But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”. Numbers 11:29 NASB
Have you heard about the Church that was praying for revival? Many in the Church had gotten words from the Lord that revival was coming. Praise God, they were excited. Then God brought revival in the Church down the street. And to make matters worse, it was a Church they thought had a somewhat flawed theology. I think some of the people were tempted to say, “Come on, God.”
In Numbers 11:24-25 NASB, Moses brought seventy of the elders of Israel to the tabernacle to prepare them to assist him in leadership. The Lord poured out the Spirit that was upon Moses on the seventy elders, and they prophesied. Eldad and Medad, two of the men, had stayed in the camp, yet the Spirit that was upon Moses rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp, Numbers 11:26 NASB. We are not told why they were not where they were supposed to be; perhaps they slept in, but this does not appear to disqualify them from service with Moses.
Joshua hears that Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, and he is highly offended on Moses’s behalf, saying, “Moses, my Lord, restrain them.” Numbers 11:28b NASB. Moses’ response is a window into the soul of the man called the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12:3 NASB). Joshua got a lesson from his mentor that day. He learned that as a leader of people, they don’t have to be perfect to be used by God. Moses was not offended when Eldad and Medad didn’t do exactly what the other elders were doing. Were Eldad and Medad wrong? The Bible doesn’t say, but one thing is certain: if they were wrong, God still prophesied through them. And the same Spirit rested on them in the camp as those at the tabernacle (v.26).
The next time we, who are in the Body of Christ, see a person, Church, or group do things differently than us, resist the temptation to think it’s wrong; it’s just different. Possibly, we should respond more like Moses and God did, with grace, rather than like Joshua, with jealousy and judgment.
The image is provided by Microsoft.
Ken Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
