The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 61: Complaining in the Desert (2024)

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

Fr. Mike discusses how the Israelites complaining against God and believing they were better off in Egypt reflects our own inclination to be enslaved by sin. Today's readings are Numbers 11, Deuteronomy 10, and Psalm 33. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is day 61 and we are reading from Numbers chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 10. We'll also be praying Psalm 33 today. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. I'm using

the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. You can get that Bible wherever you get Bibles. You can also download your Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Also, before we start, if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, go ahead and click on that subscription button. I don't know why it's taking you 61 days to do it, but this could be the day that changes everything. As I said, today is day 61. We're reading Numbers chapter 11, Deuteronomy chapter 10, and Psalm 33. The book of Numbers chapter 11, complaining in the desert. And the people complained in their 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

outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried to Moses, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated. So the name of that place was called Taborah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving, and the people of Israel also wept again and said, Oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for 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 coriander seed in its appearance like that of gum resin. The people

went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man 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? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people upon me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that you should say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child to the land which you should say to me, carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries the sucking child

to the land which you swore to give to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these 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 deal thus with me, kill me at once.

If I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness. The seventy elders. And the Lord said to Moses, Gather for me seventy 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 which is upon you and put it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat. For you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, Who will give us meat to eat?

For it was well with us in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day or two days or five days or ten days or twenty days, but a 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 forth out of Egypt? But Moses said, the people among whom I am number 600,000 on foot. And you have said, I will give them meat that they may eat a whole month. Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them to satisfy them?

Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to satisfy 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 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 round about the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the Lord, and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad. And the spirit rested upon them. They were among

those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and 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 minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, My Lord Moses, forbid 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 upon them. And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. The quails. And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and it brought quails 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 round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth. And the people rose all that day and all night and all

the next day and gathered the quails, he 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 the people with a very great plague. Therefore, the name of that place was called Kibroth-Hatavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving. From Kibroth-Hatavah, the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 10 The Second Pair of Stone Tables Moses continued, At that time the Lord said to me, Hew two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood, and I will write on the tables the words that stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood, and I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone

like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand. And he wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the ten commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned, and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made, and there they are, as the Lord commanded me. The sons of Israel journeyed from Baroth-ben-Jachan to Mozarah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried, and his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gogodah, and from Gogodah to Jubathah, a land with brooks of water.

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister to him, and to bless in his name to this day. Therefore Levi had no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord God said to him. Moses continued, I stayed on the mountain as at the first time forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. And the Lord said to days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. And the Lord said to me, Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. The Essence of the Law And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God,

to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I command you this day for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, To the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens and the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples as at this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and cling to him. Verse 2. Egypt, 70 persons. And now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude. Psalm 33, the greatness and goodness of God. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Praise the Lord with the lyre. Make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts. For the word of the

Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and all their hosts by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle. He put the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be.

He commanded, and it stood forth. The Lord brings the counsel of it came to be. He commanded and it stood forth. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. The Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From where he sits enthroned, he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth,

he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. A king is not saved by his great army. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. A war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his merciful love, that he may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and shield. Yes, our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Father in heaven, we thank you and we give you praise. We know that in the challenges of life, you are there in the challenges where we rely upon our own strength, our own wisdom.

You call us ever more deeply and ever more resolutely to rely upon your strength and to rely upon your wisdom. Yes, God, you ask us to use our own. The strength we have and the wisdom we have, you have given them to us as gifts. And yet, you know that on our own, we are bound to fail. And so you offer us your strength. You offer us your wisdom and you give it to us for free.

It is your gift of grace. And so this day, this day we accept your gift. This day we accept the gift of your strength and your wisdom. And we ask that you please transform our hearts and help us. Set us free from what binds us and give us the power to lift up those around us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So Numbers chapter 11 is a big chapter. It's kind of,

it's one of those, so the entire Exodus, I remember hearing this in seminary, and they repeated it every time I studied the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, that the Exodus is the watershed event in the life and history of the people of Israel. And even that line, it was the watershed event. The Exodus is the watershed event in the history of the people of Israel. And this is still part of it, that being released from slavery in Egypt and heading out into the wilderness, heading out into the desert. What do we have in chapter 11?

We have these stories of the people of Israel who are rebelling, the people complaining in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes. And they're not just complaining in the sense of like what book of lamentations, not complaining in the sense of like the book of Psalms. Even we've prayed a number of Psalms where people are crying out to God saying, God, what is going on? Why is this happening to us? But it's a different kind of complaint.

It's not just the complaint of a, you might say it like this, like, you know, a child going to their parent and saying, please, can I have this thing? Or why can't we go wherever? It's the complaint of rebellion. And that's at the heart of the whole thing. It's not merely, hey, we're really hungry right now. It's the complaint of rebellion. But think about this. Here are the people of Israel. They're being fed every single day. And yes, it's with manna.

And yes, it's manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, manna for supper. And there's been nothing but manna. But think about how the people responded to this. They say, would that we were back in Egypt. Remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing? Honestly, let's think about this. When we were slaves, we got to eat for free. No, you didn't. You were slaves. And yes, you got to have cucumbers and you got to have onions and garlic. And I love garlic, but it was at the price of your freedom. It was at the price of you being a non-people in the midst of the people of Egypt. And now here you are, God's people.

And here you are free. And here you are being brought by God's care. He's feeding you every single day. And you're saying, we wish we were still slaves. And how much is that like ourselves? That, gosh, we can, I don't know how many people I've spoken with who have said things like, well, if I became a Christian, if I become Catholic, will I be happy? If I go to confession, will I feel better? If I give my life to Christ, will things go well for me? And I'm like, okay, man, all those things are great. You know, I want to feel better and I want to be happy and I want things to go well for me.

But that's never been the promise of those who belong to the Lord. Like health and wealth have never been the promise of those who belong to Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus says, come after me. If you want to be my disciple, you have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me, be my disciple. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me, but you'll be free, but you won't be a slave. You'll have life and you'll be able to belong to the Lord and be his. And yeah, but you'll have problems. And in this world, you'll have trouble, but take heart. I've overcome the world. And yet, and yet we can still sometimes say, man, I was happier when I could eat garlic and onions and melons and leeks. We can trade our freedom. We can trade our freedom for anything.

We can trade our freedom for comfort. We can trade our freedom for garlic. Later on, Moses is able to share the burden with the 70 elders. And the 70 elders receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that has come upon Moses. And it's really interesting how the young man and Joshua come to Moses, because Eldad and Medad, who are not among the number of the 70, even though they were registered, and they received the Holy Spirit, they're prophesying. And here's Moses' response, with that, everyone of the Lord's peoples were prophets.

And here we are. You know, when you were baptized, if you've been baptized, you were anointed a priest, prophet, and king. You're a kingdom priest, and you are a prophet of the Lord and a king or queen. That means that God has sent his Holy Spirit upon you to anoint you as prophet. Spirit upon you to anoint you as prophet. And so the question we always have to ask is, am I exercising my blessing, my anointing of being a prophet? So that's Numbers chapter 11. Remember this, that this is the beginning of their desert wanderings. And Deuteronomy chapter 10, which we heard today, is the end of the desert wanderings and is Moses kind of summing up the story. This first chapters of Deuteronomy is Moses giving a recap and he does the recap of

the second set of tables of stone or the second tablets of the 10 commandments, putting them in the Ark of the Covenant. But one of the things in this key, key line, key section of Deuteronomy chapter 10, the essence of the law, and it goes on to say many, many times, the Lord has set his heart in love upon your fathers and chosen their descendants after them. You above all peoples, he has set his heart in love upon you. And this is the word that God speaks over every one of us today. The Lord has set his heart in love upon you. That's why the commandments exist. That's why these commandments have been given. That's why you and I have been invited into being part of this Bible in a year podcast, because the Lord has set his heart upon you. Yes, originally, it says very clearly, Deuteronomy,

God has set his heart upon the people of Israel, the Jewish people. He has set his heart upon them. But it's through the Jewish people that God has been able to bless the entire world. And that's you and that's me. And that means that he's expanded that blessing and he has set his heart in love upon you, which is why we keep the commandments, which is why we pray, which is why we are opening our hearts and our minds to his word today, because he has set his heart and love upon you. We are not the ones who first love him. He is the one who first loves us. That's just so good. God loves you. God loves you. This will make it purely personal. Hear this last word. God has set his heart upon you.

God has set his heart upon you. He set his heart in love upon you. So let's pray. Let's pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. This is a community of people who are on day 61 of this journey. So support each other. I know you have a lot of discussion groups going on.

I know there's a lot of prayer groups that talk about what we've been reading, what we've been hearing. Keep that going. This is such a blessing, such an incredible blessing to be able to be with you. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.