M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Lord Sends Fire Among the People

11 The people weren’t happy about the hard times they were having. The Lord heard what they were saying. It made him very angry. Then the Lord sent fire on them. It blazed out among the people. It burned up some of the outer edges of the camp. ² The people cried out to Moses. Then he prayed to the Lord. And the fire died down. ³ So that place was named Taberah. That’s because fire from the Lord had blazed out among them there.

The Lord Sends Quail for the People to Eat

⁴ Some people with them began to wish for other food. Again the Israelites began to cry out. They said, “We wish we had meat to eat. ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. It didn’t cost us anything. We also remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. ⁶ But now we’ve lost all interest in eating. We never see anything but this manna!”

⁷ The manna was like coriander seeds. It looked like sap from a tree. ⁸ The people went around gathering it. Then they ground it up in a small mill they held in their hands. Or they crushed it in a stone bowl. They cooked it in a pot. Or they made loaves out of it. It tasted like something made with olive oil. ⁹ When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

¹⁰ Moses heard people from every family crying at the entrances to their tents. The Lord became very angry. So Moses became upset. ¹¹ He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on me? Why aren’t you pleased with me? Why have you loaded me down with the troubles of all these people? ¹² Am I like a mother to them? Are they my children? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms? Do I have to carry them the way a nurse carries a baby? Do I have to carry them to the land you promised? You promised the land to their people of long ago. ¹³ Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying out to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I can’t carry all these people by myself. The load is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ Is this how you are going to treat me? If you are pleased with me, just put me to death right now. Don’t let me live if I have to see myself destroyed anyway.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Bring me 70 of Israel’s elders. Bring men that you know are leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting. I want them to stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you. And I will put it on them. They will share the responsibility of these people with you. Then you will not have to carry it alone.

¹⁸ “Tell the people, ‘Set yourselves apart for tomorrow. At that time you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out. You said, “We wish we had meat to eat. We were better off in Egypt.” Now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it. ¹⁹ You will not eat it for just one or two days. You will not eat it for just five, ten or 20 days. ²⁰ Instead, you will eat it for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out of your noses. You will eat it until you hate it. The Lord is among you. But you have turned your back on him. You have cried out while he was listening. You have said, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹ But Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am among 600,000 men on the march. And you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month’! ²² Would they have enough if flocks and herds were killed for them? Would they have enough even if all the fish in the ocean were caught for them?”

²³ The Lord answered Moses, “Am I not strong enough? Now you will see whether what I say will come true for you.”

²⁴ So Moses went out. He told the people what the Lord had said. He gathered 70 of their elders together. He had them stand around the tent of meeting. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud. He spoke with Moses. He took some of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses. And he put it on the 70 elders. When the Spirit came on them, they prophesied. But they didn’t do it again.

²⁶ Two men had remained in the camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. They were listed among the elders. But they didn’t go out to the tent of meeting. In spite of that, the Spirit came on them too. So they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran up to Moses. He said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

²⁸ Joshua spoke up. He was the son of Nun. Joshua had been Moses’ helper from the time he was young. He said, “Moses! Please stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for me? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets. And I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.” ³⁰ Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

³¹ The Lord sent out a wind. It drove quail in from the Red Sea. It scattered them all around the camp. They were about three feet above the ground. They could be seen in every direction as far as a person could walk in a day. ³² The people went out all day and gathered quail. They gathered them all night and all the next day. No one gathered less than 60 bushels. Then they spread the quail out all around the camp. ³³ But while the meat was still in their mouths, the Lord acted. Before the people could swallow it, he became very angry with them. He struck them with a terrible plague. ³⁴ So the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah. That’s where the bodies of the people who had wished for other food were buried.

³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth. And they stayed there.

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Here is the vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah saw. It came to him when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were ruling. They were kings of Judah. Isaiah was the son of Amoz.

The Nation Refuses to Obey the Lord

Worship in the Holy Tent on Earth

9 The first covenant had rules for worship. It also had a sacred tent on earth. ² A holy tent was set up. The lampstand was in the first room. So was the table with its holy bread. That was called the Holy Room. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Room. ⁴ It had the golden altar for incense. It also had the wooden chest called the ark of the covenant. The ark was covered with gold. It held the gold jar of manna. It held Aaron’s walking stick that had budded. It also held the stone tablets. The words of the covenant were written on them. ⁵ The cherubim were above the ark. God showed his glory there. The cherubim spread their wings over the place where sin was paid for. But we can’t say everything about these things now.

⁶ That’s how everything was arranged in the holy tent. The priests entered it at regular times. They went into the outer room to do their work for God and others. ⁷ But only the high priest went into the inner room. He went in only once a year. He never entered without taking blood with him. He offered the blood for himself. He also offered it for the sins the people had committed because they didn’t know any better. ⁸ Here is what the Holy Spirit was showing us. He was telling us that God had not yet clearly shown the way into the Most Holy Room. It would not be clearly shown as long as the first holy tent was still being used. ⁹ That’s an example for the present time. It shows us that the gifts and sacrifices people offered were not enough. They were not able to remove the worshiper’s feelings of guilt. ¹⁰ They deal only with food and drink and different kinds of special washings. They are rules people had to obey only until the new covenant came.

The Blood of Christ

¹¹ But Christ came to be the high priest of the good things already here now. When he came, he went through the greater and more perfect holy tent. This tent was not made with human hands. In other words, it is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by spilling the blood of goats and calves. He entered the Most Holy Room by spilling his own blood. He did it once and for all time. In this way, he paid the price to set us free from sin forever. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls is sprinkled on people. So are the ashes of a young cow. They are sprinkled on people the law called “unclean.” The people are sprinkled to make them holy. That makes them “clean” on the outside. ¹⁴ But Christ offered himself to God without any flaw. He did this through the power of the eternal Holy Spirit. So how much cleaner will the blood of Christ make us! It washes away our feelings of guilt for committing sin. Sin always leads to death. But now we can serve the living God.

¹⁵ That’s why Christ is the go-between of a new covenant. Now those God calls to himself will receive the eternal gift he promised. They will receive it now that Christ has died to save them. He died to set them free from the sins they committed under the first covenant.

¹⁶ What happens when someone leaves a will? It is necessary to prove that the person who made the will has died. ¹⁷ A will is in effect only when somebody has died. It never takes effect while the one who made it is still living. ¹⁸ That’s why even the first covenant was not put into effect without the spilling of blood. ¹⁹ Moses first announced every command of the law to all the people. Then he took the blood of calves. He also took water, bright red wool and branches of a hyssop plant. He sprinkled the Book of the Covenant. He also sprinkled all the people. ²⁰ He said, “This is the blood of the covenant God has commanded you to keep.” (Exodus 24:8) ²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled the holy tent with blood. He also sprinkled everything that was used in worship there. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be made “clean” with blood. Without the spilling of blood, no one can be forgiven.

²³ So the copies of the heavenly things had to be made pure with these sacrifices. But the heavenly things themselves had to be made pure with better sacrifices. ²⁴ Christ did not enter a sacred tent made with human hands. That tent was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself. He did it to stand in front of God for us. He is there right now. ²⁵ The high priest enters the Most Holy Room every year. He enters with blood that is not his own. But Christ did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again. ²⁶ If he had, he would have had to suffer many times since the world was created. But he has appeared once and for all time. He has come at the time when God’s work is being completed. He has come to do away with sin by offering himself. ²⁷ People have to die once. After that, God will judge them. ²⁸ In the same way, Christ was offered up once. He took away the sins of many people. He will also come a second time. At that time he will not suffer for sin. Instead, he will come to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.