A word to the leaders

Numbers 11 - part 2

27^th September 2006

This week's column is the second part of a study on Numbers 11. The first part (posted last week) was called "a word to the whiners" and the third (due next week) is "a word to the exhausted".

Moses had had enough. He complained to God:

Numbers 11:11-15
He asked the LORD, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now — if I have found favour in your eyes — and do not let me face my own ruin."

I'm not sure I'd want to speak to almighty God in quite these terms, though I admit similar things have happened. More on that next week, though.

For today, let's just agree that God could have given Moses are less merciful answer than He did. In His mercy, He replied like this:

Numbers 11:16-17
The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Make them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.

So Moses thought he was going to get some help. But this is what actually happened:

Numbers 11:24-25
So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and made them stand round the Tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.

Moses was a real, mature leader. What marked him out from the others? I want to say just two things about leadership here. But they apply not only to those who have a salary, or a special set of clothes, or a label that marks them out as leaders. A leader is anyone who leads, anyone who makes a real difference and goes on making a difference. Maybe I should have called this column "a word to anyone who wants to serve God".

Firstly, the seventy elders "prophesied, but they did not do so again".

How sad it is that, although they had received the same Spirit as Moses, they only prophesied once!

And how many Christians in our own day have been baptised in the Holy Spirit and at one time were seen prophesying, or singing in tongues, or telling their neighbours the Good News about Jesus and His kingdom? But how many have stopped? How many "did not do so again"?

I don't know why you've stopped encouraging your brothers, stopped praying for them, stopped going to the Sunday meeting, stopped contributing when you got there, stopped serving God. Or maybe you still serve God, but you only use your own strength, and no longer rely on the Spirit of God.

I know some of the reasons why this happens. Some of us have been discouraged by the reaction of our church. Some have actually been told to stop. Some have just been disappointed by the small amount of fruit that seemed to grow from it. Some of us got caught up in the things of this world. Some of us just got tired.

But God loves to give us another chance. He loves to see us turn back to Him and try again. It's never too late to "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you" (2 Timothy 1:6).

Moses had plenty of discouragement, plenty of opposition. And he was tired. But after this story, he led God's people for another 40 years!

The 70 so-called leaders allowed the Spirit of God to flow, to work through them, to speak to God's people. But they didn't do so again.

So the first mark of the mature leader is:

A real leader keeps going

What about Moses's assistant, Joshua? We read on:

Numbers 11:26-29
However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."
Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!"
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 on them!"

People were actually allowing God's Holy Spirit to speak - something that happens all too infrequently - and Joshua wanted to stop them! Joshua eventually matured to become a great leader himself - 40 years later. But at this stage, he lacked maturity.

Maybe Eldad and Medad were just a few minutes late getting to the meeting. Maybe they were held up by some sort of crisis. Maybe someone needed their help. Or maybe thay had a bad attitude. We don't know. But we do know that Joshua wanted to forbid them to prophesy but Moses wished "that all the LORD’s people were prophets".

So here are two other marks of the real leader - the real servant of God:

The immature leader wants to concentrate power - The mature leader wants to give it away

The immature leader wants to exclude people because they're not perfect - The mature leader knows he's not perfect either, and wants to include as many people as possible