Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day's journey in every direction around the camp. Now a wind went out from the LORDThe Hebrew word for "wind" is "רוּחַ" (ruach), which can also mean "spirit" or "breath." This indicates the divine origin and power behind the event. The "wind" is not merely a natural phenomenon but a direct intervention by God. In the biblical narrative, God's control over nature is a recurring theme, demonstrating His sovereignty and ability to provide for His people. The "wind" signifies God's response to the Israelites' complaints, showing both His provision and His authority. and drove quail in from the sea
The quail, known as "שְׂלָו" (selav) in Hebrew, were a common migratory bird in the region. Historically, quail migrations are known to occur in the Middle East, and they often fly low and in large numbers. The phrase "from the sea" suggests that the quail were driven from the Mediterranean, emphasizing the miraculous nature of their arrival. This event is a reminder of God's ability to use natural means to fulfill His purposes, aligning with His promise to provide meat for the Israelites. It brought them down all around the camp
The phrase "all around the camp" indicates the abundance and accessibility of the quail. God's provision was not limited or scarce; it was plentiful and available to all. This abundance contrasts with the Israelites' previous complaints about the lack of variety in their diet. The comprehensive nature of the provision underscores God's generosity and the fulfillment of His promise to provide meat for the people. to a depth of two cubits above the ground
A "cubit" is an ancient measurement roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 centimeters. The description of the quail being "two cubits above the ground" suggests an overwhelming abundance, as the birds were piled high. This imagery highlights the superabundance of God's provision, yet it also foreshadows the consequences of the Israelites' greed and lack of faith. The depth of the quail serves as a physical manifestation of God's response to their demands. for a day's journey in every direction
The phrase "a day's journey" indicates the vast area covered by the quail, suggesting that the provision was not only abundant but also widespread. This detail emphasizes the miraculous nature of the event, as such a large area filled with quail would be beyond natural explanation. The extent of the provision serves as a testament to God's power and His ability to meet the needs of His people, even in the wilderness. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORDThe sovereign God who responds to the Israelites' complaints by providing quail. 2. The IsraelitesThe people of God who are journeying through the wilderness and express dissatisfaction with their provisions. 3. The WildernessThe setting of the Israelites' journey, representing both physical and spiritual challenges. 4. QuailThe birds provided by God as a response to the Israelites' craving for meat. 5. The WindThe divine instrument used by God to bring the quail to the Israelites. Teaching Points God's ProvisionGod is attentive to the needs and desires of His people, even when they express them in a sinful manner. Divine SovereigntyThe LORD uses natural elements (wind) to accomplish His purposes, demonstrating His control over creation. Human DiscontentThe Israelites' dissatisfaction with God's provision serves as a warning against ingratitude and a lack of trust in God's plan. Consequences of ComplainingThe account highlights the dangers of complaining against God, as it can lead to divine discipline. Spiritual NourishmentWhile God provides for physical needs, the ultimate fulfillment comes from spiritual sustenance, as seen in the New Testament. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the provision of quail in Numbers 11:31 demonstrate God's response to human complaints, and what can we learn about His character from this event? 2. In what ways does the Israelites' experience with quail and manna in the wilderness parallel our own spiritual journey and reliance on God's provision? 3. How can we apply the lesson of divine sovereignty, as seen in God's use of the wind to bring quail, to our understanding of God's control in our lives today? 4. Reflect on a time when you experienced discontentment with God's provision. How did you address it, and what biblical principles can guide us in cultivating gratitude? 5. Considering the connection between physical and spiritual nourishment, how can we prioritize spiritual sustenance in our daily lives, drawing from the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 16This chapter describes the provision of manna, showing a pattern of God's provision and the Israelites' complaints. Psalm 78Reflects on the events in the wilderness, including the provision of quail, as a reminder of God's power and the people's rebellion. John 6Jesus refers to the manna in the wilderness, drawing a parallel to Himself as the Bread of Life, emphasizing spiritual sustenance over physical. People Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, NunPlaces Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, TaberahTopics Across, Beside, Birds, Camp, Cast, Cubits, Cutteth, Day's, Deep, Direction, Driving, Drove, Face, Fall, Forth, Ground, Journey, Journeyed, Leaveth, Masses, Quail, Quails, Round, Spirit, Surface, Tent-circle, Tents, Walk, WindDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 11:31 4854 weather, God's sovereignty
4860 wind
5619 measures, distance and area Numbers 11:4-34 4438 eating Numbers 11:31-32 1330 God, the provider
1416 miracles, nature of
4612 birds Numbers 11:31-34 4843 plague 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 11:31 NIVNumbers 11:31 NLTNumbers 11:31 ESVNumbers 11:31 NASBNumbers 11:31 KJV
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