Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, 'Give us meat to eat!' I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin." The Lord said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone."
"So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!" Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp." Numbers 11:10-17, 24-30
It wasn’t long after setting out from Mount Sinai to Canaan that the Israelites began to whine and complain about their circumstances. And Moses was the one who got to field all of them.
Imagine what he dealt with for a minute. First, imagine how difficult it is to deal with just one person who seems to complain about anything and everything. I don’t know about you but people who are like that test my patience. Now picture 600,000 plus people venting their dissatisfaction with the way things are. Now that would drive anyone crazy and as we read our scripture today, it has clearly gotten to Moses for we see him turning to the Lord in his frustration saying, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?" We often hear someone lamenting, "Why me Lord? Why me?" This is definitely what Moses is feeling.
But Moses speaks further, "Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers?" Moses is essentially saying to the Lord, "I didn’t create these children of yours…you did and yet you have passed on the babysitting to me." The brunt of caring for so many people has worn Moses down.
Indeed, Moses is tired and frustrated. Hear his final words to the Lord:
"Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, 'Give us meat to eat!' I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."
Moses has voiced his aggravation to the Lord but his complaints are different than the ones of Israel. Israel is not satisfied with what the Lord has provided and instead gripes about what He hasn’t given them. Moses is not satisfied with his ability to help the people and respond to their requests. He knows can’t possibly meet all the needs of the people. He’s only one man and the burden is too heavy for him. And how bad has it gotten for Moses? Well, he would rather die rather then go on in the present conditions he’s in.
Well, God honors Moses’ request and blesses him with help, commanding him to "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone." So Moses complies with God’s request telling "the people what the Lord had said" before bringing "together seventy of their elders" to the Tent. And once they were gathered, "the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him (Moses), and he took of the Spirit that was on him (Moses) and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again."
God had spiritually ordained Moses’ helpers who gave prophecy to validate that they had the same power that Moses had. This was important because if the people didn’t see the elders as being like Moses then they wouldn’t go to them instead…and this would defeat the purpose of them being ordained in the first place.
One last thing about Moses…something that reveals his heart as being different from the other complainers. All Moses wanted was to make life better for Israel. In fact when the Lord decided to ordain seventy elders to assist Moses, he didn’t respond selfishly as if he were threatened now that so many others had the same blessing of spiritual leadership under God. No, Moses said this, "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!" In other words, Moses wished that everyone had the level of relationship with the Lord that He had. Indeed, the world would have been a better place…and it definitely would be a better one today of we could just get everyone to surrender their lives to God and God alone through His Son, Jesus.
So what do we take from this scripture lesson today. I think there are two important points to glean away.
First, no one person can get it all done in ministry. Success in accomplishing the work of the Lord is only going to come when the body of Christ comes together, each with their collective gifts to work toward the common good. Truly, any one person looking at the state of the world today would easily become discouraged and defeated. It’s more than any of us can handle. But Jesus didn’t just tell one disciple to go forth and make disciples of all nations. He told ALL of His disciples…you…me…everyone…and He expects all of us to get the job done…together. And we can meet that goal…together…not by our own might but by the collective power of the Holy Spirit moving and working within us.
The second takeaway is that there is a difference between whining about things that aren’t kingdom enhancing and those that are. The people of Israel became gluttonous as they weren’t satisfied with manna and wanted meat or anything that they might have had when they were in Egypt…as if Egypt blessed them more than God. Moses on the other hand had a heart for making a difference through servitude. Moses wanted to keep his people happy but came to find out that this can be an impossible feat, especially when you are leading ungracious people. His cries to God were more out of his disappointment in not being able to meet the people’s needs than anything else. His heart wasn’t toward his own gain but the gain of others.
Question: Have you ever felt like Moses…overwhelmed and frustrated because you can’t meet the needs or provide for others like you would like to? My prayer is that this scripture will be a comfort to you and let you see that help is often just a prayer away. Trust that God will provide for you in accordance with His will…for with Him all things are possible. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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