The Shortened Arm

"Parasha: Beha'alot'cha
The Shortened Arm


Beha'alotcha - בהעלתך : "When you set up"
Torah : Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftarah : Zechariah 2:10-4:7
Gospel : John 5, 6


Thought for the Week:
Moses cried out, "Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me?" (Numbers 11:11). Moses was exhausted with the ceaseless grumbling and complaining of the people. He said, "I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me" (Numbers 11:14). Ironically, Moses himself became a complainer. He was complaining about people always complaining. In so doing, he became the very thing he criticized.
Commentary:
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." (Numbers 11:23)


Moses was depressed. Depression is the enemy of faith. Depression and self-pity create a spiritual blindness. When Moses allowed himself to be overcome by the pressures and stresses of his responsibilities, he slipped into despondency and temporarily went spiritually blind. He seems to have momentarily forgotten who God is and what God had done in the past.


The LORD told Moses that He would provide Israel with a month's supply of meat. Moses protested against the plan, pointing out to God that it would be impossible to procure sufficient meat to feed 600,000 men for a month. Moses rhetorically asked, "Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, [would it be] sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, [would it be] sufficient for them?" (Numbers 11:22).


Moses' reply seems shocking. Had Moses forgotten that God was already miraculously feeding the people on a daily basis? If God chose to feed them meat instead of manna every morning, what difference did that make? Moses' despondency had blinded him to God's power. His depression had flattened his faith.


God responded with a rhetorical question of His own. He asked Moses, "Is the LORD'S power limited?" (Numbers 11:23). A literal translation of the Hebrew is more poetic. He asked Moses, "Has the hand of the LORD become shorter?" In other words, "Are you suggesting that the God who wrought the ten plagues, split the sea, fed you with manna and brought water from the rock has lost His power?"


The next time you find yourself doubting God, ask yourself, "Has the hand of the LORD become shorter?" The next time you find yourself despondent and depressed, remind yourself of the great things God has done in the past.


Then I said, "It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed." I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds. (Psalm 77:10-12
The Weekly eDrash http://ffoz.org/resources/edrash/behaalotcha/the_shortened_arm.php