Text Box: NUMBERS 11 Numbers 11:1-3 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. Let me remind you of what is happening. Misery in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea by God and now they are travelling across the desert. Again as in Leviticus 10:2 “And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” And shall we not forget Sodom and Gomorrah. Now we can add Taberah. God is very unhappy about man not following instructions, and us not following Him. Oh and God has the power to resolve the issue. We are happy with God when we are getting what we want but when God’s plan differs from ours we want what we want and we believe it is God’s fault that we can’t have it. Try that attitude at work and see how it goes. “You are fired” will probably be the answer. God has not “fired” us, but if we are not living with God on the day of judgement He will literally fire us in the lake of fire. God still loves us and is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b). God tells us in 2 Peter 3:10 that He will destroy the earth and in 2 Peter 3:13 “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”. We are told in 2 Peter 3:11b “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness”. We are here on earth for a short time, usually under 100 years, but we will be in our eternal home for the rest of time. We have a choice as to whether we want to live with God or Satan, as there are no other choices! Numbers 11:4-6 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” People say “Better is the Devil you know, than the one you don’t know” Following the Devil is never right. They may have had food that was better than manna but they were still prisoners in Egypt. They were still being mistreated in Egypt. God was leading them on a journey to the land of milk and honey, after He had just delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and Pharoah. The Israelites grew weary of the manna and lost sight of the milk and honey. They also lost sight of God as they complained that they were better off in Egypt. Concerning the statement “now our strength is dried up”, I think God knows when His people are physically done in, after all He made them. Numbers 11:7-9 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. They were given food to eat but they wanted a bigger variety of food. They felt like their strength had dried up but God was making sure they could make the journey IF they would follow Him (and probably quit their griping.) If they could trust God to