Moving into the book of Numbers - aka book of Murmurings - with its stories of sins, complaints, and sorrows, the place and comfort and power of prayer is brought into focus.
In Numbers 6, Yahweh instructs the priests on the three-fold blessing they will offer over the people:
And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,
Speak unto Aharon and unto his Banim, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the Bnei Yisroel, saying unto them,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c943aG071XM
Y’varekhekha Adonai v’yishmerekha
(Hashem bless thee, and keep thee);
Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekha
(Hashem make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee);
Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom
(Hashem lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee shalom).
And they shall put My Shem upon the Bnei Yisroel, and I will bless them.
In Numbers 10, after the census of the people and their duties assigned, it's time to return to the journey to the Promised Land. Each time the tabernacle is taken down and the Ark is brought forth to lead the people, Moses offers this prayer:
When the ark moved forward, Moshe said,
“Arise, Adonai! May your enemies be scattered!
Let those who hate you flee before you!”
When it stopped, he said,
“Return, Adonai of the many, many
thousands of Isra’el!”
Numbers 11 - the people are on the move and the people begin their complaints to Moses, just as they had done when first liberated from Egypt. The troubles come first when misfortunes arise, then later when some people of mixed ancestry complain about the lack of meat.
Moses's prayer to God for help could be the prayer of many spiritual leaders emotionally exhausted by the responsibilities they bear. God responds to Moses by calling for the appointment of 70 elders to share his administrative burdens. As a sign of their authority, the Holy Spirit descends upon the elders and causes them to prophesy, in ecstatic utterances.
The foreigners who had joined the Israelites began wanting other things to eat. Soon all the Israelites began complaining again. The people said, “We want to eat meat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. That fish cost us nothing. We also had good vegetables like cucumbers, melons, chives, onions, and garlic.
But now we have lost our strength. We never eat anything—only this manna!” (The manna was like small coriander seeds, and it looked like sap from a tree. The people gathered the manna. Then they used rocks to crush it and cooked it in a pot. Or they ground it into flour and made thin cakes with it. The cakes tasted like sweet cakes cooked with olive oil. The manna fell on the ground each night when the ground became wet with dew.)
Moses heard the people complaining. People from every family were sitting by their tents and complaining. The Lord became very angry, and this made Moses very upset.
Moses heard the people complaining. People from every family were sitting by their tents and complaining. The Lord became very angry, and this made Moses very upset.
He asked the Lord, “Why did you bring this trouble on me? I am your servant. What did I do wrong? What did I do to upset you? Why did you give me responsibility over all these people? You know that I am not the father of all these people. You know that I did not give birth to them. But I must take care of them, like a nurse carrying a baby in her arms.
Why do you force me to do this? Why do you force me to carry them to the land that you promised to our fathers? I don’t have enough meat for all these people! And they continue complaining to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot take care of all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. If you plan to continue giving me their troubles, kill me now. If you accept me as your servant, let me die now. Then I will be finished with all my troubles!”
The Lord said to Moses, “Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.
“Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat.
The Lord said to Moses, “Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.
“Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat.
And you will eat it.
You will eat it for more than one, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days! You will eat that meat for a whole month until it comes out your nose and you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord. He lives among you and He knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”
Being mocked by God. That's got to be uncomfortable.
Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”
But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! [Has Yahweh's arm grown short?] You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”
So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy. But that was the only time they ever did this.
Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”
Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)
But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.
Then the Lord made a powerful wind to blow in from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. There were so many birds that the ground was covered. They were about three feet deep on the ground. There were quail in every direction as far as a man can walk in one day.
Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”
But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! [Has Yahweh's arm grown short?] You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”
So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy. But that was the only time they ever did this.
Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”
Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)
But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.
Then the Lord made a powerful wind to blow in from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. There were so many birds that the ground was covered. They were about three feet deep on the ground. There were quail in every direction as far as a man can walk in one day.
They went out and gathered quail all that day and all that night. And they gathered quail all the next day too! The smallest amount anyone gathered was 60 bushels. Then the people spread the quail meat all around the camp to dry in the sun.
People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die. So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah,[Grave of Craving] because there they buried those who had the strong desire for meat.
From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die. So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah,[Grave of Craving] because there they buried those who had the strong desire for meat.
From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.
Compare God's answer to the people's demand for food to Jesus's response to the hungry people who gather around him. And compare Phillip's response to Jesus with Moses's question to God.
John 6
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”
One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”
Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
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