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| 1 And it came to pass that when the people murmured, it was evil in the ears of Jehovah; and Jehovah heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire of Jehovah burned among them, and consumed some in the extremity of the camp. |
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| 2 And the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Jehovah--and the fire abated. |
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| 3 And they called the name of that place Taberah; because a fire of Jehovah burned among them. |
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| 4 And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted; and the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who will give us flesh to eat? |
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 remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; |
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 dried up: there is nothing at all but 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 was as coriander seed, and its appearance as the appearance of bdellium. |
Manna – Meaning "What is it?" R4012:4
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| 8 The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it with hand-mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was as the taste of oil-cakes. |
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| 9 And when the dew fell upon the camp by night, the manna fell 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 heard the people weep throughout their families, every one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of Jehovah was kindled greatly; it was also evil in the eyes of Moses. |
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| 11 And Moses said to Jehovah, Why hast thou done evil to thy servant, and why have I not found favour in thine eyes, that thou layest 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 Have I conceived all this people, have I brought them forth, that thou sayest to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the nursing-father beareth the suckling, unto the land which thou didst swear unto their 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 should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may 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 to bear all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me. |
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 thou deal thus with me, slay me, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, that I may not behold my wretchedness. |
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 said to Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and their officers; and take them to the tent of meeting, and they shall stand 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 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, and thou shalt not bear it 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 shalt thou say, Hallow yourselves for to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who will give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt; and Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. |
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 Not one day shall ye eat, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
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| 20 but for a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it become loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? |
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| 21 And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou sayest, I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month. |
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| 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice them? |
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| 23 And Jehovah said to Moses, Hath Jehovah's hand become short? Now shalt thou see whether my word will come to pass unto thee or not. |
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| 24 And Moses went out and told the people the words of Jehovah; and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tent. |
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| 25 And Jehovah came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men, the elders; and it came to pass, that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not repeat it2. |
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 men remained in the camp, the name of the one, Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad; and the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among them that were written, but they had not gone out to the tent); and they prophesied in the camp. |
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| 27 And there ran a youth, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. |
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| 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them! |
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| 29 But Moses said to him, Enviest thou for my sake? would that all Jehovah's people were prophets, and 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 withdrew into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. |
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| 31 And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and drove quails from the sea, and cast them about the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the earth. |
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 rose up all that day, and the whole night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered little gathered ten homers; and they spread them abroad for themselves round about the camp. |
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| 33 The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, when the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague. |
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 they called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they buried the people who lusted. |
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 the people journeyed to Hazeroth; and they were at Hazeroth. |
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