Numbers 11:16-17; 24-30 - God knows best

In Numbers 11:16-17, we see how God so graciously responded to Moses’ rhetoric. God immediately came up with a plan to have a team share the leadership with him. Since Moses wanted someone to share the burden of his ministry, God answered him in a way more than he could expect. He literally took the Spirit He had given to Moses and transferred some of it to the seventy elders. God instructed Moses saying, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you will not bear it by yourself.”

Moses did as he was directed. So in verses 24-25, he gathered the 70 elders and they stood around the tent. God then came and spoke to Moses before He took some of the Spirit who was given to him and imparted upon the seventy elders as well. And when the Spirit was imparted, they all prophesied briefly. Verse 26 tells us that there were  two elders named Eldad and Medad, who were registered but were not standing with the seventy. They remained in their tent and were not with the seventy. Amazingly, they too received the impartation of the Spirit of Moses and prophesied. This was to indicate that they were empowered to serve alongside Moses.

What happened took Joshua, who was Moses’ trainee, by surprise. He was concerned that even though the two were not gathered with the rest, they also prophesied like the rest who were before Moses around the tent. He came asking Moses to restrain the two from prophesying. Joshua was concerned because he saw it as the possibility of the work of the Spirit to bypass Moses altogether. Joshua understood it as an indication that the unique status of leadership that Moses had could be compromised. The response of Moses to Joshua shows that he understood that the work is entirely God’s. He was no longer afraid for his own reputation. In verse 29 Moses acknowledged that it would still be a good thing if God were to bypass him and have others share the gift of leadership.   

These verses show us how gracious our God truly is. He could justifiably be harsher with Moses, but He did not. He showed grace by relieving his leadership loads. He granted him seventy others to share his burden. If only Moses had not been so testy but simply sought God, a solution would have been given anyway. Moses’ response to Joshua was probably an indication that he now knew where he had erred. We must know that God is still sovereign. He can never be startled or arm twisted by our protest or vehement. His wisdom will always bring a solution regardless of our tantrums. It is always better to pause and wait on the Lord before we jump to any conclusion.