Numbers 11 to Numbers 13

Numbers 11
"Now the people became like those who complain of adversity...." - this made God angry

v 4 - the "rabble" were among them - (NOTE: this must be where we get the term "rabble rousers"
The "rabble were outsiders who were traveling with them. (see Exodus 12:38)

The "rabble" were the ones that began the grumbling and complaining about the manna.

v 10 - again God heard their whining and complaining and it made Him angry.

The people were begging for meat.

God said fine - I will give you meat. I will give you nothing but meat until it is "running out of your nostrils." v 20

Moses told God there were 600,000 people - where would all that meat come from?

v23 - God said: "Is the Lord's power limited?"

God sent quail in. The greedy people gathered lots of quail - the least of which was about 100 bushels. While the meat was in their teeth - God struck them with a plague. There they "buried the people who were greedy."


Also in chapter 11 - Eldad and Medad began prophesying - Joshua wanted Moses to restrain them. Moses however was not threatened by their ability - "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets."


Numbers 12

Aaron and Miriam – complained among themselves. “Haven’t we prophesied too?” This angered God – “you may prophesy – but Moses and I speak directly to one another.” Miriam was struck with leprosy. Aaron pleaded to Moses who pleaded to God for her healing. God said she had to suffer 7 days.

Numbers 13

God to Moses - Send out spies to Canaan to see the land which I am going to give the sons of Israel. Here’s who went (the heads):

Tribe	Representative	Son of
Reuben	Shammua	Zaccur
Simeon	Shaphat	Hori
Judah	Caleb	Jephunneh
Isaachar	Igal	Joseph
Ephraim	Hoshea (Moses called him Joshua)	Nun
Benjamin	Palti	Raphu
Zebulun	Gaddiel	Sodi
Joseph (from tribe of Manasseh)	Gaddi	Susi
Dan	Ammiel	Gemalli
Asher	Sethur	Michael
Napthali	Nahbi	Vophsi
Gad	Geuel	Machi

Their orders were to:

• ·         Go to the hill country of Negev
• ·         See what the land is like
• ·         See whether the people who live in it are weak or strong
• ·         See whether they were few or many
• ·         How is the land in which they live – good or bad?
• ·         How are the cities – open camps or fortifications?
• ·         How is the land – fat or lean?
• ·         Are there trees or not?
• ·         Try to get some of the fruit of the land.

What they did:

• ·         They looked at the land
• ·         They cut grapes and pomegranates and figs
• ·         They spent 40 days
• ·         They brought all of this back to the whole congregation at the wilderness of Paran and Kadesh.

Their report to the congregation:

• ·         We went to the land
• ·         It certainly does flow with milk and honey
• ·         This is its fruit
• ·         People are strong
• ·         Cities are fortified and very large
• ·         The descendants of Anak were there
• ·         Amalek – land of Negev
• ·         Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites – in the hill country
• ·         Canaanites – by the sea and by the side of the Jordan

V30 – Then Caleb quieted the people. (Apparently, they were stirred up. I imagine both positively and negatively.) “We should, by all means, go up and take possession……”

The other men contested: “We are not able to go up against the people for they are too strong for us.”

“The land through which we have gone, in spying out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim) and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight.”

Question/thought: Who were the sons of Anak – what was Israel’s history or knowledge of them?

Note: they were focusing on their own abilities and power and not God’s power and His promises to them.