Sermons and Studies

Not Waxed Short

If you don't have a hard-copy Bible available or an app on your phone, Bible.com is a fantastic, free resource with multiple versions in numerous languages available. (I'm not trying to promote one site over another, I just know and trust this one.)

Before we begin, why not start with some praise and worship music that hits you right in the spirit, and spend some time worshiping the God who created you? If you're limited on time, play the music while you pray. Don't forget to ask God to open your eyes to what He wants you to learn and understand from this lesson!

Also, you'll get a lot more out of reading this if you read the verses that are in the boldfaced type. Call them 'inside information'. 😉

Start with Numbers 11:18-23. In the King James Version (KJV) verse 23 reads 'And the Lord said to Moses, 'Is the Lord's Hand waxed short? You will see now, whether My Word shall come to pass on you or not." 'To wax' means to grow, as a waxing crescent moon is growing from new to full.

In this passage, Moses has done something we all do at one time or another; he doubted God's ability to make good on His promise. The difference in this instance, however, is that Moses blatantly called God out. Most of us, when we doubt God's promises, barely ever put it into words. We just heed a 'sinking feeling' or a weight of false understanding that we'll be disappointed in the end.

Moses though! He dared to give God a census (a measurement of the obstacle.) Moses points out the 600,000 men- the fighting men, mind you- all with wives and families. A conservative estimate of the population at this point would be 4 million people, all wanting to eat meat, counting a wife and three children each, but discounting those beyond the age of warfare or the fact that most families at the time had many more children than that!

After giving God a census, Moses dares offer his human understanding of the situation. On its face, his logic is sound. There probably isn't enough fish in the Red Sea (the largest body of water Moses knows) to feed four million people for a month straight. He indicates the animals with the people. They could slaughter them all but, then what, God? Huh? Tell me that! The flaw in Moses' logic, however, is that he has failed to consider Who created these food sources to begin with!

Skip down a few verses to Numbers 11:31-32. Where do quail live, normally? Certainly not the sea! Quail prefer the edges of a forest, where it opens onto a field. These birds are small. They weigh each around 6 ounces (660g.) For comparison, the average chicken weighs around 5 pounds (just over 2kg.)

The quail filled the camp to a depth of 2 cubits. A cubit was measured as the length of a man's forearm from the elbow to fingers, about 18 inches (45cm,) so the quail were 3 feet (90cm) deep in the camp and surrounding it for as far as a person could walk in a day. Given that a healthy adult can walk 20 to 30 miles (32-48km) in a day, and that the Israelites were already hardened travelers, it is logical to assume the higher distance. So, God sent enough quail to fill a circle 60 miles (97km) in diameter by 3 feet (90cm) deep!

This was no natural fluke, as some have suggested, as if some storm had blown the birds off course. Wild quail generally live in flocks of less than 30 birds, and do not live near the sea. Simply stated, this event was a miracle orchestrated by God. Each person (male and female, youngster and adult,) gathered no less than 10 homers (approximately 1.75 tons English measure, 1.78 metric ton) of birds per person, for around 4 million people. God's Hand was NOT waxed short!

Now, let's look at the opposite scenario in Daniel 3:16-23. These three men were Jewish nobles brought into exile by this Chaldean king, who'd put them through 'Chaldean college' and integrated them into his kingdom in order to serve him. Clearly, however, their love for the God of their forefathers hadn't dimmed, nor had they forgotten the Law, the Prophets, or the Psalms of their Holy Writ! Look at the faith and devotion they display!

The young men are not rude to the king, but their faith is the kind we all need. In their minds, that God is fully capable and willing to rescue them is as obvious as the air we breathe; invisible, but felt nonetheless. They trust God so fully that even if He didn't choose to rescue them, they'd die faithful. This willing acceptance of possibly dying for their faith (called martyrdom) has lasting effects!

Continue the story with Daniel 3:24-30. Because of their willing faith, the men are protected by an angel. Given the king's take on the situation, it's not unreasonable to say that this is Jesus Himself. In the face of the obedience of these faithful men, the king confesses the Lord God as the only God! Because they were willing to die for their faith, their king is saved from eternal damnation.

The best part of the story, in my opinion, lays in the details. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego come out of the furnace without even the smell of smoke clinging to them. God's Hand is NOT waxed short!

Sure, there are many who are martyred, even today, but like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, their attitudes, that joyful willingness to live and die for our Savior, is a tremendous testimony to those who need Him most. (For more information, do a web search for the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, or Jim Elliot and Operation Auca.) In fact, all but one of the apostles of the early church were martyred for their faith and in doing so, spread the Gospel to the entire known world.

In Luke 16:10, Jesus tells us that the little things we do matter because they prove the larger. Whoever is faithful with a little can be trusted with much. The reverse is also true. I think you'll agree with me that God can be trusted with your life and your death. If that is true, can He not be trusted with your mortgage and your health?

Obviously, we must be good stewards of our resources and our bodies. After all, a person can't spend his or her income foolishly and expect God to rescue him or her, month after month, any more than he or she can abuse his or her body with wrong choices and then complain about a resulting sickness.

I Samuel 15:29 and James 1:17 both agree that the God Who rescued Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego is the same God Who is bigger than the Corona virus, or HIV, or any other disease you care to name. You know what else?

Read I Peter 5:7. Not only is God perfectly capable of performing every promise in the Bible, He cares about you! Psalm 55:22 agrees. Bring God all your troubles, your cares, your anxieties, your woes, because He genuinely cares about them. He will listen, and He will act on your behalf.

Will you get an anonymous check in the mail? Matthew 19:26. (Okay, but is it probable? Perhaps not.) But, just as with Moses, God will work in ways we don't understand, for our good.

He might solve the problem for you, or He might give you the means to solve it yourself. Either way, He will use the problem at hand as a way for you to grow closer to Him as you walk through a hard time. After all, no baby ever learns to walk if his Parent carries him everywhere. God's Hand is not waxed short.

Psalm 37:23-24 promises that God is beside His people and when you stumble, He will uphold you so you don't fall all the way down. Trust God not just with your Destination, but with every step along the way.

Before you put your Bible away, given the current, world situation, turn to Psalm 91. This is a promise that you can fully lean on and each verse is one you can use to speak to your own situation when you pray.

Lord God, Your Word promises that You are our refuge and fortress, in Whom we may confidently trust. Lord, You promise that no evil will befall us, nor will any plague come near our dwellings. Give Your angels charge concerning us, Lord, to guard us in all our ways. Set us securely on High, Lord, because we know Your Name. Your Word promises that, because we love You, You will deliver us. Save us, Lord, from the terrors that beset us all around, we pray. Thank You that Your mighty Hand is not waxed short, that You are bigger than any sickness, any disease, any danger on earth that might come against us. Thank You for loving us! In Jesus' Matchless Name we praise and give You thanks for what we are about to see and for what we have already received; amen.