16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me aseventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and bofficers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. aI will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put thesame upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.
18 Then you shall say to the people,1 ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ain the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For itwas well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20abut for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have bdespised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, c“Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”
21 And Moses said, a“The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’
22aShall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses, a“Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether bwhat I say will happen to you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he agathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle.
25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed thesame upon the seventy elders; and it happened, awhen the Spirit rested upon them, that bthey prophesied, although they never did so again.
How quickly they forgot! They were slaves in Egypt. They may have had a variety of food, but they were slaves. Was that a good trade-off? Would we rather be free or have good food? If we take the food, we fall into the same category as Esau. What do we want—the sensual stimulation that the world can provide or eternal life? It comes down to questions like that. What do we want? Are we going to crave it, or are we going to follow God?
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