the sarcasm of God

We served in the nursery this week and missed Bob Russell's return to the pulpit this weekend as a visitor. I'm sure it was good, but I'll try to catch it on the web later this week.

In Sunday School, I taught on the second half of the story in Numbers 11. Last week, we left off at verse 15, where Moses went to God but was a bit of a mess. This week, God responds with two answers: a.) choose 70 leaders whom I will empower through the Holy Spirit; and b.) I'll bring the meat.

There are a number of smaller tidbits (with obvious and powerful applications) in this passage. For example...
-God doesn't give Moses grief over his meltdown. Neither does he dignify his remarks nor answer his questions (directly). Likewise, sometimes are prayers are that far off.
-God doesn't take away Moses' difficult circumstances, but empowers him to be able to handle those circumstances.
-When Moses has difficulty believing that God will deliver the "meat", he puts God "in a box" by assuming that the meat will be in the form of fish or livestock. Because he has forgotten about air transport, he is unable to imagine how God could do "more than we could ever ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).
-Joshua is jealous for Moses, but Moses is pleased as punch to have more helpful people to administer this unruly group.

But the most amazing thing about this passage is God's use of sarcasm within His anger toward the people (11:18-23).

18 "Tell the people: 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ' "

Then, amazingly, Moses has the guts (or something!) to ask the following question:

21 But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?"

Moses has done the math and can't imagine how the Lord could possibly accomplish this. In a word, Moses' memory is as faulty, here, as the Israelites. God again drops a sarcastic bomb:

23 The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."

Boom!

Sarcasm is often sinful. But C.S. Lewis notes that it's flippancy-- and the flippancy that is typically contained within sarcasm-- which is the problem. Here, God illustrates the principle positively: that sarcasm can be a "godly" response.