Numbers 11:23

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Is the Lord's hand waxed short?" Num 11:23

The question which will bring all other inquiries into right relation. The inquiry is based on history. The history of the world is the history of the divine hand. The question points to the fact that the Lord's hand has hitherto always been equal to the occasion. If the hand of the Lord could wax short the throne of God would be destroyed by that very fact. Providence continues only so long as Godhead continues; to be God is to be Almighty; to be other than Almighty is to be less than God. The person making the inquiry is supposed to have had personal experience of the power of the divine hand. Let every devout man put this inquiry to himself in all the varying circumstances of life; in perplexity, in extremity, in the agony of doubt, in the experience of bereavement, and, in short, at every point in the circle of life.

To be strong theologically, that is to say, to have a clear conception of God's presence and action in life, is to be strong morally and socially. The inquiry certainly suggests that some circumstances wear the appearance which justifies the very solemn and awful fear. We gain nothing by ignoring such circumstances. The wicked are often highly exalted and invested with disastrous influence; the righteous often seem to be left to themselves, and made to feel that their godliness is the reason of their poverty or pain. The bad man may put this inquiry in a tone of mocking and contempt, and may have some justification for his tone. Take the case of Jesus Christ himself when he suffered upon the cross: bad men challenged God to appear on behalf of their victim, and no response was made from the darkening heavens. From this great case of agony lessons may be drawn suitable to every form of unhappy experience. "Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself."