Numbers
chapter 11 describes a very personal God’s relationship with a very
stubborn people (sound familiar?). Throughout the Bible we see God’s
people with all their faults and failures. Sadly, I see myself all
too often in these self-centered complainers. The chapter begins,
“Now
the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the
Lord, and when He heard them, His anger was aroused“.
When people we don’t care about complain, it doesn’t bother us. It
is when those we love complain that it hurts most. God loves His
people! “Fire
from the Lord burned among them and consumed the outskirts of the
camp… the people cried out to Moses, he prayed… and the fire died
down.”
I wonder if they confuse God’s mercy with God’s acceptance? Some
might say, “How could they complain after witnessing the
miracles of God and knowing He is bringing them to the Promised
Land?” but that could be said of equally of me.
Next
we read how the people remembered with fondness their time IN SLAVERY
in Egypt. “We
remember the fish we had in Egypt at no cost– also the cucumbers,
the melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now all we have is manna.”
It is always dangerous when we remember our time of living in the
world and selectively forget the consequences that brought us to
repentance. We read that the manna settled on the camp at night like
dew. I was gathered daily, ground and made into cakes, which tasted
like they were made with olive oil. “Moses
heard the people in every family wailing, each at the entrance of his
tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled.”
Moses cries out to God, “I
cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for
me“.
God first instructs Moses to select elders to help support him, then
God explains, “I
will take the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them… so
you will not have to carry it alone“.
Are you complaining at the entrance of your tent? Whatever burden
you are carrying, bring it to God. We are never alone in God’s
kingdom. Now God is ready to deal with the complaining.
God
instructs Moses to tell the people, “Now
the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it… for a month–
until it is coming out of your nostrils and you loathe it– because
you have rejected the Lord“.
God has a sense of humor! When Moses questions how he is to find
meat for 600,000 men, the Lord answered, “Is
the Lord’s arm too short?”
Have
you limited God’s ability to work in your life? God is able!
“The
Lord drove quail in from the sea… brought them down all around the
camp about three feet deep… as far as a days walk in all
directions.”
They gathered quail for a day and a half. But we read, “While
the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be
consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and He
struck them with a plague“.
The scripture doesn’t say, but I wonder if they ate without
acknowledging God by giving thanks? Again, how much I see myself in
the Israelites.
God’s
nature does not change; the difference between the Israelites and
believers today is simply our Mediator paid the price for our sins
Himself and now intercedes perfectly on our behalf. 2 Timothy 2:5
reminds us, “For
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men“.
Jesus paid the price for our sin and rebellion and now sits at the
right hand of God interceding on our behalf. There is no burden too
heavy for Jesus. Is the Lord’s arm too short to handle your problem?