23 Yahweh said to Moses, Has Yahweh's hand grown short? now shall you see whether my word shall happen to you or not.
Behold, Yahweh's hand is not shortened, that it can't save; neither his ear heavy, that it can't hear:
Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can't redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh.
God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."
Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.
The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria; and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it:
They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs. This shall be the sign to you, says Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 11
Commentary on Numbers 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
Hitherto things had gone pretty well in Israel; little interruption had been given to the methods of God's favour to them since the matter of the golden calf; the people seemed teachable in marshalling and purifying the camp, the princes devout and generous in dedicating the altar, and there was good hope that they would be in Canaan presently. But at this chapter begins a melancholy scene; the measures are all broken, God has turned to be their enemy, and fights against them-and it is sin that makes all this mischief.
Num 11:1-3
Here is,
Num 11:4-15
These verses represent things sadly unhinged and out of order in Israel, both the people and the prince uneasy.
Num 11:16-23
We have here God's gracious answer to both the foregoing complaints, wherein his goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious.
Num 11:24-30
We have here the performance of God's word to Moses, that he should have help in the government of Israel.
Num 11:31-35
God, having performed his promise to Moses by giving him assessors in the government, thereby proving the power he has over the spirits of men by his Spirit, he here performs his promise to the people by giving them flesh, proving thereby his power over the inferior creatures and his dominion in the kingdom of nature. Observe,