And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
The burning took place in the wilderness on the journey from Sinai, when Israel murmured and craved meat despite the manna provided for them. The complaining displeased the Lord, beginning with complaints about the march raised by the mixed multitude that spread through the encampment, even though the people knew Moses was following the guiding cloud. Lustful appetite and discontent with manna then infected nearly the whole body of the people, with weeping at the doors of the tents and complaining throughout the families.
The place was called Taberah, meaning a burning, because the fire of the Lord burned among the people, and the name was given to remember the judgment. The fire consumed the most guilty complainers at the outer parts of the camp, who were the instigators of the seditious murmurings. God's first answer was not to gratify lustful appetite but to send judgment by fire from the cloudy pillar as lightning from heaven. The fire was quenched when Moses prayed after the people asked him to intercede for them.
That punishment did not humble the people but only increased their murmurings and complaints. In his displeasure and distress over the heaviness of bearing alone Israel's disobedience and murmurings, Moses pleaded before the Lord like a nursing father that he was not able to bear all this responsibility alone because it was too heavy for him. The complaining and weeping over food at Taberah provides the pattern for later lamenting over food.
The burning took place in the wilderness on the journey from Sinai, when Israel murmured and craved meat despite the manna provided for them. The complaining displeased the Lord, beginning with complaints about the march raised by the mixed multitude that spread through the encampment, even though the people knew Moses was following the guiding cloud. Lustful appetite and discontent with manna then infected nearly the whole body of the people, with weeping at the doors of the tents and complaining throughout the families.
The place was called Taberah, meaning a burning, because the fire of the Lord burned among the people, and the name was given to remember the judgment. The fire consumed the most guilty complainers at the outer parts of the camp, who were the instigators of the seditious murmurings. God's first answer was not to gratify lustful appetite but to send judgment by fire from the cloudy pillar as lightning from heaven. The fire was quenched when Moses prayed after the people asked him to intercede for them.
That punishment did not humble the people but only increased their murmurings and complaints. In his displeasure and distress over the heaviness of bearing alone Israel's disobedience and murmurings, Moses pleaded before the Lord like a nursing father that he was not able to bear all this responsibility alone because it was too heavy for him. The complaining and weeping over food at Taberah provides the pattern for later lamenting over food.