May the mumbling commence!
Though we may try to dodge the calling of the Lord, we will never be successful. Even when we decide not to show up at the meeting, we still get the Spirit of the living God descending upon us. Read from Numbers chapter eleven:
So Moses went out and reported the Lord's words to the people. Then he gathered the seventy leaders and stationed them around the Tabernacle. And the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He took some of the Spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the seventy leaders. They prophesied as the Spirit rested upon them, but that was the only time this happened.
Two men, Eldad and Medad, were still in the camp when the Spirit rested upon them. They were listed among the leaders but had not gone out to the Tabernacle, so they prophesied there in the camp. A young man ran and reported to Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!" Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' personal assistant since his youth, protested, "Moses, my master, make them stop!"
But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!" Then Moses returned to the camp with the leaders of Israel. (Verses 24-30)
Moses put the call out. The Lord was gathering seventy leaders to the Tabernacle. When they were gathered, the Holy Spirit descended upon the leaders there – as God told Moses it would happen. However, there apparently was not an accurate accounting of the people present. Instead of seventy leaders, there was sixty-eight.
Two leaders decided not to come. Sometimes, I wonder if there negligence is the reason that this pouring out of the Spirit was only a one-time thing. But Eldad and Medad did not come. Did that prevent them from the call of the Lord? Absolutely not! They, too, prophesied – just as the other leaders did.
The prophecies of Eldad and Medad caused wonder and suspicion and jealousy. Joshua counseled Moses to stop them, but Moses quickly squashed that idea. “I wish that all of God’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!”
And I wish that we would all answer the call of the Lord consistently – so that we would not fall. Read from Numbers chapter fourteen:
“‘Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years – a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.' I, the Lord, have spoken! I will do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will all die here in this wilderness!"
Then the ten scouts who had incited the rebellion against the Lord by spreading discouraging reports about the land were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
When Moses reported the Lord's words to the Israelites, there was much sorrow among the people. So they got up early the next morning and set out for the hill country of Canaan. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us."
But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the Lord's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. Do not go into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you. When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord."
But the people pushed ahead toward the hill country of Canaan, despite the fact that neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord's covenant left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them as far as Hormah. (Verses 34-45)
First, they disobeyed God by not going into the Promised Land to take it. Joshua and Caleb warned them! Then, they refused to take the outcome that they asked for – death in the wilderness. Moses warned them!
And they were repulsed from entering the hill country. They were driven back into the place that God told them to go… at the undeniable loss of life. May we listen to the Lord better!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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