Numbers 11:10-15 Moses Complains About the People and About His Own Life
Day 52 of social distancing. Some grocery stores now requiring all customers to wear masks. Churches all over the U.S. are defying the “do not assemble” orders. Some stores are banning the wearing of gloves and rightly so. The world is crazy. And so is the weather – it snowed today (May 9). So much for global warming a.k.a. as climate change. They lied to us about that. They’re lying to us about a lot of things. We press on. Let’s learn about what got Moses down. Next time we’ll see how God responds to Moses and the Israelites.
The Passage
10 Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and [a]Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You [b]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a [c]nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’14 I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too [d]burdensome for me.15 So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 11:10 Lit it was evil in Moses’ sight
- Numbers 11:11 Lit dealt ill with
- Numbers 11:12 Or foster-father
- Numbers 11:14 Lit heavy
Thoughts on the Passage
As we read this passage we can’t miss how ‘down’ Moses must have felt. He had been through a lot since he was left floating in a basket in the Nile river many decades previously. God had blessed him with much power and authority, as well as respect from the people. But ask any leader, and they’ll tell you that with those, especially respect, comes expectations. And the people surely expected a lot from Moses. So, Moses cries out to God because he was at the “end of his rope” as Chuck Smith says, even though Matthew Henry says, he knew he had done his utmost for God and the Israelites. Imagine that – knowing you had given all you possibly could, and things still go wrong. In fact, that happens to many leaders. But it need not be the end of the world.
The first thing I noted was that Moses had heard the people. Somehow, he had a sense of what each Israelite was feeling. Maybe he walked from one standard to the other on a regular basis. Maybe he listened to their individual tribe leaders. Whatever method he used he knew what his people were going through. [Throughout history, leaders have been separated into two categories on this issue – those who listened and understood their people and those who didn’t. I’ll let you think of names to put in each category.]
Moses also knew that God was angry at the grumbling of the people. He too saw the fire consuming the edges of the camp. The combination (the people grumbling and God being angry) made him uncomfortable, frustrated, exasperated, and even perturbed. And notice what he does. He speaks to God about it.
The text uses the word “displeased” to describe how Moses felt. I looked up some of the synonyms for that, and in addition to the ones I used above, I also found annoyed, irritated, infuriated, incensed, angered, irked, vexed, provoked, peeved, galled, nettled, maddened, disgruntled, dismayed, put out, affronted, offended (I like that one), insulted, mortified, outraged, scandalized, troubled, upset, disturbed, aggravated, needled, riled, rattled, miffed, wound up, teed off, and ticked off. So, why am I listing all these emotions here? Because we need to ask ourselves, “Do we do what Moses did when we feel any of these?” Do we turn to God first and foremost?
But look at what he says to God? He makes it all about him. And he blames God. He tells Him that he feels the Israelites are a big burden to him. He tells God they’re His responsibility; He’s the One who promised them a new home.
David Guzik says God allowed Moses this experience for the same reason He afforded it to the Israelites, and even to us today – so that we will learn to become more reliant on Him. In 1 Thessalonians 3:3 we read, “That no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.”
He tells God what He already knows – that the people are crying for ‘meat’ and that this is too much for Moses, he can’t do it. The crying was like that of babies says Guzik and thus Moses makes a reference to ‘conceiving’ these Israelites. “And if that’s the way it’s going to be, God, then you might as well kill me, please. I don’t want to go on living.”
Wow. Does that sound familiar? Have you ever felt that down? Have you known anyone who has felt that down? I’m sure the answer is a definite ‘yes’ to the last question, and for many of us, likely a ‘yes’ to the first one as well. I don’t need to spell out the unfortunate outcomes that this kind of response to circumstances can lead to for many that we love, and even for ourselves. We don’t need to go there. We need to “tell God” and then let Him respond to us as He does to Moses in the passage that follows. Hang in there.
But, in the meantime, are there some lessons of what not to do that we can learn from what Moses’ actions? Matthew Henry says there are several:
· He undervalues the honour God had put upon him
· He complains too much of a sensible grievance (i.e. makes a mountain out of an anthill), and lays too near his heart a little noise and fatigue (how would Moses fare against the problems that war would bring upon the Israelites?)
· He magnifies his own performances with respect to the onus of caring for the people
· He was prepared to give up his responsibility as a leader of these his ‘children’
· He takes too much to himself when he asks if he was to provide them the meat
· He wishes for death
None of the above are helpful when seeking God’s help. Robert Jamieson summarizes Moses’ attitude and words up by saying, “It is impossible not to sympathize with his feelings although the tone and language of his remonstrances to God cannot be justified.” Hopefully, we would agree.
And a little advance peek into what God does answer and what He doesn’t. God answers Moses’ heart’s desire, but not his wish to die because God loves him too much and Moses still had a job to do. God also does not answer his desire not to see his own wretchedness – in fact, Guzik says, God wants us to see our wretchedness – our weakness, then we can be strong in God’s strength. As Paul learned, “God’s strength is made perfect in [our] weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:9]
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
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