Numbers 11:21-23
But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 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.”
Truth: When God says He is going to do something, we are to believe He CAN do something.
At this point in the exodus of the people from Egypt, God is directing them, via the Cloud and Fire, to move from one place to another. Within a few short miles the people of Israel start to complain about the manna they were given to eat. The manna was not like what they had in Egypt. Their flesh wanted what the flesh wants. Although God was miraculously providing them food each day, they were not satisfied (sound familiar?). God, hearing their complaints, brings the leadership together and tells them He is going to provide meat for them. He is not going to provide it once, or twice, but enough for a full month. (In the next few verses it says Quail was flown in from the sea; enough to walk a mile in either direction and 36 inches deep on the ground.) The issue here, however, is that Moses wondered "how" God could provide meat to 600,000 plus people in the desert? That was not a shinning moment for Moses, captured in Hebrews 11 and the Hall of Faith. It was impossible for Moses to think beyond the natural when presented with the idea of providing food for the nation. Like the disciples with the feeding of the 5,000 with just five loaves and two fishes, Moses assumed it couldn't be done. Or, in this case, he assumed they would kill all the livestock and then what would they do for sacrifices for worship? God responds with one of the best statements in all God's Word, "Is the Lord's hand shortened?" God goes on to tell Moses and the elders they will now "see whether my word will come true for you or not." God loves to show His power, but in this case, Moses missed the opportunity to express His faith immediately. As we all would have done. We do the same thing today in our lives. We wonder where God will give us people for our church, money for our ministries, miraculous interventions in our situations, salvation to our lost loved ones. We pray as though God's hand's are shortened. Like Moses and the disciples we have to shown that God can care for many with unusual methods. It is not a miracle if it is normal. Ordering Kentucky Fried Chicken for 600,000 is not a miracle. Having quail fly in from the sea at His command - that's a miracle. God controls even the small animal to do something unnatural (fly into the desert to die) in order to show His glory. God is a God of miracles. We are to believe and not question His ability to make miracles happen.
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