Good News for Moses

We noted last Sunday that the moment Moses responded to his call from God at the burning bush, his long years of loneliness were over. Immediately God put him into fellowship. He dispatched his brother Aaron from Egypt to come and join himself to his brother Moses.

And from that day until the end of his life, the next 40 years, Moses was surrounded by people who helped him to carry his burden. And he was never alone. And yet there were times when Moses felt very, very alone.

There were times when he was convinced that nobody was helping him to carry his burden. And so we read in Numbers chapter 11, starting at verse 10. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families.

Every man at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly. And Moses was displeased.

Moses said to the Lord, Why hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? Why have I not found favor in thy sight that thou dost lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive this people? Did I bring them forth that thou should say to me, Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries the sucking child to the lamb, which thou didst swear to give to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all this people? For they weep before me and say, Give us meat that we may eat. I am not able to carry all this people alone. The burden is too heavy for me.

If thou wilt deal with me thus, kill me at once. If I find favor in thy sight that I may not see my wretchedness. And the Lord said to Moses, Gather for me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

And I will come down and talk with you there, and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you, and put it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it by yourself alone. What we're looking at here really is the foreshadowing of the kingdom of God.

We're looking really forward to the time when the real Moses, who is Jesus, shares the rod of his power with all his followers. We're getting a glimpse of the future, looking forward to a time when Moses and Elijah and all the prophets of that era rejoiced to see the day when all God's people were to become prophets. And so we read on in the same passage, picking it up now at verse 24.

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered 70 men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the 70 elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.

But they did so no more. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad. And the spirit rested upon them.

They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent. And so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.

And Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister or his servant, one of the chosen men said, My Lord Moses, forbid them. But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them. And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that he would put his spirit upon them. What a marvelous thing we see here. When Joshua gets all bent out of shape, because Eldad and Medad are prophesying over there in the camp, and not out here at the tavern.

He says, Hey, my Lord Moses, don't let that go on. We can't have this. I mean, over here the clergy and over here the layman.

You don't let these people over there in the layman's group, do this prophesying and this stuff. They belong over here. Got to keep that line sharp.

Don't squelch this. There is no such thing as layman and clergyman. That's not the kingdom of God.

Rejoice, if these men are prophesying in the camp, that's glorious. Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that he would put his spirit upon them. Reading from the passage that Dan already read, part of it.

Luke 3.15 As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the fung of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

This passage is one of the few that you find in every one of the four Gospels in some form. Very few passages run through all four Gospels. And this passage, which I just read, is the clearest statement in the whole Bible of why the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Why he came down into this troubled earth and shared our lot and became flesh with us and walked in our shoes and proclaimed the Father's kingdom and manifested the Father's love and offered himself up as the Lamb of God to take away our sin and rose from the dead, the firstborn of a new creation. All this so that he could baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And when he baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, we become prophets.

And when he baptizes us with fire, the fire of refining judgment, cleansing us, we become sons and daughters of God. And then the prayer of Moses, would that all the Lord's people were prophets, would that he would pour out his Spirit upon all of them. When God, the Lord God, came down in a cloud and took some of the Spirit that was in Moses and put it upon the seventy elders, they prophesied for a couple hours at the most, spoke words of glory and praise to God, and then it was all over.

And no one ever heard those people prophesying. But when the Lord God comes down into our midst here and takes of the Spirit that is in his son Jesus and puts this Spirit in us, we prophesy not for a couple hours, but really for the rest of our lives. Our whole life becomes prophecy.

Our whole life. So we read a promise from Jesus. In John chapter 14, verse 15, If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever.

Even the Spirit of the truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him, for he dwells with you in Jesus and will be in you, the Spirit of Jesus dwelling inside. And when he puts the Spirit in us to be with us forever, then our whole life becomes a message, a prophecy to the world, continuously, all the time, action and word. We read on the same vein in Acts, this familiar passage in Acts, chapter 2, starting in verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And this was the beginning of a prophetic life that lasted until the day of their death. Now what we need to notice in this outpouring of the Spirit upon those early believers, one particular thing we need to see because it bears on what's taking place among us now, is that it happened when they were together. They were together in one place, not just with their bodies, but also with their hearts.

The Spirit came to them as a body, filled them as a body, formed them into a body. They were not individual prophets, each going off his own way, each doing her own thing. But they were a family.

They were an army. They were a people. They were together.

They were committed to each other and they were bound to each other through the Spirit who had now become Lord of their lives. There is one body, one Spirit, one call, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is above all and through all. Now, grace is given to each member of the body according to the measure of Christ's gift.

But every single member of the body, everyone who is in any way committed to Jesus is given something from the Spirit. And by the power of this unique thing, and each one has something unique to contribute to the body so that the body can have an impact on the world and can feel the power of the Lord and see the glory of the Lord and know that Jesus is Lord. And this blessing, this gift, which the Spirit gives to each one of us to contribute to the body in every single case, no matter what it is or what form it takes, contains a word from God.

That's the nucleus of it. In every case, a burning word from the mouth of God comes down into us. And now we begin to do what they did on Pentecost.

We speak as the Spirit gives us utterance. And as we speak, the world beyond begins to feel the impact of the Lord. As we speak, God is worshiped.

The body is edified. And the world beyond the body hears a word from God. What took place between Moses and the 70 elders in a partial way out in the wilderness now takes place in fullness whenever we gather.

When we in fact come together in the name of Jesus, He stands in our midst. And the Father comes down and takes up His Spirit and puts it into us. Now in each of our bodies, really, in each of our lives, a burning word from God is there.

And all we have to do is yield, obey, move, speak. Bringing it down to specifics. When the Spirit gives you a word of praise, speak it to God.

When the Spirit gives you a word of encouragement, speak it to the body. And when the Spirit gives you a word of hope, speak it to the world. When the Spirit gives you a word of praise, speak it to God.

Don't be afraid to worship, whether we're singing a hymn together or whether it's a word that comes to you personally while we're waiting upon the Lord in prayer and praise or however this is. Speak it. Speak it.

Such a God who takes His own heart and tears it out and offers it up as a sacrifice for us and pursues us all our days and is holy beyond our comprehension. How can we not worship Him? Speak as the Spirit gives you word of this. Tell Him out loud.

If He gives you the word, and we don't need to be looking around saying, well, nobody else is, I don't know why. That's our problem. Your problem is to be obedient.

If He gave you a word of praise, well, this isn't the place. Easier to do that way among us. Even if we are all wet blankets.

And when He gives you a word of encouragement, speak it to the body. Perhaps it comes as a word that is meant for the body in assembly, a prophecy, which is simply a word of health, a flash of light, a word of comfort that the body needs, or perhaps it's a word that is to be given to the first person who walks up to you after the service to shake their hand. Now it becomes a word of strength.

Maybe it becomes a word of blessing. Speak to one another. Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Speak to one another. And these words which we speak to one another are not to be empty platitudes, not just past phrases. They are words that we back with our lives.

That means when we speak these words, every word we share, we commit ourselves to each other. We back it up with real help and genuine support. And when we speak such words, given from the Spirit to one another, how can we not be bound together in love? How can we not forgive each other? How can we do anything but wash each other's feet? How can we do anything but treat each other with honor? When the Spirit gives you a word of encouragement, and when the Spirit gives you the whole issue, the outflow of everything that goes on in here, is so that the world out there can get some hope, can hear a living word, which is about Jesus.

A word about Jesus, which is so powerful, so authentic, so consistent, and so confident that the Spirit can come right in behind that word with signs of healing. If He worked miracles in our lives, surely He can work miracles in their lives if we speak the word He gives us and really bear witness to what we have seen and heard from the Spirit of God. As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the father whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. When the Spirit comes into our midst today, when the Lord takes of His Spirit, the Spirit that is in His Son, and baptizes us afresh with His Spirit, He gives us a word of praise for God.

A word of encouragement for each other. A word of hope for the world. As we speak that word, and only as we speak that word, God's kingdom comes.

On earth, it's so simple, and it's so mighty.