Week 29: This Is Way Too Much (Part 2)

Scripture: Numbers 11:16-23

So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.  I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself. And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing of the Lord, saying, ‘If only we had meat to eat! Surely it was better for us in Egypt.’ Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” But Moses said, “The people I am with number six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month’! Are there enough flocks and herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch for them?” 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.”

This Is Way Too Much (Part 2)

There are a number of things that compromise our understanding of our own limitations. Our commitments to different organizations, our work schedules and responsibilities, our familial responsibilities, our church duties and so much more; often pull us into so many different directions that we often don’t know where we initially intended to go. We often get so caught up in the idea of being busy, that we don’t actually get anything done. After the realization that nothing productive is being done, we become frustrated and begin complaining. This had to be what the children of Israel were experiencing. They had been travelling for years to get to a place that was only a few days’ worth of a journey away. They left the place where they felt most comfortable and threw themselves into a wilderness culture, which had a limited food pallet. The children of Israel, as well as Us (including the person reading this right now) find ourselves complaining about the provision that we have prayed to God for. Moses, who no longer wants to deal with this complaining culture, finds himself in this text being fed up. Last week, we primarily dealt with the feeling that God is definitely putting more on us than we can bear, without even consulting us before it happens. In today’s text, we find ourselves leaning in to God’s response to Moses’s complaint. Moses was God’s elected official to preside over the people otherwise known as the Children of Israel. These people were the descendants of people who had experienced slavery at the hands of a Crooked Pharaoh, delivered under the leadership of Moses and have found themselves in a wilderness of Complaint. They are in a place where they have been stuck in, both mentally and physically; and now it has caught up with Moses, their leader.

It is important for us to realize that in the midst of being God’s elect, there are some cultural things that we will pick up from the place of which we are in. God sent Moses to be the leader in the midst of Israel’s wilderness experience but instead of simply being who he was called to be, Moses began taking on the attributes of the people whom he was called to lead. One well known fact that everyone knows about the Children of Israel is that they have collective acquired a PhD in Complaining. They complain about everything you can think of. They complained about being in bondage. When they were on their way out of Egypt, they complained about Pharaoh’s army chasing them. They complained about being in the Desert. And now we find them complaining again, but finally they have complained so much that Moses has begun to complain about them. Moses has told God that he would rather die than continue dealing with these people. The blessing in this is that God responds to Moses in a manner that warrants our attention. He doesn’t argue with Moses, but rather acknowledges Moses’s pain with a plan of action.

The hidden treasure of this text is that in the midst of places where things are seemingly too hard to bear, God is always in our midst to respond and to act. God does not wait for a period of time to pass before responding to Moses, but rather responds to Moses as soon as the cry was made. God creates a conversation that discloses a plan of provision. His plan is two part: a plan to relieve Moses of his load and a plan to provide meat for the people. Moses, like us, listens to God’s plan but doesn’t find sense in it. But nevertheless, Moses carries out the first end of the plan. God had turned to Moses and told him to find 70 elders and bring them to meet with him and God. God doesn’t call for just anyone, but for elders. In our modern thinking, the term Elder is someone who is a member of the older generation. In this case, God is not simply calling for people who are older but rather God is calling for trustworthy people, who have a track-record of being dependable and responsible. God specified for Moses, that these people needed to be people who Moses knew to be elders as well; meaning don’t pick them because you think I (God) would approve of them but people who you know will be there with you when your back is up against the wall. God is teaching us that we need trustworthy , dependable and responsible friends whom we can rely on when the going gets tough; to be our elders in hard times. Quick question: who are the elders in your life? Who are the people who are willing to go with you before God and hear of how God has called them to be an asset to the ministry that God has called you to? Who are the people who will follow your assignment, and work towards your helping you accomplishing it? God teaches Moses (and Us) that whenever we find ourselves in a place where we feel like “this is way too much”; that we need to rely on the people who will willingly help share the load.

Just in case you forgot about the load that Moses was carrying, I’ve decided to refresh your memory. Moses was Pastoring the Greater Egypt Baptist Church, which at the time had a membership of about 600,000 people. They were worshiping in an Invisible institution in the middle of the Wilderness, while working towards the building fund goal to purchase a property that they had been eyeing. Moses was pastoring these people without the help of any deacons sleeping on the first row. He didn’t have the support of the trustees to offer a report for all the manna that was collected in offering this week. There were no ushers handing out manna-mints and programs. There were no reliable musicians and worship leaders to prepare the hearts of the people. There were no faithful ministers to lighten the load of preaching, visitation, administer Communion and meeting the needs of the community. There were no faithful members of the church to give Pastor Moses the strength to keep going. This was way too much, and God knew it. God saw the load that was on the shoulders of Moses and decided that it was better to distribute upon multiple people. Moses was carrying a load that it took 70 people to evenly distribute it all of it to. If he divided the people evenly among the seventy, each of them would have been responsible for 8571.4 people. Moses had been carrying the load all of the people and God clearly thought Moses was stronger than Moses thought of himself. The reality is that we, just like Moses, are often stronger than we are willing to believe. Nevertheless, the load is easier to carry when you are being helped by a team of elders.

Moses was able to carry on for so long because he was built to last. Even though Moses thought that the weight was way too much, he was truly built for This. No one person was able to take on the responsibility or the weight that Moses was carrying. Just like us, we have been designed and trained to carry out the gifts and responsibilities that God has set before us. No one can be a better you than you. It would take more than just one person to replace all the things that you are. Even when it seems like it’s way too much, it maybe God simply conditioning you for the journey that is up ahead of you. It may simply be a reminder for you to rely on God in times when it seems like life is way too much. The weight that Moses had been carrying, was the very proof that God hears and answers prayer. He simply released his complaint into the atmosphere and God reacted; both for him and his followers. God provided Moses a way of Escape, by way of 70 elders who would lift the load for him. No longer does Moses have to feel like he was carrying this burden all by himself. God ordained and appointed a full staff of ministers, Deacon’s, Stewards, and trustees to carry out the ministry that God had given to Moses. But now, Moses has a different issue on his hand. His followers are tired of eating the same manna every day. Manna, also translated as what is this, is a form of heavenly nourishment that God provided. God provided Manna for them 6 days of the week, and a double portion was given on the sixth day to cover the Sabbath. Though this provision seemed to be a blessing, the people were tired of eating it. They no longer wanted this meal but would rather go through the turmoil of being in Egypt so that they could return to the diet they have there.

What do you do when the thing that started as blessing, becomes a curse? These people had begun this journey with no provision, had reeved provision and now are in a place where they would rather endure pain and agony for a better provision than this. Have you ever been there? Have you ever prayed for a job, and it seemed like a blessing but a few months (or even years) later, you dread going in to work? Have you ever prayed for admittance to a school that during your matriculation, put you through turmoil? Have you ever prayed for a promotion and the workload becomes a burden? It is at that moment that you want to turn to God and say “I was just kidding God, because This is way too much”! God tells Moses that though you are many and feeding you all may seem impossible, that God will provide. God declare to Moses that though it may seem too much to you, it’s never too much for me. God tells Moses that he will provide so much meat, that it will begin to ooze out of them. Which teaches me, that God Specializes in the things that seem impossible to me.

·         It was way too much for Sarah alone to have a baby in her old age

·         It was way too much for Joseph alone to go from the prison to the palace

·         It was way too much for Moses alone to lead the children of Israel across the Red Sea

·         It was way too much for Joshua alone to lead a people who once tried to kill him

·         It was way too much for Daniel alone to get out of the lion's dens

·         It was way too much for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego alone to survive the fiery furnace

·         It was way too much for Samuel to anoint another king, when the sitting king was still alive

·         It was way too much for Hannah alone to produce a child out of her barren womb

·         It was way too much for David alone to take on Goliath

It was way too much for Jesus alone to come down through 42 generations and bear the cross for the punishment of my sins. But nevertheless, there is a God who is able to be present with you in the midst of those impossible things. A God who specializes in making the things I think are too hard come to pass. God is able to make the things I find to be difficult, to be a bit more bearable. Which empowers me to join in with the songwriter and say:

Have you any rivers

That seem uncrossable?

And have you any mountain

That you cannot tunnel through?

God specializes

In things thought impossible

And He will do what no other

No other power but holy power can do