“And the Lord said to Moses, “is the Lord’s hand shortened?”
– Numbers 11:23
Now you shall see whether my word will come try for you or not. What a great penetrating, powerful question. “Is the Lord’s hand shortened,” God says. “Is my hand short?” The context here is God’s people are complaining that they don’t have food, and they’re grumbling that they would have more food if they were back in slavery in Egypt. And God says to Moses and by extension to his people, “Is my hand short? Do you really think I’m unable to provide you food? I’m able to provide you more food than you could ever eat. My hand is not too short to help you, my hand is not too short to save you.”
Our God is sovereign over all and is more than able to do all that He desires for His glory.
This Verse Shows How God Provides for His People
And we know that, so it’s obvious, and God provides food in Numbers 11. He provides quail for his people, more than they wanted even. And yet I think about my life, I’m guessing your life too, we sometimes start to think that God’s hand is short. We lack faith that God is able to do immeasurably more, Ephesians 3:19 and 20. That all we could ask or imagine, that his hand is not too short to provide for his people. To provide everything we need. To lead us and guide us, to draw people to himself.
Numbers 11:23 Emphasizes God’s Power
We see later in scripture his head is not too short to save. There is no one who is beyond the power of the gospel to save. And yet we can sometimes, when we’re sharing the gospel with somebody, we can just start to think, “I don’t know if they’ll ever come to Christ.” Don’t think that. Believe that God has the power to save them, and pray that God would show his power. And your life and your struggles, when you start to wonder, “I just don’t know if I’ll ever get the peace I’m looking for.” God’s hand is not too short to provide you all the peace you need.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have joy like that again. God’s hand is not too short to provide you with joy. With everything your heart most needs. There’s nothing in this sense that he is unable to do. He is able to do all things in accordance with his will, and his word, and his good purposes for our lives. His hand is not short. So, God, we praise you. We praise you that you don’t have a shortened hand. You’re not weak. You are not unable to provide for the good of your people in the glory of your name. You are more than able, immeasurably more than able to do beyond what we could even ask or imagine right now.
Numbers 11:23 Gives Us Confidence in Our Faith in God
So, God, deliver us from faith that has a small view of you. A short view of you. God, give us a high, long, wide, infinitely glorious view of you that believes in you, that believes in your power to do far beyond what we could ask or imagine. Oh God, I just pray for that in my own life, for others’ lives in the light of things we’re going through right now, when we are tempted to wonder if you are able to do this or that. God, please, give us the confidence as we pray and as we live. You are more than able to do all that you desire and all that we desire for your glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
