An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Numbers 11:4-17, “God’s Provision,” for Sunday, September 14, 2025. Includes a sample introduction to the lesson, text highlights and outline, discussion questions for your group, illustrations you can share, and spiritual life applications. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

The first “big battle” of the Revolutionary War was the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. The young American Army was routed by the British. David McCullough writes: “Entire Connecticut militia units were departing en masse, saying they had had enough. The roads in Connecticut and New Jersey were filled with soldiers heading home. Probably one in four carried disease, and those who did not spread their own corrosive discouragement.” (1776, p. 202)

Discouragement can be as contagious as disease, can’t it? Today in our study in Numbers we see how the people of Israel complained about their journey in the wilderness, and the discouraging effect it had on their leader Moses. As God’s people today, this is an example we should NOT want to follow!

(If you want to open the lesson with a discussion question, you might consider using the question from the end of Point I, asking your group to share something they/someone they know, complained about recently! That might get things going! 🙂

CONTEXT:

Moses and the people of Israel have left Egypt, and are in the wilderness of Sinai, on the way to the Promised Land. They have made the census, the numbering of the warriors that God commanded in Chapter 1, and the Levites have been given various commands for their service. As we saw last week in Chapter 9, they were instructed to follow the manifest presence of God in the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, to guide them day by day. 

Then Chapter 10:11-12 says: “Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony; 12 and the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.”

So they’re underway — moving from Sinai towards the Promised Land, with God’s cloud guiding them. What could be better, right? Surely they couldn’t have any problems, with God guiding them, could they? Where human beings are involved, there are always problems. And so here with Israel. No sooner had Chapter 10 closed, and the tabernacle and all Israel is underway, but Chapter 11 opens with the words “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity …”. The VERY FIRST THING that is recorded of the journey of Israel, is that the people complained! Surely that is significant, and instructive to us today!

Our focus passage this week begins with :4 of Chapter 11, which tells us about MORE complaining by some of the people. So this week we’ll study some of the problems that Israel had in the wilderness, and how Moses and the Lord responded to them. 

OUTLINE:

I. The People’s Complaining (:4-6)

II. The Root of Ingratitude (:7-9)

III. The Leader’s Discouragement (:10-15)

IV. The Lord’s Response (:16-17)

TEXT:  Numbers 11:4-17

I. The People’s Complaining (:4-6)

:4 “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, 6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

The word the NASB translates “rabble” is a Hebrew word that is used only this one time in the whole Old Testament, so we can’t compare its usage in other contexts. (Scholars call this a “hapax legomenon,” or “hapax” for short: a word that is only used one time in scripture). This word is “asaph-suph,” from the Hebrew word “asaph,” which means “to collect.” So it was evidently the people who had “collected” together with Israel in the Exodus. (Exodus 12:38 says “A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.”) That these were not Israelites is indicated in the next phrase, where it then goes on to say “also the sons of Israel wept again …”. So there is a difference between the “asaph-suph,” the “collected ones” and “also the sons of Israel.” The Cambridge commentary suggests that the alliteration of “aspah-suph” is similar to our English alliterated term “riff-raff,” and it has basically the same meaning, a collection of lower-grade people. So this refers to the gathering of non-Israelites who’d seen what YHWH had done and went along with Israel in the Exodus. 

The important thing is what both Israel and the “riff-raff” were doing: they were complaining. What were they complaining about?

— at the end of :4 they said “Who will give us meat to eat?”

The word “meat” here is “basar,” or “flesh.” It’s the word used in Genesis 6:19 of “two of every flesh” who got on the ark. But the point is, they wanted meat. 

Perhaps you and your group members have felt like this before: you get to where you’re tired of salads, lasagna, bread, and so on — you want MEAT! You want your favorite steak, or a big juicy cheeseburger! That’s how they were here; they were complaining: we want some meat! 

— Then in :5 they started a new train of complaints: remembering “how it used to be” in “the good ol’ days” in Egypt:  “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic …”. 

By the way, the temptation to idealize some previous “good ol’ days” applies to many kinds of situations in our lives: you remember that old girlfriend or boyfriend; or how great it used to be when the kids were home — or in the church how blessed the days of “old pastor so-and-so” were! 

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“What’s the danger about thinking back to the ‘good ol’ days’?”

(One answer is often that in remembering some positive things, we also often gloss over or forget the real difficulties we experienced in those times. Those were often not the “good ol’ days” we remember them now to have been. We broke up with that old boyfriend/girlfriend for a reason! We weren’t getting much sleep when the kids were home! And the church still had all kinds of troubles when “brother so-and-so” was here — it was not heaven on earth!)

And so it was with Israel here. All they could remember was the “free fish,” cucumbers, melons, and so on. But they seem to have forgotten entirely that they were SLAVES, who were crying out to God because of the oppression of the Egyptians! (Exodus 2:23) Somehow that got glossed over. 

— Then they concluded their complaining in :6, saying: “but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???
“Can you share a time when you got really tired of eating the same old something?”

(For example, when I was in college, I didn’t have a lot of money. A group of us guys lived in a house together, so were weren’t on a cafeteria meal plan. And at one point, for some weeks all we could afford was these chicken-flavored noodle meals in a box, kind of like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or ramen noodles today. They were cheap, and we ate box after box of them. But I also got SO sick of them. I’m still not very fond of them today.)

Cheryl’s granny shared how during the Dust Bowl, they had blackeyed peas every meal. They got sick and tired of that. You/your group can share your stories like that. That’s how Israel was here. They complained, they wanted meat, and they (“thought”) they remembered the “good ol’days” in Egypt. 

???DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Can you share something that you/someone you know grumbled/complained about recently?”

(You could probably have some interesting/funny responses here!)

But then make the point: Israel and the “asaph-suph” are not the only ones who complain. We do too. It is tendency that afflicts every generation. That’s why we have New Testament commands like:

— “Do all things without grumbling and complaining” in Philippians 2:14

— James 5:9 “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

— I Corinthians 10:10 “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

In Psalm 95;10, God says of Israel “for 40 years I loathed that generation …”. That is a haunting and convicting verse. It ought to be our desire that God not “loathe” us — and one of the things He loathed about that generation was their constant complaining. 

Many of us have been in the position when our kids were on a long road trip, and were complaining about the length of the trip, or the lack of food, or being bored, or whatever. We know how it feels to be “fed up” with that complaining. We should use our “spiritual imagination” to think about how GOD feels about OUR complaining! He “loathes” complaining. We should make it our goal that He delights in our faith and obedient attitudes, instead of loathing our complaining! 

But what is behind this complaining? We see that in the next section:

II. The Root of Ingratitude (:7-9)

:7 “Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.”

It’s interesting, and I think instructive, that God describes the manna at this point in :7. He said it was “like coriander seed.” 

(You may have some coriander seed in your kitchen spice rack — or get some from the store and bring it Sunday for a visual)

Verse 8 describes what they did with it: grind it, boil it, and make cakes with it — and it said it tasted like cakes baked with oil. (The Hebrew word means a “sweet cake.) Think pancakes or pastry. And Verse 9 tells again how it came every night: when the dew fell, the manna would fall with it. Every day (night) the manna came anew! 

But what was their attitude towards it? The very last words of :6 are very revealing, where they said “this manna.” You can just hear the tone of disgust dripping from those words: “This manna”! But think about it: “This manna,” was miraculous bread from heaven that God Himself was giving them every single day! And they lived instead of dying in the wilderness! It was marvelous! It was miraculous! And yet here they were, complaining about it! It is the epitome of ingratitude.

Ingratitude is one of the most poisonous, and most pervasive sins that many of us will face. Ingratitude can ruin anything. It can turn a blessed situation into a drudgery. 

II Timothy 3:1-9 lists a number of qualities of evil that people will exhibit in the last days, including things like “unholy, brutal, haters of good,” and so on. But right in the middle of this is a quality that might surprise us: “ungrateful.” That ought to stick out for many of us. We wouldn’t be found being brutal, or hating good— but ingratitude? Many of us exhibit ingratitude every day, and think nothing of it. We might not even think of it as a sin. But it truly is a heinous sin, NOT being grateful to God for the wonderful things He has done for us.

ILLUSTRATION

When I was pastoring in Louisiana, our associate pastor helped a man from our community who said he needed some food, with a generous amount of groceries. Somehow this man got ahold of the phone number at the parsonage, and he called my wife at home and told her he needed some help. Cheryl told him that our associate pastor was the man to talk to, that he was very good about helping. The man said, “Yeah he helped me, but would it have killed him to give me some hamburger meat?” He’d been given all this food, but complained because he didn’t have any ground meat. Sounds just like Israel here doesn’t it: “Who will give us meat to eat?” But it just shows his ingratitude for all that he HAD already been given. 

It would be like a man today, living in America, who owns 50 rent houses, griping and complaining about how much work and upkeep they are, and how much he had to deal with. But the man owns FIFTY HOMES! Many people in the world don’t own ONE home! “Count your many blessings,” right? 

We need to do that with a lot of things. Be grateful for your kids; grateful for your grandkids; grateful for the money and possessions God has given you. Instead of the negatives of our situations, there’s usually a lot to be thankful for, IF you look for it.

ILLUSTRATION:

I’ve shared with some of you before about (unfortunately, a relative of mine!) who was grumbling and complaining about all the new kids in their church, because, she said: “Do you know how much toilet paper they use?!” Maybe they did use a lot — but how about being grateful that your church was REACHING all those kids?! 

ILLUSTRATION/DISCUSSION/QUOTE:

Cheryl & I were having dinner one Sunday with our pastor here in Norman, Ronnie Rogers, and he said something that I think very much applies here. You might consider posting and discussing this quote: 

“In order for us to grumble, we have to look past so many blessings for which we should be thankful.”

This is so true, and we can all apply it to our own situations.

(For example, we just marked the one-year anniversary of my wife Cheryl’s stroke. It has been the most difficult thing we have ever been through. But even in that, there is so much to be thankful for: that Cheryl’s mind is still intact; that her right arm, her primary arm, was unaffected; that she has no ongoing pain or headaches; that she is able to speak; that God has provided for us this last year in an amazing way — and on and on. Even in the midst of difficulty, there is SO much to be thankful for.

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

“What are some blessings that we today might tend to take for granted, and complain instead?”

(You/your group can share your answers; and just talk about how important it is for to be thankful; and how poisonous the sin of ingratitude can be. This is why God commands us over & over to be thankful:

(you might consider having these verses printed out on slips of paper, assigning them to class members to read, and have them call these “thanks” verses out, one after another at this point in the lesson):

— Psalm 100:4 says “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.”

— The most famous worship verse in Israel, I Chronicles 16:34, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting” is repeatedly commanded all through the Psalms (Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1 et al)

— Colossians 2:6-7 “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”

— “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to [c]God, even the Father’ (Ephesians 5:20)

— “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:18)

— “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15)

There are many, many more that you can add if need be, to fit the size of your class. But let these verses just hammer home the importance of giving thanks, to keep us from the temptation of this root sin of ingratitude. 

III. The Leader’s Discouragement (:10-15) 

:10 “Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a [j]nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ 14 I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. 15 So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”

Verse 10 says all the people of Israel were weeping in ingratitude, “each man at the doorway of his tent.” According to the scripture here, this affected two people especially:

— it says “the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly,” 

— “and Moses was displeased.” (Interestingly, the Hebrew for this word “displeased” is just literally “ra,” the Hebrew word for “bad.” It could have several different meanings, which accounts for some of the different translations: “displeased,” (NASB, KJV, ESV) “provoked” (HCSB), “troubled” (NIV) etc. (You might consider asking for some of the various translations your members have.)

But the word is just “ra” — “bad”! In the eyes of Moses it was “bad”! From the context, at how he responded in his prayer to God, we can tell that “bad” meant “discouraged.” He goes on a kind of “rant” in :11+ “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? … You have laid the burden of all this people on me …” and so on. All this grumbling and ingratitude had Moses discouraged. 

Discouragement is one of the great perils of leadership. Many great leaders throughout history have wrestled with discouragement:

ILLUSTRATION

— George Washington wrote at during the Revolutionary War: ‘Such is my situation that if I were to wish the bitterest curse to an enemy on this side of the grave, I should put him in my stead with my feelings.’ He was ‘wearied to death’ with problems.’” (David McCullough, 1776, p. 227)

— Following the disastrous Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg, in which the Union suffered 12,653 casualties, “A Department of the Interior clerk, T.J. Barnet, wrote in a diary of hearing Lincoln after the Fredericksburg collapse, ‘If there is a worse place than Hell, then I am in it.’” (Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, pp. 318-319)

What Lincoln and Washington felt in their days of adversity and discouragement, many leaders feel in similar times. By way of application, we need to know as Christian church members, that our grumbling and complaining can be very discouraging to OUR leaders today as well. 

ILLUSTRATION/APPLICATION:

— Lifeway Research “Greatest Needs of Pastors” study (2022):

63% of pastors face stress in ministry

48% report discouragement

18% (that’s almost 1/5 of all pastors!) are depressed!

(this article is available at the following web address: 

Stress Tops Mental Challenges Pastors Face

— A Barna survey report in 2023 indicated that 40% of pastors have considered leaving the ministry in the last 12 months.

Ray Gentry, SBC Associational Leader, is quoted as saying: “Church members need to keep their pastors at the top of their prayer lists all the time … Pastors are like everybody else in that they need encouragement, trust and appreciation.” 

??? DISCUSSION/APPLICATION???
“What are some things we can do to encourage our pastors and leaders?”

(Numerous things: as Ray Gentry said, keep your pastor and other leaders at the top of your prayer list. Then as we see in this lesson, DO NOT grumble and complain! Conversely, DO speak words that build them up and encourage them. Ephesians 4:29 says we should speak only words “as is good for edification.” “Edification” literally means “building up.” Our encouraging words will “build up” our pastors, leaders, and others. Let’s purpose to be encouragers, not those who discourage others through our complaining.

IV. The Lord’s Response: 

:16 “The Lord therefore said to Moses, ‘Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.’”

God’s response here is very interesting and instructive. He didn’t say “Oh, these people shouldn’t say that,” or “Oh, don’t be discouraged Moses.” Instead, what did He do? He told Moses to share the ministry: gather 70 men, and I will give them some of the Spirit who is on you, and they will “bear the burden of the people with you.” 

I think these are key words here: “bear the burden with you” 

The most difficult thing for a lot of pastors and other leaders, is feeling like you are alone in your problems, that there is no one sharing the burden with you. A person can endure a lot if they know others are with them, supporting them, encouraging them. But when you feel like you are in it all alone, that no one is with you, supporting you — that is when you may be tempted to discouragement and despair. 

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION???

“What are some ways that we can “bear the burden with” our pastors and leaders today?

(— The deacon ministry can share the burden with a pastor. That was the original purpose of the deacon ministry in Acts 6, to take care of feeding the widows and take that burden off of the apostles, freeing them to minister the word. 

— Sunday School is another way of sharing the burden, by the way! I’ve always said the Sunday School is the church broken down into smaller groups, with the teacher as an “under shepherd” of sorts, who ministers to the people in these small groups. If we are effective in reaching, teaching, and caring for people in our small groups/Sunday School classes, this will take a huge burden off of the pastor, so that he doesn’t feel like he has to do it all. 

— All church members can share the pastor’s burden in prayer: Romans 15:30 “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me” “Strive together” is “sun-agonizomai” “together/agonizing” in the work. That word “together” is important. Paul told the Romans, you are striving TOGETHER with me, through your prayers. So one of the best ways to help “bear the burden” with a pastor/leader, is to “strive together” with them through your fervent prayers for them. 

CONCLUSION:

A lot of times, people think of Biblical books like Leviticus and Numbers, and think, “Those books are boring” or “there won’t be any application here for us today.” But looking at Numbers 11, that’s far from the case here, isn’t it? All this is very applicable to our churches, and our situations today. Let’s pray and prepare this lesson Sunday, and encourage our members NOT to spread the “disease” of discouragement through our complaining, but instead to seek encourage and bless our pastors and other leaders through our prayers, encouragement, and shared ministry in our church.

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— These weekly lessons are based on content from Explore the Bible Adult Resources. The presentation is my own and has not been reviewed by Lifeway.

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