A 7 Minute Meditation entitled “Is the Lord’s Hand Waxed Short” from Numbers 11:21-22
This podcast episode features the song “Story” (edited for length) by Meydän, available under a Creative Commons License.
Our meditation comes from the Old Testament book of Numbers Chapter 11. In this chapter, as the children of Israel are making their way to the Promised Land, they began to complain that they had no meat to eat. All they had was this manna that they gathered every day. Evidently they disregarded the fact that this was a 6-days-a-week miracle. They wanted meat. Their constant badgering of Moses for this meat was about to drive him crazy. He carries his insurmountable burden to the Lord. The Lord instructs him to gather 70 men around himself to help carry the load of this people. The Lord then instructs Moses to tell the people that they will have meat to eat for an entire month. They will have so much meat that they will become sick of it. This meat will become somewhat of a judgment because they have questioned why they ever left Egypt. Then Moses begins to question God. Pick up reading with me in Vs. 21 – 22: “Numbers 11:21-22 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?”
Moses basically asks, “Where am I going to come up with this meat you are promising them?”
Then in Vs. 23 the Lord asks a question: “Is the LORD’S hand waxed short?” This is a stunningly powerful question! This question should have been a jolt to the thinking of Moses. He looks around at what he sees before him, and tries within himself to come up with a way to keep the promises of God. But He seems to have forgotten a few things: Did Moses have anything to do with constructing a bridge or dam across the Red Sea? Did Moses use his own wit and ability to turn the waters of Egypt to blood? Did Moses call in the locusts or the frogs? Did Moses blacken the sun from the sky? Was Moses a participant in the execution of every first born son in Egypt? Then why in the world would Moses look to his own ability to prop up the promise that God had made? It was not the responsibility of Moses to keep the promises of God! The Baptist pastor from a bygone day Charles Spurgeon said the mistake of Moses was, “He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. Doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfill his promise? No; he that makes fulfils. If he speaks, it is done — done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfillment upon the cooperation of the puny strength of man.” It is God’s responsibility to keep His promise! Moses just simply overlooked the provision of God, he looked at his own resources to sustain the promise of God. This question from God brought to the surface Moses’ unbelief.
Oh how often do we do the same thing? We sell short the might and power of God, and try to manipulate a situation to make a pseudo-supply from God. We get in a bind, and we pull strings and maneuver conditions so that we get the outcome that we want, and then we say, “Praise God for meeting our needs!”
Most of us identify as believers in God and his mighty works of the past; but when it comes right down to where we are, we sometimes question whether the God of the Bible has the same power today as he did in the ancient scriptures. Does the God that created the mountains, parted the seas, and raised the dead have the same power today as He did then? Sometimes we have the tendency to think that God is like us. I can’t do what I did when I was 12. I can’t do what I did when I was 20. Over time my ability and strength has waned.
This is simply a case of our own unbelief. It is, in effect, saying, that God just ain’t what He used to be! This is an offense to God! It is a slap in the face! If this is you, don’t feel bad, because Moses was in the same place, and to bring it to the surface God asks this rhetorical question, “Is the LORD’s hand shortened?” Well, is it? No! By very definition, God has not changed one bit! He has not weakened one ounce! He has not slacked in one promise! Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not… Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
God follows His rhetorical question with this statement: “…thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” If I had been standing next to Moses that day, I think I would have taken a few steps back in response to these words. No, God did not take from the flocks and herds. He didn’t send them fishing into the sea. According to verses 31-32, God blew in an astounding abundance of quail from the sea. Now, if I were going quail hunting, the last place I would go is the beach. God brought His provision from out of nowhere! The God, who in the mind of Moses, was just not as powerful as he used to be, did the impossible!
This verse is very special to me. When God was dealing with me about His call on my life, I had been teaching Sunday school lessons out of the book of Numbers. It was there that I stumbled over this verse. God used this question like a hammer to break my hardened heart, my unbelieving heart, my doubting heart. It was then in 2001, I said, “No Lord! Your hand has not waxed short! You are just as powerful as you always have been. And if You will go with me, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” And through these years I have found Him to be just as faithful and powerful as He has always been. But it has been me who has fallen into the trap of unbelief from time to time. This verse stands to me as a reminder that my Lord and Saviour has not diminished in power and ability one bit. He that rescued and saved me, is able to continually sustain me every step of the way. These words call us to faith, trust, and belief in an unchanging God!
