Sending the Seventy God First Prepared Moses' Heart
The Book of Numbers recounts Israel's wilderness wandering after their deliverance from Egypt. In Chapter 11, the people's complaining began to exhaust Moses, as recorded in verses 14 and 15. "I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. "So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."
The New American Standard version translates the final word wretchedness as its meaning is, first of all, evil. The people with whom Moses had to deal were not short on behaving wretchedly when we consider that God destroyed Egypt to deliver Israel from bitter slavery and hard labor. Yet all the people could do was to complain. While the words are coming out of Moses' mouth, he recognizes how wretched they sound within himself. He did not want to stand before God and sound like his people.
Sending the Seventy to Assist Moses
God responded to Moses' request in this way in verses 16 & 17, "The LORD, therefore, said to Moses, "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 let them take their stand there with you. "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put [Him] upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear [it] all alone."
Notice that the men chosen were men Moses knew to be elders of the people already. These elders had no previous influence on the people for good. Furthermore, Moses, after being told what God was going to do, questioned God concerning the people being fed with meat as if it were not possible. In this passage from verses 16 to 23, we see the effect the people had on Moses. He was beginning to doubt God. So much so that we read, "The LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD'S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true~ for you or not."
The next thing that happens in the text, verses 24-25, is this: "So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed [Him] upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do [it] again."
What good was it to have men on Moses' side who prophesied by the Holy Spirit once? At the conclusion of the chapter, God is so angry at the people's greed for meat when He offered them manna from heaven that He struck the people with a very severe plague.
Sending the Seventy is Overshadowed by the Two
First, we learn that the Seventy elders were as useless as the people themselves. Being older does not mean wiser or more spiritual. Second, a one-time experience amounted to nothing, as in the case of the 70. They did not stop the plague, redirect the people, or bring any more support to Moses. There is no evidence for any such things in the text.
However, there is clarity of light given us by verses 26-29. First, we learn, "But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp." The first man's name mentioned is Eldad, meaning loved of God. The second was Medad, meaning loving. The most loving people are those who are loved and especially loved by God.
These two men were recorded; they were part of the seventy and prophesied, but they did so in the camp. Now Moses did as the Lord told him and took the seventy to the tent of meeting, that is, with God. God did what He said He would do, putting the Holy Spirit upon them as He did for Moses. The difference is the condition of the two men as contrasted with the 68. "So a young man ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, "Moses, my lord, restrain them."
The story before us, which took place in Israel probably 1, 200 years before Jesus Christ appeared to Israel, is much like Luke 9. It is then that Jesus sent out 70, empowered them, and sent them to preach the Gospel, gave them power over demons, and to perform healing. Toward the end of the chapter, the twelve begin to argue over who's greatest. Jesus sets a child before them and says be like this child. John responded, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder [him]; for he who is not against you is for you."
Moses responded to Joshua in this way, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" What Moses said to Joshua is a significant lesson in learning how to put God first. God desires a people who will love Him, and love is never greater than when people become like Him, praise Him, and magnify Him to others. This humble obedience is what God wants for everyone who belongs to Him. God is not looking for Joshua to defend Moses, pastors, teachers, professors, and certainly not themselves. As did Moses, He wants us all to believe God wants all His people to glorify Him and not just some. Sending the seventy should open sour eyes to the humility of Moses, which should also be upon us who benefit from the sufferings of Christ. "(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3)
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