Yahweh gave Moses two reasons for not throwing in the towel, the first being that he totally understood what Moses was going through. The Israelites’ loud wailing, “Give us meat to eat” in Numbers 11:13, and their constant moaning about how much better the food was in Egypt (5), not only made Moses angry, it made Yahweh angry too (10).
So when Moses in total exasperation yelled out to Yahweh in verse 13, “Where on earth am I going to find meat for all these people?” – and then in verses 14 and 15, “This is all too much for me, I want out now” – Yahweh didn’t stomp on him. Instead, he got Moses to choose seventy leaders from among Israel’s elders, on whom he “put the same Spirit Moses had,” so they could help carry the burden of the people, and Moses would not “have to carry it alone” (16-17).
It didn’t mean the burden would go away, but there was no reason in the enormity of it for Moses to throw in the towel, because Yahweh not only understood Moses’ frustration, he stepped in with the help Moses needed.
Yahweh then expressed his own exasperation in response to the Israelites wailing, “If only we had meat to eat, we were better off in Egypt” (18), by having Moses tell the people, “I’ll give you meat all right, and so much meat for the next month it’ll come pouring out through your nostrils until you loathe it” (18-20).
But even Yahweh sharing his own frustration wasn’t enough yet to settle Moses down, because Moses fired right back at him in verses 21 and 22, “So you say, ‘I’ll give them meat to eat for a whole month,’ but where’s it coming from, eh? Even if all the flocks and herds were butchered, and if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough?” All Moses could see was how impossible his situation was, to the point it didn’t matter what Yahweh said anymore.
To slice through the impenetrable fog of Moses’ despair, then, Yahweh hit Moses in verse 23 with a blunt question: “Are you actually saying, Moses, that I can’t take care of this situation, that my arm is too short?” And that’s when he gave Moses a second reason for not throwing in the towel, by saying, “Well, I’ll show you whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
And what more could Moses say after that? Proof was on its way. So rather than throw in the towel, “Just you wait and see”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 