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GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---
NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION
--- THE GOSPELS
(For part 1 go to Numbers 1-10 )
B. THE JOURNEY FROM SINAI TO KADESH (10.11-12.15).
This section comprises of:
1). The Setting Forward From Sinai and The Order of the March (10.11-33).
After eleven months which have passed encamped before Mount Sinai, during which the people had received the ten words of the covenant and had set up the Dwellingplace of Yahweh, the people were now called to move on towards Canaan. The remainder of this chapter covers the first setting forward from the wilderness of Sinai.
The first section divides up chiastically as follow:
The Setting Forward (10.11-13).
10.11 ‘And it came about that in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony.’
The time for moving forward had come on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. This would have given time for the additional second Passover to have taken place on the fourteenth day of the second month (9.10-11). The requirement for this movement was indicated by the cloud being taken up from over the Dwellingplace, the place of the covenant, in accordance with Yahweh’s instructions in 9.15-23.
10.12 ‘And the children of Israel set forward according to their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran.’
So the children of Israel set forward in the course of their journeying from the wilderness of Sinai where they had remained for eleven months (see Exodus 19.1) and were brought to rest by the abiding of the cloud in the wilderness of Paran. This was a large and barren wilderness to the north of Sinai. How large or big it was thought to be is disputed. Again we must keep in mind that there were no clearly defined boundaries and the description would therefore be general.
They had covered a ‘three day journey’ (10.33). That was a recognised designation of a fairly short journey, compared with a ‘seven day journey’ which would be a longer one. It theoretically measured the distance that a group moving easily would expect to travel in the time. It does not necessarily indicate the passing of three days. It was a measure of distance. It would take slightly shorter or somewhat longer depending on the speed at which people travelled. Given the necessary slowness of the convoy it would almost certainly have been longer. The point being made is that for a few days they did not establish more than a temporary camp.
10.13 ‘And they first took their journey according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.’
It is stressed that the beginning of the journey was in accordance with Yahweh’s command by Moses. This was the first stage of Yahweh’s plan to possess the land. Moses would command the silver trumpets to sound, and the march would begin.
The Troops in the Van (10.14-16).
10.14-16 ‘And in the first place the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward according to their hosts, and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.’
In the lead went the tribe of Judah accompanied by Issachar and Zebulun as described earlier (2.3-9). They marched under their respective chieftains. The standard of the tribe of Judah led the way behind the Ark of the Covenant, which was at the forefront of the march, the Ark being borne by the sons of Korath and covered in its blue cloth (10.35-36).
The Levites Who Bore The Dwellingplace (10.17)
10.17 ‘And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, set forward.’
Behind the leading troops set forward the sons of Gershon and Merari, the Levites who bore the Dwellingplace itself and all that was required for its erection. Once the cloud ceased moving they would immediately erect the Dwellingplace ready to receive the Sanctuary furniture.
The Troops In The Centre of the March (10.18-20).
10.18-20 ‘And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.’
These were then followed by the tribe of Reuben, along with Simeon and Gad, under their respective chieftains. The Dwellingplace of Yahweh was being well protected.
The Levites Who Bore the Holy Things (10.21)
10.21 ‘And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the holy things, and the others set up the tabernacle in readiness for their coming.’
Next came the remainder of the Korathites bearing all ‘the holy things’ apart from the Ark which led the march (10.35-36). By the time they arrived at the next camp the Dwellingplace would have been erected by the other Levites. The holy things were the furniture of the Dwellingplace, apart from the Ark which led the way in its magnificent blue covering. These were the altar of incense, the table of showbread, the golden lampstand and the brazen altar, all discreetly hidden and weather-protected beneath dolphin skins.
The Troops Who Followed Up In The Rear (10.22-24).
10.22-24 ‘And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.’
The Korathites with the holy things would be followed by the other contingents of the Israelite army. Firstly would come the tribe of Ephraim under its chieftain accompanied by Manasseh and Benjamin under their chieftains, the three tribes of Rachel.
10.25-27 ‘And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rearward of all the camps, set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
Finally taking up the rear would come the tribe of Dan under its chieftain accompanied by Asher and Naphtali under their chieftains.
10.28 ‘Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their hosts; and they set forward.’
In this way the children of Israel set forward on their journeys in orderly array.
Moses Asks Hobab To Accompany Them (10.29-32).
Hobab, Moses’ Midianite brother-in-law, was with them, giving assistance to Moses with his knowledge of wilderness lore, but determined to return to his own people. Moses pleaded with his brother-in-law to continue to accompany them and give them the benefit of his knowledge of wilderness survival. Among other things he was clearly very knowledgeable about the whereabouts of water. Note that even in this small section the ‘doing of good’ to Hobab both begins and ends the incident, maintaining the chiastic pattern.
10.29 ‘And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ brother-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, I will give it you. You come with us, and we will do you good, for Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel.” ’
Hobab was of the Midianites, and was a relation of Moses. The word used probably means ‘in-law’ and can thus mean either father-in-law or brother-in-law. Reuel is the Reuel whose ‘daughter’ Moses married (Exodus 2.18), and thus Hobab may well have been his brother-in-law. But the relationship may have been a little more complicated. The point is that he was related to Moses through Moses’ marriage to a Midianite. Moses requested Hobab to come with them with his knowledge of wilderness lore. Moses himself knew much of wilderness survival but he was probably aware that Hobab was especially skilled in the art, with a reputation as a man of the wilderness.
He emphasised that they were going towards the place which Yahweh had promised to give them, and that Yahweh had spoken good about it. Once in the land they would see that he did not lose by his act. They would ‘do him good’.
We should note here that the fact that Yahweh was leading them did not mean that Moses did not make use of all skilled help available. We must trust God fully, and at the same time make use of all the means available.
10.30 ‘And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land, and to my kindred.’
But Hobab was minded to return to his own people and refused. He wanted to return to his own land and to his own wider family.
10.31 ‘And he said, “Leave us not, I pray you, forasmuch as you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you shall be to us instead of eyes.’
But Moses knew his value both as an expert on wilderness lore, and as a valuable scout. He knew that Hobab was aware of how best to encamp, and where, and he could be as eyes to them as he acted as a scout, covering the areas around the camp in order to detect any possible danger, and seeking out water. Most of the travellers were wilderness novices. Here was one on whom he could rely for sound practical advice and guidance on the journey, and to pass on to others his skills..
10.32 ‘And it shall be, if you go with us, yea, it shall be, that whatever good Yahweh shall do to us, the same will we do to you.’
And Moses confirmed that if he would go with them, whatever good Yahweh did to them they would do to him. He would be treated on equal terms. He would not lose his reward. The assumption must be that he agreed to go with them (Judges 1.16 with 4.11). In Judges he is called a Kenite, which was a wilderness tribe who were possibly a Midianite sub-tribe. Or Hobab may have become a Kenite by adoption through marriage.
The Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh Leads The Way (10.33-36).
Ahead of the fighting contingents went the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh. It was a regular feature of nations going forth to war that they were led by a sacred symbol, and nothing was more sacred than the Ark. This was why its blue cloth was on the outside rather than its dolphin skins, so that all might be aware of the heavenly nature of what lay beneath (4.6).
This connection of the Ark with battle comes out a number of times. The Ark led the way over Jordan and against Jericho (Joshua 3.3, 11); it was brought to Bethel when the tribes united against Benjamin (Judges 20.27); it went into battle against the Philistines who had clearly heard of it (1 Samuel 4.3-9). There was even a battle song, incorporated in a Psalm, connected with it (verse 35; Psalm 68.1).
Again we have the chiastic structure which predominates in this book.
10.33 ‘And they set forward from the mount of Yahweh three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.’
Their first stage was on a ‘three day journey’. This was a standard term signifying a journey of one and a half days to about four days (consider Genesis where all journeys except those completed in a day were either for ‘three’ or ‘seven’ days, a short or a longer journey. Part days were counted as days. Consider also the use of the standardised ‘three days’, an indefinite short time period, in Joshua 1.11; 2.22; 3.2). The Ark went before them, and the cloud hovered above them. They were seeking out a resting place (menuwchah from the root nwch) for them. There is no reason for suggesting that the Ark was three days ahead of the people. It simply means that on the three day journey the Ark went ahead of them for the whole three days.
10.34 ‘And the cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.’
And continually above was the protecting and guiding cloud. The presence of Yahweh on the journey was being made very clear.
10.35 ‘And it came about, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, “Rise up, O Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.’
For this battle song compare Psalm 68.1. Yahweh had risen up and left His dwellingplace in order to go before them and scatter their enemies. Those who hated Him would flee before Him. This song would be sung whenever the Ark set forward. Its declaration by Moses would encourage and give heart to the people.
10.36 ‘And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.’
But when the Ark came to its rest (nuwach, from the root nwch) and returned to its dwellingplace the song was, ‘return, O Yahweh, to the ‘multitudes of families’ (ribboth ’elephe) of Israel’. Once more He dwelt among them at peace.
In the Hebrew text verses 35- 36 are seemingly both followed by inverted nuns (Hebrew n) of which we do not know the significance (compare also Psalm 107.23-28, 40 where a similar phenomenon occurs seven times).
As we too journey forward towards the heavenly Kingdom, we can rest assured that unseen the cloud hovers over us and the Ark goes before us. If we are His we are never out of God’s eye.
Chapter 11 The Grumbling Of The People and The Men Of The Spirit.
With the journeying beginning again after the stay at Sinai the previous problems of Exodus 16.1-12; 17.1-3 recommenced. The way was unquestionably difficult. The sun was scorching, the wilderness dry, the desert ‘road’ rough and definitely not suitable for such a large group of travellers. And in the way of people it was not long before the murmuring and grumbling began. Their eyes were not on Yahweh but on themselves, and as they struggled through the sweltering heat with no real end in sight, they began to feel sorry for themselves, and to think that deliverance was not all that it was cracked up to be.
In the midst of their troubles God brought home a powerful message which contrasted their desire for fleshly gratification with His willingness to provide the Spirit.
The whole of this chapter quite clearly demonstrates the chiastic principle inherent in Moses’ writings so remarkably that it can surely not be denied. It is constructed as follows:
The chapter commences with a short, sharp warning, which is not heeded.
A Sharp Warning About Grumbling. The People Complain and Are Smitten. Moses Intervenes (11.1-3).
It is interesting that even in so short a passage another chiastic formation is revealed.
11.1 ‘And the people were as murmurers, evil in the ears of Yahweh, (or ‘were as murmurers in the ears of Yahweh about their misfortunes’) and when Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of Yahweh burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.’
The incidents are not specifically fitted into the travel schedule so that we do not know how long this was after leaving Sinai, but it was clearly not long before the people began to murmur. It was probably in the desert of Et-Tih. And what they were muttering among themselves was evil in Yahweh’s ears, as such muttering always is. Indeed the mood was so ugly that God was angry with it. He clearly felt it totally unjustifiable. They would have much worse to go through than this. They had to learn to cope with adversity.
The result was that on the extremities of the camp a fire burst out and ‘burned among them’, and they recognised it for what it was, a warning shot from Yahweh. Whether it was caused by lightning, or a bush bursting into flames in the intense heat which then spread, we do not know. And whether anyone died or whether it just affected possessions we are not told. But it was their first salutary warning.
God uses such trials and judgments in order to teach His people lessons. Whom Yahweh loves, He chastens (Deuteronomy 8.5). Here He was trying to pull the people up short so that their minds might be taken off themselves and set on Him. He knew the condition that they were getting themselves into. Had they taken heed it would have saved them a lot of trouble in the future.
11.2 ‘And the people cried to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated.’
The extent of the fire was such that the people came to Moses and pleaded for help. The result was that Moses prayed to Yahweh and the fire died down. That should have given the people grounds for gratitude to Yahweh. They should have recognised that it was fortunate that they had in Moses one who was always ready to intercede for them. He had done so before (Exodus 15.25; 32.11-14), and now he had done it again. It should have fixed their thoughts on God. But if it did, any gratitude was only temporary.
We also have One Who intercedes for us at all times (Hebrews 7.25). How trying we must so often appear to Him, but He is ever patient with us. Yet we must beware lest we forget and lose touch with Him, otherwise He may have to chasten us too.
11.3 ‘And the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of Yahweh burnt among them.’
Then they gave the name ‘Taberah’ to the place, which means ‘burning’, because there Yahweh’s fire had burned among them. The name does not appear in their travel itinerary, and indicates more their deep feeling at the time. It was not a recognised name.
We may see this as an act of grace. By acting quickly the people had been made to think so that they would be more careful in future. As we have learned in the past they had a tendency to grumble (Exodus 15.24; 16.2-3; 17.2-3), so this was not the first time. But it was the first time since the journey from Sinai began. The sharp lesson was intended to save trouble in the future. As it turned out it was not sufficient because their faith was low, as the next incident brings out.
The Grumbling Again Flares Up: Murmuring For Meat Instead Of Manna (11.4-15).
What follows brings home to us something of the condition of many of the people. They were not on the whole a people of quiet faith, but a people full of doubts and worries, and in no mental condition to face the rigours of the desert. They had been delivered from slavery and did not have the backbone for what they had to face. That was why Yahweh had sought to counter this at Sinai, both by His firm covenant and His giving of the Dwellingplace as a visible sign among them. But they had on the whole not responded in true faith and were thus vulnerable.
The passage is constructed as follows:
11.4-6 ‘And the rabble who were among them were filled with strong cravings (lusted exceedingly), and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt which cost us nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic, but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look on.’
What was more there were ‘rabble’ among them who were seeking to stir things up. The rabble are often considered to be ‘the mixed multitude’ of Exodus 12.38 but there are no real grounds for blaming the mixed multitude here. That was the result of the racism of the LXX translators who looked for somewhere to put the blame. Indeed most of the mixed multitude had probably been absorbed into Israel as a result of Sinai. The term used here is totally different from Exodus 12.38. Here it is the ‘rabble’, the low life among the people (asaphsuph - the ‘gathering of reeds’, useless things, promising much but offering little), who were involved, those possessed by pure greed and godlessness, and full of their own importance and jealous of Moses.
There are always a troublesome minority among all peoples. In this case these were the ones who started the complaints and stirred up the people, so that dissatisfaction soon spread and clearly deeply upset a people already traumatised by the conditions they were travelling under. It had caught them unprepared, even though Yahweh had tried to prepare them. The stronger were undermining the weaker. We must all be careful when we begin to murmur that we do not undermine the faith of others. Those who are strong need to bear the burdens of those who are weak (Romans 15.1), not undermine them.
But the malcontents could not have succeeded if Israel had been looking to Yahweh and the things of the Spirit. Note that while the Israelites mentioned ‘flesh’ they were thinking rather of a change of diet, as their list of the pleasures of Egypt brings out. In their list they did not actually mention meat specifically, but fish and vegetables. What they wanted was something different from the manna. It is true that they could have eaten their cattle and sheep (although see verse 22), but they would be reluctant to do that when they were not actually starving. Those were necessary for the future ahead. Such eating was not essential. They had the manna to keep them alive. But what they wanted were delicacies, and a change of diet. Note their contemptuous dismissal of ‘this manna’. When they had been starving they had delighted in it. Now their stomachs were full they were not satisfied with it. They were lacking in appreciation and gratitude because enjoyment of food had become more important to them than appreciating God.
The point was not that they were hungry, as they had been in the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16.3), but that they were living on a permanent diet of manna. It was the struggle of the flesh against the spirit. Had their hearts been set on Yahweh they would have rejoiced to receive the manna from His hands. They would have been full of joy continually. But greed for delicious food was so strong that they wept. Their thoughts were purely selfish. They did not want to have to wait for ‘milk and honey’ in the future, they wanted it now. The manna had once been welcomed enthusiastically. Now it was taken for granted. It had become monotonous and prosaic. They just felt that they had had enough. They wanted the good things of life. They had reached a low level.
So their minds went back to the freely available fish in Egypt that they could catch in the Nile and its tributaries, the abundance of watermelons with their rich, cool satisfying taste, so plentiful in their season that even the poorest could afford them, and all the other delicious foods that they had once enjoyed. Forgotten was the penury and servitude. Their eyes were gluttonous and fixed on food. The foods described are all of a type that the poor in Egypt would eat. Onions flourished better in Egypt than elsewhere, and had a mild and pleasant taste. According to Herodotus ii. 125, they were the ordinary food of the workmen at the pyramids. They still form a basic food for the poor there, and are also a favourite dish with all classes, either roasted, or boiled as a vegetable, and eaten with meat. Garlic is mentioned by Herodotus in connection with onions, as forming a leading article of food with the Egyptian workmen
We may look askance at Israel but we are not so different. Even today the Bread of Life (John 6.35) can become monotonous and prosaic to us because of our sinful hearts, so that it results in extremes in religion which are not helpful. Men become bored with true goodness, and meditation on the word of God. They want excitement that panders to the flesh, dressed up as spirituality. Or they seek to the flesh pots of Egypt.
11.7 ‘And the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance as the appearance of bdellium.’
The manna is described. It was in deliberate contrast to the luxuries of Egypt. All they had was this one small ‘seed’. It was in shape and size somewhat like coriander seeds. Coriander seeds are from the fruit of the Coriandrum sativum (of the natural order Umbelliferae), which was a plant indigenous around the Mediterranean and extensively cultivated. It was used for medicinal and culinary purposes from at least 1500 BC. The fruits are aromatic and were thought to assist flatulence. They are of a greyish-yellow colour, ribbed, globular and oval, and in size about twice that of a hemp-seed being about four millimetres in diameter. Bdellium is a pale yellow transluscent resin. Exodus 16.14, 31 says that the manna was flaky like hoar frost, white and tasting like honey. Thus manna was like small flaky seeds, and probably whitish-yellow and smooth.
More modern examples have been cited of an unidentified white substance which one morning covered a fairly large area of ground in Natal and was eaten by the natives, and also of falls of whitish, odourless, tasteless matter in Southern Algeria which, at a time of unusual weather conditions, covered tents and vegetation each morning. While not being the same as the Manna, or lasting over so long a period, these do indicate the kind of natural phenomena which God may have used to bring about His miracle.
11.8 ‘The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in 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 fresh oil.’
It was collected in pots and ground in their hand-mills or beaten in mortars, it was then boiled or turned into cakes and tasted like the taste of fresh olive oil, reminding the people of honey. So they clearly tried different ways of making it enjoyable. But nothing could fully relieve its monotony. However, as long as they were not greedy it never made them ill (Exodus 16.20). Had their faith been strong they would have accepted it gladly from the hand of God because their satisfaction was elsewhere and was spiritual. But they were carnal and their food meant a lot to them, while God did not. So they broke down at the thought of what they were missing, they ‘wept’. They felt sorry for themselves.
‘The taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.’ It was good and wholesome. But the people did not want what was good and wholesome, they wanted what tickled the palate. They wanted the lusts of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.16 onwards).
11.9 ‘And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.’
It fell during the early morning after the dew. It was probably the result of the unusual weather conditions at the time, coming from we know not where. But in the end it was ‘from heaven’. The reason for giving this information about the manna was in order to remind the readers of how good God was being to His people.
11.10 ‘And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent, and the anger of Yahweh was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased.’
The influence of the rabble, no doubt deliberately spread among the remainder so as to undermine Moses, had reached deep into the hearts of the ordinary people. This comes out in that Moses heard them weeping ‘throughout their families’ in their tents. That is quite a disturbing statement and illustrates the state that some of them were in. We must not underestimate it. Their faith had collapsed, and they were totally disillusioned.
We must not see these as people in a fairly good state of mind just muttering because they were dissatisfied. Rather, because their thoughts were not on God, they were very vulnerable and were being deeply affected by the rabble. They had begun to feel very sorry for themselves and did not have sufficient faith to sustain them. They were collapsing inwardly. They were not used to standing up for themselves.
The picture is quite vivid. The whole of Israel were weeping. This was hardly natural, but after all their sufferings this round of discontent had proved one step too much. The traumatic effect of making their way through the desert and the wilderness, together with the boring nature of the manna, had clearly been brought home to them in a forceful way through the complaining of the rabble so that they were genuinely on the point of despair, and in a desperate state of mind. All their fears and worries were coming out as a result. They were on the verge of break down. They had passed the point of being able to cope. But had their hearts been fixed on Yahweh it would not have happened. The problem was that all their thoughts were fixed on themselves.
Yahweh saw it and was ‘angry’. That is, in His righteousness He felt an aversion to their behaviour, for He knew what lay at the root of it, unbelief. He had delivered them from Egypt, He had provided them with the manna, and they were so ungrateful and so worldly minded that they were actually despising both and wishing He had never bothered. They were forgetting, as He had not, how desperate they had been then (Exodus 2.23). All that He had planned for them now mattered to them not a jot. All they wanted was to enjoy filling their bellies with delicious food. How strange man is that he can allow temporary longings to so replace his confidence in eternal realities for such an unimportant reason.
Moses too was ‘displeased’. That is, he was upset within himself. The whole situation was getting on top of him, as what follows demonstrates.
11.11 ‘And Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favour in your sight, that you lay on me the burden of all this people?’
Moses was aware of how the people were feeling, and how deeply it had gone. As he walked around the camp and heard their distress he found it hard to bear. He felt the pressures piling up on him too as he witnessed their condition. And he went to Yahweh with his problems. He did have sufficient faith, but it needed bolstering.
He asked Yahweh why He had brought on him the burden of this people, a burden he was finding too difficult. Why had Yahweh dealt so ill with him? Why had Yahweh’s graciousness to him been so lacking? He was finding it hard to cope with their misery. Why had he been given the responsibility of a father for children not his own?
This prayer of Moses itself follows a chiastic pattern:
11.12 ‘Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them forth, that you should say to me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nursing-father carries the sucking child, to the land which you swear to their fathers?”
He used the illustration of a father and mother who recognised their responsibility for their own children. But, he pointed out, he was not their father, he had not conceived them. Nor was he their mother who had brought them forth into the world. They were not relations of his. Why then should he have to act towards them as a nursing-father, carrying them in his bosom like a father carries his babes in a sling? Why had he to be the one to bring them to the land of their fathers which Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give them? Why should he have to carry their burdens?
Moses probably intended here an indirect reminder to God of Who it was Who was their father, Who it was Who had begotten them and brought them forth (Exodus 4.25; Deuteronomy 1.31; 14.1; 32.18; Isaiah 1.2; 63.16). They were really God’s problem not his. He was pointing out that while God could cope with them, he could not.
We note here an interesting commencement to the building up of the picture of the undeserving of Israel. Here Moses was exasperated with them. In 14.11-12 it would be Yahweh Who became exasperated with them, and in 14.26-35 it would be Yahweh Who was so exasperated that it would be fatal for that generation of Israel.
It is clear that the people’s distress had really bitten deeply into Moses. Up to this point he had been mainly sustained by seeing their gratitude to be free of Egypt, and their willingness in spite of some failures to respond, and by his desire to bring glory to Yahweh. But now it appeared to him that all that had gone and he was being made responsible for it all. The people were not behaving as he had expected. And he felt unable to cope. He felt at a total loss. He felt it was no longer worth while.
How often we begin something enthusiastically when all seems to be going well. But then the problems set in and people become lethargic and even grumble and murmur. It is at that point that we often feel like giving up. But if it is of God we have no right to consider giving up. What we must do is what Moses did. Cast ourselves on God, grit out teeth, and go on.
11.13 “From where should I have flesh to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.”
The heart of Moses comes out here. He had a real concern for the people, and his inability to meet their needs was really hurting. He too had begun to cease looking to Yahweh. Instead his eyes were on the people and their need, and he could not cope with it. It was breaking his heart. That is why he wanted to be done with it.
It is a reminder that when we face the great need of others we must beware of being so taken up with the need that we forget God, otherwise it will be too much for us. It will get us down too. Sometimes we can only survive by fixing our minds on doing God’s will rather than letting people’s conditions affect us. Otherwise it will destroy us like it was destroying Moses. Sometimes, when conditions are really bad, love has to be harsh, and keep itself held in, in order to survive. There are limits to what a man can take. God alone can keep us under such conditions.
So in his love for the people Moses felt totally inadequate. He felt that he was just unable to help them. The situation was impossible. They were deeply upset, and clearly on the edge of breaking down. But where on earth was he going to get meat for all these people in the wilderness? The whole situation was getting on top of him, and he felt very much alone.
11.14 “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.”
He frankly told God that he could no longer carry all this burden on his own. It was too much for him. The burden was too heavy. When we find ourselves in what seems an impossible position it pays to be frank with God. It will not make Him any different, but it will help us considerably.
11.15 “And if you deal with me in this way, kill me, I pray you, out of hand, if I have found favour in your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.”
Indeed he was so upset that he asked God that he might die. He was staring failure in the face. If God had any pity on him let Him kill him as He had once sought to do (Exodus 4.24). He could not bear any longer seeing his own inadequacy in the face of the crying needs of these people. He could not bear the wretchedness and helplessness that he felt. He could not bear the thought of letting God down. He wanted out.
Yahweh’s Response To Moses: The Appointment of the Seventy Elders and The People Will Have Food (11.16-23).
At Moses’ plea Yahweh graciously responded to both his problems, not by killing him, but by providing helpers for him and subsequently meat for the people. God does not desert those who trust Him simply because they sometimes have doubts. If we trust Him and come to Him God is never without an answer to our problems. First He calmly tells us, as He did Moses, to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and rather do something about it, then He explains that He too will do something about it.
We should note the contrast between the seventy elders and the people. This is a deliberate contrast. The giving of the Spirit is described like a breath of fresh air in the midst of the people’s craving for flesh and its provision to their cost. Here on the one hand are these men receiving the Spirit. And there on the other are the people craving flesh. Both are blessed by Yahweh’s ruach (‘spirit, wind’ - the one by the spirit, the other by the wind), but in the one case it is permanent and results in a permanent transformation, in the other it results in greed and plague. This was due, not to God’s perversity, but to the perversity of the people. God longs to bless all, but only those who will receive it are truly blessed.
The structure of the first section is as follows:
11.16-17 ‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone.”
He told him to choose out seventy elders of Israel, men whom he knew to be true and reliable elders, with officers over them (thus he must include the most senior elders), and bring them to the Tent of meeting. The purpose was that they might stand there with Moses before Yahweh, as those who would be his assistants. They were to be endued in order to perform the supervisory task that up to this time he had borne alone.
The number seventy indicated divine perfection intensified (7x10) and would demonstrate that they were chosen by God and that they represented the patriarchate (the seventy) that had ‘entered Egypt’ when they too fled because of shortage of food (Exodus 1). Here again ‘the seventy’ would be in authority over Yahweh’s people.
Then, Yahweh promised, He would Himself ‘come down’ and talk with Moses there. And He would take some of the Spirit that He had put on Moses and put it on them. Thus fortified by the Spirit they would be able to help to bear the burden of the people so that Moses need not bear it alone. This did not mean that somehow Moses would lose some of the Spirit that was within him. It was a declaration to all that these men would succeed because they had received something of the Spirit that possessed Moses. Moses was like a burning flame. Fire could be taken from him without him being diminished. It was still to Moses that all should look. Joshua understood this rightly (verse 28). Where Joshua’s understanding failed was in that he did not recognise that it was still open to Yahweh to work as He would, and Moses’ yearning that all the people might have the Spirit.
There can be no real doubt that we are to see here the ‘Spirit of God’. It was He Who possessed Moses. Now He would come on the selected elders too. God Himself would possess them and guide them.
11.18 “And you say to the people, “Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, ‘Who shall give us flesh to eat, for it was well with us in Egypt?’ Therefore Yahweh will give you flesh, and you shall eat.”
Then he was to call the people together and call on them to ‘sanctify themselves’ ready for the next day when He would act and provide them with meat. That is, they had to wash their clothing and ensure that they were ritually clean. By doing this they were made to recognise that what followed did come from Yahweh. They could only receive it by preparing themselves. God wanted this to be a spiritual experience for them which would then turn them to the things of the Spirit.
So Moses must not allow them to get away scot free. They were to be made aware that God knew of their behaviour. When they had wept they had wept in the ears of Yahweh. He had been fully aware of their weeping, and the true reason that lay behind it. They had said, “who will give us flesh to eat for it was well with us in Egypt” ’. They had turned away from God’s purposes for them, back to Egypt. Hopefully when they heard this they would feel ashamed, For the truth was that it had not been well with them in Egypt. The Egyptians had not come to them saying, ‘Here you are, have as much meat as you want’. But now Yahweh would. Yahweh would give them flesh to eat.
11.19-20 “You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole moon period, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you, because you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come forth out of Egypt?’ ”
Moses could not believe his ears. Where was Yahweh going to get so much meat from? Were there not six hundred units of foot men to be fed, to say nothing of their families? And yet Yahweh had promised that they would have food for a whole month. Would it mean killing their flocks and herds? That was something that they did not wish to do. They would need those when they entered the land. Or were there enough fish available in the nearest sea to meet their needs? He was clutching at straws. He did not believe that God could do it. How quickly even Moses had forgotten what God had done in Egypt.
11.23 ‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Is Yahweh’s hand made short? Now shall you see whether my word shall come about to you or not.’
Yahweh challenged him in return. Did he really think that Yahweh’s arm had been foreshortened? Did he really think that anything was too hard for Him? Let him wait and see. He would soon see whether Yahweh’s promise came about or not.
The Enduing of the Seventy Elders (11.24-35).
The purpose of God in providing the seventy elders would seem to be in order to act as an advisory and supporting council to Moses, and to supervise various sections of the people on his behalf, for different levels of authority were already in place for mundane purposes (Exodus 18.25). This was also why they were to have officers over them, so that a small group could act when necessary. He was no longer to have sole responsibility for the leadership of the people.
The inner structure is as follows:
11.24 ‘And Moses went out, and told the people the words of Yahweh, and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tent.’
As ever Moses obeyed Yahweh. Firstly he informed the whole people of what Yahweh had said, and then he elected out and appointed the seventy elders. Having done so he brought them round the Tent of meeting, Yahweh’s Dwellingplace.
There is an interesting spiritual contrast here. The people were told that they would receive flesh but the elders would receive the Spirit, and the people were not jealous. As far as they were concerned the elders could have the Spirit if they could have the flesh! It illustrated their state of heart.
11.25 ‘And Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. And it came about that, when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.’
Then Yahweh Himself came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Moses was still pre-eminent. And He took from him something of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. The evidence of what had happened was revealed in that they ‘prophesied’. It is in vain for us to attempt to fully explain either the one or the other. Had it been in ‘tongues’ it would surely have been stated. But it is doubtful. It was not to people of strange tongues that these men would speak, but with Israel. Rather they spoke in a way which made it clear to all that the Spirit was speaking through them, although what they said was not recorded. We may probably assume that it was in praise of Yahweh. However, they did not become prophets. It was a once for all occurrence. ‘They did so no more’. But it was now clear to all that these were Yahweh’s men, empowered and illuminated by Him. Compare for a similar situation and experience 1 Samuel 10.6-13; 19.20-24; Joel 2.28.
Nor can we apply this experience specifically to all believers as though all must have the same manifestations. The Spirit of Yahweh coming down in the Old Testament in visibly manifested form was always on specific men appointed to serve in specific functions, it was never an overall blessing. These men had been empowered for the task in hand. What it does promise us is that when we are appointed by Him to a task, He will always provide whatever power of the Spirit is needed.
11.26 ‘But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad, and the Spirit rested on them, and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.’
But two of the men whose names Moses had caused to be written down as of the seventy (an evidence of his practise to write things down) were named Eldad and Medad. For some reason they had not gone out to the Tent. Possibly on the particular day Moses’ messengers had been unable to find them because they were busy fulfilling their responsibilities somewhere in the camp. But Yahweh knew where they were (we need not fear, He always knows where we are), and the Spirit also came on them and they prophesied in the camp. God ensured that the number was complete, and that not one was lacking. This also emphasises that the experience was not one aroused by the atmosphere in which they had gathered.
11.27 ‘And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”
The phenomenon was so striking that a youth ran from the camp to tell Moses. Moses had many who were loyal to him and jealous for his reputation and standing. And the youth told him that Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the camp. Possibly he feared treachery and a rival ministry to that of Moses.
11.28 ‘And Joshua, the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”
Joshua who was with him, as he ever was because he was his loyal ‘servant’, and who was also one of the seventy (one of his chosen men), immediately stood up for his master. He turned loyally to Moses and called on him to forbid them. Moses must ensure that he maintained his authority.
11.29 ‘And Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
But Moses knew that it was of Yahweh. He was not concerned for his own position, only for what was to the glory of Yahweh. And he turned to Joshua and assured him that he did not need to seek to defend Moses’ position when God was at work. Indeed his longing was that all Yahweh’s people might be prophets and that Yahweh would put His Spirit on them all. Burdened with their constant yearning for flesh to eat he would have loved it if only their yearning had been for the Spirit. If only all of them had wanted to supplant him as prophets in the will of Yahweh, his problems would be no more.
11.30 ‘And Moses took himself him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.’
Then Moses and all the elders left the Tent and returned to the camp. There was clearly a sense in which the Dwellingplace was seen as separate from the camp even though it was in its midst. It was holy ground. To enter it was for a while to leave the camp. But while they left the Dwellingplace the Spirit of Yahweh still remained on them. They returned to the camp with the Spirit, to a camp whose only thought was the flesh.
In the same way we can enter ‘the heavenly places’ when we pray. Our bodies may remain on earth, but we in our spirits move into God’s domain. Indeed Paul could tells us that those who walk with Him walk constantly in heavenly places where we are seated in Christ (Ephesians 2.6), for we are to ‘pray without ceasing’. And so, as with the seventy, the Spirit will continue with us and never leave us. We walk in Heaven while we walk on earth.
Yahweh Provides Meat From Heaven (11.31-35).
In accordance with His second promise to Moses Yahweh now sent meat from the skies. A ruach (spirit, wind) from Yahweh brought quails to the camp in huge quantities. So in a play on words the ‘ruach’ blessed both the elders and the people. But the people immediately demonstrated their unbelief. They stored the quails instead of trusting Yahweh for His daily provision (compare what some did with the manna - Exodus 16.19-20) and the quails went bad and brought a great plague.
The structure here is as follows:
11.31 ‘And there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.’
>p> As promised Yahweh sent meat for the people in abundance. Quails were driven towards the camp by ‘a ruach from Yahweh’. As already mentioned there is a parallel here with the ruach which came on the seventy elders. Yahweh’s desire was to bless both with His provision. The quails came in abundance and fell to the ground beside the camp in huge quantities.
This was the second month of the year. Quails are small birds of the partridge family. Around that time of the year (March) they annually migrate northwards from Arabia and Africa and regularly come down in large quantities in the area of the Red Sea to recuperate, exhausted after their long flight. Modern examples are known of huge quantities being caught in the Sinai area during this period as they fly low over the ground. It would appear in this case that their struggle against the wind which drove them to the camp had so exhausted them that they simply collapsed in heaps. There were so many that they covered ‘a days journey’ around the camp in piles a metre (three feet) high. (Some, however, see the text as signifying that they flew a metre above the ground).
11.32 ‘And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.’
When the people saw this they raced to gather them, and spent about 36 hours gathering as many as they could. They gathered huge quantities and stored them around the camp. But they were so many that they could not properly dry them out. Ten homers was about 2,200 litres. What a sad state of heart is revealed here. We do not read that they became excited because the Spirit came on the elders. But we do read that when meat came they were clearly so excited that they had no time to think about what had happened to the elders. They overlooked that God had come among them in spiritual power, that the Spirit’s power was being revealed. All they could think of was that there was meat to be had!
In doing so they forgot, or ignored, Yahweh’s demand that they did not touch dead bodies lest they be rendered ‘unclean’. To take the exhausted quails and kill and eat them was one thing. To store them as dead meat by laying them out to dry and then partaking of them was another. It was in direct disobedience to Yahweh, and, as we now know, in a hot country was asking for trouble.
11.33 ‘While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Yahweh was kindled against the people, and Yahweh smote the people with a very great plague.’
The result was that even while they were eating them they were smitten with a great plague. This was the result of the ‘anger of Yahweh’. They were acting in gross disobedience. Had they only eaten quails which they slew and ate immediately as fresh meat they would not have suffered. But they did not trust Yahweh to continue His provision and stored the birds and then ate of their dead carcasses. Thus they rendered themselves deliberately ‘unclean’, and therefore liable to ‘wrath’. And birds in such a condition, insufficiently dried out, could only spread disease.
We are intended to see the contrast between these people and the godly elders. The elders had gone into a holy place, the place of life, to receive their blessing. Their thoughts were centred on Yahweh. They enjoyed ‘life’. The people had gone ‘outside the camp’ to receive flesh, and had sinned. Their thoughts were on the satisfaction of their own selfish desires. And the result was that they became entangled with ‘death’, and therefore their blessing became a curse. And yet both were living together in the camp. The same is so true today. There are those who would enjoy true blessing, and while they must live in the world, they seek their blessing in His holy place, in Heaven itself. Others are filled with the desires of life, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the mind and the pride of life. And they are so taken up with these that the Spirit passes them by. We must never secularise holy things. We must choose between life and death, not compromise them.
11.34 ‘And the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people that were so greedy (‘lusted’).’
Here was their epitaph. The name of the place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, ‘the graves of craving’ because there the people’s craving led in many cases to their deaths. It was there that they buried the people who were so greedy. The mind of the flesh leads to death, the mind of the Spirit leads to life and peace (Romans 8.6). If only they had craved the Spirit it would have led them to mountains of blessing not graves of craving.
It is clear from the chiastic pattern that verse 35 belongs to the next chapter and we have interpreted accordingly.
Chapter 12 The Jealousy of Aaron and Miriam.
In this chapter the position of Moses is firmly established. It can be compared with chapter 16-17 where the position of Aaron was firmly established. In both cases they had been directly appointed by God, not by man.
Possibly Aaron and Miriam had become jealous because of the Spirit coming on the seventy elders as they stood with Moses. Aaron was ‘the Priest’ and Miriam a prophetess (Exodus 15.20). Perhaps they felt, unreasonably, that Moses was supplanting them and raising up others with spiritual insight. Whatever the cause they began to mutter against Moses.
Because they dared not attack him openly they attacked his wife. She was a Cushite woman and not a true-born Israelite. This then enabled them to get at Moses himself. ‘Why should he think he was different from them?’ they asked. Did Yahweh only speak with Moses? Did He not also speak with Aaron and Miriam? How dangerous it is when we become proud of what God has given us, or the position in which He has placed us. But Yahweh immediately stepped in to make clear Moses’ unique position and in the end the two had to plead with Moses to intercede for them.
The construction of the passage is clear.
11.35 ‘From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth; and they abode at Hazeroth.’
The people moved from ‘the graves of craving’ to Hazeroth, the stage prior to Kadesh. Now they were not far from the land. If only they had left their cravings behind. But they had not. And sadly there were two others who had cravings which they should not have had, cravings for position and glory. Those two were Aaron and Miriam. They had forgotten the commandment, “You shall not covet”.
12.1 ‘And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.’
Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ sister and brother, had probably become jealous at the power that had been given to the seventy elders. Both probably felt that their influence had been lessened, Aaron because up to this point it had always been him who was next to Moses. He had been ‘the man’. There had been no rivals. And now suddenly there were seventy rivals. And Miriam because she was a prophetess and did not like the idea of seventy men who had prophesied possibly diminishing her position and respect. They were more concerned for their own position than for the expansion of God’s work. Thus, while not liking to attack Moses’ authority directly, they were looking for other grounds of criticism. They felt supplanted. They felt that Moses was not giving them the consideration that they deserved. Jealousy in spiritual spheres is a dreadful thing. And it can only result in a diminishing of the Spirit.
We note that Miriam is mentioned first and that the feminine verb is used in verse 1 (‘they spoke against’). She was clearly the most prominent in the attack on Moses. It may also be that she saw Moses’ new wife as a threat to her own position. Perhaps his new wife was more forceful than Zipporah had been. So the mention of Miriam first and the use of the feminine verb was in order to indicate that it was she who was the main culprit. But that is not to excuse Aaron. It would, however, help to explain why it was she who was punished most severely.
Ostensibly the main ground that they found was that he had married a Cushite woman. The argument would be that she was not a pure bred Israelite. In view of the restrictions on himself Aaron probably felt that that was not right. The priest had to take a virgin of his own people to wife (Leviticus 21.14). Why should Moses not have to do so as well? Why should he be any different? The woman was probably Sudanese (ancient ‘Ethiopia’). Their complaint was not because she was black but because they presumably felt that he was being inconsistent. After all Moses was a Levite and related to a priestly family. He ought to have remembered his position and to have married within the family! (It must be considered quite possible that Moses marriage had been diplomatic, a means of uniting together the true-born Israelites and the mixed multitude, but we are not told so. However it certainly confirmed that in Yahweh’s eyes both were on the same level once they were in the covenant).
12.2 ‘And they said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Has he not spoken also with us?” And Yahweh heard it.’
But then the criticism advanced. It became a direct attack on Moses himself. Was Moses not getting above himself? Did not Yahweh speak to them as well? Did they not therefore have a right to be consulted on such things as the elders, and Moses’ marriage? Should he not defer a little more to them? He was not giving them the respect due to them as spiritual equals with him. The pride of life was consuming them.
‘And Yahweh heard it.’ We need to beware of what we say, for God always hears us. And Yahweh was not pleased at what He heard. He had shown His graciousness to them both, and now they were taking it out on Moses because of their own pride And what Moses had done had not been on his own initiative. He had simply been obeying Yahweh. So in effect they were grumbling because God had not sufficiently considered their importance.
12.3 ‘Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men that were on the face of the earth.’
Moses himself was not like that, says the writer. He probably did not defend himself. Nor did he go to Yahweh about it. He was very humble, above all men who were on the face of the earth. This does not mean ‘meek and mild’, it means that he did not defend himself or become concerned when he was attacked, unless it was likely to harm the cause of God. As we know he could get angry when that happened. That was why he had said nothing to Yahweh. The idea was that he was self-effacing and concerned only for God’s glory.
This comment was probably put in by the one who was writing down his words. It is not likely that it is to be seen as the words of Moses himself. But that it is an important part of the chiastic pattern demonstrates that it was not a later interpolation. It was written down at the same time as Moses’ words were being finally recorded.
EXCURSUS. The Meekness of Moses.
The question is often put as to whether Moses could have spoken of himself as humble/meek above all men on the face of the earth. Is it not, people ask, a contradiction in terms? Clearly we cannot say with certainty who wrote these words. But the first question we must ask is whether Moses could have spoken of himself in these terms. After all, the use of the third person by a writer speaking of himself is not unusual. It is a literary technique.
The first point we must make is that the comment is not necessarily just a huge compliment. Consider if we translate 'meek' as 'diffident', and thus as not being willing to defend himself because of a certain withdrawal in his personality. We have seen at his calling in Exodus how he tried to avoid God's call because he felt unable to cope with it, and wanted to hide behind his poor speech (Exodus 3.11;4.1, 10, 13). We find it difficult to recognise the fact but Moses was in fact sometimes portrayed as being to some extent of a shy and retiring nature. He was bold in some things (like, as a trained martial arts expert, probably armed, in his dealings with a few shepherds) but he was not always so when it came to the big picture.
The fact that he did what he did was because God had spurred him on and given him little choice. But Exodus demonstrates that in fact it was Aaron who made the first overt moves in the deliverance from Egypt. It was only once Moses had gained confidence that he took over. Possibly what Moses is saying here is that God acted on his behalf because he himself was so naturally diffident the most diffident man on earth, and was thus deriding himself. For the meaning of the word translated 'meek' compare Job 24.4 'the meek of the earth hide themselves together'; Psalm 147.6 'Yahweh lifts up the meek'. It is not a boasting word but in a sense a disparaging word. It describes someone ''humble' because they are lowly and wanting and seek to cringe from public notice. They see themselves as not of sufficient courage to defend themselves. So it may well be that Moses saw himself as the least forthcoming person in the whole world (not to be taken too literally - shy people can often feel like this) and therefore was speaking disparagingly of himself. This comment may thus well have arisen from his own personal shyness, especially at dealing with aspects of his married life. It may simply be describing an excess of meekness that was actually not a good thing, an indication that he was not forthright in his own defence because of this lack in his make up. Not many men would see themselves as boasting if they described themselves as meek.
Or alternately if we insist on assuming that meekness is intended to indicate a good feature it may be that God actually told Moses that He Himself was about to defend him because he was so meek and would not defend Himself, that He was defending him because he was the meekest man on earth. And God had reason to know. He had had to struggle with Moses' meekness. Thus Moses may simply have been writing down God's own description of himself and not have felt proud of the fact at all.
In fact what might be considered more unlikely is that anyone else would call Moses meek, lowly and humble in position, where 'humble' means of a lowly position and stature. Many things, yes, but not 'meek' (we read into 'meek' a good Christian trait, signifying not aggressive, but that was probably not the original meaning of the Hebrew word). Even though it is true that Moses was humble in the best sense, would anyone have described him as ‘meek’?
We must remember in this context that here in the West we hesitate to speak the truth about ourselves, because it is not 'the done thing'. A friend of mine who played tennis for England was asked by a colleague whether she played tennis and she replied 'a little'. When he played her and was soundly beaten the humiliation was such that he never spoke to her again. Her meekness had led her into trouble. But it would not have been English to say 'I play for England'. So she learned to deliberately lose when playing men instead. Was that good? Would not honesty have been better? But she was shy too, and meek, and it misled people. However, in the East things are very different. I remember the shock I had when I first came across this Eastern trait. They spoke what they believed to be a true estimate about themselves, with no false humility, and spoke correctly. And I was astounded. I thought them conceited until I realised that they all did it and that their description of themselves was true. They were in fact just making an honest assessment of themselves. It was simply an aspect of their culture. So we must not necessarily judge the words by over-humble Western standards.
Others (usually Westerners with the Westerners code) have suggested that while Moses was responsible for the content of the Pentateuch the actual engraving and finalising might have been done by a master scribe, even possibly Joshua when he was alone or with Moses in the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33.7-11), and then later possibly as acting secretary in Moses' own tent. Thus this may be a comment added by Joshua or any other scribe, and be equally the word of God. But it could be argued that it is doubtful whether it would be used by these people of Moses. The word is not really complimentary. Each must decide the matter for themselves, but it does not affect the genuineness of the saying, nor does it discount the overall authorship of Moses. Indeed we should note how well it fits into the chiastic pattern.
End of Excursus.
12.4 ‘And Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, “Come out you three to the tent of meeting.” And they three came out.’
Then Yahweh called Moses, Aaron and Miriam to come out to the Tent of meeting. It was seemingly ‘out of the blue’. None would know the reason for the call, and Aaron and Miriam probably initially had a feeling of satisfaction that the fact that they were all being called together was proving them right. Did it not demonstrate that God did see them as on a par with Moses? So the three ‘came out’
12.5 ‘And Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth.’
Yahweh then came down to the door of the Tent of meeting in a pillar of cloud and called for Aaron and Miriam to approach. Even at this stage they probably still had no inkling of what was about to happen. But they had a vital lesson to learn.
12.6 ‘And he said, “Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream.’
Firstly He confirmed what a prophet was. He was a man who received visions and dreams. That, said Yahweh, was how He made Himself known to the general run of prophets. Both of them probably knew something about that, so, yes, they were prophets. He acknowledged that. But how different they were from Moses.
12.7-8 “My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even openly (manifestly), and not in dark speeches, and the form of Yahweh shall he behold. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”
Then He sternly reminded them what Moses was. He was not just a prophet like that. Moses was faithful in his appointment over all Yahweh’s house, over the whole people of Israel, from the High Priest downwards. He had made Moses supreme. To Moses He spoke openly mouth to mouth. To Moses alone spoke ‘the Voice’ (7.89). Moses did not learn things from Yahweh in mysteries and speeches which were difficult to interpret, and hard to understand. Yahweh talked with him as a man talks with his friend (Exodus 33.11). Moses alone had been allowed to behold His form, even if it was a back view when His glory had diminished (Exodus 33.21-23), or in the form of fire in a burning bush (Exodus 3.2-4), or on the Mount. He had seen and known more of Yahweh than any other person, as they well knew. Why then were they not afraid to speak evil against him?
By this time they would be feeling decidedly uneasy, and not quite so happy as when they had started out with such confidence.
12.9-10 ‘And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against them, and he departed, and the cloud removed from over the Tent. And, behold, Miriam was skin-diseased, as white as snow. And Aaron looked on Miriam, and, behold, she was skin-diseased.’
And Yahweh’s aversion to their behaviour was revealed by His next act, for in His ‘anger’ (aversion to their sin) He departed and the pillar of cloud moved away from over the Tent. And then, when Aaron turned and looked at his sister, he saw that she was severely stricken with a skin disease that made her white as snow. We can only imagine the shock that they both experienced. Yahweh had rendered her ‘unclean’. Far from being a greater prophetess, she would now no longer be welcome at the door of the Tent of meeting, she would no longer be welcome in the camp. She would never again lead the women in singing and worship. Her days as a prophetess were over. She would live as an outcast, outside the camp, totally dependent on others for her survival. She had reaped a grim reward for her envy and covetousness.
Aaron’s mind may possibly have flashed back to another occasion when he himself had been afflicted in the same way, when he was demonstrating God’s signs to the elders on Moses’ behalf (Exodus 4.30 with 4.6). But then it had only been temporary. He had known that Yahweh would put it right. This was different. This skin disease was permanent, and there was nothing that he could do about it. They must have looked at each other speechless with horror. She had been smitten by Yahweh. God had shown her the sinfulness of her heart in the most striking way possible, and had at the same time given a salutary lesson to Aaron.
Aaron was seemingly spared, probably partly because he had not been the instigator of the complaints, and partly because as High Priest his being rendered permanently unclean would have been a huge blow to Israel. Another High Priest would have had to be appointed (as later would be necessary, but not yet). And furthermore he did no doubt perform many useful services for Moses. Remembered also would be the fact that he had stood with Moses against Pharaoh. But he must have recognised what a close escape he himself had had. However, to his credit his concern was for Miriam.
12.11 ‘And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, lay not, I pray you, sin on us, in that we have done foolishly, and in that we have sinned.’
Broken in heart and spirit and recognising how foolish they had been Aaron turned to what he knew was her only hope. Gone was his sense of equality with Moses. Gone was his pride. Gone was his concern over his own position. No longer did he feel in his heart that really there was not much difference between them. He recognised now how great a difference there really was. Here was a situation where he himself could do nothing. All he could do was humble himself and plead with a greater than himself. The thought of his sister living out her life like this was more than he could bear.
So he humbled himself before his younger brother. ‘My lord Moses.’ Yahweh’s words had made him aware of Moses’ true status, lord over Israel, and lord over him, lord over Yahweh’s house (verse 7). And he now openly acknowledged the fact. He no doubt remembered the amazing events of Egypt and of how Moses could cause and then remove all the afflictions with which Egypt was afflicted. And he did not doubt that Moses could do something. He begged that Moses would not lay their sin on them, that is, cause them to experience fully what they deserved. He humbly admitted that they had behaved foolishly, and had sinned. Could he not now obtain forgiveness for them and deliver Miriam from the consequences of her sin?
12.12 ‘Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’
He begged that she might not be as a stillborn baby coming from its mother’s womb wrinkled, partially formed and looking grotesque, a baby that no one bothered to clean it up. For if she was permanently skin diseased she too was distorted, and was as good as dead.
(Note: ‘Leprous’ is probably a misnomer. Modern leprosy was seemingly fairly rare in Old Testament times. The word means rather a general skin disease. It could also be used of mould and fungi in clothes and houses.)
12.13 ‘And Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “Heal her, O God, I beseech you.’
So Moses heard their plea and prayed to Yahweh and begged Him to heal her. Note that his prayer was to ‘God’, not ‘Yahweh’, recognising that by her behaviour Miriam had put herself outside covenant promises. Moses is ever the final intercessor.
How we should rejoice that we have an even greater intercessor, the One Who lives ever to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7.25). But it is not intercession that our sin be overlooked, but rather that we might be saved from it. It is not an intercession that leaves us as we are.
12.14 ‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.” ’
Yahweh’s reply was stern. It was important that Miriam learned her lesson. She must face up to her shame. A spit in the face was an insult, and depicted someone who had not done their duty (Deuteronomy 25.9), and when coming from someone who was unclean, it rendered unclean (Leviticus 15.8). This being like one spit in the face compares with Moses’ meekness (verse 3 - see analysis above). He was worthy, she was not. Furthermore to be spat on in the face by her father would be even more humiliating and devastating. It would mean that she had done something very dishonourable and was being virtually disowned. It may well be that to so be spat on by a father rendered a woman unclean for seven days, although we are nowhere told so. But whatever the situation was about that, Miriam was to go through a seven day cleansing outside the camp. It would in fact strictly be necessary because of her skin disease, even though it was presumably cured immediately, for a skin diseased person could not be clean until seven days after they were found to be free from their disease. But she had to recognise that it was because of a sin that deserved the utmost contempt.
12.15 ‘And Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.’
So Miriam was made an outcast from the camp for seven days, after which she was allowed in again. It could hardly go unnoticed. All would know that she had been stricken by Yahweh, even if the reason for it was only rumoured. They would see her here excluded from the camp and rumour would be rife. But at least, because of Moses’ intercession, it was only temporary.
Miriam’s status among the people comes out in the fact that they were ready to wait for her return to the camp before proceeding, and that Moses could expect them to.
12.16 ‘And afterwards the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.’
The whole incident is a reminder that those who are truly servants of God should be honoured as such, and that to seek to harm them is to bring a person under the judgment of Yahweh. While their bodies may not be affected, their inner beings certainly will be. Where it is against one who is being faithful to God, murmuring makes our hearts become diseased, for God honours those who honour Him. It is a reminder to all Christian leaders that they must honour other leaders who are the chosen of God, and not become jealous about their own position. What a contrast there was between Moses, who wanted others to share in his privileges, ‘would that all Yahweh’s people were prophets’, and the attitudes of Miriam and Aaron (‘would that we were equal to Moses’). One sought only Yahweh’s glory, the others sought their own glory.
The incident being over, and the seven days having passed, the people moved from Hazeroth to the wilderness of Paran. All was now ready for the invasion of the land.
C. THE SPYING OUT OF THE LAND AND THE REFUSAL TO GO FORWARD FOLLOWED BY REJECTION AND EXPULSION FROM THE LAND (13-14).
Following the arrival in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh, the tribes settled down while the land ahead could be spied out. The oases of Kadesh would provide a welcome change from the harshness of the wilderness, and they were probably glad to be able to rest once more at a place where water was not scarce.
The sending out of the spies or scouts may be seen as a wise military manoeuvre. Scouting what lay ahead was always the precursor to military activity. But in this case it must surely be seen as more than that, for it was Yahweh Who was leading His people and He would not be unaware of what lay ahead. It therefore seemingly performed a two way function. Firstly that it would let the people know how fruitful and pleasant the land was, and secondly it would face them up to what lay ahead in the way of fighting for the land. Yahweh wanted to test out their faith to see if it would be strong enough for what they would have to face. It was very much a trial of what they could cope with.
Already in the wilderness the slave mentality of the people had raised its head and they had been revealed to be in a sad psychological state. They had complained, and murmured, and wept when things had gone wrong. Even the stay at Sinai and the assurance of His dwelling among them had not combated that. Faced with the problem of fighting for the land their first reaction would be the desire to return to ‘comfortable’ slavery in Egypt (14.3-4). So Yahweh was right therefore to be concerned lest they be insufficient for what lay ahead. He was well aware that, if their faith was not strong enough, any entry into the land, which would necessarily be followed by sustained warfare, could only end in disaster. He would have to hold them up at every turn and the result would be a nation not worthy of the name. It would result in something far different from what He intended. That was not what He had brought them there for.
The sending out of the spies must therefore be seen as a test of whether they were in a fit state to enter the land. The outcome would determine whether the entry should be made immediately, or whether a further wait was advisable. In the event the latter proved to be the true position. And indeed when an abortive attempt was made in desperation it did turn out to be disastrous. We must not see God’s refusal to let them enter into the land as simply caprice on His part. It was a studied recognition of the fact that they were not yet ready, and could not cope with what lay ahead.
He thus accepted that until they had become hardened by a time in the wilderness, with the present generation being replaced by people who had been brought up to liberty and had more backbone, an advance on the land would be inadvisable. Had they gone forward it would have required miracles even greater than those wrought in Egypt, and Yahweh clearly did not think that they were worthy of them. If His people which were called by His name were not willing to trust Him and His name, then establishing them in the land would not produce a nation which brought glory to His name, but would simply result in a nation of selfish and weak misfits who simply forgot Him. And that was not His intention. That would not be a nation worthy of being seen as the Kingdom of God.
This section from 13.1-14.45 deals with that situation. It consists of:
Chapter 13 The Sending Out of Scouts and the Message They Brought Back.
1). The Scouts Sent Out (13.1-16).
The first section from 1-16 basically covers:
13.1 ‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
Again we have confirmation that here we have Yahweh’s words to Moses. The writer could not make it more clear that he intends us to see what he wrote as the actual words of Moses, spoken to him by the Voice from the throne (7.87).
13.2 ‘Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a prince among them.’
Yahweh gave the command to send out spies or scouts to spy out the land of Canaan which He was giving to the children of Israel. A scout was to go out from each tribe, and each scout was to be a prince of the tribe. He intended that those who reported back would be men of substance, and men of authority.
Note the emphasis on the fact that the land was God’s gift to them. Thus any failure to respond would be a refusal of God’s gift. Yet it was also on the other hand Yahweh’s assurance that they need not fear, for the gift was at His disposal and He could ensure its reception. All the tribes were to be involved (apart from Levi). The purpose of sending ‘princes’ was probably so that their word might carry authority with all the people. This was a ‘search and see’ expedition being carried out on their behalf in order to see how they would respond.
This command of Yahweh was, however, a response to the people’s own ideas, for in Deuteronomy 1.22 we learn that the people had first approached Moses with a view to sending out scouts, which would be a normal procedure. God was here confirming His agreement with the plan. God regularly works in with men’s determining. The purpose of the people was in order to discover what lay ahead.
13.3 ‘And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.’
Ever obedient to Yahweh’s command Moses sent men out from the wilderness of Paran, where the people were encamped at the oases of the Kadesh region, and all who were sent were chieftains.
13.4-15 ‘And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.’
The names of the chosen scouts were now given. They were different from the princes of chapter 1 but that was to be expected. Those were the supreme heads of the tribe, these were younger princes, the men who would also be responsible to lead into battle. The use of ‘Hoshea’ instead of Joshua confirms that the list is indeed ancient. No later generation would have inserted his name in that fashion.
13.16 ‘These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea, the son of Nun, Joshua.
Confirmation is given that these were the names of the scouts who were sent out. And one of them was Hoshea, the son of Nun. To him Moses had given the name Joshua (Yehoshua), because he was supremely a man of Yahweh. That was why he had chosen him as his ‘servant’, his second-in-command. The prefix signified Yahweh, as did the Yo in the name of Moses’ mother or ancestor Yochebed. Here we learn for the only time that Joshua was a man of princely descent.
The name Hoshea means ‘he saves’. The name Joshua means ‘Yahweh is salvation’.
2). The Venture Into Canaan (13.17-25).
The scouts then went out in accordance with Moses’ command, investigated the land and returned. This can be outlined as follows:
We can now look at this in more detail.
The Scouts Sent Out To Spy Out The Land To Test Out Its Goodness (13.17-18).
13.17-18 ‘And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Get you up this way by the South, and go up into the hill-country, and see the land, what it is, and the people who dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.” ’
Moses gave detailed instructions to the scouts. They were to go up by the South, by the Negeb which was on the southern borders of Canaan, and into the hill country, that long range of mountains which was on the east of Canaan, just to the west of the Jordan, mountains that were the backbone of the land, stretching on northward until they turned westwards into the Galilean hills. He wanted to know its substance, and who dwelt there, whether they were strong or weak, and whether they were few or many. This would clearly determine what their next action should be.
He had good reason for the direction he chose. That was where Abraham had spent many years. It was very much ‘the land of their fathers’. Knowledgeable about his people’s history his eyes were especially fixed on that portion of the land. Possibly also he recognised that it would be easier to capture the hill country, where there would be no chariots and fewer cities, dealing with the chariots later.
The Scouts Were To Bring Back News of the Strength and Goodness Of the Land (13.19-20).
13.19-20 “And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad, and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds, and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood in it, or not. And be of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.’
He also wanted to know what the country was like. Was it good or bad, what cities there were, whether the people dwelt in encampments or strongholds, whether the land was fat or lean, and whether there was wood in it or not. This would then determine which part they should invade. And they were to be brave in their efforts and bring back examples of the fruit of the land.
It Was The Time of First-ripe Grapes (13.20b).
It is then added that this was the time of the first ripe grapes. Thus they would be expected to bring back at least some grapes. The time of the first ripe grapes would be around July. Thus the ‘eleven day’ journey from Sinai (Deuteronomy 1.2) had taken about two months. But Deuteronomy had in mind a normal caravan, travelling constantly. This was a whole people on the move, and with many delays.
They Searched Out The Whole Land To The Farthest North (13.21).
13.21 ‘So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to Labo of Hamath.’
So the scouts went and searched out the land from the extreme south, the wilderness of Zin, up to Rehob and Labo of Hamath in the extreme north. Judges 18.28 confirms that Rehob was on the furthest northern borders of Canaan. Thus the examination of the land was complete and lengthy. They were determined to do a good job and so exceeded their instructions. The scouts almost certainly split up so as to cover more ground, and later rendezvoused.
Labo of Hamath is testified to in inscriptions, but the alternative ‘the entering in of Hamath’ (its borders) must always be seen as an alternative possible rendering of the Hebrew.
They Also Searched Out The Hill Country To The East Around Hebron (13.22).
13.22 ‘And they went up by the South (the Negeb), and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt).
It is stressed that in obedience to what Moses had said they also went up by the South, the Negeb, and ascended the hill country to Hebron (verse 17). The Negeb was the extreme south of Canaan, a land which could only be cultivated by the careful use of groundwater utilising irrigation techniques, evidence for which has been discovered. Hebron was a well established city in the hill country, in a more fertile area. There they discovered that three well known ‘sons of Anak’ dwelt in the area. The sons of Anak were infamous as being very large and fearsome warriors. Compare Joshua 15.14; Judges 1.10.
A note is given so as to emphasise Hebron’s great prestige. It was an ancient city even older than Zoan. ‘Seven years’ indicates a divinely perfect length of time. God’s hand was on its founding. This mention demonstrates that the readers were expected to know of Zoan, which was probably Tanis in the Nile delta near the land of Goshen, a clear indication of the authenticity of the account. Had it been written for a later generation a different, more relevant example could have been found.
They Cut Down A Bunch of First-ripe Grapes Along With Pomegranates and Figs (13.23).
13.23 ‘And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff (or ‘litter’) between two. They brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.’
The area around Hebron was famous for its grapes. The valley of Eshcol was presumably nearby. Eshcol was the name of one of Abraham’s confederates, living in that very area some hundreds of years before (Genesis 14.13, 24). It is not therefore too surprising to find there a valley called by that name. There they found luscious grapes, together with pomegranates and figs which they bore back on a litter or pole, in order to demonstrate the fruitfulness of the land.
The Land Proved To Be Good Even From the Names of Its Valleys (13.24)
13.24 ‘That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there.’
‘Eshcol’ means ‘cluster’. The description here is a play on words and does not necessarily mean that they were giving the place a new name, only that they were giving a significance to the name. It was called by that name because it produced such luscious grapes, of which came the grapes that they had brought back. Thus even the names of the valleys demonstrated the land’s fruitfulness.
The Scouts Return, Having Been Successful (13.25).
13.25 ‘And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.’
The whole procedure had taken forty days. This was not only a reasonable amount of time for their endeavours (they would not hang about) but also indicated a period of testing as ‘forty’ so often does (Genesis 7.4, 12; Exodus 24.18). The land was being tested out for its possibilities and its dangers, and the people were being tested as they waited. It was now time to see the result of the test.
3). The Scouts Report Back (13.26--14.1).
Once the scouts arrived back they immediately reported to Moses. What resulted can be summarised as follows:
13.26 ‘And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.’
The scouts returned to Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran to Moses and Aaron in order to report, but note the stress on the fact that they also reported to ‘all the congregation’. They brought word of what they had done and seen, and produced the fruit of the land for inspection. This brings out that the spying was not just military, otherwise the reports could have been restricted to Moses, Aaron and the officers. It was in order to face the whole people up with the decision whether to go forward or not.
As Moses’ representative Joshua would immediately have rejoined Moses, who would no doubt have been awaiting his special report. He probably felt that there was no need for him to accompany the other eleven, feeling it better that the people should hear the report from independent witnesses and not from one whom they would see as one of Moses’ cronies. He would be standing with Moses and Aaron to hear the report of the other eleven to the people.
13.27 ‘And they told him, and said, “We came to the land to which you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” ’
First came the positive news. They had inspected the land and it really was a land flowing with milk and honey, and to prove it they produced its fruit. The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey was central to Israel’s expectations. The very words should have awakened faith. This was what Yahweh had promised them! And it was there for the taking. See Exodus 3.8, 17; 13.5; 33.3; Leviticus 20.24.
13.28 “However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.”
But then came the downside. The people in the land were strong, and their cities were well fortified, and very large. But what was even worse, the sons of Anak were there, the dreaded Anakim. It was probably the last that made the most impact. Superstitious dread accompanied talk about the Anakim. This was the language of unbelief.
13.29 “Amalek dwells in the land of the South, and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill-country, and the Canaanite dwell by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.’
They then described the spread of the different enemies in more depth. Amalek dwelt in the Negeb; the Hittites (around Hebron), the Jebusites (around Jerusalem) and Amorites (spread across the hills) dwelt in the hill country; and the Canaanites dwelt by the sea in the Coastal Plain and along by the side of the Jordan. That should have been some encouragement. At least the enemy were divided up and therefore more vulnerable. They would not have to fight them all at once. But the hearers simply saw them as indicating an unexpectedly difficult problem. It was a good deal more than they had expected. They were being faced up with what lay before them.
13.30 ‘And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it.” ’
But Caleb saw the situation clearly. He firstly sought to quieten their fears. Then he urged that they immediately mobilise and enter the land in order to conquer it, for he was confident that they could take possession of it and overcome those who would oppose them. His eyes were on Yahweh and the fruitfulness of the land. He had no doubt that with Yahweh with them they would have no difficulty in possessing it.
Joshua, standing with Moses, said nothing. He had not only gone as a tribal chieftain, but as Moses’ representative. On returning he would have taken his place with Moses, and all knew that he would do whatever Moses said. Thus he wisely kept out of the discussions. The arguing was therefore left to Caleb, who would later turn out to be such a powerful chieftain by defeating the selfsame Anakim (Joshua 15.13-14). The people would recognise that he was unbiased. This mention of only Caleb actually authenticates the narrative.
13.31 ‘But the men who went up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
However, the men who had gone with him took the opposite view. They claimed that they could not possibly go up against these people, because they were stronger than the Israelites. Their eyes were fixed firmly on the Anakim.
13.32-33 ‘And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” ’
The result was that their report was totally discouraging. Indeed it was falsified. They gave an ‘evil report’ about the land. They said that it was a land which ‘ate up its inhabitants’. That signified that living conditions were difficult, and a living hard to come by (see Leviticus 26.38; Ezekiel 36.13). They were arguing that it was not a good land to live in. They were deliberately putting the people off. This contradicted their previous comment about its fruitfulness. Different spies would, of course, have seen different terrain, but whether they saw fruit or whether they saw barrenness would depend on what they looked at.
The truth was that they were put off because they were awed as a result of the height of some of the inhabitants. Those, they said, were men of great stature, and they included the dreaded Anakim, who it was rumoured were some of the Nephilim. The latter name referred to the superstitions of the time. The Nephilim were thought of as god-like men who had lived in the time of the ancients, as referred to in Genesis 6.4. Anyone of unusual size could expect to be linked with the Nephilim. This was enough to frighten everyone. So while on the one hand Caleb looked at Yahweh, the Almighty, the other scouts, and the people looked at the Nephilim. Whom we look at very often determines what we are and what we do.
Note the deliberate exaggeration which could only produce fear. ‘Compared with them we saw ourselves as grasshoppers, tiny and insignificant, and they looked on us as the same, to be dismissed or trodden on at will.’ What hope could there be against such people? In fact as Deuteronomy points out such people had been defeated by both the Moabites (Deuteronomy 2.10) and the Ammonites (Deuteronomy 2.20-21), and could be by the Israelites. The gross exaggeration both as regards the goodness of the land and as regards its inhabitants came from craven fear. If the leaders were not able to have trust in Yahweh, what hope was there for their people?
14.1 ‘And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried, and the people wept that night.’
The people were devastated. They felt as though their dream had collapsed, as indeed it had. They lifted up their voice and cried, and they wept all night. This was exactly what they had done when there was a shortage of delicacies (11.10). It was a sign of how pent up they were, and how much they were a slave to their emotional state. They were clearly in no state to engage in a large scale invasion. It would have done them no favours to allow them to enter the land in that condition. The only hope all along had been that their trust in Yahweh would have enabled them to overcome their servile fears, but because their faith was lacking it had not happened. And now they were caught short. In the end all resulted from a lack of faith. Had they trusted God their weakness would have been made strong.
Chapter 14 The Response of The People Leads To Rejection From The Land.
It is not difficult to guess at what their decision would be even before we learn of it. They were frightened and therefore incapable. It would be another generation before they would become strong enough to again contemplate a serious entry into the land. What followed can be quickly summarised:
4). The People Murmur Against Moses And Are Spared At His Intercession (14.2-25).
The People Murmur Against Moses and Against Yahweh (14.2-4).
14.2 ‘And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!’
The people were just distraught. They blamed Moses and Aaron for their predicament. All that they could do was wish that they had died when younger so as not to face this dreadful situation. If only they had died in Egypt, or in the wilderness, how much better it would have been for them. (They would have cause to remember those words, for they would come back to haunt them. How unlucky they were to have survived, they thought. Ironically, of course, they would have their wish. They would die in the wilderness).
14.3 “For what reason does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey. Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?”
They forgot all that Yahweh had done for them, and how He had revealed His mighty power, and delivered them from an enemy far worse than these. All they could think of was that Yahweh had brought them here to die at the edge of the sword. They would be slaughtered and their wives and little ones be at the mercy of the enemy. The best they could hope for was to become slaves. They had already been defeated in their own minds. They were certainly in no condition to take up arms.
We need not doubt that weapon training had taken place in the wilderness. Moses would have been greatly at fault if he had not seen to that. But they clearly had no confidence in their ability to use them. They had come to it too late. (It would be another thing with the next generation. They would have no slave background. They would have been hardened by the wilderness. They would have been trained to arms from their earliest years).
14.4 ‘And they said one to another, “Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt.” ’
So in their panic and folly they began to think of appointing a leader who would take them back to Egypt as a bunch of slaves. It was, of course, both pathetic and madness. What could be worse than that? But at that time they were temporarily deranged. And they still had their eyes on the fish, melons, onions and garlic. What a pathetic group they were. Just like some of us can be when God challenges us in the face of difficulties.
It would be a misnomer to call this a rebellion. They were rather revealing how pathetic their condition was. They were clutching at straws and babbling foolishness. It demonstrated what they were. Men who sought the flesh and had little thought of the Spirit. But it was still a rejection of Yahweh and His covenant. For Yahweh had delivered them from Egypt, and now they were rejecting His deliverance and wishing to get back to what they were before.
Moses and Aaron Plead for Israel (14.5).
14.5 ‘Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.’
Moses and Aaron were appalled. Here were the people before the very Dwellingplace of Yahweh, and yet they were talking like this. What could Yahweh be thinking of it? They hardly dared to think. Indeed they were afraid for the people. They fell on their faces in trepidation and pleading before Yahweh (compare 16.4, 22, 45; 20.6; Genesis 37.29, 34; Leviticus 9.24; 13.45). Let Him not now come and strike them all dead where they were. It was true that these people were seeking to reverse all that Yahweh had done, but let Him have mercy.
Joshua and Caleb Plead With Israel (14.6-9).
14.6 ‘And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes.’
Joshua and Caleb, the only two scouts who had not spoken against going forward, now tore their clothes in order to demonstrate their anguish, before they pleaded with the people. The tearing of the clothes was a deliberate expression of deep emotion intended to gain the greatest effect (see Genesis 37.29, 34; Leviticus 13.45; 2 Samuel 13.31; Jeremiah 36.24).
The time for diplomacy was past and Joshua now took his stand with Caleb, and is named first as being of senior position. It was no longer a matter of prudence in allowing parties seen as unbiased to speak up, but a matter of desperation where every effort had to be used. He hoped that his added authority might carry some weight. They had after all become used to receiving Moses’ orders from him.
14.7-8 ‘And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If Yahweh delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.” ’
They assured the people that the land that they had passed through was an exceedingly good land. And that Yahweh, if He delighted in them because they trusted Him, was well able to bring them in to it, and give it to them. They assured them that it really was a land flowing with milk and honey, the land that Yahweh had promised to give them.
14.9 “Only do not rebel against Yahweh, nor fear you the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us, fear them not.”
So they pleaded with them not to rebel against Yahweh. Nor were they to fear the people of the land. Against Yahweh the people of the land would have no defence, their defence was removed. Their protecting shadow was gone. Rather than the land eating up its inhabitants, they would be eaten up by the Israelites. Defeating them would be as easy as eating bread. For Yahweh was with Israel, His people, so that they had no need to be afraid of them.
This paralleling of the killing people with eating bread is found elsewhere. The Psalmist spoke of those who ‘eat up my people like they eat bread’ (Psalm 14.4; 53.4), and Micah describes the unjust rulers of Israel as ‘those who hate the good and love the evil --- who eat the flesh of my people’ (Micah 3.3). Thus ‘eating flesh’ or ‘eating people’ signified killing them or doing them great harm. In the same way Caleb and Joshua saw the task of defeating the people in Canaan as being as simple as eating bread when they had Yahweh’s power with them.
Note that their words echoed many of those of the other scouts, but as seen from a different point of view. How we look at things determines how we behave.
‘Their defence (literally ‘shadow’) is removed from over them.’ All in that hot country knew the value of the protecting shadow, and of what it could be like in the extreme heat if the shadow was removed. Possibly it indicated that they were dwelling in comfort under the protecting shadow of their gods, but that Yahweh would tear their shadow away and they would be left to face His blazing sun. More probable, however, is the meaning that the protecting shadow to be moved from over them was Yahweh’s restraint which had been held in place until their iniquity was full (Genesis 15.16)
The People React Against Them And Spur Yahweh To Visible Action (14.10).
14.10 ‘But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.’
The crowd in their deep distress, stricken in their own consciences although not willing to admit it, took this badly, for it emphasised their guilt, and guilty men often become angry in trying to justify themselves. Who were these men who dared to talk like this? They were guilty of treason against the people and their chieftains. The cry went up that they should be stoned with stones. How dare they defend Yahweh? The people were beside themselves. But then all were suddenly shaken by an unexpected event.
They were gathered around the Tent of meeting for the purpose of hearing the report from the scouts and without warning ‘the glory of Yahweh appeared in the Tent of meeting to all the children of Israel’. There could be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Everyone saw it. And they could hardly have been other than afraid. Note the parallel between the ‘all’ who sought to stone Caleb and Joshua and the ‘all’ who saw the glory of Yahweh. The one was Yahweh’s response to the other. He had seen Moses and Aaron as they cried to Him, He had seen His servants who were risking their lives in being faithful to Him, and He was here to act, and all were now aware of it. And now no doubt their memory of the past was also reawakened, and they remembered fearfully the past judgments of Yahweh.
This appearance of the glory of Yahweh in the Dwellingplace was not something totally new. They had experienced it before (Exodus 40.34; Leviticus 9.23). But then it had been an awesome religious experience without any direct personal bearing. Now it portended disaster for all. They had forgotten that Yahweh might be ‘in His Dwellingplace’ listening to them. (How easily we can forget that the invisible God is listening to us).
Yahweh Declares That He Has Had Enough of These People (14.11-12).
14.11-12 ‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” ’
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, who had almost certainly been continually interceding for the people. He asked him how long these people could be allowed to despise Yahweh. How long could they go on not believing in Him in the face of the signs and wonders which He had wrought among them? Let Moses explain why He should not now destroy them all. He would smite them with pestilence and remove them from under the promises to the patriarchs, disinheriting them. Then He would fulfil His promises by raising up from Moses, who was a son of Abraham, a nation greater (more numerous) and mightier than them.
Here faith is revealed as a central issue in the covenant. Faith, while not prominent as a specific subject in the Old Testament, in fact underlay its whole message. Men responded to Yahweh because they believed. It was the whole basis of the covenant. Thus Abraham believed in Yahweh and He counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6), and it was because he believed His covenant promises and acted on them that he was blessed. Faith was basic to the commencement of Yahweh’s deliverance in Egypt (Exodus 4.31). It was greatly strengthened by their deliverance at the Reed Sea (Exodus 14.31). Lack of it was a blot on Israel (Deuteronomy 1.32; Psalm 78.22) and on Moses and Aaron (Numbers 20.12). But when they did believe they sang His praise (Psalm 106.12). It was only if Israel believed that they would be established (Isaiah 7.9). Men were to believe in the sure foundation laid down by Yahweh, and then they would be at rest and not be in a hurry (Isaiah 28.16). It was central to God’s whole purposes (Isaiah 43.10).
Thus the fact that these people did not believe in spite of the signs that He had performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, made it clear that they were not open to His deliverance. It demonstrated that they had closed minds.
Moses Successfully Intercedes For Them (14.13-19).
14.13-14 ‘And Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the midst of this people, for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.” ’
However, Moses resorted to a similar argument to the one that he had used at the incident of the molten calf (Exodus 32.12). Let Yahweh consider that when the Egyptians heard what He had done they would crowingly declare to the Canaanites ‘what Yahweh had done’. Here was a fierce God indeed, they would jeer. He had done the same to these people as He had previously done to the Egyptians.
So Moses asked Him, had they not heard about how Yahweh was in the midst of His people, and was seen by them face to face when His glory was revealed as it now was? And how His cloud was over them day and night, and that Yahweh went before them in cloud and fire? Would they not therefore mock all the more if these same people were destroyed? So much for His faithfulness and protection, they would say. He was not to be trusted.
14.15 “Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard your fame will speak, saying, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ ”
And if Yahweh slew them all the observers would declare that with all His extravagant actions and claims He had been unable to do what He had set out to do, bring these people safely into Canaan, even though He had sworn that He would do so. And they would suggest that that was surely why He had slain them in the wilderness, because He had had to face up to His own inadequacy. So it was Yahweh’s reputation in the world that was at stake here, not just a matter of the deserving of the children of Israel.
14.17-18 “And now, I pray you, let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
Having called on Him to consider what people would think, he then turned to a second argument, the compassionate nature of Yahweh as declared by Himself. Let Him now reveal how great His power was by revealing that compassion. Those who are truly great are great enough to show compassion. And who was greater than Yahweh? Had not Yahweh previously declared that He was slow to anger and abundant in covenant love (chesed)? That He forgave iniquity and transgression, although by no means clearing those who remained in their guilt by failing to repent? (see Exodus 34.6-7). On the guilty He brought His judgment even to the third and fourth generation, because they continued obstinate in the face of His mercy. But on those who repented He showed mercy, ‘forgiving iniquity and transgression’. Let Him now reveal this by forgiving these people for their iniquity and transgression.
14.19 “Pardon, I pray you, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your lovingkindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
So for His honour’s sake, and for his reputation’s sake, and for the sake of the truth about His nature, Moses prayed that He would pardon this people’s iniquity in accordance with His great covenant love,