Thankful for Spirit-led Leadership
This week, we are continuing our look at Numbers but also transitioning to the Thanksgiving season. In God’s Providence, we are at Numbers 11 in which the Lord tells Moses to appoint 70 leaders to help alleviate the burden of leadership over Israel. I would like us to look at this passage with a perspective of thankfulness.
How can we not only be thankful for the leaders in our lives, but also demonstrate that thankfulness?
Keep in mind: this passage comes in the midst of a series of complaints against Moses and the Lord. In the next chapter, Moses will face an attack on his leadership from his very brother and sister.
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you believe you’ve done everything you can, and yet people still find complaints? “What exactly am I doing wrong here” is a very common question among leaders facing these types of complaints and attacks.
While no one can make everyone happy, nor will we enjoy everything our leaders do, we can take steps to show thankfulness for them and their work.
In Numbers 11, you may recall the people have complained to Moses about the lack of meat in the wilderness. The Lord has provided manna daily to them, but they are tired of eating this type of bread. Moses is just as tired of their complaints and has asked God to kill him at once rather than force Moses to continue dealing with the riffraff. Here is the Lord’s response.
Careful What You Wish For | Numbers 11:16-30
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy 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 that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”
But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
Numbers 11:16-23
The Lord will provide for the complaining people, but they will learn a lesson in His provision. That lesson is simply “Be careful what you wish for.” They will eat so much meat that it will become loathsome to them. One of the best lines in Numbers is they will eat “until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you.”
The Lord is actively disciplining His people. They are being molded into the kind of people that will demonstrate the character of God’s people. Sometimes in life, we discover that what we want and what we need are two very different things. The people want comfort and large meals. They need to learn dependence on the Lord and contentment.
The Lord is going to oversupply meat in order to make the comforts of life a burden for them. In doing so, it will move them closer to where they need to be as a people and further away from their Egyptian way of life.
Sometimes God will make comforts a burden to us in order to grow us where we need to grow.
Spirit-led leaders will do the same. The Lord never calls us to sit on our laurels and relax in comfort. ‘Contentment’ is a good thing. It is a necessary character trait for Christians. ‘Complacency,’ however, is not. The difference is contentment knows the Lord provides all things and will provide what we need. A complacent person has no regard for what God wants. They simply like the way things are.
We see many of the Israelites’ complacency as they talk about life in Egypt. I am sure they did not enjoy the heavy workloads, but they didn’t call out to the Lord because they wanted to serve Him, they simply wanted the heavy load lifted.
The same phenomenon occurs today. Many people want God to bless them or provide nice things for them, but they aren’t actually interested in serving the Lord. They may seek the Lord to alleviate some burden they have, but as soon as they are comfortable again, they will show their complacency. They don’t want actual growth, just a comfortable life.
Now, Moses’ reply to the Lord is telling. He has seen the Lord do many miracles, but his exhaustion with dealing with the people has clouded his judgment. How is he supposed to supply meat for all these people? The Lord reminds Moses, Moses isn’t leading the people based on his power. It is the Lord that provides the strength and means to lead.
The Lord provides all we need to follow Him and lead others.
Many Hands Make Light Work | Numbers 11:24-30
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on 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, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop 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 on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Numbers 11:24-30
So the Lord provides for Moses a plan to alleviate the burden of leadership. Seventy men are identified that can help administrate the wandering nation. You may recall from Exodus Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had already told Moses to divide the task of judging among the elders. Here, the task of leadership is shared. Though we don’t see exactly what their roles are, we can surmise it had to do with encouragement and food gathering. This gifting of the Spirit comes in the midst of complaints around the food available. Likewise, the very next verses will describe how the Israelites were able to feast on quail until they were all sick of it…literally.
Instead of just Moses giving a message from the Lord, there are now 70 others who give a prophetic message, though for only a short time. It is very much worth noting two of these elders did not show up to the tent of meeting as they were supposed to. Eldad and Medad did not make it to the tent, but they still received a measure of the Spirit and prophesied. Joshua, in his zeal, told Moses to have them stop, but Moses says something very profound, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!”
Imagine such a situation in which all of God’s people had His Spirit! Oh wait! That is exactly what happens after Pentecost! Moses inadvertently speaks a prophetic message. He says this in his time, though, because Moses knows what we really need in this life is to hear from the Lord. Moses’ job would be far easier if the people were hearing from the Lord, too.
Church, it is far easier for the church leadership when God’s people are paying attention to God’s Spirit. The problems that churches face come because someone, or some group, is more focused on what they want (or their own complacency) rather than what God is telling the church.
What churches need most is to hear from the Lord.
The leaders need to listen to the Spirit of the Lord in order to lead well, and the congregants need to listen to the Spirit of the Lord to follow well. All of us can hear from the Lord, if we have His Spirit in us, and all of us need to pay attention to the Spirit in order to serve well.
As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, the first thing we can be thankful for is the Lord has given us His Spirit through Jesus Christ. And because we can have His Spirit in us, we can hear from Him directly.
Second, we can be thankful God continues to raise leaders who follow the Spirit’s guidance in leading His people well. When we recognize those whom God has raised up as Spirit-led leaders, we can heed the words of Paul to the Thessalonians:
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
So, how can we demonstrate our thankfulness?
First, don’t forget to actually say “Thank you.” It is the most basic, but how many times do we forget to do the basics in life?
Second, we “respect those who labor among [us]”. We can cover our speech with respect. Whether we agree with a decision or not, we can still choose respect. Disagreeing respectfully is becoming a lost art in our society. Don’t let it disappear in the church.
Third, “esteem them very highly in love.” While I would be the first to say be careful about feeding someone’s ego, it is also true we should value those who are willing to step up in leadership. It is not a job that many want to do these days. Before we complain or critique, we should ask, “What have I done to help?”
Last, “Be at peace among yourselves.” One of the best ways to be thankful and show that thankfulness is to be at peace with one another. Take the time and effort to make peace with those who have wronged you (or whom you have wronged). Not only will it make the church leaders’ lives a bit easier, it is what Jesus commands. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus tells us if we remember we have a quarrel with a brother or sister while we are giving our offerings, leave the offering to the side and go fix the relationship. He also said:
If you want forgiveness, then offer forgiveness (Matt 6:14-15)
How many times do you forgive? 70 times 7 (Matt 18:21-22)
And if you struggle with any of these, it just so happens that God has provided Spirit-led leaders, pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday School teachers, and the like, who can help you.
Before we close today, write down the names of those who lead you. What about them are you thankful for? Write that down, too. Then, take time this week to show your gratitude.
And lastly
How can you join alongside leadership to serve the Lord?
Moses needed help because there were simply too many people for one person to lead. A series of leadership roles were put in place in order to administrate Israel. As our church grows, it will become harder and harder for a small handful of people to lead and administrate well.
How is God calling you to step up?
Perhaps it is time to take your first step of faith and surrender to Jesus. Do that today.
Perhaps you have been attending for some time, but have not found a place of service. There are many options available to you, from greeting, to singing, to ministries, to serving our elderly, and a myriad of other options. If you aren’t sure where to start, there is a spiritual gifts test on our website you can take to give you some ideas.
Perhaps you have served for some time, but God is calling you to more. It may be that God is calling you to an office or vocational ministry. If so, I would be thrilled to come alongside you and help you discern what God’s call for your life may be.
Whatever God is calling you towards, do not delay to obey!