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| 1 And the people is evil, as those sighing habitually in the ears of Jehovah, and Jehovah heareth, and His anger burneth, and the fire of Jehovah burneth among them, and consumeth in the extremity of the camp. |
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| 2 And the people cry unto Moses, and Moses prayeth unto Jehovah, and the fire is quenched; |
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| 3 and he calleth the name of that place Taberah, for the fire of Jehovah hath 'burned' among them. |
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| 4 And the rabble who [are] in its midst have lusted greatly, and the sons of Israel also turn back and weep, and say, 'Who doth give us flesh |
A lusting – Typifying God's people seeking worldly doctrines (specifically, Evolution) instead of religious (spiritual) food. R5267:3*
Wept again – To murmur is to dispute the divine wisdom and promises and to long for food of one's own provision. R5306:2,6
The prayers of murmurers, when answered, often bring sorrow. R3061:2
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| 5 We have remembered the fish which we do eat in Egypt for nought, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; |
Remember the fish – How apt are all to remember the pleasures of the sinful condition and to forget its hardships. R3036:3
The world's theories. R5307:1
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| 6 and now our soul [is] dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.' |
Beside this manna – Representing the living Bread supplied to the world by God in Christ. T122; R4037:5
Divine truth. R5307:1
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| 7 And the manna is as coriander seed, and its aspect as the aspect of bdolach; |
Manna – Meaning "What is it?" R4012:4
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| 8 the people have turned aside and gathered [it], and ground [it] with millstones, or beat [it] in a mortar, and boiled [it] in a pan, and made it cakes, and its taste hath been as the taste of the moisture of oil. |
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| 9 And in the descending of the dew on the camp by night, the manna descendeth upon it. |
Manna fell upon it – Evidently deposited in, or from, the dew by some power of God working in harmony with the natural laws of chemistry not yet thoroughly understood. R3036:4
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| 10 And Moses heareth the people weeping by its families, each at the opening of his tent, and the anger of Jehovah burneth exceedingly, and in the eyes of Moses [it is] evil. |
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| 11 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'Why hast Thou done evil to Thy servant and why have I not found grace in Thine eyes to put the burden of all this people upon me |
Moses – Who acted representatively in making the Law covenant with Israel, as Christ acted representatively in bringing it to an end. R1725:3-5
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| 12 I have I conceived all this people I have I begotten it, that Thou sayest unto me, Carry it in thy bosom as the nursing father beareth the suckling, unto the ground which Thou hast sworn to its fathers |
As a nursing father – God dealt with Moses in making the Law covenant; he stood in the position of a father to the nation and they were regarded and treated as children under age. R5046:3, R1725:3
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| 13 Whence have I flesh to give to all this people for they weep unto me, saying, Give to us flesh, and we eat. |
Give us flesh – Desires for worldly doctrines (specifically, Evolution) instead of religious (spiritual) food--Manna. R5267:3*
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| 14 I am not able I alone to bear all this people, for [it is] too heavy for me;
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Is too heavy for me – Moses, instead of being a schemer after power and authority, was really an overworked servant. A47
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| 15 and if thus Thou art doing to me slay me, I pray Thee; slay, if I have found grace in thine eyes, and let me not look on mine affliction.' |
Kill me – Moses urged that if this burden must remain with him it would be better for him to die. R5306:4
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| 16 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee, |
70 men of the elders – Supposedly the original Sanhedrin. R4037:2, R5306; 4
Elders of the people – The civil government which was established was virtually a democracy. HG533:6
A form of government calculated to cultivate the spirit of liberty. HG534:2
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| 17 and I have come down and spoken with thee there, and have kept back of the Spirit which [is] upon thee, and have put on them, and they have borne with thee some of the burden of the people, and thou dost not bear [it] thyself alone. |
I will take – Showing Israel's government to be a Theocracy. A46
Put it upon them – Fecundating their minds mechanically, without affecting them in any moral sense. E175
Bear the burden – God granted the prayer of Moses as a proper one. R5307:4
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| 18 'And unto the people thou dost say, Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow, and ye have eaten flesh (for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who doth give us flesh for we [had] good in Egypt) and Jehovah hath given to you flesh, and ye have eaten. |
Ye have wept – The murmurings of the people were classed as their prayers. They got what they desired, but with it a punishment. R5307:4
Let us take heed how we pray. R5307:4
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| 19 Ye do not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days; |
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| 20 unto a month of days, till that it come out from your nostrils, and it hath become to you an abomination; because that ye have loathed Jehovah, who [is] in your midst, and weep before Him, saying, Why is this we have come out of Egypt!' |
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| 21 And Moses saith, 'Six hundred thousand footmen [are] the people in whose midst I [am]; and Thou, Thou hast said, Flesh I give to them, and they have eaten, a month of days! |
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| 22 Is flock and herd slaughtered for them, that one hath found for them are all the fishes of the sea gathered for them that one hath found for them ' |
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| 23 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Is the hand of Jehovah become short now thou dost see whether My word meeteth thee or not.' |
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| 24 And Moses goeth out, and speaketh unto the people the words of Jehovah, and gathereth seventy men of the elders of the people, and causeth them to stand round about the tent, |
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| 25 and Jehovah cometh down in the cloud, and speaketh unto him, and keepeth back of the Spirit which [is] on him, and putteth on the seventy men of the elders; and it cometh to pass at the resting of the Spirit on them, that they prophesy, and do not cease. |
They prophesied – This became a sign to the elders themselves and to all who heard it that they shared responsibility of leadership. R5306:5
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| 26 And two of the men are left in the camp, the name of the one [is] Eldad, and the name of the second Medad, and the spirit resteth upon them, (and they are among those written, and have not gone out to the tent), and they prophesy in the camp; |
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| 27 and the young man runneth, and declareth to Moses, and saith, 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' |
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| 28 And Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, [one] of his young men, answereth and saith, 'My lord Moses, restrain them.' |
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| 29 And Moses saith to him, 'Art thou zealous for me O that all Jehovah's people were prophets! that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!' |
And Moses – Foreshadowing Christ's willingness to share the honors of the divine nature with the Church. R3553:1
Enviest thou for my sake? – An example of true and guileless statesmanship and meekness. A47
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| 30 And Moses is gathered unto the camp, he and the elders of Israel. |
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| 31 And a spirit hath journeyed from Jehovah, and cutteth off quails from the sea, and leaveth by the camp, as a day's journey here, and as a day's journey there, round about the camp, and about two cubits, on the face of the land. |
Two cubits high – Every spring they come in great flocks and, wearied with the long flight across the Red Sea, fly so low, about two cubits from the ground, that they are easily captured. R4012:3, R5306:5; PD34/45
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| 32 And the people rise all that day, and all the night, and all the day after, and gather the quails he who hath least hath gathered ten homers and they spread them out for themselves round about the camp. |
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| 33 The flesh is yet between their teeth it is not yet cut off and the anger of Jehovah hath burned among the people, and Jehovah smiteth among the people a very great smiting; |
Smote the people – Those who fill themselves with Higher Criticism and Evolutionary theories perish as New Creatures. R5307:1
Very great plague – An insidious pestilence, a fever from overeating. R5306:6, R3061:2
Errors produce a fever which consumes the New Creature. R5307:1
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| 34 and [one] calleth the name of that place Kibroth-Hattaavah, for there they have buried the people who lust. |
Kibroth-hattaavah – "Graves of greediness." R5306:6 Buried the people -- Thus did the Lord permit the murmurers to do themselves injury--a lesson for spiritual Israel. R5306:6
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| 35 From Kibroth-Hattaavah have the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they are in Hazeroth. |
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