Who's In Charge?

As we get started:

open your Bibles to Numbers 11:21

Mute your microphones

Turn off your cameras

As you do that let me give you a brief intro to the Book of Numbers

The Book of Numbers records the events of Moses and the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

Numbers picks up after God has delivered the people from their slavery in Egypt

As they left, God provided food for them through mana

(a bread like substance that came from heaven each day)

God has given them instructions on how to build the tabernacle

(which is a tent where God would dwell with his people)

As well instruction on their ritual practices that they are to keep in order to live safely in the presence of God

All these fantastic things are happening for Israel,

And while you’d expect as a result of all that God was doing would be for Israel to give praise and thanksgiving to God for all that he had done for them.

But instead of them giving praise we see Israel only offers complaints against God.

There are a three complaints recorded in this part of Numbers

The specific complaint that we find surrounding tonights text is due to Israel being tired of eating mana and so they begin wishing they were back in Egypt eating the food that they had there.

And so, God promised to give them meat for a month

And what we have in tonights passage is Moses’ reply to God’s promise and God’s reply back to Moses:

Numbers 11:21–23 ESV

21 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!’ 22 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?” 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.”

The title for tonight is called -

“Who’s in Charge?”

One of the most frustrating experiences that I had growing up was when one of my siblings acted like they were the parent.

First of all, I am a twin - so my sister was (and still is) the same age as me.

And then my older brother was the troublemaker of us all.

All this to say, when one or both of my siblings started getting bossy I had a phrase that I would say - “you’re not my parent”

maybe you’re familiar with this phrase

maybe you’ve said it to your siblings

maybe you’ve had it said to you…

But the point is this: a sibling does not carry the same authority as a parent does:

and I hope understanding this reality will help us better grasp what is happening in tonights text

You see, previously in this chapter, Moses is feeling overwhelmed at the responsibility that is set before him as the leader of Israel due to their complaints.

So in response to their complaints, and Moses’ stress, God promises to feed them meat instead of mana for a month.

And after this promise is made, Moses places himself in the position of God…

Before we get into the text write this down if you are taking notes:

1) The promises of God cannot be accomplished through human effort.

Remember: God promised to feed the people of Israel meat for a month… and this was Moses’ response to God’s promise:

Numbers 11:21 ESV

21 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!’

First of all Moses tries to comprehend the task of feeding 600,000 people…

that is 600,000 men (that number did not including the women or children)

Exodus 12:37 ESV

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

Now 600,000 is a big number… too big for us to grasp sometimes, so to get an idea of how many people that is, let’s compare it to Portland:

the population of Portland is just over 600,000 people (653,000) and that number includes women and children…

Needless to say… that is a lot of people wandering in the wilderness

And to multiply the complexity of feeding these people, God promised to feed them for a month.

Consider what a task that would have been

without any grocery stores

Without any farms

over 600,000 nomadically traveling through the wilderness…

hard to even imagine what that would be like

But Moses tries to describe the impossibility of this task

Numbers 11:22 ESV

22 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?”

Moses observes:

their flocs wont provide enough food for so many people

Their fishermen won’t be able to catch enough food

And even if they were able to provide this much food, can you imagine what it would be like trying to distribute all this food?

This is an overwhelming task that Moses feels is on his shoulders to accomplish.

BUT MOSES IS MISSING AN IMPORTANT DETAIL:

God said that HE (not the shepherds nor the fishermen nor Moses) but God himself would provide them with the meat for an entire month.

Moses is reverting back to his old way of thinking…

You might remember back when God first called Moses to the task of freeing the people of Israel… Moses told God that he had the wrong guy for the job

Exodus 3:11–12 ESV

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

1) The promises of God cannot be done through human effort.

2) God acts personally and powerfully for his people.

Numbers 11:23 ESV

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.”

Two things I want to point out to you about God’s rhetorical question to Moses

Is the LORD’s hand shortened?

- First of all… look at the name that he calls himself by… LORD

you should notice that it is written in all caps

When you see this in your Bible, this is in refrence to the personal name of God that was revealed to Moses at the burning bush…

The name “I AM” or “YHWH”

The personal name of God should remind Moses and each of us of all that God has done past to rescue his people

By redeeming them from Egyptian captivity through many might works and wonders

And in providing for them (remember he is already feeding them mana evert day)

So notice how foolish Moses is to assume that it would be through herds and fishing and human effort that the people will have meat to eat…

You see, Moses is not in charge of fulfilling the promises of God…

No, God is in charge of fulfilling his promises.

- The second thing I want to point out is the word shortened

“Is the LORD’s hand shortened?”

Or to say it in a different way:

Has God lost the power that he previously had that made it possible for him to protect and provide for you?

or

Has God become uninvolved with protecting and providing for Israel now that they are in the wilderness?

The answer to both of these questions is clearly no

So one should not follow the logic of God’s promises based on human understanding, rather we ought to follow the logic that is based on God’s faithfulness to every promise that he has spoken through his word.

3) God has and will fulfill every promise that he has spoken.

Numbers 11:23 ESV

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.”

You shall see… God told Moses

God tells moses… wait and watch to see if God will fulfill his word

and if the answer wasn’t clear from his rhetorical question it will become clear to you as you watch God act out the rest of the biblical story.

You see, if you keep reading, you would find that God does in fact feed them the meat just as he said he would

And if you keep reading past that you will find that God leads them into the promised land just as he said he would

And if you keep reading as they take the promised land you would read

Joshua 21:45 ESV

45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

and if you keep reading past that you’ll find that every promise of God that was given in his word would be fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus

Or as Paul put it:

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

1) In what ways do we act as if the promises of God are to be fulfilled by man rather than God?

2) What are the results forgetting that God is in charge of fulfilling his word rather than man?

3) In what ways is God still personally and powerfully involved with his people today?