The Terrible Grumblings of God’s People

This chapter is based on Numbers 10 to 12. 

The government of Israel was very organized, amazingly complete and simple. God was the center of government—He was the ruler of Israel. Moses stood as leader to administer the law in His name. Later, a council of seventy was chosen to assist Moses in the general business of the nation. Next came the priests, who consulted the Lord in the sanctuary. Chiefs, or princes, ruled over the tribes. Under these were “leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens” (Deuteronomy 1:15). 1TC 247.2

The Hebrew camp was separated into three great divisions. In the center was the tabernacle, the dwelling place of the invisible King. The priests and Levites were stationed around the tabernacle. All the other tribes were camped beyond the priests and Levites. 1TC 248.1

Each tribe was assigned a position. Each was to march and to camp beside its own banner, as the Lord had commanded (Numbers 2:2, 17). The mixed multitude that had accompanied Israel from Egypt were to stay on the outskirts of the camp, and their children were to be excluded from the community until the third generation (Deuteronomy 23:7, 8). 1TC 248.2

Strict order and specific sanitary regulations were enforced, rules essential to preserving health among so large a group of people. It was also necessary to maintain perfect order and purity. God declared: “The Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy” (Deuteronomy 23:14). 1TC 248.3

In all of Israel’s traveling, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them ... to search out a resting place for them.” Priests with silver trumpets were stationed near the ark, and these priests received directions from Moses, which they communicated to the people by the trumpets. It was the duty of the leaders of each company to give precise directions concerning all the movements to be made, as indicated by the trumpets. 1TC 248.4

God is a God of order. Everything connected with heaven is in perfect order; complete discipline is a feature of the movements of all the angels. Success can only come with order and cooperative, well-balanced action. God requires this now just as much as in the days of Israel. 1TC 248.5

God Himself directed the Israelites in their travels. The coming down of the pillar of cloud showed the place they were to camp, and the cloud rested over the tabernacle as long as they were to remain in camp. When they were to continue their journey, it rose high above the sacred tent. 1TC 248.6

It was only an eleven day journey between Mt. Sinai and Kadesh, on the borders of Canaan. With the hope of soon entering the promised land, all of Israel resumed their march when the cloud gave the signal. What blessings could they expect, now that they had officially been acknowledged as the chosen people of the Most High? 1TC 248.7

With reluctance many left the place where they had camped. The scene was so closely associated with the presence of God and holy angels that it seemed too sacred to be left thoughtlessly, or even gladly. At the signal from the trumpeters, however, all eyes turned anxiously to see in what direction the cloud would lead. As it moved toward the east, where only black and desolate mountain masses huddled together, a feeling of sadness and doubt arose in many hearts. 1TC 249.1

As they moved along, the way became more difficult. Their route went through stony canyons and empty wilderness, “a land of deserts and pits ... a land of drought and the shadow of death ... a land that no one crossed, and where no one dwelt” (Jeremiah 2:6). Their progress was slow and hard, and the multitudes were not prepared to endure the dangers and discomforts of the way. 1TC 249.2

The People Demand a Meat Diet

After three days’ journey open complaints were heard. These started with the mixed multitude, many of whom were always finding fault with the way in which Moses was leading them, though they knew that he was following the cloud. Unhappiness is contagious, and it soon spread in the camp. 1TC 249.3

Again they began to demand meat to eat. Many of the Egyptians among them had been used to a rich diet, and these were the first to complain. 1TC 249.4

God could have provided them with meat as easily as with manna, but His aim was to supply food better suited to their needs. The perverted appetite was to be brought into a more healthy state so that they could enjoy the food originally provided for the human family, the fruits of the earth which God gave to Adam and Eve in Eden. This is the reason the Israelites had been largely deprived of animal food. 1TC 249.5

Satan tempted them to think of this as unfair and cruel. He saw that filling every desire of their appetite would tend to pro duce sensuality, and by this means the people could be brought under his control more easily. From the time he convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, he has, to a large extent, led men into sin through appetite. Intemperance in eating and drinking prepares the way to ignore all moral standards. 1TC 249.6

God brought the Israelites from Egypt so that He could establish them in the land of Canaan as a pure, holy, and happy people. If they had been willing to deny appetite, they would not have experienced any weakness and disease among them. Their descendants would have possessed physical and mental strength, clear perceptions of truth and duty, keen discernment, and good judgment. 1TC 250.1

Says the psalmist: “They tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: they said, ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? ... Can He provide meat for His people?’ Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious” (Psalm 78:18-21). They had been witnesses to the majesty, power, and mercy of God, and their unbelief and discontent brought on them greater guilt. They had made a covenant to obey His authority. Their grumbling was now rebellion, and as such it must receive prompt punishment if Israel was to be preserved from chaos and ruin. “The fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” The most guilty of the complainers were killed by lightning from the cloud. 1TC 250.2

Their Demands Become Rebellious

In terror the people begged Moses to plead with the Lord for them. He did so, and the fire was quenched. But instead of leading the survivors to be humble and repent, this fearful judgment seemed only to increase their complaints. In all directions the people gathered at the doors of their tents, weeping and lamenting. “The mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!’” Yet, despite the hardships, there was not a weak, sickly one in all their tribes. 1TC 250.3

The heart of Moses sank. In his love for them, he had prayed that his name might be blotted from the book of life rather than for them to perish, and this was their response. They blamed him for all their hardships and even their imaginary sufferings. In his distress he was even tempted to distrust God. His prayer was almost a complaint: “Why have You afflicted Your servant ... that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? ... they weep ... saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.” 1TC 251.1

The Lord answered his prayer and directed him to appoint seventy men who had good judgment and experience to share his responsibilities. Their influence would help put down rebellion, yet serious evils would eventually result from their promotion. They would never have been chosen if Moses had shown faith as strong as the displays of God’s power and goodness that he had seen. If he had fully relied on God, the Lord would have continually guided him and given him strength for every emergency. 1TC 251.2

Moses announced the appointment of the seventy elders. The great leader’s instruction to these chosen men could well serve as a model of judicial integrity for the judges and lawmakers of modern times: “Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s” (Deuteronomy 1:16, 17). 1TC 251.3

“Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders: and ... they prophesied, although they never did so again.” Like the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, they were filled with “power from on high.” The Lord wished to honor them in the presence of the congregation, to establish confidence in them. 1TC 251.4

A strong wind blowing from the sea now brought flocks of quails, “about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground.” 1TC 252.1

All that day and night and the following day, the people worked to gather the food miraculously provided. Immense quantities were secured. All that they did not need for present use they preserved by drying, so that the supply, as promised, was sufficient for a whole month. 1TC 252.2

God gave the people what was not for their best good because they persisted in wanting it, but they were left to suffer the result. They feasted without restraint, and their gluttony was quickly punished. “The Lord struck the people with a very great plague.” The most guilty among them were stricken as soon as they tasted the food for which they had lusted. 1TC 252.3

At Hazeroth, the next place they camped after leaving Taberah, a still more bitter trial happened to Moses. Aaron and Miriam had held a position of high honor and leadership in Israel. Both had been connected with Moses in the deliverance of the Hebrews. Miriam, who was richly endowed with gifts of poetry and music, had led the women of Israel in song and dance on the shore of the Red Sea. In the hearts of the people and the honor of Heaven she stood second only to Moses and Aaron. 1TC 252.4

But in the appointment of the seventy elders, Moses had not consulted Miriam and Aaron, and they became jealous. They felt that their position and authority had been ignored. They thought of themselves as sharing the burden of leadership equally with Moses, and they did not see any need to appoint more assistants. 1TC 252.5

Sin of Jealousy

Moses realized his own weakness and made God his counselor, but Aaron thought of himself more highly, trusted less in God, and had failed in the matter of the idol worship at Sinai. Miriam and Aaron, blinded by jealousy and ambition, said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” 1TC 252.6

Miriam found reason to complain in events that God had especially directed. The marriage of Moses had been upsetting to her. It was an offense to her family and national pride that he would choose a woman of another nation instead of taking a wife from among the Hebrews. She treated Zipporah with obvious disrespect. 1TC 253.1

Though called a “Cushite woman,” the wife of Moses was a Midianite and so was a descendant of Abraham. She was different from the Hebrews in that her skin was somewhat darker. Though not an Israelite, Zipporah worshipped the true God. She had a timid, quiet personality and was greatly distressed when she saw suffering. This is the reason that Moses, when on his way to Egypt, agreed to have her return to Midian. 1TC 253.2

When Zipporah rejoined her husband in the wilderness, she saw that his burdens were wearing away his strength, and she told her fears to Jethro, who suggested a way to make Moses’ burdens lighter. This was the main reason that Miriam did not like Zipporah. Miriam thought that Moses’ wife was the reason that she and Aaron had supposedly been ignored. If Aaron had stood firmly for the right, he might have stopped Miriam’s evil, but instead of showing Miriam the sinfulness of her conduct, he sympathized with her and eventually shared her jealousy. 1TC 253.3

Moses bore their accusations in uncomplaining silence. He “was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth,” and this is why Moses was given more divine wisdom and guidance than anyone else. 1TC 253.4

God had chosen Moses. Miriam and Aaron, by their complaining, were guilty of disloyalty not only to their appointed leader, but to God Himself. “Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam.” Their claim to be prophets was not denied, but a closer communion had been granted to Moses. With him God spoke face to face. “‘Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’ So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed.” As evidence of God’s disapproval, Miriam “became leprous, as white as snow.” Aaron was spared from leprosy, but was severely rebuked in Miriam’s punishment. Now, their pride humbled in the dust, Aaron confessed their sin and pleaded that his sister might not be left to die of that hideous, deadly disease. 1TC 253.5

In answer to the prayers of Moses, the leprosy was cleansed, but Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days. The whole camp of Israel stayed in Hazeroth, waiting for her return. 1TC 254.1

This display of the Lord’s disapproval was designed to stop the growing spirit of discontent and rebellion. Envy is one of the most satanic traits that can exist in the human heart. Envy is what first caused unhappiness and conflict in heaven, and giving in to it has caused endless evil in the world. 1TC 254.2

The Bible teaches us to not carelessly accuse those whom God has called to be His ambassadors. “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses” (1 Timothy 5:19). God, who has placed on some the responsibility of being leaders and teachers of His people will hold people accountable for the way they treat His servants. The judgment given to Miriam should be a rebuke to all who give in to jealousy and complain against those on whom God has given the responsibility of His work. 1TC 254.3