Has the Arm of the Lord Come Up Short?

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people, consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, ‘If only we had meat to eat. We were better off in Egypt.’ Now the Lord will give you meat and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day or two days or five days or twenty days, but for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you because you have rejected the Lord.”

Do you hear what God is saying? You want meat? You’re not satisfied with the gifts of grace that I give to you? And so you’re complaining for more. You want meat, I’ll give you meat. Not for one day, not for two days. I’m going to give you meat until it is coming out of your nose. That’s what God says to Moses and to His people. And so that’s what you get for saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”

Now here, Moses has a crisis of faith. And Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and You say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.’ I heard what You said, God, but I think You said it rashly. It was an unguarded statement from the divine mouth. You haven’t really taken a census and seen what a banquet we’re talking about here. There are six hundred thousand soldiers, six hundred thousand footmen here. And that doesn’t include the women and children. And You’re going to give us meat enough to eat for a month? How are You going to do it?” He says, “Would they have enough if all of our flocks and herds were slaughtered? Would they have enough if all of the fish in the sea were caught for them? See, God, You’ve bitten off more than You can chew here. If You took every fish out of the sea, You wouldn’t have enough meat to feed all these people for a month. You can’t do it.”

The Lord answered Moses, “Moses, has the arm of the Lord waxed short? Have I suddenly become cripple? Do you think that you’re dealing with a deity with a withered arm? Who do you think you’re talking to, Moses? How short is your memory? Don’t you remember the Red Sea? Don’t you remember the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud? Do you think that since I brought these people out of Egypt, that suddenly my arm has grown weak? Now, Moses, you will see whether or not I bring to pass what I say I will bring to pass.”

It’s a funny story, but do you see how much about the character of God that’s revealed in that story? The omnipotence, the power of God that is found in that biblical image that we see again and again and again throughout the history of Scripture of the right arm of the Lord. The right arm of the Lord that brings to pass with eternal strength and eternal power whatsoever God decides to bring to pass. The immutability of God that that strength that is found in the Creator who can call and command worlds to come into being out of nothing, that that arm that is so strong is not subject to the aging process by which strong muscles atrophy.

The arm of the Lord never ever waxes short. The God that we believe in, the God that we serve, the God that we want to know more intimately is the same God who that day spoke to Moses and said, “Wait and see. You watch Me, Moses. You watch and see if I will not do what I said I’m going to do.” Do you realize how many more promises that same God has made in history since He talked that day to Moses? How many of those promises that remain unfulfilled that sometimes we read in the New Testament and wonder, “Is He going to do it? Is He going to fulfill those promises? Is He going to keep His commitment?” But He is immutable. His strength does not fade.