Tokonaki Sune 19, 2021
Is the Lord’s hand shortened?
He kuo nounou ‘a e nima ‘o e ‘Eiki?
(v. 23) And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
(v. 23) Pea folofola ‘a Sihova kia Mōsese,
He kuo nounou ‘a e nima ‘o e ‘Eiki? te ke vakai eni pe ‘e hoko ‘eku lea kiate
koe pe ‘ikai.
* G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible*
Here we enter upon the second section in the Book of Numbers, in which is revealed the failure of man. The first evidence was discontent, resulting unquestionably from the hardship of life.
This was immediately rebuked by the burning of the fire of the Lord. Moses became an intercessor and the fire abated.
The next incident was more pronounced rebellion. The occasion was the mixed multitude. The explanation of the presence of these people is found in Exodus 12:38. These people hankered after things left behind in Egypt and the people of God were infected by this discontent. Moses, in perplexity, poured out his complaint into the listening ear of Jehovah. The answer of Jehovah to Moses was to appoint elders to assist him in oversight and their equipment by the Spirit. To the people He gave quails. An added comment by a psalmist on this story long after was:
And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their souls.
Here a
principle emerges which is of perpetual application and importance. It is that
there are times when God grants an unwarranted request in order that men
may learn through experience the folly of their desires.
* Charles Haddon Spurgeon :: Morning and Evening Devotional*
(v. 23) And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
God had made a positive promise to Moses
that for the space of a whole month He would feed the vast host in the
wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to
the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He
looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator
expect the creature to fulfil His promise for Him? No; He who makes the promise
ever fulfils it by His own unaided omnipotence. If He speaks, it is done-done by
Himself. His
promises do not depend for their fulfillment upon the co-operation of the puny
strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet
how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look
to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we
perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look
we to that quarter at all? Will you look to the north pole to gather fruits
ripened in the sun? Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than
when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator's
work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is
not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise,
but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as He
hath said. If after
clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we
dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us:
"Has the Lord's hand waxed short?" May it happen, too, in His mercy,
that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration,
"Thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or
not."
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