Christian Stress Management: Bible Study Lessons from the Wilderness of Paran or Taberah or Kibroth Hattaavah

When the Israelites left the Wilderness of Sinai they went to the Wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 10:12)

Mistake #1 Complaining

The Israelites complained and it displeased God for He heard it and His anger was aroused.(Numbers 11:1)

As a result the fire of God burned and destroyed some of them.

The Israelites cried out to Moses and when he prayed to God, the fire was quenched. He therefore called the place the Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3) which means burning.

Lesson

Do not complain against God.

Mistake #2 Crying-Complaining

The mixed multitude who were with the Israelites gave in to intense craving and this made the Israelites begin crying while saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now our bodies have dried up for there is nothing at all to eat except this manna! (Numbers 11:4-6)

This crying displeased Moses and aroused God's anger greatly. (Numbers 11:10)

God then told Moses to tell the people, "Consecrate yourselves because tomorrow you shall eat meat ... You will eat meat not for one day or 2 days or 5 days or 10 days or 20 days but for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils and you hate it because you have despised God who is with you and wept before Him asking, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" (Numbers 11:18)

Moses asked God, There are 600,000 men and yet You have said You will give them meat to eat for a whole month, shall herds be slaughtered or shall all the fish of the sea be caught to provide enough meat for them? (Numbers 11:21-22)

God responded by asking Moses, "Has the Lord's arm been shortened?" (Numbers 11:23)

Lesson #1

When you are facing a humanly impossible situation like providing 600,000 men and their families with meat in the middle of a wilderness for a whole month, silence the doubts by asking them, "Has the Lord's arm been shortened?" (Numbers 11:23)

"Has the Lord's arm been shortened?" (Numbers 11:23)

God proved that His Hand was not shortened for A wind went out from Him and brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering all around the camp. (Numbers 11:31)

The Israelites therefore received the meat they were craving for. They stayed up the whole day, the whole night and the next day to gather the quail.

However, while the meat was still in their mouth God's anger was aroused and He struck them with a plague. The name of that place was even changed to Kibroth Hattaavah which means graves of craving because the people who had yielded to the craving were buried there. (Numbers 11:33-34)

Lesson #2

Do not let your cravings, deep desires and emotions make you complain against God.

If for example you are broke and you would really, really like to eat meat, instead of asking, "Who will give me meat?" transform your question into an affirmation and tell yourself, "God will give me meat" because With God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)