Numbers - A Journey Through the Wilderness , Sarah Barry
IS THE LORD’S ARM TOO SHORT?
Passage: Numbers 11:16~23  
Key verse: 23
16 The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders(A) who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people.(B) Have them come to the tent of meeting,(C) that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you(D) there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them.(E) They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.(F)
18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves(G) in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed,(H) “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!”(I) Now the Lord will give you meat,(J) and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it(K)—because you have rejected the Lord,(L) who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”(M)
21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men(N) on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”(O)
23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?(P) Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.(Q)”
Cross references
- Numbers 11:16 : S Ex 3:16
- Numbers 11:16 : S Ex 18:25
- Numbers 11:16 : S Ex 40:2
- Numbers 11:17 : Ex 19:20
- Numbers 11:17 : ver 25, 29; 1Sa 10:6; 2Ki 2:9, 15; 3:12; Isa 32:15; 40:5; 63:11; Joel 2:28; Hag 2:5
- Numbers 11:17 : S Ex 18:18; Jer 19:1
- Numbers 11:18 : S Ex 19:10
- Numbers 11:18 : S Ex 16:7
- Numbers 11:18 : ver 5; Ac 7:39
- Numbers 11:18 : Ps 78:20
- Numbers 11:20 : Ps 78:29; 106:14, 15
- Numbers 11:20 : S Lev 26:43; Jos 24:27; Jdg 8:23; 1Sa 10:19; Job 31:28; Isa 59:13; Hos 13:11
- Numbers 11:20 : ver 33; Job 20:13, 23
- Numbers 11:21 : S Ex 12:37
- Numbers 11:22 : Mt 15:33
- Numbers 11:23 : Isa 50:2; 59:1
- Numbers 11:23 : Nu 23:19; 1Sa 15:29; Eze 12:25; 24:14
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
God promised to give them meat for a month until they would become sick of it. This time even Moses, through whom God had performed the miracles in Egypt and the Red Sea, could not believe it. God helped Moses to know God’s power with a rhetorical question, “Has my arm lost its power? (11:23 NLT)” Moses knew the answer. We do too. God’s question makes us stop thinking about what we can do and start thinking about what God can do. Our arms are short, maybe 2 or 3 feet long. But the arm of God who created the universe and is holding it is long and powerful. God’s arm can deliver us even from death’s strong cord and provide us resurrection life.
Prayer: Lord, you are strong and powerful enough to do what you have promised. Help me to lean on your strong arm and live by faith.
One Word: God’s mighty arm