BAMIDBAR

IN THE WILDERNESS

1 And when the people complained, it displeased Yahweh: and Yahweh heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire [Eish] of Yahweh burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp [at the edge of the machaneh].

Is our lot a heavy one?

Then let us not murmur but go to God and lay the matter before Him. It may be that He will alter it. God has never complained because man has besought deliverance from trouble. The complaint of God has been that man has avoided referring the trouble to Him, or has turned rebellious when it has not been immediately removed.

The faithless wilderness wanderers are a warning to us in this matter. They called not on God in their trouble, but unreasonably and instantly resented it. Let us note the lesson of the narrative—

"When the people complained it displeased Yahweh" (Num. 11:1).

Surely not one of us is desirous of displeasing God. Then let us cultivate patience and contentment under trial. Is it strange that God should be displeased when His people murmur at the way in which He leads them to everlasting life and happiness?

Does He not care for them? Is He indifferent to their present and ultimate well-being? Let us open our minds and not act childishly. Truly, grumbling saints are despisers of God. The psalmist realised that affliction was good (Psl. 119:67, 71). But whether we realise it or not let us believe it.

If we indulge in Israel's sin we shall surely fail of the promised goodness.

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings" (Phil. 2:14).

The only safe-guard in the case is to recognise God in all our affairs. All the holy men of old did this, and as a result were enabled to unfalteringly fulfil the trying mission of their lives—to endure the difficulties of their probation with contentment and unswerving patience.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, July 1888

6 But now our soul [nefesh] is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

They also rejected the true bread of life when he came.

Which of us does not grow weary

The people could cook and serve it in various ways: but still it was always

....manna; and the people grew tired of it, so tired that they grew vexed; and so vexed, that they cried like children in their tent doors when they remembered the fish, the cucumbers, the leeks, and the garlic that they had in Egypt.

God was angry with the people because of their murmuring on this head. Was it not natural that the people should tire of always eating the same thing? We cannot but feel that it certainly was natural, and we cannot help feeling sorry for them, as they stand crying in their tent doors. But was it quite excusable? Here is another question. They had evidence of a very palpable kind that they were in God's hands; they ought, therefore, to have submitted cheerfully to whatever He required of them, knowing His power and His wisdom and goodness.

They ought to have received with contentment the form of food provided for them, even if it had been quite objectionable, which it was not. There was in fact an object in subjecting them to this disciplinary diet. Moses explained it afterwards in the rehearsal on the plains of Moab.

"The Lord thy God…humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know: that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."

The effect of the prolonged and practical lesson of the manna was visible in the character of the host that entered the land under Joshua. There has been no such docile and godly and circumcised generation of Israel from that day to this; and will not be till their children have been put through a similar experience prior to their reinstatement in the land at the coming of Christ.

We have the spiritual counterpart of this episode in the experience of the saints in probation. They have been delivered from an Egypt: They are going through a great and terrible wilderness: They have received a law for their guidance: and they have their food appointed. It is manna - manna from heaven - Christ eaten by faith - eaten daily and richly; and there is an interdict on the rich foods of Egypt:

"the cares, the riches, the pleasures of this world."

It is rigorous regimen. It is a course of self-denial to which no man would submit without a reason. But there is a reason, though the command is itself sufficient of a reason. We are being prepared for Divine use afterwards. We are being "made fit" for the kingdom of God.

... If our way is restricted, if our lives are dull, if our principles are inconvenient, if our pleasures are shut up to the things connected with the truth, it is only for a time, and it is for a well-defined purpose. The time will soon be over: the purpose will be served.

Seasons 2.25

31 And there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon [a height of two cubits from the ground] [above - RV] the face of the earth [for the distance of a day's journey all around the machaneh].

An Objection about the Quails‭ (‬Num.‭ ‬11:31,‭ ‬32‭)

The slight difficulty introduced by the A.V. rendering—"two cubits high upon the face of the earth," is removed by the R.V. rendering, which is the correct one—

"about two cubits above the face of the earth."

God brought down the quails within arm's reach, and Israel gathered them as they flew, doubltess catching them in the air, and knocking them down with sticks.

This agrees with the quantities mentioned and the fact that there was room to spread them abroad round about the camp, which could not have been the case if they had been half buried in the ridiculous writhing mass of feathered fowl that the hasty enemies of the Bible have imagined, so that they may have another fling at the book.

Those who set themselves to the defence of the Word will always have the best of it, both now and in the age to come.—C.C.W.

The Christadelphian, Sept 1889