Moses is on the verge of suicide (Numbers 11:15).
He hates his job. (Numbers 11:11)
He is overwhelmed by the expectations of upper management. (Numbers 11:12-13)
Executive responses to the demands of the people at the lowest levels have failed to satisfy. (Numbers 11:1-10)
Frustrated with His supervisor and furious with his constituents, Moses is way passed the point of turning in a resignation.
When he lies in his bed roll at night, he just wants to close his eyes and never open them again.
The people are not satisfied with manna; they want meat.
People most often talk about the "good old days" when the present days are full of discontent.
They walk around mumbling. Remembering the good old days back in Egypt when they had as much fish as they could eat – free of charge… with melons and onions and cucumbers on the side for a small fee. Ah, the good old days.
I have heard it said that the "good ole days" are the product of a "bad ole memory".
True… they got bucket loads of fish for free…
But they had forgotten that the same hands that fed them fish also cracked a whip across their back.
They had forgotten that the ones who ran the farmer’s market where they bought their garlic and onions
were the same ones who forced them into harsh labor…
to make them too tired to have more children…
to make them die of exhaustion in the desert heat…
to make them perish at an early age…
So, we learn from the Hebrew children
wandering in the wilderness
that a painful past
is less frightening
than an uncertain future.
We would rather reside in our Misery
We would rather remain in our Pain
Than risk
a leap of faith
a voyage across uncharted waters
Where faith is merely a grand notion
Where there is no vision for better things
Where hope is faint and fading
Misery thrives.
Dissatisfied. Discontent. Disappointed Despairing.
Depression.
It’s like quick sand.
The whole nation of Israel was being sucked down into it.
And they were dragging Moses down with them.
Numbers 11:15: If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress."
Now that’s the kind of resignation letter that get attention.
Moses is being ripped apart….
He’s being torn in two
by a people—
a stubborn people
that refuse to let go of the past and take even one step more into the future
And a God
who will neither surrender the grand future,
nor let His people slide back into their miserable past.
There we are.
That’s us.
Where right there…
sand and sagebrush on every side
sick to death of manna—sick and tired of just getting our daily bread—tired of just making it week to week, month to month.
Starving for 20oz. Rib-eye.
Starvation. Bankruptcy. Homeless. Jobless.
They all seem just one block away…
Medical bills. Utility costs. Mortgages. Deadlines. Quotas. Manpower… does this desert ever end?
And then God does the most curious thing…
He gives them just what they ask for—
He tells Moses that He’s heard all the groaning and complaining…
They’ll have meat.
Oh boy, will they get meat:
Verse 18:
"For in the hearing of the Lord you have cried ‘Would that we had meat for food! Oh, how well off we were in Egypt!’
Therefore the Lord will give you meat for food, and you will eat it—
not for one day--- or two days—or five or ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your very nostrils and makes you sick. For you have spurned the Lord who is in your midst…"
But before this, He tells Moses
"Assemble for me 70 of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent.
When they are in the place beside you I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself…"
Did you see what just happened? Did you catch it at all?
God answers the cry of the people. He hears them and gives them just what they asked for.
And then
on the side
He throws in for good measure…
A management improvement plan…
empowering Moses by empowering others.
Enabling Moses to delegate…to share the balance of responsibility…
in order to manage this logistical nightmare…
in order to minister to people at the lowest levels…
every tribe, every family, every person…
It is this empowerment that changes everything. Up till now, Moses took care of everything: The teaching. The talking to God. The justice system: handling everything from traffic tickets to Constitutional amendments. The food distribution…Water problems—
Spiritual matters
Legal matters
Administrative matters
He handled it all.
Oh yes, the people got their rib-eyes—just what they had asked for…
but they also got the real solution—in what God threw in just for good measure.
"Sometimes what we think we need isn’t what we need at all, and what gets thrown in for good measure is that which fills our hearts." Philip Gulley
The Holy Spirit, when it fills our hearts…
When God throws it in for good measure…
is exactly what we need
to bring us hope and
to make us content.
Many people confuse contentment with
lack of ambition
or
stagnation.
But contentment really comes from being in Harmony with God’s will.
It really is simply the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Notice that the people were dwelling on the past…
not just "the past"—but "their past"
When they were under the lash—they were unhappy and miserable.
Then they were set free.
They traded fish for freedom---
but the setting wasn’t ideal.
It wasn’t picture perfect enough—so they were unhappy and miserable.
So they got water as they needed it and manna from heaven when they were hungry
but it wasn’t steak and potatoes. It wasn’t fine dining on the Nile.
So they were unhappy and miserable.
Yet, they never did without. Not once.
Not once did they ever need to complain.
But never once were they satisfied with what they had.
They left Egypt millionaires.
But Moses took too long on the mountain.
Impatient, they became dissatisfied with God—and wanted a new one—
So they made a golden calf…
They poured all their gold and wealth into it.
They were supposed to go right into the promised land
Wealthy
With Moses as their wise leader.
Because they could not be content—
They came into the promised land
40 years late
Broke
With Joshua, the second in command, as their guide.
Depression. Despair. Discontentment….
Many times it is merely the result of failing to trust God and to appreciate His provision.
Ambition becomes our golden calf
and we pour all our resources into it--- only to discover that it can’t do a thing for us except drain us of every valuable thing in our lives—
Our time
Our money
Our families.
And the solution to being dissatisfied is found right here…
It’s the first recorded Big Tent Revival.
(God knows what we need when all we can see is what we want.)
11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent.
11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Moses thought he should do it all alone. But just as God took Adam’s rib to make a helper for him because it was not good that man should be alone…
God took some of the spirit that was on Moses and gave him 70 helpers to bear the burden.
You were never designed to be a Maverick. There are no Lone Rangers in the human race. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto… No President without a vice-president—no executive without an assistant… No pastor without a people.
Focused on himself and the impossible load he was carrying, Moses lost sight of the fact that this people was God’s people.
He lost sight of the fact that He was merely an element in God’s plan and not the architect.
When we think we are more important than we really are—it is easy to fall into despair.
We can never be the man or woman everyone expects us to be.
We can never hope to live up to the super hero expectations we dream up for ourselves.
Harmony in our lives. Peace in our hearts. Contentment---
It comes from doing His will, His way, in His time
And avoiding the temptation to use our place or position or spiritual gifts in God’s kingdom to bring to ourselves
comfort
or status
or honor
It means sharing the glory as Moses shared the spirit that was on him.
Notice—make very special note of the fact—
that God did not pour himself out fresh and new on the seventy
But that Moses shared the glory of God—His spirit—with them.
It means asking for help.
Looking for help.
Accepting help.
The proverbs tells us "as steel sharpens steel, so one man strengthens another."
Remember that God knows what you need
when all you can see is what you want
This is why we must be more excited for the future God has planned for us
than we are afraid of the unknown
11:26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.
11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
That word "prophesied" used repeatedly in this passage—means "forthtelling". It means preaching. But it carries with it an element of excitement.
These men were not just preaching.
They were "raving"; "ecstatic".
This is the power of Holy Spirit revival!
God had replaced their spirit of negativity—of defeatism—of doubt
with a spirit of victory!
With a spirit of shouting!
God conquered despair by filling their hearts and minds with the vision of opportunity---
As God’s glory fell on them they could see the promised land
All the good things God had in store—they could see it!
But they only saw it when God’s spirit was on them!
Before, all they could see were buckets of fish back in Egypt
Now they could see a land ahead of them flowing with milk and honey
Their own selfish ambition became a godly ambition to see God’s wonderful will happen in the lives of everyone!
God’s plan always makes the situation better for everyone involved.
Selfish ambitions only look out for number one, at everyone else’s expense.
"when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again."
Why?
Because they had seen the vision of God’s plan. And they only needed to see it once.
Because it was a sign that God had done exactly as He told Moses He would do.
And God need prove Himself only once.
Because the gift was no longer necessary. One voice—the voice of Moses—was all that was necessary. To avoid confusion, Moses remained God’s chosen mouth piece. One voice to guide one people to a promised land.
But to take a call to Grace—to many people of many nations over many generations
God would require many voices—many servants on whom He could pour out His Spirit.
11:28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!"
11:29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!"
11:30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
And the Father in heaven must have chuckled deeply, listening to Moses’ words.
"That’s just what I have in mind MO! That’s exactly what I’m going to do".
Acts chapter 2
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?…
…in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 ’In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Exalted to salvation
Empowered to be separated from a selfish nature
Equipped to serve in the Church for the greater good of all; for the fulfillment of God’s great plan.
The Spirit of God poured out on all people; everywhere.
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets…
We know what we want---
Be He knows what we need…
We need you—God’s Holy Spirit resting on you—exalted, empowered, and equipped to help us bear this burden of the gospel.
The Church is in distress.
Struggling to return to her past.
Instead of pressing on to her promised land.
Where are the men and women of vision who see God’s plan so clearly
Who rave and carry on about what God has waiting just around the corner.
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets…So what are you waiting for? The Big Tent Revival’s already begun—
better get under the spout where the glory comes out—and get your share and get to work…
We know what we want—
But God knows,
We need you.
