If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now--if I have found favor in Your eyes--and let me not see my own wretchedness." If this is how You are going to treat meThis phrase reflects Moses' deep frustration and despair. The Hebrew root for "treat" (עָשָׂה, asah) often means to do or make, indicating Moses' perception of God's actions towards him. Historically, Moses is overwhelmed by the burden of leading the Israelites, who are complaining about their hardships. This moment of vulnerability shows Moses' humanity and his intimate relationship with God, where he feels free to express his deepest emotions. please go ahead and kill me
Moses' plea for death underscores the intensity of his distress. The Hebrew word for "kill" (הָרַג, harag) is a strong term, indicating Moses' extreme sense of hopelessness. In the context of ancient Israel, leaders often faced immense pressure, and Moses' request highlights the weight of responsibility he feels. This moment is a poignant reminder of the limits of human endurance and the need for divine strength. if I have found favor in Your eyes
This phrase is a common biblical expression denoting a request for grace or mercy. The Hebrew word for "favor" (חֵן, chen) implies grace or kindness. Moses appeals to his relationship with God, seeking assurance of God's continued support. Historically, finding favor in God's eyes was crucial for biblical figures, as it signified divine approval and blessing. and do not let me face my own ruin
Moses fears the consequences of his perceived failure as a leader. The Hebrew word for "ruin" (רָעָה, ra'ah) can mean evil or disaster. Moses is concerned about the potential collapse of his leadership and the resulting chaos for the Israelites. This plea reflects a deep-seated fear of inadequacy and the desire for God's intervention to prevent personal and communal disaster. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe central figure in this passage, Moses is the leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt. In Numbers 11:15, Moses is expressing his deep frustration and sense of being overwhelmed by the burden of leadership. 2. The IsraelitesThe people of God who are journeying through the wilderness. They are complaining about their hardships and the lack of variety in their diet, which adds to Moses' burden. 3. The WildernessThe setting of this event, where the Israelites are wandering after their exodus from Egypt. It is a place of testing and reliance on God. 4. GodThe ultimate authority and provider, who hears Moses' plea and responds to the needs of His people. 5. The Tent of MeetingAlthough not directly mentioned in this verse, it is the place where Moses often goes to meet with God and seek guidance. Teaching Points The Weight of LeadershipLeadership, especially spiritual leadership, can be overwhelming. Moses' plea in Numbers 11:15 shows that even the most faithful leaders can feel crushed by their responsibilities. Honesty in PrayerMoses' candid conversation with God demonstrates that we can bring our deepest frustrations and feelings to God in prayer. God desires honesty and transparency in our relationship with Him. God's Provision in DesperationWhen we reach the end of our strength, God provides solutions and support. This passage encourages believers to trust in God's provision and timing. The Importance of Community SupportJust as God later instructs Moses to appoint seventy elders to share the burden, we are reminded of the importance of community and shared responsibilities in the body of Christ. Relying on God's StrengthHuman strength is limited, but God's strength is perfect in our weakness. This passage encourages believers to rely on God's strength rather than their own. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Moses' expression of frustration in Numbers 11:15 reflect the challenges of leadership, and what can we learn from his example about handling overwhelming responsibilities? 2. In what ways does the advice Moses receives in Exodus 18 relate to the situation in Numbers 11, and how can we apply this principle of delegation in our own lives? 3. How does the experience of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 parallel Moses' situation, and what does this teach us about God's response to our moments of despair? 4. How can Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 provide comfort and guidance for those feeling burdened like Moses, and what practical steps can we take to find rest in Him? 5. What role does community play in supporting leaders and individuals who feel overwhelmed, and how can we actively participate in providing that support within our own church or community? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 18Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advises him to delegate responsibilities to other capable men to ease his burden. This is a precursor to the solution God provides in Numbers 11. 1 Kings 19Elijah, like Moses, experiences a moment of despair and asks God to take his life. This parallel highlights the human frailty and the need for divine strength. Matthew 11:28-30Jesus invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest, offering a New Testament perspective on finding relief from overwhelming burdens. People Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, NunPlaces Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, TaberahTopics Affliction, Behold, Deal, Dealest, Death, Face, Fate, Favor, Favour, Grace, Kill, Please, Prayer, Ruin, Shame, Sight, Slay, Thus, Treat, Wilt, WretchednessDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 11:15 9614 hope, results of absence Numbers 11:4-34 4438 eating Numbers 11:10-15 8726 doubters Numbers 11:10-17 8614 prayer, answers Numbers 11:11-15 5265 complaints Numbers 11:14-15 5938 sadness Library April 12. "They were as it Were, Complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
"They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1). There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence. In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Deaf Stammerer Healed and Four Thousand Fed.
^A Matt. XV. 30-39; ^B Mark VII. 32-VIII. 9. ^b 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but verse 35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Baptist's Testimony.
"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.... John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. For of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified."--John vii. 39. We have come to the most difficult part in the discussion of the work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the tenth day after the ascension. In the treatment of this subject it is not our aim to create a new interest in the celebration of Pentecost. We consider this almost impossible. Man's nature is too unspiritual for this. But we shall reverently endeavor to give a clearer insight …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Numbers 11:15 NIVNumbers 11:15 NLTNumbers 11:15 ESVNumbers 11:15 NASBNumbers 11:15 KJV
Numbers 11:15 Commentaries
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