This should read, from the manuscripts; "And when the People were like those People that complained in the year of the Lord." This "camp" is a city of over two million people. And those in the outer fringes of the camp started to murmur against God. It was only those in this outer area that contained these complainers that were destroyed by the fire of the Lord. The wording of "fire" here was the same fire from Exodus 10:2, that struck dead Nadab and Abihu, the two oldest sons of Aaron, for offering strange fire, hot coals, on the altar of the Lord. Our Lord is a consuming fire:

Hebrews 12:28, 29 "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptable with reverence and godly fear:" [28] "For our God is a consuming fire." [29]

Our Lord is a loving God, but this same fire that gives comfort and protection to the soul of the one that loves Him, can destroy those by the same fire of His Spirit that do not reverence Him and His appointed leader. Two people can be standing side by side, and the fire that consumes the one, comforts the other.

"The year of the Lord" is the end of this earth age. At that moment in time, the entire earth will be chasing after Satan, in his role as the Antichrist. The simply will be deceived so badly that they will follow Satan in ignorance. When people listen to murmurings and get swept away by their accusations, they become part of the revolt. God simply doesn't like it. This is what happened when Jeremiah to the people that they were going into the captivity of Babylon, and all the religious leaders, the priests refused

Jeremiah 23:34 "And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the People, that shall say, `The burden of the Lord,' I will even punish that man and his house."

When things don't go right, you had better watch yourself as to who you put the blame on. This goes for a person, a family or a nation; for when you accuse God for your own faults, and for listening to Satan and following his advice, there will be a huge price to pay for your ignorance.

In the book of Job, Job knew that it wasn't God that brought the trouble on him, but he just didn't pay attention to the fact that it was Satan. All his friends blamed both Job and God, but Job just sat there and took the bad advice from some thirty seven chapters before God stepped in and told Job to wise up and stop listening to the bad advise of those so called friends. God makes it very clear that He does not place burdens on His people, and when those burdens come and you say that God placed those burdens on you, your very words will come to pass, and you will be punished by your own words.

Jeremiah 23:36 "And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God."

Don't ever say that "God did this to me." For God doesn't bring burdens on people, when those burdens come, its because they have allow Satan to enter their lives and mess with them and their families, and the more they complain about God doing it, the worse it will become.

Numbers 11:2 "And the People cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched."

Here the people thought that God brought their troubles, yet they complained to Moses. Here we see Moses as a type of Jesus Christ, our advocate before the Father. Notice that when God makes the problem go away, they still don't get the point that God didn't bring the problem to them.

Numbers 11:3 "And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them."

Moses called that place where the People lost many of their neighbors by fire, "Taberah" ["The place of burning"]. Moses is starting to position himself in a very uncomfortable place, for each time the people mess up before the Lord, the people go to him to intercede with God for them. When God complains about the People, then Moses is called on to straighten out the people.

Numbers 11:4 "And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat?"

This "Mixt multitude" see # 6154 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, they are "a mixture race", arab, and mixture of race." These people were with the Israelites in Egypt in their bondage, and when the Egyptians booted the Israelites out, these mixture of people departed with them out of their bondage. These Arab mixture of people were known because of the numbering of the people when the army was made up, and they encamped in the outer skirts of the camp. When trouble started and murmurings they were the ones that joined in. When the Israelites were seeking to praise their God for the blessings He gave them, these people did not believe in YHVH the true God. In time when this Arab mixture of people would continue to complain, many of the People of God would join into their irreverence to God.

When one person in a crowd starts gripping, in time many will join with that person. When one baby in a room cries, all the babies join in. All the people were out there in the desert of Sin where there was no flesh to eat, and at that time, they all looked back to the flesh or meat they had in Egypt. In all those cases this mixed multitude starts the trouble and the followers of the Israelites are not far behind.

Numbers 11:5 "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:"

These mixture of people were there in Egypt, and they ate the fish, cucumbers, and melons right along with the children of Israel. They had the leeks, and the flavor of garlic and onions in their food, and these Arabs had no trouble stirring up the Israelites to gripping just as they were. These Egyptian cucumbers were very soft and sweet, and all the other fine foods that were back along the Nile; were easy to remember when you have been in the hot sun of the desert for the past two years. These were all very inexpensive foods that even slaves and people in bondage could afford. Even the slave food would be better than what they were forced to eat out here in the wilderness.

Numbers 11:6 "But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." "

The very meaning of the word manna in the Hebrew is "What's that?" When there was no food the people cried out to the Lord for food, and He gave them angels food, manna. "Manna" is symbolic of spiritual food, for as man grows tired of the hearty and wholesomeness of God's Word, and in time thinks of all the spices and things that the world has to offer to sinful man. They got tired of the manna, just as we see today, that many churches try new things, inject new things and ideas of the world to draw you into their congregation.

Numbers 11:7 "And the manna was a coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium."

This verse tells us exactly what manna tasted like and appeared to be. "Coriander seed", from Smith's Bible dictionary: "The plant called Coriandrum sativum is found in Egypt, Persia and India, and has a round tall stalk; it bears umbelliferous white or reddish flowers, from which arises globular, grayish, spicy seed corns, marked with a fine striae." This plant was close to what angels food is like as stated in Psalms 78:23-25 which tells us that man did eat angels food.

Psalms 78:23-25 "Though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven," [23] "And had rained down manna upon them to eat, And had given them of the corn of heaven." [24] "Man did eat angels' food: He sent them meat to the full." [25]

Just like the manna that God provided for the People; the Manna of spiritual food that we receive from the Word of God is what that man's mind can receive for that one day. God gives man understanding if he seeks after it, just as the people of Israel had to go out and pick up one days supply off the ground for that day. That manna would disappear under the hot sun, so it had to be taken and gathered in just for that day. God will give you only the understand that you are able to digest and use, and just like the manna, cramming the Word is like picking up a weeks supply of manna, it stinks and brings confusion. Don't push it, take only the daily manna that you can digest in your mind, and set the rest on the shelf for another time. God will provide for you what you need, when you seek the truth, ask God for the knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Numbers 11:8 "And the People went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil."

We started the book of Numbers with I Corinthians 10:1-12, and in verse three it states; "And did all eat the same spiritual food." This is reference to the children of Israel back in the wilderness. The children of Israel learned to take that spiritual food from heaven and make it into food to sustain them in this life.

Numbers 11:9 "And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it."

Remember that manna is not physical food, but spiritual food from heaven that rained on this earth providing for sustaining life in this age of flesh man. The people of Israel enjoyed the food at the beginning, and in a very short time they grew away from it. It would be like eating potatoes or rice at every meal, your only diet.

It seems that our people constantly are looking around for something else, new religions, traditions and ideas that they can build a tradition around and call it Christian. The Christians today try to redefine everything to make it palatable, just like these Israelites did. The Israelites fried it, baked it, milled it to flour, and mixed oil with it to bake the cakes and make mortar. God's Word is just not good enough for them, and they drift off into the traditions of man, and away from the truths of God's Word. They become lazy and just don't want to spend the time to wait on the Lord, and trust in the Holy Spirit to reveal truths to them.

Numbers 11:10 "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."

This is not the first time that the people cried and blamed God for their troubles. It started with Pharaoh's army was bearing down on them at the Red sea, and God opened the sea, and they passed to safety. Then they needed water, and Moses struck the rock and out came the water. The people even fell down and worshipped the golden calf, and tempted God: And here they are again complaining and weeping before Moses. The entire camp was under this losing attitude, and God's anger was building over the lack of trust and faith in the camp.

Numbers 11:11 "And Moses said unto the Lord, "Wherefore hast Thou afflicted Thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this People upon me?"

Notice that Moses is now speaking of himself as being afflicted. Remember that only Moses was bearing the weight of all the people on his own shoulders, and he is about to ask God for help. Moses knew that he has found favor with God, and God choose Moses to stand in the gap for the people. This burden Moses has done well. Moses is caught in the middle between these two million children of Israel, and the troubles that they are having out there in the wilderness. Think of all the problems that could go wrong with so many people, and only one man set up to lead. Moses is asking God for help.

Numbers 11:12 "Have I conceived all this People? have I begotten them, that Thou shouldest say unto me, `Carry them in thy bosom,' as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which Thou swarest unto their fathers?"

Moses is asking the Lord, did I conceive all these people and become responsible for them as a mother would carry her child, to nurse them into adulthood? Moses had young and old alike coming to him with their problems. There were over 603,000 men in the army, along with the priests and the 22,000 men assigned to the tabernacle. So Moses is telling God, I need some help; please help me.

Numbers 11:13 "Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this People? for they weep unto me, saying, `Give us flesh, that we may eat.' "

Numbers 11:14 "I am not able to bear all this People alone, because it is too heavy for me."

Moses has reached the end of his line, and the work has just become unbearable for Moses. This is the time to call on the name of the Lord. Moses has not refused to do the work, but he told God, I need help for the things I have to do.

Numbers 11:15 "And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in Thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." "

Moses is putting it right on the line with the Lord, telling Him that I have done my best, now if that isn't good enough, then kill me, but if I am finding favor with you, then take me out of this calamity.

Numbers 11:16 "And the Lord 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."

Its time to call Aaron and his sons and get the trumpet out for the call. Remember that one blast of one trumpet calls the leaders of all the tribes to the tabernacle for a meeting. God is telling Moses to get seventy trusted men of the elders of Israel, well respected and officers together with you. God heard Moses plea, and He will take action to relieve some of the pressures off Moses.

Numbers 11:17 "And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them: and they shall bear the burden of the People with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone."

The Spirit of the Lord, the Ruach, was upon Moses, and God is going to give each of the Elders of the tribes that same Spirit of wisdom, so they would share the burden of the people and lighten Moses' load. Think of this, the sharing of responsibility of the problems of the people, by dividing those two million amongst seventh men, instead of one, Moses.

Numbers 11:18 "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 Lord, saying `Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with is in Egypt:' therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat."

God is telling Moses to go to the people and remind them of all those complaints that they have made in the past. They had been comparing the manna with the good things of Egypt, the food of their Egyptian bondage. But God is promising Moses that tomorrow they will have good flesh to eat.

Numbers 11:19 "Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;"

God is talking about a lot of flesh coming their way.

Numbers 11:20 "But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" 

God is telling Moses that the people will be eating so much flesh that it will be coming out of their noses. You want flesh? that is what you will get, and it will be so great that you will learn to hate flesh in thirty days. Remember that the people didn't like the daily manna that God was giving them; it just was not good enough for them. They kept looking back at that diet of slave's food in bondage and comparing it with God's food. Even after this huge supply of quail, they will continue to ask God, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt." The people are still thinking that God brought them out in the wilderness to die. They have completely lost sight of the promise land, and why they left Egypt in the first place.

Numbers 11:21 "And Moses said, "The People, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month."

Moses is reminding God that there are six hundred thousand footmen, and they eat a lot of flesh. Now you say that you will provide flesh for all them and their families for one month. That was a lot of meat, when there is no animals or birds around them in the wilderness.

You see if God promises something through His Word, He will perform that which He promises. God gives His Word and we are to trust Him for keeping His Word. I don't believe that Moses was doubting God, but just thinking over the tremendous task of what it would take to fulfill that promise.

Numbers 11:22 "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?" "

Moses was wondering if God was suppose to slay their flocks of goats, lambs and animals to fulfill this promise of God, but would that satisfy the people? How are you going to do this, God?

Numbers 11:23 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or not."

Moses is questioning the ability for God to keep his promise, and God is telling Moses to stand by and watch whether the words I speak come to pass.

God has warned us of all the things that would come to pass before He would return at the seventh and last trump. He told us of the return of the good and bad figs to Jerusalem, which is the house of Judah along with the Kenites going back to set up their nation. He told us through His Word of the shaking of the earth, the patterns of weather, and of the wars; and of the one world political system that would form, only to be destroyed and rebuild as a religious system. We have many promises by God to those that will study His Word to prepare themselves for these end times, yet like these Israelites in the wilderness, they like to go chasing after their own ways and defy God and His Word. God warned us that Satan would return and bring his fallen angels with him, and seal our minds with the truth of those day, that we would not be deceived when that six trumpet sounded, and Satan arrived. Are the Christians making themselves ready? hardly, for they are listening to fairy-tales and planning on their flyaway theories, than making them selves ready.

Man's thinking hasn't changed much, things are pretty much the same, for there is nothing new under the sun. The sun goes up and comes down, and man still tries to make his own way, rather than accept the Word of God, and follow His Way. Friend, what ever our Lord says He can do, you had better take him at His Word and believe it. They are going to get the flesh, lots of it; and we are going to be well tested by Satan before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ at the seventh and last trump. God keeps all of His promises.

Numbers 11:24 "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 set them round about the tabernacle."

When God was done speaking to Moses, Moses called the people to him and told them what the Lord had promised. That He would give flesh to all the people, as much as they could eat for a thirty day period; and that he would receive help from seventy men from all their tribes. Then Moses called the seventy men to the Tabernacle, and they are about to receive the same Spirit that Moses has.

Numbers 11:25 "And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease."

"Did not cease", meaning that the number of these seventy men in not increase or were added to after this day. This would be the center of leadership for the tribes of Israel as they passed through the wilderness. The Spirit of God rested on these men, and they spoke as God led them to speak or prophesy, and they had the Spirit that had rested on Moses also. However notice how the Spirit came to rest on these people, God to Moses to bring them to the Tabernacle, and He [YHVH] came down and took the spirit that was upon Moses and placed it in each of these seventy elders.

This Prophesying by the Spirit of the Lord is talked about in Acts 2, that time when the Holy Spirit of the Lord fell on their Christians and they went out into the streets, and spoke to where everyone heard in their own native tongue back home. There was no confusion or need of an interpreter, of every one in the streets heard exactly in the dialect of the home what these men with the Spirit of God were saying. This is the same Spirit and results that these seventy men had when the Spirit of the Lord fell upon them. God gave each of them the wisdom to handle the problems back in their neighborhood and tribes that they lived in.

Numbers 11:26 "But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the 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 went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp."

However the Spirit of God fell on two of these seventy, that did not go to the tabernacle as Moses requested, and the Spirit of God fell on each of them also. Eldad means "God has love", and Medad means "affectionate" in the Hebrew tongue. The reason that it states "that were written" is that the minutes of that meeting were done in writing. Though sixty eight were present at the time, all seventy names were recorded. Prophecy was not a gift that Moses or any other man can place on a person, God's Spirit comes only from God.

Numbers 11:27 "And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp." 

This young man spoken of here was Joshua, the man that would lead the children of Israel into the promise land.

Numbers 11:28 "And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, "My My lord Moses, forbid them." 

Joshua had been a young servant of Moses for quite some time. Joshua is telling Moses to go and forbid them from Prophesying and doing what they were doing. Joshua knew of the seventy that he thought were in the tabernacle, yet there were two more out there prophesying. Yet there were only sixty eight in the tabernacle. These men were distracting from Moses authority, as Moses had been the final word in the camp, and now there were others doing as Moses was doing.

Numbers 11:29 "And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!"

So this was Moses reaction to what Joshua said: Joshua are you jealous for my sake? Moses was not seeking self fame or gratification, but he wished that all of God's people could approach the Lord and prophesy as he did; and that the Spirit of the Lord would fall on all of God's people. Moses didn't have any problem in giving all the credit to the Spirit of God.

Look at the change that has come over the camp, for in just a day, the Spirit of God fell on these seventy men, and their prophesying had changed all the people around them. Moses went from a time of complete despair, to a camp that would be filled with seventy men throughout the camp blessing the people, and prophesying as to fixing their problems. So Moses is saying that if God's Spirit had fallen on each of the people, then there would be no problems in the camp.

Numbers 11:30 "And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel."

Moses and the seventy elders of Israel, those filled with the Spirit of God, returned into their places in the camp from the tabernacle.

Numbers 11:31 "And there went forth a wind from the Lord, 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 the face of the earth."

Here comes the the flesh, and lots of it. A Hebrew "Day's journey" was about thirty (30) English miles. We know from Psalms 78:28 that this was a south east wind to draw the quail off the sea and many miles inland, right where the children of Israel were camped. So any where you went from the camp, a days journey, thirty miles, these quail stacked three to four feet high.

Psalms 78:26,27 "He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: And by His power He brought in the south wind." 26] "He rained flesh also upon them as dust, And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:" [27]

Numbers 11:32 "And the People stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp."

An half an homer is about four (4) bushels, so ten homers would be eighty bushels of these quail. There was no time to sleep when this much quail is dropped on your doorstep. It was time to gather the quail outside the camp, and they prepare them by drying and preserving them, and spread these quail all over the campsite.

The number ten (10) in biblical numerics was the number for judgment and responsibility for reward. Each person gathered and the least person gathered eighty English bushels of these quail.

Numbers 11:33 "And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the People, and the Lord smote the People with a very great plague."

As the people sat eating their meal of these birds, God because angry and their failing to give thanks for their food; so He brought a plague down on the people. God doesn't like complainers nor ungrateful people. When God gave them His spiritual food, the manna, it wasn't good enough for them, for they wanted their spicy foods. They were even willing to go back into bondage just to fill their stomachs.

Numbers 11:34 "And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted."

The word "Kibroth-hattaavah" in the Hebrew tongue means "graves of lust".

Numberes 11:35 "And the People journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth."

So this would be the second location that the children of Israel would camp, after leaving the foot of mount Sinai. So in this chapter we saw lust and greed fill the hearts of God's people, but in the next chapter, we will see Satan's favorite tool. Satan will attack your weakest link, and he is going to attack the religious leaders themselves.