God makes the impossible possible
Sibling rivalry is as old as time. We all know that Cain and Abel did not get along. That did not turn out so well. Jacob and Esau come to mind as well. In our day we have witnessed some famous cases of sibling rivalry. Prince William, the older brother, is headed for the throne, even though his mother thought his brother Harry was more suited for it.
Quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning are four years apart, but the younger brother Eli has two Superbowl rings just like Peyton. Tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams have gone head to head eight times. Younger sister Serena defeated Venus twice in a row. John and Jim Harbaugh both spent their careers coaching college and NFL football teams. In 2013, John’s Baltimore Ravens defeated Jim’s San Francisco Forty Niners, handing them their first Superbowl defeat.
I imagine another rivalry in the Bible that is not mentioned but must have existed: between two of Jacob’s sons, Benjamin and Dan. We read in Genesis that Benjamin had ten sons. Immediately afterward we read that Dan had only one son, whose name was Hushim. Can you imagine how Dan might have felt? No doubt he loved his only son deeply and was proud of him. Still, God had promised that the descendants of our patriarchs would become a great, populous nation, whose numbers would be like the stars of the sky. Looking at Benjamin’s ten sons, it is easy to envision his tribe growing large and helping fulfill God’s promise. But how many children and grandchildren could come just from Hushim alone? Benjamin’s descendants would be a powerful tribe and help lead this new nation. Dan’s tribe? Dan might have feared that compared to his brother’s family, his would be only a footnote in the story of our people.
But guess what? When the Israelites left Egypt, the tribe of Dan outnumbered the tribe of Benjamin! It says so right in this week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar. God instructs the Israelites to take a census of the tribes. They were to count every make age 20 and above who was able to bear arms. The count from the tribe of Benjamin was only 35,400. The count from the tribe of Dan? 62, 700! That is 27,300 more than the tribe of Benjamin.
What’s more, we read in the book of Judges that the tribe of Benjamin suffered so many losses in their war with the other tribes that they were left with only 600 men. Meanwhile the tribe of Dan had grown so large in number that the land they were assigned in the center of the land of Israel was not sufficient. They had to conquer additional territory in the north to have more room for Danites to settle.
The lesson to learn from the story of Dan and his one son is never give up hope. No matter what the obstacle you face, never give up hope. Never give up hope because God makes the impossible possible.
That is the story of the Exodus, isn’t it? The Israelites never could have imagined they could be free. In the desert they could not imagine they could survive.
Again, and again that theme repeats itself throughout the Bible and throughout our history.
Gideon, one of the judges who defended the Israelites from enemies, defeated the entire Midianite army with only 300 people.
King Saul’s son, accompanied only by his shield bearer, defeated the entire Philistine army.
The shepherd boy David defeated Goliath with a single stone from his slingshot.
The Maccabees drove out the entire Greco-Syrian army.
We do not need to look that far back to see what it means that God makes the impossible possible.
In 1948, as the Arab Armies descended on the fledgling Jewish State, Israel had only 30,500 soldiers to the Arab’s 40,000. Israel had only one tank. One tank! The Arab armies had 200. The Jews had only 5 cannons. Their enemies had 140. Israel had only 3 battle ships, no fighter planes, or bombers at all. The attacking forces had twelve battle ships, sixty fighter planes and 14 bombers.
The same was true again in 1967. The Jewish state was similarly outnumbered in soldiers, tanks, ships, planes, and bombers. In both wars many were sure that the end of this experiment called Jewish sovereignty was at hand. To most, it seemed utterly impossible that Israel could win either war.
God makes the impossible, possible. It is a lesson we should remember and celebrate especially today on this holiday, Yom Yerushalayim, which celebrates the re-unification of the holy city of Jerusalem. This is a day for celebrating that miracle and for expressing our thanks to God. It is a day to celebrate our love of Jerusalem and our commitment to support the city that is the beating heart of the Jewish people. It is a day to remember the determination, effort and sacrifice made by those who refused to believe that victory was impossible.
It is also a lesson we should repeat to ourselves during these difficult days of pandemic. Much of the time we find ourselves being overwhelmed by the new reality in which we live. We worry about our finances, our jobs, our health, and our families. We struggle to cope with newfound anxiety and isolation. We wonder if we will ever get back to normal. Surviving at times feels almost impossible.
But God makes the impossible possible. With God’s help and our best efforts to isolate ourselves from the virus as researchers grapple for treatments and cures, we will yet get back to a world we can recognize. It surely will not be exactly the same as it was. It will be a new normal. But it will be a good normal. It is possible.