This Bible study is all about the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites as they go from contentment to complaining.
Get access to the complete Numbers Bible Study and Free Guide Here!
During the first year of being in the wilderness, the Israelites obediently followed God and did everything He commanded. We saw as they received instructions from God at Mount Sinai, and how they followed His direction to move out. Everything they did seemed to be in accordance with the commands of God.
That is why, when they begin complaining, we are taken aback. They moved from obedience to disobedience. From trust to skepticism. And from faith to unbelief. Here we see their poor choices as we prayerfully consider how we can remain faithful to God even in the wilderness.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Read all about how the Israelites begin their wilderness wanderings by choosing discontentment, before reflecting on it below.
Numbers 9-12
Waiting on God
On the first day of the first month of the second year, the Tabernacle was completed. The glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle through His cloud, and during a period of 12 days, each of the tribes offered their gifts. Around this time, the priest were consecrated and made ready for service, and the Israelites were reminded of the importance of keeping the Passover. But there was a hangup. Purity laws had been given, and those who were unclean were not allowed to partake in the Passover. A few of those who found themselves unclean wanted to do what was right so they went to inquire of Moses. And Moses, in his wisdom, simply said: “wait until I find out what the Lord commands of you.”
Moses, in his humility, knew that he did not have an answer. But he knew that he served the God who has all of the answers. Instead of trying to come up with a solution by himself, he went to the Lord first. Do you seek the Lord and wait to see what He says before rushing into an answer (Psalm 63:1)?
Related post: 7 Things to do While Waiting on God
Following God in the wilderness
As soon as the Tabernacle was ready for service, the presence of the Lord settled on it as a cloud by day and fire by night. Numbers 9:15-23 emphasizes the importance that the Israelites never set out without the presence of God going first. Just as they never stayed in the camp if the Cloud departed. In this short section, the idea that “at the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at His command the encamped” is mentioned three times in a poetic manner. This was to be a lesson that the Israelites would learn well: they followed God and did as He commanded.
Do you wait for the Lord’s command before setting out or deciding to stay (Deuteronomy 31:8)?
Giving our attention to God
In order for the Israelites to know when to come together and when to set out, God had Moses make two trumpets of hammered silver. (This was different than the shofar made from ram horn for the day of Atonement). These trumpets were used to get the Israelites’ attention so they knew what to do. They desired to obey God, but they needed a tangible way of hearing and discerning His call.
Do you give your attention to God so that you can obey Him? What are some ways you can purposefully give your attention back to God (Romans 8:5)?
Complaining about hardships
The first ten chapters of Numbers depict how the Israelites trusted and obeyed God. We see how they listened when God organized them in their proper place around the Tabernacle. They followed God’s instructions for marching orders. The leaders brought their gifts in a public ceremony. They were the picture of perfect obedient children. So here, in chapter 11, they complain about their hardships in the wilderness and it takes us by surprise. We can clearly see how God brought them out of Egypt and gave them true freedom in His law. It is obvious they have been blessed, protected, and provided for by God. And yet, they still find something to complain about.
After seeing the blessings of God in their lives, we wonder how they could be so quick to complain. But don’t we do the same thing? What have you been complaining about instead of seeing the blessing of God in your life? How can you turn from a spirit of complaining to one of gratitude (Philippians 2:14-15)?
Complaining about manna in the wilderness
After a year of being miraculously provided with mana, some of the Israelites decided that it was no longer enough for them. They craved meat. They started to despise the blessing of God when their desire for meat turned into a lust of covetousness for it. Instead of being grateful for the amazing provision of God and looking to the future, they remembered their past with rose-colored glasses and romanticized their slavery. They wrongly chose selective memory of the past, sinning by their ingratitude, in order to justify their current complaints against God.
Are you stuck in the past, forgetting the hardships and romanticizing the good times, instead of looking forward to the promises of God and the new work He is going to do in your life (Lamentations 3:22-24)?
All the Lord’s people should prophesy
When Moses gathered 70 elders to God, God placed His spirit in them and they prophesied. But two men from these elders were still within the camp. So when an unnamed man heard them prophesy, he ran to tell Moses. Moses responded that he wished all people would prophesy and be filled with the Spirit. Although we may not prophesy in the same way that the prophets of the Old Testament did, we are still called to live with the Holy Spirit resting in us. Under the New Covenant, in Acts 2, the Holy spirit was poured out on all of us. Indeed, the words of Ezekiel have come true that “God has put His Spirit in us and caused us to walk in His statutes, so that we will keep his judgements and do them” (Paraphrased NKJV, Ezekiel 36:27).
Do you have the Spirit of God resting in you? How is there a noticeable difference in your life (Galatians 5:16-17)?
Talk against Moses
After this outpouring of the Spirit on these seventy elders, Miriam and Aaron come up to Moses to talk against him, under the pretext of his wife. Perhaps Miriam and Aaron were displeased that they were left out of the seventy elders. Or it may be that they wanted more recognition for their leadership among the Israelites. Whatever the case may be, they were speaking out against Moses’ leadership authority, and against the God who had placed him there. Instead of Moses responding to the accusations, God called the three of them to Himself and addressed the heart issue. Moses was called by God and chosen by Him for this position. Miriam and Aaron were called to supporting roles.
Are you content in the position that God has called you to? Or do you envy someone else’s position, whether for more responsibility and recognition or for less (1 Corinthians 7:17)?
Leprosy (12)
Because of Miriam’s complaining against Moses and the position God had called him to, God caused her skin to become leprous, reflecting her heart. Although Moses prayed for God to remove the stain, God responded that she would live with this outward reminder of her arrogant heart for seven days. She was confined outside the camp, humbly living among the other unclean Israelites until God would allow her back into His presence.
Is there arrogance in your heart that you need to repent of (1 Samuel 2:3)?
Are you wandering in the wilderness?
God rescued the Israelites from the bondage of slavery, miraculously delivering them across the red sea and led them through the wilderness providing manna as food. He ordered them, gave each a place within the camp and individual value, and set laws based on mutual respect for everyone.
It was during this time that the Israelites traded their contentment from resting in God’s provision to complaining that it wasn’t enough.
Are you in a season of contentment or complaining? How can you focus on God during this time in your life (Hebrews 12:1-3)?
