27. AN UNPLEASANT ROAD AND FOOD
The building of the tabernacle was not begun for some time after Israel arrived at Sinai; and the sacred structure was first set up at the opening of the second year from the Exodus.
This was followed by the consecration of the priests, the celebration of the Passover, the numbering of the people, and the completion of various arrangements essential to their civil or religious system, so that nearly a year was spent in the encampment at Sinai.
Here their worship had taken a more definite form, the laws had been given for the government of the nation, and a more efficient organization had been effected preparatory to their entrance into the land of Canaan. {PP 374.1}
The government of Israel was characterized by the most thorough organization, wonderful alike for its completeness and its simplicity.
The order so strikingly displayed in the perfection and arrangement of all God’s created works was manifest in the Hebrew economy.
God was the center of authority and government, the sovereign of Israel. Moses stood as their visible leader, by God’s appointment, to administer the laws in His name.
From the elders of the tribes a council of seventy was afterward chosen to assist Moses in the general affairs of the nation.
Next came the priests, who consulted the Lord in the sanctuary. Chiefs, or princes, ruled over the tribes. Under these were “captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens,” and, lastly, officers who might be employed for special duties. Deuteronomy 1:15.
The Hebrew camp was arranged in exact order. It was separated into three great divisions, each having its appointed position in the encampment.
In the center was the tabernacle, the abiding place of the invisible King. Around it were stationed the priests and
Levites. Beyond these were encamped all the other tribes. To the Levites was committed the charge of the tabernacle and all that pertained thereto, both in the camp and on the journey.
When the camp set forward they were to strike the sacred tent; when a halting place was reached they were to set it up. No person of another tribe was allowed to come near, on pain of death.
The Levites were separated into three divisions, the descendants of the three sons of Levi, and each was assigned its special position and work.
In front of the tabernacle, and nearest to it, were the tents of Moses and Aaron.
On the south were the Kohathites, whose duty it was to care for the ark and the other furniture; on the north Merarites, who were placed in charge of the pillars, sockets, boards, etc.; in the rear the Gershonites, to whom the care of the curtains and hangings was committed.
The position of each tribe also was specified. Each was to march and to encamp beside its own standard, as the Lord had commanded:
“Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.” “As they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.” Numbers 2:2,17.
The mixed multitude that had accompanied Israel from Egypt were not permitted to occupy the same quarters with the tribes, but were to abide upon the outskirts of the camp; and their offspring were to be excluded from the community until the third generation. Deuteronomy 23:7, 8.
Scrupulous cleanliness as well as strict order throughout the encampment and its environs was enjoined. Thorough sanitary regulations were enforced.
Every person who was unclean from any cause was forbidden to enter the camp.
These measures were indispensable to the preservation of health among so vast a multitude; and it was necessary also that perfect order and purity be maintained, that Israel might enjoy the presence of a holy God.
Thus He declared: Deuteronomy 23:14 For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.
In all the journeyings of Israel, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, . . . to search out a resting place for them.” Numbers 10:33.
Borne by the sons of Kohath, the sacred chest containing God’s holy law was to lead the van. Before it went Moses and Aaron; and the priests, bearing silver trumpets, were stationed near.
These priests received directions from Moses, which they communicated to the people by the trumpets. It was the duty of the leaders of each company to give definite directions concerning all the movements to be made, as indicated by the trumpets.
Whoever neglected to comply with the directions given was punished with death. God is a God of order. Everything connected with heaven is in perfect order; subjection and thorough discipline mark the movements of the angelic host.
Success can only attend order and harmonious action. God requires order and system in His work now no less than in the days of Israel.
All who are working for Him are to labor intelligently, not in a careless, haphazard manner. He would have his work done with faith and exactness, that He may place the seal of His approval upon it.
God Himself directed the Israelites in all their travels. The place of their encampment was indicated by the descent of the pillar of cloud; and so long as they were to remain in camp, the cloud rested over the tabernacle.
When they were to continue their journey it was lifted high above the sacred tent. A solemn invocation marked both the halt and the departure.
“It came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.” Numbers 10:35, 36.
A distance of only eleven days’ journey lay between Sinai and Kadesh, on the borders of Canaan; and it was with the prospect of speedily entering the goodly land that the hosts of Israel resumed their march when the cloud at last gave the signal for an onward movement.
Jehovah had wrought wonders in bringing them from Egypt, and what blessings might they not expect now that they had formally covenanted to accept Him as their Sovereign, and had been acknowledged as the chosen people of the Most High?
Yet it was almost with reluctance that many left the place where they had so long encamped. They had come almost to regard it as their home. Within the shelter of those granite walls God had gathered His people, apart from all other nations, to repeat to them His holy law.
They loved to look upon the sacred mount, on whose hoary peaks and barren ridges the divine glory had so often been displayed. The scene was so closely associated with the presence of God and holy angels that it seemed too sacred to be left thoughtlessly, or even gladly.
At the signal from the trumpeters, however, the entire camp set forward, the tabernacle borne in the midst, and each tribe in its appointed position, under its own standard.
All eyes were turned anxiously to see in what direction the cloud would lead. As it moved toward the east, where were only mountain masses huddled together, black and desolate, a feeling of sadness and doubt arose in many hearts.
As they advanced, the way became more difficult. Their route lay through stony ravine and barren waste.
All around them was the great wilderness; “a land of deserts and of pits,” “a land of drought, and of the shadow of death,” “a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt.” Jeremiah 2:6.
The rocky gorges, far and near, were thronged with men, women, and children, with beasts and wagons, and long lines of flocks and herds.
Their progress was necessarily slow and toilsome; and the multitudes, after their long encampment, were not prepared to endure the perils and discomforts of the way.
After three days’ journey open complaints were heard. These originated with the mixed multitude, many of whom were not fully united with Israel, and were continually watching for some cause of censure.
The complainers were not pleased with the direction of the march, and they were continually finding fault with the way in which Moses was leading them, though they well knew that he, as well as they, was following the guiding cloud. Dissatisfaction is contagious, and it soon spread in the encampment. PP 377
Can you believe it. On their way to the promised land and complaining all the way. What about you and me?
Numbers 11:1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
Literally, they “were as murmurers of evil.” That is, evil in the sense of misfortune, unhappiness. The wilderness probably appeared to them to be a deathtrap.
Badly frightened by their own imagination, they began to predict all kinds of evils that would befall them there.
Who are these people, the murmurers on the outskirts?
The mixed multitudes (verse 4) were on the fringes of the camp, for the arrangement by tribes (chapter 2) left them no other place.
Verses 2,3 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
Taberah. The name comes from a verb meaning “to burn,” “to consume,” “to exterminate.
Numbers 11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
The mixed multitude. From the Hebrew ha’saphsuph, a repeating form from the verb ’asaph, “to collect.”
The word “riff-raff” has been suggested as an appropriate modern translation. For the identity of these people see on Ex. 12:38 (see also Deut. 29:11; Joshua 8:35)
Israel also wept. This became almost a habit with the Israelites in moments of petulant displeasure (Num. 14:1; Deut. 1:45; 34:8; Judges 2:4; 20:23, 26; 21:2).
Meat to eat. When the Israelites came out of Egypt they were rich in cattle (Ex. 12:32, 38; 17:3; 34:3; Num. 32:1). But presumably not all the Israelites had large flocks and herds, and evidently the number they had was not sufficient to provide for a regular flesh diet for all, even if that had been the best thing for them.
Again they began to clamor for flesh to eat. Though abundantly supplied with manna, they were not satisfied.
The Israelites, during their bondage in Egypt, had been compelled to subsist on the plainest and simplest food; but then keen appetite induced by privation and hard labor had made it palatable.
Many of the Egyptians, however, who were now among them, had been accustomed to a luxurious diet; and these were the first to complain.
At the giving of the manna, just before Israel reached Sinai, the Lord had granted them flesh in answer to their clamors; but it was furnished them for only one day.
God might as easily have provided them with flesh as with manna, but a restriction was placed upon them for their good. It was His purpose to supply them with food better suited to their wants than the feverish diet to which many had become accustomed in Egypt.
The perverted appetite was to be brought into a more healthy state, that they might enjoy the food originally provided for man; the fruits of the earth, which God gave to Adam and Eve in Eden. It was for this reason that the Israelites had been deprived, in a great measure, of animal food.
Satan tempted them to regard this restriction as unjust and cruel. He caused them to lust after forbidden things, because he saw that the unrestrained indulgence of appetite would tend to produce sensuality, and by this means the people could be more easily brought under his control.
The author of disease and misery will assail men where he can have the greatest success. Through temptations addressed to the appetite he has, to a large extent, led men into sin from the time when he induced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
It was by this same means that he led Israel to murmur against God. Intemperance in eating and drinking, leading as it does to the indulgence of the lower passions, prepares the way for men to disregard all moral obligations.
When assailed by temptation, they have little power of resistance. God brought the Israelites from Egypt, that He might establish them in the land of Canaan, a pure, holy, and happy people. In the accomplishment of this object He subjected them to a course of discipline, both for their own good and for the good of their posterity.
Had they been willing to deny appetite, in obedience to His wise restrictions, feebleness and disease would have been unknown among them. Their descendants would have possessed both physical and mental strength. They would have had clear perceptions of truth and duty, keen discrimination, and sound judgment.
But their unwillingness to submit to the restrictions and requirements of God, prevented them, to a great extent, from reaching the high standard which He desired them to attain, and from receiving the blessings which He was ready to bestow upon them.
Psalm 78:18-21 They tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can He give bread also? can He provide flesh for His people? Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth.
Murmuring and tumults had been frequent during the journey from the Red Sea to Sinai, but in pity for their ignorance and blindness God had not then visited the sin with judgments.
But since that time He had revealed Himself to them at Horeb. They had received great light, as they had been witnesses to the majesty, the power, and the mercy of God; and their unbelief and discontent incurred the greater guilt. Furthermore, they had covenanted to accept Jehovah as their king and to obey His authority.
Their murmuring was now rebellion, and as such it must receive prompt and signal punishment, if Israel was to be preserved from anarchy and ruin. “The fire of Jehovah burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.” The most guilty of the complainers were slain by lightning from the cloud.
After the break we will continue this very sad incident. May God help us to seek him not only with our hearts but also with what does into our stomachs.