Numbers 11:27-30 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.… Eldad and Medad seem instances of unlicensed preaching and prophesying; and this, at a time of scanty knowledge and rare spiritual illumination, was not without its dangers. So thought Joshua, and, jealous for Moses' supremacy, besought him to rebuke them. But the great prophet, wholly wanting in the thought of self, rebuked Joshua instead. "Enviest thou," he said, "for my sake?" and then added, in words of noble hyperbole, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets!" I. The first thought that occurs to us in reading this scene is THE GOOD, FELT BY THE GREATEST, OF ZEAL AND ENTHUSIASM. And the second is, how to discover it, how to encourage it in God's service. But then comes the further question, Have these men the prophet's capacity? Have they that primary want, the prophet's faith? Have they fire, perseverance, and courage? 1. The prophet's faith. Take away from the prophet this faith in the living God, speaking to him, teaching him, encouraging him, in the midst of life's sorrows and temptations, and he is nothing. Give him that belief, and his confidence, his courage is unshaken. 2. There is the prophet's belief in the moral order underlying the established order of things, as the only safe and sure foundation on which peace and prosperity in a nation can be built. II. The prophetic message, however varied its tone, however startling its communication, is ALWAYS IN SUBSTANCE, AS OF OLD, THE SAME: "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" III. Would that the people of the Lord were all prophets! WOULD THAT WE HAD ALL MORE OF THE FIRE OF ENTHUSIASM, leading us to go forth and act, and learn in acting, not waiting till we have solved all doubts or perfected some scheme of action! IV. ZEAL MAY OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES, BUT IT IS BETTER THAN NO ZEAL. Truth is not merely correctness, accuracy, the absence of error, nor even the knowledge of the laws of nature. It is also the recognition of the moral and spiritual bases of life, and the desire to promote and teach these among men. (A. G. Butler, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.WEB: A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!" |
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