Newsletter June 2022 Part 1

A people of the Spirit

 Moses said to [Joshua], “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!” (Numbers 11:27-29)

     Following their encounter with God at Mount Horeb where He established His covenant with them, the Israelites embarked on what was to be the final stage of their journey.  God had delivered them from bondage and led them through the Red Sea and the desert, where He had miraculously sustained them with manna from heaven.  Now, as they resumed their journey, God continued to provide for them.  However, instead of appreciating God’s faithful provision while looking forward to the fulness of His blessing in the Land flowing with milk and honey where He was taking them, they craved for the foods of Egypt. (Num. 11:4-6)

     Frustrated by the lack of appreciation of those God had called him to lead, Moses lamented, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favour in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? … Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’  I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.  God responded by instructing 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. 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. (Num. 11:11-17)

     This instruction is reminiscent of Moses’ father-in-law’s advice to delegate responsibility, but there is one key difference: this time, it is God who instructs Moses to delegate leadership responsibility and consequently He promises that He will anoint those who are to assist Moses with the same Spirit that is upon him.  In order for this to happen, they are to come to the tabernacle and stand with Moses in God’s presence as He talks with him.  These are the same elders of the people who had previously drawn back from God’s presence for fear and said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Yet here God was giving them another opportunity to receive what they had failed to receive on that earlier occasion – the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.  (Num. 11:25)

     Through this incident, God demonstrated to the leaders of Israel and to Moses what could have been, before giving them over to what was really in their hearts.  A wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp … And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (Num. 11:31-32).  The people’s response revealed their priorities, and as they were indulging, God sent a plague that struck them dead while the meat was still between their teeth.  

     These people were not ready for the blessings of God because their hearts were still in Egypt.  Therefore, when they came to the border of Canaan, they could not see beyond the strength of its inhabitants and the fortifications of its cities.  It would take a new generation, led by Joshua who always stayed close to Moses, to enter God’s promise.  God’s purpose was and has been since, to form a people that would desire His presence above everything else; a people who would not draw back for fear of losing their lives but would trust in His mercy and thus receive true life.  Moses understood God’s heart when he replied to Joshua, “Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”  And God’s purpose was fulfilled on that day of Pentecost, when He poured out His Spirit upon the disciples and Peter declared, “the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39)