Num 21:4-6 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
Jeremiah 8:17 For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you,” declares the LORD.
Amos 9:3-4 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”
1 Corinthians 10:9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,
They had to go far out of their way because the Edomites refused them passage (Numbers 20:14-21). To go around the Edomites, they had to turn back towards the wilderness and away from Canaan. This was a discouraging situation, but it was also an opportunity to trust God. The same God who just gave them victory at Hormah and provided all their needs would also guide them, even though this may seem like a setback. “The people spoke against God” Israel’s new generation sounded like the old generation that died in the wilderness. If they continued in the steps of their fathers, the new generation would be no more able to conquer Canaan than the previous generation was. This was a major problem. They were on the threshold of Canaan, closer to it than the previous generation of unbelief had been, and now they started to act with the same unbelief – or worse. Like the generation of their fathers, this generation despised God’s provision of manna, calling it worthless bread. Their complaining against the “bread of heaven” (Psalm 78:23-24) was the sin of ingratitude against the God who miraculously sustained them in the wilderness. These came from God, to get the nation’s attention at this critical place in their journey to Canaan. If they continued in the unbelief of the previous verses, they would never take the land. (Guzik)
“When the grumbling humour is on us we complain of anything and everything, as did these Israelites: they complained of God, they complained of Moses; they complained of the manna. They would have been ready to complain of Aaron; but, fortunately for him, he had been dead a month or so, and so they poured the more gall upon Moses. To men in this state nothing is right: nothing can be right.” (Spurgeon)
“When a person’s heart is intent on rebellion and beset by discontent, even the best of gifts from the Lord can lose their savor; nothing will fully satisfy until the heart is made right.” (Cole)
The children of Israel were wearied by a long march round the land of Edom. They speak discontentedly of what God had done for them, and distrustfully of what he would do. What will they be pleased with, whom manna will not please? Let not the contempt which some cast on the word of God, make us value it less. It is the bread of life, substantial bread, and will nourish those who by faith feed upon it, to eternal life, whoever may call it light bread. We see the righteous judgment God brought upon them for murmuring. He sent fiery serpents among them, which bit or stung many to death. It is to be feared that they would not have owned the sin, if they had not felt the smart; but they relent under the rod. (Henry)
