Numbers 11:16-30
The Seventy Elders
16 So the LORD said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us 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 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’”
21 And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”
23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
Moses was quite over with ministering to so many people in the wilderness journey, especially when they became contentious and complained about the food and how good they thought they had it in the captivity of Egypt’s bondage. The LORD God stepped in to relieve the burden of ministry by commanding Moses to choose seventy godly men to assist as the first spiritual elders seen purposely chosen and assigned in scripture. They came to the temple of meeting, similar to the local church now, that they might be dedicated or installed to the service of God there. The LORD spoke to them all there and told them He would then put His Spirit on them as on Moses so they would have the wisdom and ability to minister to the people alongside the man of God. He then to them to consecrate themselves and await the delivery of meat to meet the complaints of the congregation the following day. They would have that meat of discontent for an entire month, “until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome” to them as they were told. This was recompense and a lesson in why contentment was critical to living by faith in trusting the goodness and provision of God, a lesson we still need constant reminding of. To grumble and complain about what we don’t have is really despising God and His goodness to us! Moses did not understand how this was possible since they did not have enough animals to feed over six hundred thousand people, but God reminded him that nothing is impossible (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 1:37, 18:27) with the Almighty God and to wait to see how He would provide enough food the next day as He promised. Then the Spirit of God rested on the seventy chosen men who prophesied for one time only to demonstrate that they had been given this role by God to lead, similar to the New Testament times when the Spirit gave the ability to speak with other languages to the disciples and then the Gentiles as proof of their calling in Christ. Moses answered the complaints of those who tried to stop the Spirit-driven utterances by telling them it would be wonderful if all could have His Spirit upon them and do the same, foretelling the advent of the permanent filling of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5, Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:9) on all those called into Christ to come as a seal (Ephesians 1:13-14) of their choosing by the Lord to minister together in the gospel! May we then be content by faith in God’s provision and calling to serve together with the mind of Christ in us all who are truly His and not demand more than He provides as some do of God today for miraculous abilities and power unsanctioned and not promised by the Lord. Godliness in our lives with contentment by trusting and contented faith is the greatest gain we can receive as we share the burden of ministry.
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