NUMBERS 11
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered and said, my Lord Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!
MOSES BEAUTIFUL RESPONSE:
The children of Israel were complaining again; this time, they wanted flesh to eat, instead of manna.
God had provided seventy people to prophesy around the tabernacle, and two of them were undertaking prophesy in the camp.
Joshua, who was Moses’s assistant, is pretty upset and comes to Moses to say that these two men should not be doing this in the camp.
The response of Moses is so beautiful, and it can teach us so much.
So often, we have people who are doing something outside the box, so, to speak. That doesn’t mean they are wrong.
We try to put people in a box, and the Spirit of God cannot and will not be confined.
MATTHEW HENRY (Commentary) SAYS THIS:
(1.) We must not secretly grieve at the gifts, graces, and usefulness of others.
It was John’s disciples’ fault that they envied Christ’s honor because it shaded their master’s, John 3:26-36.
(2.) We must not be transported into heat against the weaknesses and infirmities of others. （2）我
Granted, Eldad and Medad were guilty of an irregularity, yet Joshua was too quick and too warm upon them.
Our zeal must always be tempered with the meekness of wisdom: the righteousness of God needs not the wrath of man (James 1:20).
(3.) We must not make even the best and most useful men heads of a party. Paul would not have his name used to patronize a faction (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). （3）即使是最优秀、最有用的人，我们
(4.) We must not be quick to condemn and silence those that differ from us as if they did not follow Christ because they do not follow him with us (Mark 9:38). Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned or restrain any from doing good because they are not in everything of our mind?
Our response in today’s church should be the same as what he said in verse 29.
What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 14:1-5? He is of the same heart as Moses. Amen.
Finally, he says that he wishes that all people would have the spirit of God upon them?
Let our prayer be that: (capitals are my words), is this your wish that all the people of God are holy and full of his spirit) would God that all the Lord’s people were HOLY, and that the Lord would put his spirit IN them!
Instead of trying to restrict believers from serving God because they do things differently to our rule book, and yes, we need to careful to discern false teachers. Still, we need to encourage people with true spiritual gifts to use them.
We should want all of our brothers and sisters to use their gifts. There are too many pew-sitters in our churches, after all.