Can I pray for you in any way?
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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
It wasn’t long after setting out from Mount Sinai to Canaan that problems began to happen as the Israelites began to whine and complain about their circumstances with Moses, their leader, who was getting an earful from them.
Imagine what he (Moses) had to deal with for a minute.
First, we all have had to deal with a person or a few people who chose to protest about seemingly everything and anything possible. I know I spent eighteen years in senior enlisted leadership while serving in the United States Navy and this matter of grumbling about things tested my patience on a near daily basis.
Now, let’s picture ourselves having to deal with 600,000 plus people like Moses was, most venting their dissatisfaction with the way things were. That, my friends would drive even the most tolerant person to where we see Moses ending up as he vents his frustration to the Lord, 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? and there’s little doubt that this is the place we find Moses in here.
But Moses didn’t stop there. He had more to say:
"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?”
Through these additional questions, 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 of them to me."
Indeed, the brunt and weight of caring for so many people had worn Moses down. He’s obviously tired and frustrated as he finishes sharing his aggravation with these words:
"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 had voiced his exasperation to the Lord but his complaints were different than the ones of the Israelites. They weren’t satisfied with what God had provided and chose to gripe about it. On the other hand, Moses wasn’t satisfied with his ability to help the people he was leading and respond to their requests. Through his words, we see where he knew he couldn’t possibly meet all the needs of the people, understanding that he was only one man. The burden had become more than he could bear and we know this because he makes it clear to the Lord that he would rather die rather than go on in the present circumstances he was in.
Maybe you have been there or know someone who is there now, feeling bottomed out in life, overwhelmed and frustrated. If not, perhaps you may be some day and this message contains an important truth we all need to know and embrace. For in these times of difficulty, when we feel like we can’t go on, God intervenes and provides.
Let’s look at what happened in the case of Moses.
Going back to the scriptures, we see where the Lord honors Moses’ request and blesses him with help, giving the Israelite leader the following commands:
“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 we find Moses complies with God’s request telling "the people what the Lord had said" before bringing "together seventy of their elders" to the Tent of Meeting. Once this assembly had gathered, we read where "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."
So what happened here?
Simply put, God spiritually ordained a group of helpers for Moses who spoke prophecies to show the people that they indeed possessed the same spiritual power as the Israelite leader. This was of critical importance because if the people didn’t see the elders as being like Moses then they wouldn’t go to them instead of him, completely defeating the purpose of what the Lord was trying to accomplish in the first place.
Before I move on, one last thing about Moses, something that reveals that his heart is different from the other Israelite complainers.
For when we get right down to it, all Moses wanted was to do was make life better for his brother and sisters. In fact, we should note that when the Lord decided to ordain the seventy elders who would assist Moses, he didn’t respond as if threatened by others now having the same blessing of spiritual leadership under God that he had. No, instead, we find Moses saying 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 would have the same relationship with the Lord that He had. Indeed, the world would have been a better place, just as it would be today if we could only get everyone to surrender their lives to God and God alone through His Son, Jesus.
So what are our takeaways from this scripture lesson for today?
I think there are two important points we should embrace.
First, no one person can get it all done in ministry by themselves.
There is no Superman or Superwoman in any church and this includes the pastor. Rather, success in accomplishing the Lord’s work will only come when the entire body of Christ comes together, each using their collective spiritual gifts to work toward the common good of the Kingdom (Romans 12:4-8).
We can take this to another level by looking at the state of the world today, a state that could easily leave any one person discouraged and defeated. We so want to see things better and know that this will only happen when people turn to Jesus but the problem at hand just looks bigger than we are. It’s simply more than we can handle, for sure.
But think about it.
Jesus didn’t just tell one follower to go forth and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). No, He told ALL of His disciples – you, me, and every other Christian believer – to go and He expects all of us to do just that to get the job done that’s hand.
To do it together.
Friends, there’s absolutely no reason we can’t meet that goal but we all need to do our part to make Christ disciples who then go and make disciples themselves. Evangelism begets evangelism on an exponential level as we carry out the Great Commission through the collective power of the Holy Spirit moving and working within us.
The second takeaway here is that there is a difference between whining about things that aren’t kingdom enhancing and those that are.
The people of Israel became a coveting people when they weren’t became dissatisfied with the manna God was providing, whining about wanting meat or anything else that they might have had when they were enslaved in Egypt, as if their captivity there was better and more blessed than being with God.
On the other hand, Moses had a heart for God and making a difference through serving Him. He so wanted to keep his people happy but quickly came to find out that this can be an impossible feat, especially when you are leading an ungracious people. Out of disappointment, his cries to God were more out of feeling like a failure to meet the people’s needs more than anything else. His heart wasn’t inclined toward his own gain but the gain of others.
In closing, if you are feeling like Moses or may feel like him at any other time in life, my prayer is that you will come back to this scripture passage and allow it to be a comfort for you, reminding you that help from the Lord can be just a single heart’s cry away. When things seem overwhelming and frustrating, place your trust in the God that can and will provide for you according to His will for your life, the same God through which all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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