If you’re a regular reader here, sorry it’s been a while. Ironically, being on holiday (as I have for the past 2 weeks) makes me worse at reading my Bible regularly, and terrible at blogging about it! Anyway, starting a new plan today, based around ’30 stories I’ve probably never heard’ according to Zondervan. I think I’ve heard them all, but it may be unlikely I’ve considered them recently, for sure! So here we go, with Numbers 11, and a chapter where everyone speaks grumpily to each other!
Scripture
16 The LORD said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat.
Observation
So the chapter starts with fire being sent to the Israelites’ camp as a punishment for grumbling about hardships, but the people carry on. Specifically moaning that they don’t have any meat to eat, only manna. They go to Moses about it, and he complains to God that he can’t bear the burden of leading this people alone (interesting that he starts there, rather than repeating their complaint about meat). So God deals with both problems at once – he sends his spirit to 70 other leaders of the tribes AND gives them so much meat that it starts to kill them (v33 says that God struck them with a severe plague after they each collected over a ton of quail – I wonder if it was simply that the meat started to rot and make them ill?).
Application
Well, it’s probably not best to focus on all the grumpiness. Moses is a leader who is never afraid to say what he’s thinking, or to question God about whether his decision is a good one, but as you may know from the rest of his story, not trusting God is what leads Moses to die before the people reach the Promised Land. I think a good focus we can bring out of this chapter is the fact that God, with all the people clamouring for something better, and two different requests being made, is generous enough to grant both (though he doesn’t leave the ungratefulness of the people unpunished). And what’s interesting is that he starts with the request that is more important – that of sharing the leadership responsibilities. We can trust God to know which prayers to answer and which prayers to leave for now when we call on him; he knows what’s best for us, and what is most important in our lives when we are too engulfed in a situation to see what are the vital things to focus on.
Prayer
Father God, thank you that you know better than I do, and that you can see the whole of my life and situations when I certainly cannot. And thank you that you are generous enough to grant prayers when you know what’s best for me. Amen.
