Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 (NRSV)
Read Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 on biblegateway.com
Verse 4The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, "If only we had meat to eat! Verse 5We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; Verse 6but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." Verse 10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. Verse 11So Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Verse 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,' to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Verse 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, 'Give us meat to eat!' Verse 14I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. Verse 15If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once-if I have found favor in your sight-and do not let me see my misery."
Verse 16So the Lord said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.
Verse 24So 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. Verse 25Then 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. Verse 26Two 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. Verse 27And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Verse 28And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!" Verse 29But 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!"
Devotion
How quickly gratitude turns to greed – and encouragement to exclusivity.
God gave life in the form of manna each morning. But the taste grew familiar; it was not fish and it was not fruit. “Thank you” turned to “no thanks.” Gratitude turned to greed.
Moses selected 70 elders whom God would ordain. God’s Spirit fell on all 70, including two who were absent. When they prophesied like the 68, some demanded the “outsiders” stop. The “chosen” were jealous, effectively saying “no” to encouragement and “yes” to exclusivity. Moses, however, stopped the stopping – God’s goal is not a holy group but a holy people.
The difference between a funnel and a megaphone is a change in direction. In the face of grace do I lie down with a funnel in my mouth? Or do I stand, speak and live that grace to others? Is my faith a “What’s in him for me?” or a “What’s in me for him?”
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, what’s in me for you today? As I journey with you this week, open my heart to gratitude for daily bread. Use me to serve. In your name, Amen.