Originally posted: 06/03/2019
“Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord…’”.. 23 The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not,” (11:18, 23).
Poor Moses. Dealing with the complainers and grumblers; feeling he had to carry the burden all alone. But Moses, although feeling the burden of the human impossibility to care for so many, was not the one bearing the brunt of the complaints.
The grumbling was against Holy God. After all He had done, this was His people’s response. Is it any wonder His anger was kindled?
Consider Him Whose Word Will Come True
The LORD had just told Moses He would give the people meat and they would in fact eat, to the point of filling their nostrils to overflow. But even Moses still questioned God. That is amazing to me.
But Moses was human, and the fact that he questioned God was in fact a miserable commentary on all of mankind. Again I am dumbfounded the LORD didn’t just wash His hands of the whole sorry mess of mankind. But He had already spoken; and when the LORD speaks, He will bring it to pass… always.
- His Word Will Come True in the face of greedy ingratitude, grumbling and complaining.
- The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, 6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna,” (11:4-6).
- His Word Will Come True in the face of confusion and frustration.
- Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ (11:13).
- His Word Will Come True in the face of rejection.
- …because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (11:20).
- His Word Will Come True because His power is unlimited.
- The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not,” (11:23).
- His Word Will Come True because He is True to His Word.
- Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground, (11:31).
How do we respond to Him Whose Word Will Come True?
To begin with, we must know what His Word says; for how will we know if in fact His Word comes true, if we don’t know His Word?
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” (Deuteronomy 4:4-6).
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, (Colossians 3:16).
- His Word Will Come True in the face of greedy ingratitude, grumbling and complaining.
- Our greedy ingratitude, grumbling and complaining will not stop His Word, but it will greatly affect our heart attitude, impacting our witness to those around us. We must recognize the grievousness of self-indulgent greed and complaining. Let us commit to live as His trusting children that He might use us to bring His light to a dark world.
- Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, (Philippians 2:14-15).
- His Word Will Come True in the face of confusion and frustration.
- There will be many times when we simply cannot understand how He will do what He has promised. In those frustrating times, let us cling fast to His truth by faith, recognizing we simply cannot comprehend His ways, yet still choosing to believe He will do exactly as He has said.
- “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it,” (Isaiah 55:8-11).
- His Word Will Come True in the face of rejection.
- We are called to share His Word, and sometimes that can be more than intimidating. Let’s face it, we all want to be liked and rejection is hard to take. We must remember, His Word Will Come True whether it is rejected or not, and even whether we share it or not. The truth is if we don’t share the gospel, we will miss out on being used for His glory. And we must also remember what Jesus said; rejection is never about us; sadly, it’s always about Him.
- “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me,” (Luke 10:16).
- His Word Will Come True because His power is unlimited.
- We must not look at things from our limited human perspective. Faith cries out with Job, even in the midst of the most dire of circumstances; His Word will not be stopped for His power is unlimited.
- I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted, (Job 42:2).
- His Word Will Come True because He is True to His Word.
- The Lord is more than truthful; He is absolute Truth Himself. It would be impossible for Him to be anything but True to His Word.
- “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).
Ask yourself: have you come to the Father through Jesus? There is no other way, for these are the very words of Truth. Please take time to prayerfully consider your relationship with the Father through Jesus. If you are unsure, please talk to a pastor, a Christian friend, or you can email the Planting Place at plantingplace@gmail.com.
In light of so marvelous a salvation, let us live so as to unashamedly invite others to also consider Him Whose Word Will Come True.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, (Romans 1:16).