Has the hand of the Lord shortened?

Study: # 680-Church in the Houses From: April 19 -25, 2011

TOPIC: “Has the hand of the Lord shortened?” Numbers 11:18-23

When bad circumstances are surrounding us we forget the past mercies of the Lord. When we are drowning in present difficulties we forget the past, and of how God has walked with us. At that moment of glory we saw how great He is, but in the present bad circumstances we see Him as small and even as if He had never existed. With the great power of God and miracles Moses brought Israel out of Egypt and now they walked toward the Promised Land. The people had seen the powerful hand of the Lord delivering them from slavery and from the Pharaoh’s evil hand. Then they started complaining about the manna that the Lord sent them each day to feed them. They wanted meat and were crying out for that. God in His anger said to Moses that He would provide the meat they were demanding in the middle of the desert and a lot of it until it rolled out of their nostrils and they detest it. It would be another great miracle of many that God had done in the midst of the people. Moses doubted of what God said, but God promised that it would occur. Previously, in the beginning of their journey to Mount Sinai, God miraculously had already provided meat for the children of Israel (Exodus 16: 8.13) Moses had forgotten these great miracles. The same thing happens with us! We are good forgetting His miracles in our lives! Immediately in the midst of problems the first thing we do is to open our mouths to complain, we complain about the Almighty. In verses 21.22, Moses very surprised said that he would have to gather all the fish of the Sea to feed meat to such a numerous amount of people. Get all the fish so that they would be well supplied! But God replied: “has the hand of the Lord shortened?” This is the great God whom we serve! 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 As we read here, God is the source and center of everything that exists. His is the magnificence, and His greatness is immense and incomprehensible. His is the power, God is irresistible. His is the victory, since He prevails against all and He can subjugate it all to His empire and strength. His is the honor; His majesty is ineffable, which cannot be described. All the riches and all the honors that men possess they owe it to God. What we give Him is only a tiny part of what we receive from Him. Great is the manifestation of power when the presence of God is present. (2 Chronicles 25:8). If the presence of God is not present, there is no power. In 2 Chronicles 25 we read that Amaziah was the king of the tribe of Judah and wanted to fight against Edom, a nation of idolaters. For this reason Amaziah had from the tribe of Judah a great army of three hundred thousand men (2 Chronicles 25: 5). But, he looked for another hundred thousand soldiers in the remaining tribes of Israel by paying them for their services (vs. 6). But God had moved away from the men of Israel because of the idolatry (vs. 7, 8). If we would also learn to stay away from those who worship other things in their lives! We must not be mistaken as Amaziah; we must depend only on God and not in great armies, because the powerful one is He. If king Amaziah would have been sure of God’s presence with him, the army, which he already had, was more than enough. It was improper to ask Israel for help for God was not with them, because they were not with God. Concerned about the money, but the prophet said to him: "The Lord can give you much more than this (vs. 9). This is how the God whom we serve is. We must learn! Psalm 62:11 The power belongs to God! Two times I have heard this! Faith is of those who hear with their heart and ears. The power belongs to God. Beloved, you must believe it, never doubt of the one who has called you. This is of great need in our lives; because of our difficulties we forget that the power belongs to God. We must be convinced in our heart and have a good ear that will always confirm that the power belongs to God. Faith is never abandoned unless the soul puts the power of God in doubt. God is displeased when in His own children His power is questioned, even by one of them. In Numbers 11: 23 we see that God rebuked Moses and said to him: “has the arm of the Lord shortened? Christ also had rebuked Marta saying: "have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? (John 11:40) God is so jealous of the glory of His power that He has severely disciplined His beloved children when their faith has hesitated to this point. We see this also in Luke 1: 20 when Zechariah was unable to speak in that same hour that he doubt of God’s power.

Psalm 65:6, "You, who formed the mountains by your power…" Unbeliever scholars are too absorbed in physical laws of how the mountains rise, to think of He who raised it. Their theories of volcanic action and of glaciers, etc. are often used as latches to block the path of the Lord to their lives. David and Solomon had much wisdom but they spoke as simple, not as philosophers. We are tiny beings; if we want to be firmly established we have to go in search of strength in the one who is truly strong. Without Him the everlasting mountains would crumble. How much more will our plans projects, and work crumble! Beware, trust in Him always! Rests, oh believer, where the mountains have their foundations, in the power of God who has never received injury or harm. Depending on where or who we are going to look at, our strength will be. If you fall it is because you didn’t believe God, in this way you cannot obtain any victory. If we fail to believe in the first things we believed in we will be devastated, but if we keep on believing in the one whom we believed for our salvation, then we will see his glory as it was said to Mary. Lazarus was dead, but there was Jesus to resurrect him. The Glory of God was going to manifest, they only had to believe. Amen.