One day while the Israelites were still camping near Mount Sinai, God reminded Moses that a whole year had passed since they left Egypt. And God said, “The time has come when you must eat another Passover supper, for I want you to remember how the death-angel passed over your homes in Goshen.” Moses told the people the words of the Lord; then every family in every tribe prepared a supper like the one they had eaten before Pharaoh drove them out of his country. Not many days after this Passover supper had been eaten, the Israelites saw the cloud lift from above the tabernacle and float slowly away toward the north. They knew the time had come when they must journey on. They had lived for nearly a year in the wilderness of Sinai, under the shadow of the great mountain, and no doubt they felt glad to start forward again toward Canaan. They followed the floating cloud on and on across the barren country for three days’ journey. Then the cloud stopped, and while they rested in their tents some began to complain. God was much displeased at this, and he sent a fire among them. Many of those who complained were killed by the fire. The other people were frightened, and they cried to Moses for help. They thought they might all be killed. Then Moses prayed, and God took the fire away. Moses called the name of this camping-place Taberah, which means, “A burning.”
From Taberah the cloud led the Israelites farther north and brought them to the second stopping-place. Here the people rested again. And here they seemed to forget the terrible punishment that came upon those who complained at Taberah. They seemed to forget every blessing that God had sent to them. They said, “We are hungry for meat;—oh, so hungry!” And they frowned when they saw the manna lying on the ground about their camp. “We are tired of this manna,” they cried; “we want meat!” They talked to each other about the fish that they ate while they lived in Egypt, and about the vegetables that grew in their gardens in Goshen. And the more they talked about these things the hungrier they became. Then instead of cheerfully gathering the fresh manna, which God sent every morning, and thankfully preparing it for food, they complained while they worked and they grumbled while they ate. Finally, like pouting children, they stood in their tent doors and wept because they had no meat. Moses was very unhappy when he saw how foolishly the Israelites were behaving. Time after time they had complained, and just as often he had prayed for them. Now he did not want to pray for them. He told the Lord he was tired of leading such unthankful people. He even wanted to die. Poor, discouraged Moses!
God, too, was much displeased with the Israelites. He knew they were unthankful and wicked. He knew they needed to be punished again. He felt sorry for Moses because the work was too heavy for him. He told Moses to choose seventy other men to help him in his work. And God caused those men to hear His words and to speak them to the people.
Because the people desired meat, God sent them birds, quails. These he caused to come in great numbers outside the camp. When the people heard about them they rushed into the desert to gather the birds. For two days and one night they worked steadily, for God had sent enough meat to last them through one whole month. But they did not take time to thank God for this food. They thought only of satisfying their hunger. And thus they added more unthankfulness to their sins, and God punished them severely. While they were eating the meat God sent a sickness upon them and many died. And so here at this place, as at Taberah, they left behind them a graveyard where the dead bodies of their wicked relatives were buried. They called this place by the long name of Kib-roth-hat-ta-a-vah, which means, “The graves of lust.”
When the cloud moved on, it stopped next at a place called Hazeroth. Here Miriam and Aaron, the sister and brother of Moses, found fault with Moses because he had married a woman who was not an Israelite. And they questioned why he should be the chief ruler among the people when God had sometimes spoken to them also. They allowed a wicked feeling of envy to grow in their hearts. They envied Moses because he was great in the eyes of all the people. They, too, wished to be rulers, and to be called great and wise. But God was angry with them, and he sent a dreadful disease, called leprosy, upon Miriam. Her skin became white like snow, and when Aaron saw what had happened he felt sorry because they had sinned against Moses and against God. He told Moses of his sorrow, and asked him to pray that Miriam might be healed. Moses was ready to forgive them both, and he prayed earnestly for Miriam. God heard his prayer, and after seven days Miriam was well again.
When the cloud lifted from Hazeroth, it did not stop again until the Israelites had entered the wilderness of Paran, which lies just outside of the promised land of Canaan.