|
Egypt, divided the sea, broached the rock, and rained bread from
|
|
heaven? Had that power abated? Was God weaker than he used to be? Or
|
|
was he tired with what he had done? Whatever our unbelieving hearts may
|
|
suggest to the contrary, it is certain,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God's hand is not short; his power cannot be restrained in
|
|
the exerting of itself by any thing but his own will; with him nothing
|
|
is impossible. That hand is not short which measures the waters, metes
|
|
out the heavens
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:12">Isa. xl. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and grasps the winds,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:4">Prov. xxx. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That it has not waxed short. He is as strong as ever he was,
|
|
<I>fainteth not, neither is weary.</I> And this is sufficient to
|
|
silence all our distrusts when means fail us, <I>Is any thing too hard
|
|
for the Lord?</I> God here brings Moses to this first principle, sets
|
|
him back in his lesson, to learn the ancient name of God, <I>The Lord
|
|
God Almighty,</I> and puts the proof upon the issue: <I>Thou shalt see
|
|
whether my word shall come to pass or not.</I> This magnifies God's
|
|
word above all his name, that his works never come short of it. If he
|
|
speaks, it is done.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>God Promises the People Flesh; The Case of Eldad and Medad.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people,
|
|
and set them round about the tabernacle.
|
|
25 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and
|
|
took of the spirit that <I>was</I> upon him, and gave <I>it</I> unto the
|
|
seventy elders: and it came to pass, <I>that,</I> when the spirit
|
|
rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
|
|
26 But there remained two <I>of the</I> men in the camp, the name of
|
|
the one <I>was</I> Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the
|
|
spirit rested upon them; and they <I>were</I> 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, <I>one</I> 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s people were prophets, <I>and</I> that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
would put his spirit upon them!
|
|
30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of
|
|
Israel.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the performance of God's word to Moses, that he should
|
|
have help in the government of Israel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is the case of the seventy privy-counsellors in general. Moses,
|
|
though a little disturbed by the tumult of the people, yet was
|
|
thoroughly composed by the communion he had with God, and soon came to
|
|
himself again. And according as the matter was concerted,
|
|
|
|
1. He did his part; he presented the seventy elders before the Lord,
|
|
round the tabernacle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
that they might there stand ready to receive the grace of God, in the
|
|
place where he manifested himself, and that the people also might be
|
|
witnesses of their solemn call. Note, Those that expect favour from God
|
|
must humbly offer themselves and their service to him.
|
|
|
|
2. God was not wanting to do his part. <I>He gave of his Spirit to the
|
|
seventy elders</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
which enabled those whose capacities and education set them but on a
|
|
level with their neighbours of a sudden to say and do that which was
|
|
extraordinary, and which proved them to be actuated by divine
|
|
inspiration: they prophesied, and did not cease all that day, and (some
|
|
think) only that day. They discoursed to the people of the things of
|
|
God, and perhaps commented upon the law they had lately received with
|
|
admirable clearness, and fulness, and readiness, and aptness of
|
|
expression, so that all who heard them might see and say that <I>God
|
|
was with them of a truth;</I> see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:24,25">1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus, long afterwards, Saul was marked for the government by the gift
|
|
of prophecy, which came upon him for a day and a night,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+10:6,11">1 Sam. x. 6, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
When Moses was to fetch Israel out of Egypt, Aaron was appointed to be
|
|
his prophet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+7:1">Exod. vii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, now that God had called Aaron to other work, in his room Moses has
|
|
seventy prophets to attend him. Note, Those are fittest to rule in
|
|
God's Israel that are well acquainted with divine things and are apt to
|
|
teach to edification.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is the particular case of two of them, <I>Eldad</I> and
|
|
<I>Medad,</I> probably two brothers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They were nominated by Moses to be assistants in the government, but
|
|
they <I>went not out unto the tabernacle</I> as the rest did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Calvin conjectures that the summons was sent them, but that it did not
|
|
find them, they being somewhere out of the way; so that, though they
|
|
were written, yet they were not called. Most think that they declined
|
|
coming to the tabernacle out of an excess of modesty and humility;
|
|
being sensible of their own weakness and unworthiness, they desired to
|
|
be excused from coming into the government. Their principle was their
|
|
praise, but their practice in not obeying orders was their fault.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The Spirit of God found them out in the camp, where they were hidden
|
|
among the stuff, and there they prophesied, that is, they exercised
|
|
their gift of praying, preaching, and praising God, in some private
|
|
tent. Note, The Spirit of God is not tied to the tabernacle, but,
|
|
<I>like the wind, blows where he listeth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:8">John iii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Whither can we go from that Spirit?</I> There was a special
|
|
providence in it that these two should be absent, for thus it appeared
|
|
that it was indeed a divine Spirit which the elders were actuated by,
|
|
and that Moses gave them not that Spirit, but God himself. They
|
|
modestly declined preferment, but God forced it upon them; nay, they
|
|
have the honour of being <I>named,</I> which the rest have not: for
|
|
those that humble themselves shall be exalted, and those are most fit
|
|
for government who are least ambitious of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Information of this was given to Moses
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp;</I> there is a conventicle
|
|
in such a tent, and Eldad and Medad are holding forth there, from under
|
|
the inspection and presidency of Moses, and out of the communion of the
|
|
rest of the elders." Whoever the person was that brought the tidings,
|
|
he seems to have looked upon it as an irregularity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Joshua moved to have them silenced: <I>My lord Moses, forbid
|
|
them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that Joshua himself was one of the seventy, which made
|
|
him the more jealous for the honour of their order. He takes it for
|
|
granted that they were not under any necessitating impulse, <I>for the
|
|
spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets,</I> and therefore he
|
|
would have them either not to prophesy at all or to come to the
|
|
tabernacle and prophesy in concert with the rest. He does not desire
|
|
that they should be punished for what they had done, but only
|
|
restrained for the future. This motion he made from a good principle,
|
|
not out of any personal dislike to Eldad and Medad, but out of an
|
|
honest zeal for that which he apprehended to be the unity of the
|
|
church, and concern for the honour of God and Moses.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Moses rejected the motion, and reproved him that made it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Enviest thou for my sake?</I> Thou knowest not what manner of
|
|
spirit thou art of." Though Joshua was Moses's particular friend and
|
|
confidant, though he said this out of a respect to Moses, whose honour
|
|
he was very loth to see lessened by the call of those elders, yet Moses
|
|
reproves him, and in him all that show such a spirit.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We must not secretly grieve at the gifts, graces, and usefulness
|
|
of others. It was the fault of John's disciples that they envied
|
|
Christ's honour because it shaded their master's,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:26-36">John iii. 26</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must not be transported into heats against the weaknesses and
|
|
infirmities of others. Granting that Eldad and Medad were guilty of an
|
|
irregularity, yet Joshua was too quick and too warm upon them. Our zeal
|
|
must always be tempered with the meekness of wisdom: the righteousness
|
|
of God needs not the wrath of man,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:20">Jam. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must not make even the best and most useful men heads of a
|
|
party. Paul would not have his name made use of to patronise a faction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:12,13">1 Cor. i. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) We must not be forward to condemn and silence those that differ
|
|
from us, as if they did not follow Christ because they do not follow
|
|
<I>him with us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+9:38">Mark ix. 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned, or restrain any from doing
|
|
good because they are not in every thing of our mind? Moses was of
|
|
another spirit; so far from silencing these two, and quenching the
|
|
Spirit in them, he wished <I>all the Lord's people were prophets,</I>
|
|
that is, that he would <I>put his Spirit upon them.</I> Not that he
|
|
would have any set up for prophets that were not duly qualified, or
|
|
that he expected that the Spirit of prophecy should be made thus
|
|
common; but thus he expresses the love and esteem he had for <I>all the
|
|
Lord's people,</I> the complacency he took in the gifts of others, and
|
|
how far he was from being displeased at Eldad and Medad's prophesying
|
|
from under his eye. Such an excellent spirit as this blessed Paul was
|
|
of, rejoicing that Christ was preached, though it was by those who
|
|
therein intended to <I>add affliction to his bonds,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:16">Phil. i. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
We ought to be pleased that God is served and glorified, and good done,
|
|
though to the lessening of our credit and the credit of our way.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. The elders, now newly ordained, immediately entered upon their
|
|
administration
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>);
|
|
|
|
when their call was sufficiently attested by their prophesying, they
|
|
went with Moses to the camp, and applied themselves to business. Having
|
|
received the gift, they <I>ministered the same as good stewards.</I>
|
|
And now Moses was pleased that he had so many to share with him in his
|
|
work and honour. And,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let the testimony of Moses be credited by those who desire to be
|
|
in power, that government is a burden. It is a burden of care and
|
|
trouble to those who make conscience of the duty of it; and to those
|
|
who do not it will prove a heavier burden in the day of account, when
|
|
they fall under the doom of the unprofitable servant that buried his
|
|
talent.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let the example of Moses be imitated by those that are in power;
|
|
let them not despise the advice and assistance of others, but desire
|
|
it, and be thankful for it, not coveting to monopolize wisdom and
|
|
power. In the multitude of counsellors there is safety.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Nu11_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Quails.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>31 And there went forth a wind from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and brought
|
|
quails from the sea, and let <I>them</I> 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
|
|
<I>high</I> upon the face of the earth.
|
|
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all <I>that</I> night,
|
|
and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that
|
|
gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread <I>them</I> all
|
|
abroad for themselves round about the camp.
|
|
33 And while the flesh <I>was</I> yet between their teeth, ere it
|
|
was chewed, the wrath of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was kindled against the people,
|
|
and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>And</I> the people journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto
|
|
Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
God, having performed his promise to Moses by giving him assessors in
|
|
the government, thereby proving the power he has over the spirits of
|
|
men by his Spirit, he here performs his promise to the people by giving
|
|
them flesh, proving thereby his power over the inferior creatures and
|
|
his dominion in the kingdom of nature. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How the people were gratified with flesh in abundance: <I>A wind</I>
|
|
(a south-east wind, as appears,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:26">Ps. lxxviii. 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>brought quails,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is uncertain what sort of animals they were; the psalmist
|
|
calls them <I>feathered fowl,</I> or <I>fowl of wing.</I> The learned
|
|
bishop Patrick inclines to agree with some modern writers, who think
|
|
they were <I>locusts,</I> a delicious sort of food well known in those
|
|
parts, the rather because they were brought with a wind, lay in heaps,
|
|
and were dried in the sun for use. Whatever they were, they answered
|
|
the intention, they served for a month's feast for Israel, such an
|
|
indulgent Father was God to his froward family. Locusts, that had been
|
|
a plague to fruitful Egypt, feeding upon the fruits, were a blessing to
|
|
a barren wilderness, being themselves fed upon.
|
|
|
|
2. How greedy they were of this flesh that God sent them. They <I>flew
|
|
upon the spoil</I> with an unsatiable appetite, not regarding what
|
|
Moses had told them from God, that they would surfeit upon it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Two days and a night they were at it, gathering flesh, till every
|
|
master of a family had brought home ten homers (that is, ten ass-loads)
|
|
at least. 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.
|
|
|
|
3. How dearly they paid for their feasts, when it came into the
|
|
reckoning: <I>The Lord smote them with a very great plague</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
some bodily disease, which probably was the effect of their surfeit,
|
|
and was the death of many of them, and those, it is likely, the
|
|
ringleaders in the mutiny. Note, God often grants the desires of his
|
|
own people in love. He <I>gave them their request,</I> but <I>sent
|
|
leanness into their soul,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+16:15">Ps. xvi. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
By all that was said to them they <I>were not estranged from their
|
|
lusts,</I> and therefore, <I>while the meat was in their mouths, the
|
|
wrath of God came upon them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:30,31">Ps. lxxviii. 30, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
What we inordinately desire, if we obtain it (we have reason to fear),
|
|
will be some way or other a grief and cross to us. God satiated them
|
|
first, and then plagued them,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To save the reputation of his own power, that it might not be
|
|
said, "He would not have cut them off had he been able to supply them."
|
|
And,
|
|
|
|
(2.) To show us the meaning of the prosperity of sinners; it is their
|
|
preparation for ruin, they are fed as an ox for the slaughter.
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> The remembrance of this is preserved in the name given
|
|
to the place,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
Moses called it <I>Kibroth-hattaavah,</I> the <I>graves of lusters</I>
|
|
or <I>of lust.</I> And well it had been if these graves of Israel's
|
|
lusters had proved the graves of Israel's lust: the warning was
|
|
designed to be so, but it had not its due effect, for it follows
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:32">Ps. lxxviii. 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>For all this, they sinned still.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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