“And the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke unto him and took of the Spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the 70 elders—and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. But, there remained two of the men in the camp—the name of the one was Eldad and the name of the other, Medad—and the Spirit rested upon them. And, they were of them that were written, but went not into the Tabernacle—and they prophesied in the camp.”
Numbers 11:25-26
When the Body’s healthy, every part of it will be Spirit-anointed and Spirit-led.
Eldad and Medad.
Most likely, you’d never heard about them before you started reading today’s Manna. How easy it is to overlook “the fine print” in God’s Word—particularly if it’s not a part of our daily, spiritual diet. And, even if we are a regular Bible student, there are still so many wondrous truths that escape us.
Such is this wonderful Manna-morsel.
We’re all familiar with Israel’s sinful discontent in the wilderness and how “the people complained and it displeased the Lord” (Num. 11:1). It seemed it didn’t matter what the Lord did. . .delivering them from 430 years of Egyptian slavery and certain death at Pharaoh’s hands at the Red Sea (Ex. 12:29-36; 14:1-31). . .turning bitter water sweet (Ex. 15:22-27). . .providing manna and quail for them (Ex. 16:1-36; Num. 11:31-32), etc. . .they still “wept in their tents, wishing they could have stayed in Egypt—for at least there they had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic to eat and graves in which to be buried” (Num. 11:4-5, 10; Ex. 14:11-12).
No wonder “the Lord’s anger was greatly kindled against them” (Num. 11:10b).
Truly, it’s “by His mercies that we’re not consumed” (Lam. 3:22a).
And, even though God said “I’ll give you flesh (quail) until it runs out your nose and is disgusting to you” (Num. 11:20), He still showed them great Mercy by “coming down in a cloud and putting His Spirit that was upon Moses upon the 70 elders who’d been set aside” (Num. 11:16-18a).
After this happened, we read how Eldad and Medad failed to show up at the Tabernacle, staying in the camp instead. And, when Joshua heard about this, he became jealous and asked Moses to forbid such behavior (vv.27-28), Moses said “I would to God that all the Lord’s People were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (v.29). Glory!!
Isn’t that a wonderful request, dear Pilgrim?
What would happen if every member of every church was suddenly Spirit-filled and Spirit-led? Why, true revival would break out and the Holy Spirit would once again have free reign to move as He did on the Day of Pentecost! And, like them, “the Lord would add to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).
So, the question is “Where are the Eldads and Medads today? What is preventing Joel’s prophecy of a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit in these last days (Joel 2:16-21; Acts 2:16-21)?” The answer will be found when we look in the mirror, humble ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to do with us as He sees fit (Ps. 139:23-24; II Chron. 7:14).
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated December 4, 2010
