There were problems among God’s people. The spirit of complaint was spreading like wildfire. This brought “the fire” of God’s judgment upon them (11:1). The spirit of complaint comes when people don’t like what God is doing among His people.

We see this in 11:26-28. The words of prophecy are described as the result of the working of “the Spirit” (11:26). Joshua said, “Stop them, sir!” (11:28). Notice Moses’ response, “I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them” (11:29).

What we need is not the quenching of the Spirit but the release of the Spirit among God’s people.

In his leadership of God’s people, Moses faced problems. It was not an easy pathway towards the Promised Land. There was opposition from Miriam and Aaron (12:1). There was the unbelieving report, brought back from the land of Canaan by most of the spies (13:31).

Alongside these problems, there was the encouragement which came from Caleb’s words of faith: “Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it” (13:30).

By faith, we shall overcome the problems.

Numbers 11:1