The Complaint of Moses
10 Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and [j]Moses was displeased. 11 So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You [k]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? 12 Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a [l]nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ 14 I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too [m]burdensome for me. 15 So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
Seventy Elders to Assist
16 The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone. 18 Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 [n]but 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 wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” 23 The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s [o]power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will [p]come true for you or not.”
I love the last verse here especially, but before that, there’s a lesson to be had for those in leadership. Don’t try to do it alone, you can’t. You will fail miserably if you try to go it alone. You need God, and you need other people upon whom you can depend. God made us social creatures and knows that we need each other. Ask him for help, and he will provide.
Then, we see Moses humanity showing again. He asks God, how in the world are we going to find enough food for these people. There are 600k of them (that’s just the men)! God’s reply is just fantastic, “is the Lord’s power limited?” Obviously not, and Moses was about to have a front row seat to view God’s power once more. This was the man who had seen God deliver these people from Egypt with the incredible plagues. He had seen God do small miracles, and big ones. Yet he still struggled with doubt, as we all do.
When you are doing what God has told you to do, just keep moving forward, and trust him to provide. He won’t let you down. There are countless examples throughout the Bible, and even in more modern church history. God will provide when we are not enough.