Good Morning!

Oops! I did it again. Sometimes my mind gets ahead of my actions. Sorry about leaving the DBS off for the last two days. It’s here today.

Discouragement. What a word. But an affliction that all of us will face at some time or another in our lives. Right now I have some loved ones (includes friends) who are facing discouragement. Life hasn’t been kind. They are facing chronic illness or pain. They have been out of work so long that they wonder what it is like to have a job. They are facing poor results from medical tests. Everything they try to do to alleviate the problems just doesn’t seem to work. And so they are discouraged.

Moses felt discouragement too. The passage below talks about a time in the wilderness wanderings where Moses really got down. Moses has led the people out of Egypt … out of slavery. Every need they have had has been met by God. And still they manage to find something to complain about. God punishes them … they repent … only to begin to complain again. Well, let’s read it:

Numbers 11:1-15 (New International Version, ©2011)
Fire From the LORD
1 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah,[a] because fire from the LORD had burned among them.
Quail From the LORD
4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.
10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the LORD, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

Footnotes:
a. Numbers 11:3 Taberah means burning.

Focus on verse 4. God has provided for their needs … but the people began to complain about what He provided. And I can understand that … same thing each day … how many ways can one prepare manna? The people began to reminisce about all the “great food in Egypt”. You know, those “good old days” … when the Egyptians gave them fish at “no cost”. Had they forgotten the true cost of that fish? Had the sting of the whip faded from their memory? Did they not remember Pharaoh deciding to kill all their men-children? Yes, it was “great” in Egypt … wasn’t it?

But we aren’t talking about the people … we are focusing on Moses and his discouragement. Look at verse 11. Moses asks God: “why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you would lay all these burdens upon me? If this is all there is … if this is how You are going to treat me, just kill me and make it simple.” Moses was discouraged.

How often have we felt like Moses felt? How often have the burdens of illness, sorrow, pain, joblessness and the like weighed us into discouragement? Probably more times than we would like to admit. It is natural to get down at times. But here’s the key … where did Moses go with his discouragement? He went to God. And he continued to go to God each time he faced discouragement.

You will notice the banner says “Quail From the LORD”. Well, that is the rest of the story. Let’s take a look:

Numbers 11:16-34 (New International Version, ©2011)
16 The LORD said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.
18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”
21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”
23 The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.
26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31 Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits[a] deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers.[b] Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[c] because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
Footnotes:
a. Numbers 11:31 That is, about 3 feet or about 90 centimeters
b. Numbers 11:32 That is, possibly about 1 3/4 tons or about 1.6 metric tons
c. Numbers 11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of craving

A quick synopsis: Moses went to the complainers and told them they were going to get meat to eat. And they did … but they choked on it. God met the need of Moses because Moses was faithful.

Please do not misunderstand me. I do not make light of the burden my loved ones are facing. I know the never ending pain of a degenerating disk can be and is unbearable. I know the news of an increasing number in the PSA after having radioactive seeds implanted is frightening. I recognize the news of a sale of a home that doesn’t cover the outstanding expense can be devastating. Whatever the burden, there comes a time when discouragement sets in … and all we can do is pray. But remember, the God that led us out of “Egypt” continues to care for us even in the hour of our discouragement. We love you and are praying continuously that God will bring you relief.


Agape’


Mr. Jim