1. "At the heart of every complaint that we make as believers, we are saying to God, we feel that you're no longer enough for us. We need something better than you and what you've already offered us."

2. "It's easy to cast an eye of judgment on Israel to look at them and say, How could they? But it's better to look in the mirror and say, How could we? Because we really are no different than them."

3. "Until we die or Christ returns, the temptation to be like Israel will always be crouching at our door to grumble against the Lord. Even though we're saved, there's still in us as Christians a little grumbling ember in all of our hearts. And if we're not careful, the right wind will blow upon it and fan that ember into a full discontent in the Lord and his provisions."

4. "If misery loves company, then godly sorrow loves prayer."

5. "Brothers and sisters, when the Christian life is hard and when it is difficult, when you are stumbling and struggling along the way, remember this, that Christ will never quit on you. There's not been a moment in my life or your life as a Christian where Christ heard us in our weakest moments, in our most vulnerable state, and he looked at the Father and said, I'm done."

6. "Brothers and sisters, there are times in our lives that it is better to sit in silence than to speak and sin against God."

7. "God's Word is far more trustworthy than how you feel. God's word is far more trustworthy. It is a greater foundation. It is far more trustworthy than how you feel or think."

8. "Their greatest need was not more diversity in their diet. It was the Spirit of God they lacked."

9. "To choose to reject the Lord is to choose death itself. By pursuing their sinful cravings and sinful passions, they were saying, We would rather die than follow the Lord."

10. "God has not promised us an easy life here. We have no easy journey towards heaven. Though difficult is the way towards God, God has not left us alone. He's given us his son, he's given us his spirit. He's not calling you to rest on yourself and your own strength and your own understanding. He's calling you to rest on him because he is faithful to sustain you to the end."

Observation Questions

1. According to Numbers 11:1, what was the people's response as they set out from Sinai, and what was God's immediate reaction to their complaint?

2. In Numbers 11:4-6, what specific foods did the people remember from Egypt, and how did they describe the manna God was providing for them?

3. What does Moses say to the Lord in Numbers 11:14-15 about his ability to lead the people, and what does he ask God to do to him?

4. In Numbers 11:16-17, what does God promise to do with the Spirit that is on Moses, and what will be the result for the seventy elders?

5. How does God respond to Moses' doubt in Numbers 11:23, and what question does He ask Moses?

6. According to Numbers 11:33-34, what happened to the people while the meat was still between their teeth, and what was the place named as a result?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that the people's complaint in Numbers 11:4-6 focused on the variety of food they lacked rather than on actual hunger, and what does this reveal about the true nature of their hearts according to verse 20?

2. How does Moses' prayer in Numbers 11:10-15 differ from Israel's grumbling, and what principles can we learn about bringing honest lament before God?

3. What is the significance of God's question to Moses, "Is the Lord's hand shortened?" (v. 23), and how does this connect to God's past acts of deliverance for Israel?

4. Why did Moses rejoice when Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp (vv. 26-29), and how does his wish that "all the Lord's people were prophets" point forward to a greater fulfillment?

5. What message was God communicating to the rest of Israel through His judgment on those who had the craving, and how does the naming of the place "Kibroth-hattaavah" (graves of craving) serve as a warning?

Application Questions

1. The Israelites grumbled because God's provision didn't match their preferences. In what specific area of your life are you tempted to view God's good provision as insufficient because it doesn't match what you want?

2. Moses took his exhaustion and frustration directly to God in prayer rather than complaining to others. What burden or struggle have you been discussing with others that you need to bring honestly to God in prayer this week?

3. The sermon emphasized that God's Word is more trustworthy than our feelings. What promise of God are you currently doubting because of difficult circumstances, and how can you actively remind yourself of His faithfulness?

4. Hebrews 3:13 calls believers to "exhort one another every day" so that none are hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Who is one person in your church community you could intentionally encourage this week to keep trusting God through a difficult season?

5. The Israelites had strength to pursue their sinful cravings but claimed they had no strength to follow God. What is one area where you find energy for lesser pursuits but feel too tired for spiritual disciplines, and what concrete step can you take to redirect that energy toward God?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Exodus 16:1-18 — This passage records the first instance of Israel grumbling about food and God's provision of manna and quail, providing essential background for understanding Numbers 11.

2. Psalm 13:1-6 — David's lament demonstrates the pattern of honest prayer before God that Moses modeled, showing how to move from complaint to trust.

3. Joel 2:28-32 — This prophecy promises the outpouring of God's Spirit on all people, fulfilling Moses' wish that all God's people would be prophets.

4. Acts 2:1-21 — Luke records the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy at Pentecost, showing how believers today have received what Moses longed for Israel to have.

5. Hebrews 3:7-19 — The author of Hebrews uses Israel's wilderness rebellion as a warning to Christians not to harden their hearts through unbelief and grumbling.

Sermon Main Topics

I. When the Right Decision Feels Wrong: The Challenge of Following God

II. Don't Grumble: Israel's Complaint Despite God's Provision (Numbers 11:1-9)

III. Pray Honestly: Moses' Raw Lament Before God (Numbers 11:10-15)

IV. Trust God's Word: The Lord's Response to Doubt (Numbers 11:16-23)

V. Remember God's Provision: The Gift of the Spirit and the Message of Judgment (Numbers 11:24-35)

VI. The Difficult Path to Life Requires Resting on God's Faithfulness

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Have you ever made the right decision and it later felt wrong?

So when Megan and I first bought a house, we were thrilled. We put like five offers on different houses and whipped on every single one of them, and finally we got one. We were so thrilled, could not wait until we got to closing day. And I don't know if you've bought a house before, but when you do, you go into this room, and they load you up with good snacks to try to make you feel good. And then they bring out a stack of papers that's as high as this pulpit for you to sign your life away.

That's when the anxiety kicked in for us, especially when they open up to this page where they show you this, like, 30-year track of, like, if you stay in this mortgage and this is what you pay at this interest rate, this is the total amount you'll pay by the end. And I began to dry heave in the room. Thinking, what have I done?

What about for you? What has made the right decision eventually feel wrong? Maybe for you, this decision you made led you on a path that was more painful than you had anticipated. Or maybe, like us, it was just more costly than you thought it would be. It would require more time and more energy than you first thought.

Or maybe the consequences for your decision reveal things about you that you didn't know or better yet things you didn't want to know. What do you do when the right decision later on feels difficult and hard? You see, we've been brought up into a culture that if you make the right decision, inevitably you'll get the right results. We've kind of bought into this simplistic formula that A plus B always equals C. That the right degree and the right job and the right spouse and the right house will produce a happy and pain-free life. We envision the trajectory of our lives as always up and to the right.

But what do you do when you make the right decision and shortly after you begin to experience hardship and disappointment and pain?

Maybe you have experienced this in your own life recently, in your job, in your marriage, in a relationship, your finances. But what about as a Christian?

Maybe you are convinced and have been convinced your whole life that following Jesus is right, but if you're being honest, it has not been easy. The cost of following Jesus has been far more expensive than you first thought.

You continue to try to fight your sin, but it is exhausting. It feels like you're pursuing God, yet it feels like he's running away from you.

And you have followed him and continued to entrust yourself to him and thought, maybe this might make my life easier, and yet it seems like God keeps making your life harder with afflictions and trials.

What do you do when following God is hard? I think the answer to that question is at the heart of our passage this morning. So if you have your Bibles, I invite you to go ahead and grab them and turn to Numbers chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11. If you have a red Bible beside you, that is on page 119.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Are we seriously doing a summer series in the book of Numbers? And I'm here to tell you, yes, we are.

The reason being is the Lord has heard the cries of the incomplete Bible reading plans each year, and the day of judgment has now come.

But in all seriousness, I plan to cover a few of the narratives of Numbers over the next few weeks.

And I'm convinced that as we do this, we're gonna learn a lot about God and ourselves in the process. So I wanna give us some backstory before we jump in and we read our passage this morning. Numbers is in the part of the Bible called the Pentateuch or the Law. It's just the first five books of the Bible. Here in these books, specifically in Genesis, we see how why God created the world and how God created the world.

And yet early on we see that God created man in his own image and yet they rebelled against him and God no longer dwelled with his people. So really, from Genesis on, the Bible is trying to answer the question, what is going to happen to God's people? And how and when will he dwell with them again? In Exodus, we see that God's people are in bondage and slavery in Egypt, and God hears their cries, and he comes down and he rescues them. And then we see in Leviticus that God is now giving them the law of how they will live in the world and worship him.

And now, in Numbers, they are finally setting out towards the Promised Land. Finally setting out on their journey. And to kind of zoom in one degree closer to help give you further context of where we are. So if you know your Bibles, from Exodus 19 is when they arrive at Sinai. At the Red Sea, the deliverance of the Red Sea, and Exodus 14, now they arrive at Sinai.

So from Exodus 19 all through Exodus and Leviticus, and now towards now to Numbers 10, They're still camped out at Sinai. So to help you understand that, Exodus 19 through Numbers 10, Israel has been at Sinai the whole time, waiting on the Lord. It's about a year's time. So as you read your Bible, kind of keep that in the back of your mind. God has now given them the law.

Israel's been camped out, and we see in verse 11 of chapter 10 that they are about to set out. So look at your Bible here, and you can see what happens back to Numbers chapter 10. We'll see this in verse 11 through 13. It says this, In the second year, in the second month of the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.

It set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses. How exciting. When they're finally leaving, they've been in bondage, been in slavery for a year, been waiting, they're receiving the word of the Lord, receiving the law, and now they're finally get to leave. You can even see how God does it. You see in verse 33 of chapter 10, for they set out from the Mount of the Lord three days journey, and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord went out before them three days journey to seek out a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day and whenever they set out from the camp. So the Lord would go out before them to find a resting place for them. They are on their way to being to the Promised Land. But what we're going to find, it does not go quite like they first thought. Following God for them becomes really hard, really fast.

So what we're gonna see in Numbers 11 is four things. Four things to remember when following God is hard.

The first is this, don't grumble. This is verses 1 through 9. The second is pray honestly. This is verses 10 through 15. The third is trust God's Word.

This is verses 16 through 23. And the fourth is remember God's provision. This will be verses 24 through 35. And I'll highlight those as we go along. So let's first look at the first reminder, don't grumble.

And we'll see this now as we read verses 1 through 9. Look at your Bibles now.

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 of the 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 had burned among them. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving, and the people of Israel also wept again and said, 'O that we had meat to eat!

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. Now the manna was like that of coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in hand mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. The taste of cakes baked with oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

So we see that the people set out for the Promised Land. How exciting, except in verse 1, what does it say? And the people complained. It's like they're on a family road trip. They just got on 395 and the kids start yelling, Are we there yet?

Immediately they begin to complain. Well, what are they complaining about? Well, it says, Moses writes and records, they're complaining about their misfortunes. What misfortunes could they have that could be so bad that would cause him to complain? We just saw that God has miraculously saved his people and now he's leading them with his presence and he's going out and finding places of rest for them.

What could be so bad that they would complain about it? Moses gives us the answer in verse 4. Look down your Bibles. It says this, Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. The rabble there is just referencing those people who were not Israelites who left Egypt with Israel.

They were complaining, and it had caused the rest to grumble. They were the instigators. They're complaining because they're hungry. Now, something I want you to notice is this. It's helpful to kind of understand in the Pentateuch here, there's a lot of similarity in numbers in Exodus.

So the people's attitude in leaving the Red Sea, getting to Sinai, is very similar as they're leaving Sinai. So if you go back into your Bibles to Exodus 14, we just heard that God miraculously saves the people by opening up the Red Sea and He defeats their enemies. Exodus 15, they rejoice and they sing together Moses' song. We also see that's where God makes the bitter water sweet water for them. And after all these great things, what do they do?

Well, in chapter 16 it says that the people grumbled against the Lord. See this in verse 2 and 3. Listen to what Moses records there in Exodus 16. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the people of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, For you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Well, how does the Lord respond there? He provides. Later on, He gives them manna, which is this bread from heaven, and He provides them with quail. So again, these people have experienced God's kindness and His constant provision, so what in the world are they complaining about? We'll look down in verses 4 through 6 of chapter 11.

This is what they're complaining about. Oh, that we had meat to eat. Remember the fish we ate in Egypt? They 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.

So here is their complaint. It was not that God had not provided what they needed. He had provided what they needed. He had just not provided the diversity in their diets that they wanted. You give them all that they needed and they begin to grumble because they didn't have a diversity in their diets like they wanted.

So I want you to imagine this. Imagine you're walking down the street one day and you see me after a run and I'm exhausted, which typically happens after I run. And I have no water. And I ask, Can I have something to drink? And you're like, Sure, I happen to have an unopened bottle of water and you reach out and hand it to me.

And I look at you and say, no Pellegrino? No Topo Chico or LaCroix? You would look at me and be shocked. My entitlement would be deafening to you. You would quickly assess that I have a greater problem than my thirst.

And that's exactly what has happened here. Their hunger wasn't the problem. Their entitlement was. And ultimately, their hearts were the problem. What we'll see later on in verse 20 is God diagnoses their heart problem.

It's not a lack of food. It's a fact that they have rejected God. They longed to be slaves in Egypt again. They don't want to follow the Lord anymore. And brothers and sisters, this is where for us, we need to hear this warning because at the complaint and grumble of every believer, what we are saying is this, that we feel that God and his provisions are no longer enough for us.

At the heart of every complaint that we make as believers, we are saying to God, we feel that you're no longer enough for us. We need something better than you and what you've already offered us. So church, how was your grumbling this past week? How were your complaints this past week? Has the job that you so desired for so long began not to satisfy you like you thought it would?

Have those kids that you've prayed about turned from blessings to burdens?

There's something in your life that you longed to have and you finally received it and now you're disappointed with it. What situation, what affliction, what trial would cause you to grumble against the Lord? I think we need to ask ourselves and consider that today because it's easy to cast an eye of judgment on Israel to look at them and say, How could they? But it's better to look in the mirror and say, How could we? Because we really are no different than them.

And until we die or Christ return, the temptation to be like Israel will always be crouching at our door to grumble against the Lord. So even though we're saved, there's still in us as Christians a little grumbling ember in all of our hearts. And if we're not careful, the right wind will blow upon it and fan that ember into a full discontent in the Lord and his provisions. So what are you doing in this moment to protect yourself and future trials that'll tempt you to reject the Lord. Really, that's what we've been hearing about all in Hebrews, right?

That they're thinking it's better to go back. And you remember the prescription that the author of Hebrews gives in Hebrews 3? He says this, Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God, but exhort one another every day, as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Brothers and sisters, that is why God has given us to each other in this church, that we would exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require. If our gathering this morning is to remind ourselves that life is too short and eternity too great to desert God for the fleeting passions of this life, that's why we gather each week to encourage one another to continue to trust the Lord.

You see, Israel's covetous heart had blinded them to God's provisions. God might have pulled them out of Egypt, but Egypt was still deep in their hearts. To not only see when following God is hard, should we not grumble? The second thing is this, we should pray honestly. Pray honestly.

We see this in particular in verses 10 through 15.

Let's read that now. This is Moses' response to the people. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly. And Moses was displeased. Moses said to the Lord, 'Why have you dealt ill with your servant?

Why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth? That you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child, to the land that you swore to give their fathers?' Where am I to get meat to give all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat that we may eat, I am not able to carry all this people alone.

The burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once if I found favor in your sight that I may not see my wretchedness. Now this may be one of the most honest and raw prayers in all the Bible. Moses has heard the weeping of the people and it isn't just displeasing, it is literally evil in his ears. And what he says in this prayer is shocking and it's baffling.

He's saying, Lord, why have you done this to me? Why have you tried to lay this burden on me? I cannot do this. These people are impossible. So what you should do is just go ahead and kill me.

Take me out so that I no longer have to deal with them any longer. Moses is done. I mean, this is terrifying. Their journey has just begun, and the man who's supposed to represent the people to God is finished. He no longer wants the job.

He's essentially put his two weeks' notice here, saying, I'm done. I don't want this anymore. Moses is showing that he is weak and frail in leading the people. That he can't be their strong advocate like he might have hoped at the beginning. And brothers and sisters, when the Christian life is hard and when it is difficult, when you are stumbling and struggling along the way, remember this, that Christ will never quit on you.

There's not been a moment in my life or your life as a Christian where Christ hurt us in our weakest moments, in our most vulnerable state, and he looked at the Father and said, I'm done.

No, because Christ cannot quit and will not quit on His own. He laid His life down for the sheep so that He would not lose a single one. If you're here and you're struggling today and you feel weak and frail, find comfort in 1 John 2:1. John writes, I write these things so that you would not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

He's a propitiation for our sins. Christ will not quit on His people. And Moses here, he is done. He's finished. Now, the question is this: How is what Moses is doing different than what Israel did in the first few verses?

Is he not grumbling here? And I'm going to give you four reasons why I think Moses is actually lamenting and not grumbling. I'll give you four reasons now why I think Moses is actually lamenting and not grumbling, and I think we see these differences throughout the Bible here. The first thing I want you to notice is this, Moses' honesty was to God. Moses' honesty was to God.

Now compare that in verse 10 to Israel's honesty. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. They were weeping and complaining among one another. They don't take their hardships to the Lord, they take them to one another.

Moses shows us here, if misery loves company, then godly sorrow loves prayer. Moses goes to the Lord. He doesn't gather Joshua to complain and moan about how hard God had been on him. No, he immediately goes to the Lord with his concerns. So Moses' honesty was to God.

The second thing is this, Moses acknowledged God's sovereignty. I mean, throughout this prayer here. Moses is saying, God, you're in control of all things. You can do anything. And at the heart of every prayer of lament, godly prayer of lament is a recognition and an acknowledgment that God is in control.

That's why we pray to him. We come to him because with our burdens and sorrows because we know he is willing and able to do something about them. But notice what Israel does. Where do they go in their distress? Back to Egypt.

Their circumstances are so significant and so bad that the only thing that could fix them is going back into bondage in Egypt. They don't go to the Lord. They don't acknowledge God's sovereignty at all. But Moses does. The third thing is this.

Moses acknowledged his own failings. Moses, in this prayer, admits, I am weak. I am frail. There's nothing I can do about it. But look at Israel, at what point do they admit, oh Lord, we know we are a difficult people.

We are a hard-hearted people prone to wander, so please help us in spite of us. There's no confession. There is only demands from these people. And yet Moses is offering up his own failings. Lord, I'm weak and I'm frail.

I can do nothing. That's at the heart of a prayer of lament is we recognize that we are weak and frail and can do nothing. And the fourth thing is this: Moses petitioned God to act. Moses petitioned God to act. With Israel, there is no petition of the Lord.

Only when they experienced a judgment early on in the first few verses, when God brings down fire as a warning, do they cry out to Moses but not to the Lord. And yet we see this with Moses, that he petitions the Lord. Now, there's one explicit petition, Lord, kill me now.

Which I'm not Moses, but I'm like, Bold move, my man.

Pretty intense. However, the implicit petition is in verse 14. And here we see that Moses' confession is his petition. He is saying, I cannot do this. So, Lord, you must Act.

Brothers and sisters, I think Moses shows us that in times of distress, that God is faithful and trustworthy, and we can go to Him in honest prayer. He longs to hear our prayers. We see this throughout the rest of the Bible. Psalm 13 is another example, with David lamenting. I'll read it to you because it's brief here.

David writes in Psalm 13, How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.

Church, the Christian life is full of trials and tribulations and they are unavoidable. And one of the things we must remember is this: God never promised an easy life in this life. He never promised that we would avoid suffering, but he did promise to sustain us in the midst of affliction and trial. And he's given us prayer as a means to sustain us to the end. So maybe there are those who are here that it feels like you have a steady stream of affliction and trials from the Lord continually.

Have you considered that the Lord might be sending those your way so that you might come to him? Have you taken those afflictions to him in prayer? Maybe you're here and you're discouraged, you're beat up from self-inflicted wounds. You continue to sin and give in to that same sin over and over again. Well, you're not going to find victory on your own.

Take it to the Lord in prayer. Whatever burdens or sorrows you are carrying, I promise you that they are not too big for the Lord, that He can handle them. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. So here we see that when life is difficult, when things are hard, we can go to God with our honest requests. The next thing that we're going to see here in verses 16 through 23 is that when following God is hard, we should trust God's Word.

To trust God's Word. Let's get that now in verses 16 through 23.

This is how the Lord responds then to Moses and the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Gather for me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow you shall eat meat. For you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, 'Who will give us meat to eat? For it is better for us in Egypt.

Therefore, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not just eat one day or two days or five days or 10 days or 20 days, but the whole month until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. Because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him saying, why did we come out of Egypt? But Moses said, the people among whom I number is six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, 'I will give them meat to eat, that they may eat a whole month.' Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?' and the Lord said to Moses, Is the Lord's hand shortened?

Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not. So here we see God is finally responding to both the people and to Moses. The first thing I want you to notice is this: God does not reprimand Moses for his prayer. Does not rebuke him. No, God loves Moses and is eager to bear the burdens of Moses.

And quickly addresses his request and his need. Again, shows us that we can take our needs and our burdens to the Lord. A couple of things here to highlight the Lord's request is he's saying, I'm going to raise up more men for you to help bear this burden. Now, God tells him to go get some of the elders and we don't really know where these elders necessarily come from or when they were appointed because when you go back to Exodus 3 when they were in bondage and slavery in Israel, they already had elders. We also see in Exodus 24, when Moses and Aaron go on the mountain, the Lord requests the 70 elders to go with them.

We also see what God is doing is different than what he did in Exodus 18 with Jethro. Remember that story in Exodus 18 where Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, sees Moses running ragged. He's exhausted by trying to discern the cases between the people, and that's where Jethro gives him counsel and it makes Moses' life better. That was primarily concerned with the administrative needs. So it's already been taken care of.

So what God is doing here is not about the administrative needs of the people. God is concerned about the spiritual needs of the people. That's what God is doing. God is saying, I'm going to give you more men. I'm going to put my Spirit upon them so they can bear the spiritual burdens of the people.

Brothers and sisters, we are grateful to God for the elders that he's given to this church. We want to pray for them. We want to pray that God would give us more elders to bear the spiritual burdens of this church. That's a good thing that we should long for and pray for, not only here, but to the sister churches around us, so that they would be shepherded well.

God not only responds to Moses, but He also responds to the people who had a craving. And look down in verse 18, the Lord tells them here, He says, Consecrate yourself, meaning purify yourself, for I'm coming down. We're going to meet. Now, when I was growing up, in the summer months, I would be at home, and me and my sisters would play and sometimes have fun, at least where I thought was fun, and my mom would correct us, me and my sisters, but mainly me, and I could tell that I would annoy her. Now, she had this one card that she could play at the end, which would end the matter.

So I would just be doing my whole thing, having fun, not really caring, not really concerned, until her patience ran out. And she would look at me kindly and say, okay, just wait until your dad gets home.

And I would immediately put on my sackcloth and ashes and begin to weep and wail because I knew that justice was coming. That's what that meant. And God's speech here, what Moses is supposed to tell Israel is the equivalent of wait till dad gets home. He will come and he will deal with the matter himself. That's what God is going to do.

He tells them that he's going to provide the craving that they so desired. But he's not only gonna give them one day or two days or five days or 10 days or 20 days or a month, like a whole month. And why the intensity? Why would God do this? What is He trying to say?

He's going to give them so much, it's going to come out of their nostrils, why? Because in verse 20, it says this, For you have rejected the Lord who is among you. That is why they have rejected God. They wanted meat. They were craving, ultimately, to be slaves again.

They had regretted that the Lord had redeemed them from bondage in Egypt.

And the Lord says, you, want to reject Me? I will give you what your heart desires, and it will not satisfy. To those among us today who would not consider themselves Christians, we are so thankful that you're here. You're welcome at any of our services, any time. But a question that I want you to consider this morning is this: have you found anything in this life that provides lasting peace, comfort, and satisfaction.

Has there been anything that you pursued, a job, a relationship, that has actually provided lasting peace, unending peace? Well, see, what the Bible teaches us, full disclosure, is that there's actually a lot of good in the world, a lot of good things for us to enjoy. But because of sin, the world and all it offers is broken and fleeting and cannot provide lasting peace. The Bible teaches us that you and I were made for something greater than this world, something that does not change. That is God Himself.

But because of our sin, we're separated from God. And so we are a living contradiction. We're made for something greater, but we continually pursue the lesser. That's why Herman Bavinck, the theologian, years ago said this, that man is an enigma.

Whose solution is only found in God. That's why St. Augustine wrote Confessions, would say, Our soul cannot find rest until it rests in God. For the non-Christian, have you found rest? If you want to know more about how to find this rest, we would love to talk with you. We'll have some cookies and coffee in this room right here.

There'll be people there who would love to talk with you about that. And then I'll be at the store right back here if you have questions about what it means to be a Christian and how to find this rest in Jesus. I'd love to talk more with you about that after the service. So we see here among the people of Israel who had rejected God for the lesser and fleeting pleasures of life, and later we will see that it was a grave mistake. Now naturally we would assume that this moves on, that God brings the Spirit, He gives it to the elders, and then He also provides the quail that He promised.

But something happens which is kind of unusual.

Moses responds to the Lord. And Moses' response here that we see in 21 and 22 is not praise for God's provision. It's doubts that God is able to provide. Look at what he says. He's basically saying, Where are you going to get all this?

How are you going to do this? Where are you going to provide this quail for the people? Moses isn't just saying, I can't do this. Moses has begun to believe with the people that he can't do this, that God can't. And brothers and sisters, there are times in our lives that it is better to sit in silence than to speak and sin against God.

I think this is one of those moments where Moses should not have spoken. We see our brother Caleb Morrell last fall preached on Amos 5:13. This verse says this, Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time. For it is an evil time. Moses was dwelling amongst evil people and that had crept in his heart.

He sins against the Lord here. But notice the Lord's response that he basically rebukes Moses. He asks a question, Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now that seems like an odd question. God is not asking that to learn anything, but he's asking it to reveal.

This is an odd question, for the Bible teaches that God is Spirit and He's without body or parts. So here, God is communicating as though He has human characteristics so that we can better understand God. It's His kindness to us to understand Him better. So God is saying, Is my hand shortened? Is my hand cut off?

Have I lost my ability to save and to deliver? And really, it's a rhetorical question to show the ignorance of Moses' questions. Really what God is saying in this is, Moses, have you forgotten all that I've done for this people? Have you forgotten how they were in bondage and how I was mighty to save them? How when they were in between Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, I opened the Red Sea and delivered them.

Have you forgotten your own song that you wrote to me in praise? In Exodus 15, where you You said this, who is like youe, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like youe, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. The Lord is saying, moses, have you so quickly forgotten my kind provision?

Church, what anxieties in your life are causing you to doubt God's promises.

What things in your life are tempting you to doubt that God is able to fulfill his word? Maybe for you it's perseverance. Maybe you look at the sins of your past or the present struggles in your life and you have genuine concern. Can God keep me to the end? Is he able to sustain me?

Or maybe you look and it's the problem of evil in the world. It's a senseless killing of lives in our own city and our nation. You see the war of Ukraine and you just wonder, God, will you actually bring judgment one day? Will you finally right every wrong? If you're here and you're doubting God's promises and provisions, all I can encourage you today is this: look to Jesus.

For in him, all of God's promises find their yes and amen. Continue to look to Jesus in the midst of your doubts and you will see that those who are his can never be lost because they are safe and secure in his everlasting arms. And when you look to Jesus, you see the cross and the empty tomb, that it means that justice has been poured out on Jesus and that he will return and bring justice once and for all and will judge the living and the dead.

When you were doubting and when you were struggling, when Satan tempts you to despair, continue to look to Jesus and see that God is faithful to His promises. Brothers and sisters, in moments of distress, we will be tempted to lean on how we feel or how we perceive things to be. But you must remember this, that God's Word is far more trustworthy than how you feel. God's word is far more trustworthy. It is a greater foundation.

It is far more trustworthy than how you feel or think. So when following God is hard, trust God's word instead of your doubts. You will continue to find refuge and comfort in those times of need. So the final thing that we're going to see this morning, that when following God is hard, is to remember God's provisions. Remember God's provisions.

We see this primarily in verses 24 through 35.

Verses 24 through 35. I'm going to read that now.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered 70 men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not continue doing it. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. And they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent.

So they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, from his youth, said, My Lord, Moses, stop them.

But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!

And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all that night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers, and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of the place was called Kibroth Hateva, because they buried the people who had the craving. From Kivroth-Hateva, the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth. So I'm going to break these verses down with two sections here. First, I want you to see the gift of God's Spirit, and the next thing I want you to see is the message in God's judgment.

So see, the first thing is the gift of God's Spirit And the next is the message in God's judgment. So we see in verses 24 through 30, the gift of God's Spirit. Moses has his doubts, but yet he continues to obey the Lord. And he goes and he gathers these elders. And God is faithful to his promise.

God takes some of the Spirit that is on Moses. Now whose spirit was this? Was it Moses' spirit? No. He took the Holy Spirit that had been on Moses and he places it on the 70 elders.

To help bear the burden of shepherding these people of Israel. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. Now, what does this mean? I have no idea. This is the only time in the Pentateuch where this word prophecy or prophesied is mentioned.

We don't really know what it means. All we know is that it was something they did that clearly identified that they were spokespeople for the Lord. They had God's truth and they could speak it to God's people. People, but they cease doing it. But Moses records that there's a few other guys that are in the camp who were registered who did not come out and they began to prophesy as well.

And Joshua, Moses' servant, he hears of it and he's angry. Why? Because it was Moses' job to speak God's truth to God's people. And Moses, he runs to, or Joshua runs to Moses and he says, My Lord, make it stop.

What is Moses' response? Is he jealous that other people would speak on God's behalf to God's people? No, he rejoices. Look at verse 29. Moses says this, oh, that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of his people.

Oh, that all of God's people would be prophets. Moses knew the greatest need of the people was not more diversity in their diet. It was the Spirit of God they lacked. So they need more than anything. And doesn't Moses' hopeful sentiment, doesn't it sound familiar?

It sounds just like Joel 2:28-29, when God makes the promise that in the last days, He's gonna pour out His Spirit on all people, not just elders. But when would God do it? And how would God do it? Well, we see that in Acts. When Jesus was resurrected and before He ascended, He said to wait for the promised Spirit is going to come.

And then Luke records this in Acts chapter 2, verses 2 through 4. It says this, When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all gathered in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. I want you to notice something here. Notice that on Pentecost, the Spirit did not come and rest on people.

It came and filled the people. It's far better than what Moses had hoped for. It filled the people as a guarantee that they would be God's people not only then, but forever. That their greatest need was met for all eternity. What a gift, what a blessing that God's Word has been fulfilled, that He's given His Spirit to His people.

And church, as we go through many trials and tribulations on our way to heaven, we have what Moses longed for his people to have. We have the Spirit of God. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you've repented of your sins and placed your faith with Him, the Bible says that you've been born again. You can do this on your own. But it was the Spirit of God who did this among you.

The Spirit is a guarantee that you are Jesus' and you will be for all eternity. That he will not lose you, but he will guide and lead you, and he will sanctify you to the end. So remember, when following God is hard, remember his provisions to give you his Spirit. And better yet, remember that it's not just you he's given his Spirit to. I mean, look around, God has given you a community of Spirit-filled believers to encourage you and to build you up.

Until the last day. That's what we have one another for. That's why we need to pray for one another, not just our elders. Yes, pray for the elders, but the elders are responsible for equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry, for equipping each one of you to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You have all that you need to encourage one another already with God's Spirit and his word to continue to press on to the end.

Look around. This is what Moses longed to see and be a part of. God's people filled with God's spirit. So here in Numbers 11, God pours out a spirit on these men that they would help share the burden of the people. But our passage does not end there.

God comes and he's going to judge those who rejected him. So we see this in verses 31 through 35. We're gonna see here the message in God's judgment. We see here that God does what He promises. He provides the quail that the people long to have.

And there was so much quail that God provided that it was all around the camp. He mentions it was too cubits, so basically it was three feet high. And Moses says here that the least among them gathered six homers, which I don't know if you know what that is, but basically that's something like 58 gallons of quail. But the least among them gathered. They had enough, more than enough.

Clearly the hand of the Lord had not been shortened. And notice where the quail fell, though. It didn't fall inside the camp. It fell outside of the camp. And why is that significant?

Well, Numbers 5, God tells the people that when there is someone who is unclean among you, put them outside of the camp so the rest of the camp would not be defiled.

It represents clean versus unclean, those who were in and those who were out. And here, God is doing Moses' work for him. He's putting the unclean outside of the camp, and he is separating the wheat from the chaff. I find it interesting that in verse 6, the people moaned because their strength was dried up. And yet here, they gather all night and all day and all the next day.

So they clearly have enough strength to pursue their sinful passions. They have all the strength that they need to pursue their sinful desires. And you can imagine it. They've gathered all day, all the next day, and they sit gleefully to feast on the fruit of their labors, to finally satisfy their covetous cravings. And then the Lord lets them taste the fruit of rejecting Him.

Moses says, While the meat was yet between their teeth, the Lord struck them down with a plague. To choose to reject the Lord is to choose death itself.

By pursuing their sinful cravings and sinful passions, they were saying, We would rather die than follow the Lord. There were so many people that died that they named the place Kibroth-Hattaavah. There's a footnote in your Bible which means it's the grave of cravings, the graves of craving. The name of that place was to serve as a reminder and a warning to all people To follow your sinful cravings and to reject God will always lead to the grave.

What message was God sending to the people and judging those who had the craving? What was his message? What was the point? God is saying this to all who witnessed it, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. That's exactly what he's saying.

It is God's mercy to the rest in judging those people because he's saying, if you choose to reject me and go after your sinful passions, you will end up just like them. However, if you see this judgment and you turn from it, come to Me and live and find life and find true satisfaction and true joy. Turn from your sin. This is an invitation. This judgment is an invitation for the rest.

Isn't that the cross of Christ? Exactly what's happening there, that God's judgment fell on Jesus because of our sinful cravings. It fell on him for those who rebelled and rejected God. Praise God that Jesus is not laid in the grave. But he arose from that grave of cravings.

He's arisen on high that those who repent of their sin and place their faith with in Christ for their salvation will be reconciled to God. To receive God's Spirit, to be made right with Him. He was raised for our justification. If you haven't trusted in Christ, I would encourage you to this, hear God's warning and turn from your sin. This is God's mercy towards you this morning that you are here.

Turn to Christ and live. So believer, wherever you are in your life, whatever you go through. Whenever it gets hard when you follow God and His path that He's laid before you, remember God's provision for you with His Spirit and with His Son. It's a means to sustain you to the end. So in conclusion, at the beginning of our time together, I'd asked you if you'd ever made the right decision, and it later felt wrong.

The following Jesus may never feel wrong to you. Rarely will it be easy. But you need to remember this: God has not promised us an easy life here. We have no easy journey towards heaven. Jesus warned us about this in the Gospels.

In Matthew, he says this: Narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are few who find it. Though difficult is the way towards God, God has not left us alone. He's given us his son, he's given us his spirit. He's not calling you to rest on yourself and your own strength and your own understanding.

He's calling you to rest on him because he is faithful to sustain you to the end. The journey is long and it will be hard. But we have our God with us and He will bring us into His rest. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we come before you.

To praise you for your hand has not been shortened. You were able to do all that you promised to do. Father, we thank you that long ago you promised that you would provide for your people. Not with food, but with something greater with your son. Father, we thank you for your mercy towards us in Jesus.

Oh Lord, we pray that you would sustain us as we seek you. As we follow you, Lord, we are weak and we are frail, so remember our frame. We pray that you would continue to remind us of all your kind provisions, that we would lean on you and not grumble, that we'd pray honestly, and that we would trust your word. Father, if there be any among us now who don't know you, who are rejecting you, Lord, I pray that you would, through the preaching of your word this morning, draw them unto yourself. We thank you for your kindness towards us in Jesus.

We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.