Numbers 11 and a Pentecostal Theology of Church Leadership
The Bible should be read as precedent for what God wants to do in our lives today.
Moses, as the leader, began to focus on the pressures from the people, the circumstances and his own ability. In both Moses’ and the people’s complaints, the Hebrew uses the same word behind the NIV words “trouble” and “ruin.” In their experiences of pain and hardship, leader and people had become complainers against the goodness of God. Moses listened to the demands of the people, looked at his own ability and resources, and concluded that the burden on him was too great and he would rather die than continue toward his “own ruin” (verse 15, NIV). He described it as a parent or nursemaid carrying all Israel like babies through the wilderness. His sense of divine calling and enabling for mission forgotten, Moses even expressed disbelief that the Lord could provide enough meat to feed the people.
God’s Answer—Pentecost
God’s answer was not simply to send meat, although he did so by a wind from him, which is the same word as spirit. Neither was it to answer Moses’ request to kill him. The Lord’s answer was to put his Spirit, which was on Moses, on seventy other leaders. They were to help him bear the burden of the people, so they could continue on their mission. When the Spirit came upon the seventy, they prophesied, but did not continue to do it. Moses exhorted Joshua not to be jealous for him when two of the seventy leaders received the Spirit apart from the rest. Then he expressed the wish that all God’s people would receive the Spirit and be prophets.
Biblical theology is the culmination of good interpretation.
Category: Biblical Studies, Summer 2009