The Lord Pours Out His Holy Spirit!

19th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/4/15
Numbers 11:16, 24-29


The Lord Pours Out His Holy Spirit!
I. So that kingdom work increases
II. So that humble leaders rejoice


Do you recall the days when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, wielded nearly absolute control of crude oil prices in the world? By and large the countries in this organization accomplished their goal of keeping oil prices high by assigning production limits to each member country. And it worked well, for a while. But it wasn’t long before one or two countries in the Middle East needed additional revenue, so it ignored the oil production limit imposed on it and “flooded” the market with crude oil and prices dropped. But the most influential factor that reduced OPEC’s power was the dramatic increase in crude oil production right here in the USA. Couple that with reduced demand in some areas of the world, and we’ve seen crude oil prices steadily decline.

But it still remains true, that intentionally limiting production will likely lead to an increase in prices.

As dependent as we are on oil for our daily lives here on earth, we’re completely dependent on the Holy Spirit for our spiritual life. Jesus once declared, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (Jn. 3:6). If we want spiritual life—life with our God—we need the Holy Spirit to give it to us and maintain it for us. There’s no one else that can do that for us.

So, in a way, the only true God has a monopoly on dispensing spiritual life. But thanks be to him alone, he’s doesn’t share the attitude of some oil tycoon who wants to limit production to keep prices high. No, his saving intentions and his holy will are to dispense his Holy Spirit as far and as wide as possible and to do it absolutely free of charge.

And he wants to use us to do just that. Since that’s the last thing Satan wants us to do, he will use every opportunity he can to oppose us. That potential for limiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the issue in the event before us this morning from Numbers 11. Instead of limiting the Holy Spirit, the Lord desires to pour him out. And that’s exactly what he does. The Lord pours out his Holy Spirit. Keep that truth before your heart and mind as we focus on this text.

Part I.

I recently read a book entitled Dangerous Calling. It’s a book for pastors and it reminds us how spiritually dangerous it is for a pastor to isolate himself especially when he faces troubles in his congregational or personal life. The impression that you’re in this all alone and that there’s nowhere to turn for help will quickly ruin your ministry and perhaps even your marriage and family.

The great Old Testament prophet Moses knew what that felt like to some degree. The Children of Israel had recently left Mt. Sinai where the Lord had met with Moses and had given him the 10 Commandments. The Jews were now making their way to the Promised Land, but things soured quickly. The beginning of Numbers 11 mentions the manna that they Israelites were enjoying each day via a miracle of God, but that wasn’t good enough. They craved meat so they grumbled against the Lord. And Moses took it personally. He told 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? If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now” (Nu. 11:11, 15). Moses felt all alone in shepherding what was likely 2 million people and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Of course, the Lord had a solution for him. After all, these were his people whom he would use to bring the Savior into the world. He immediately told Moses, “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.” The Lord wasn’t instructing Moses to form a gauntlet to punish Moses for his lack of trust in the Lord; he was forming an elite army of spiritual warriors to assist Moses. These men would stand with Moses as Moses carried out his responsibilities.

And the Lord himself made sure this spiritual army was properly equipped. Moses “brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around 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.” In effect God was replicating Moses times 70. The very Holy Spirit that enabled Moses to lead God’s people was now poured out on these 70 men. And with the Holy Spirit, they were ready to assist Moses and serve God’s people.

In fact, the Holy Spirit gave visible, audible proof that he indeed was inhabiting them in a greater measure than before. “When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.” We’re a little uncertain what this sentence describes, although we get the gist. “Prophesy” can mean they proclaimed God’s word to the people, which is exactly what the people needed to hear and thus would assist Moses. “Prophesy” can also mean to utter ecstatic language, like speaking in tongues. This would be an obvious sign to the Jews that these men were indeed chosen and equipped by God. The fact that the text says that they didn’t prophesy again, leads me to believe these were ecstatic utterances.

Either way, how this miracle must have lifted Moses’ flagging spirits! He had some divinely equipped helpers in shouldering the burden of all these people. Imagine how much more kingdom work could now be done among God’s people!

And that’s in keeping with God’s saving will. The Lord pours out his Holy Spirit so that kingdom work increases.

I don’t think I’m telling you anything you don’t already know but we both need the reminder. It’s not a good thing when a spiritual leader thinks he should do everything by himself and it’s not a good thing when his followers are only too willing to let him do just that. And confession is good for the soul, so I’ll start. I ask for your forgiveness. There have been times when I have felt like Moses as if I have to do this all alone, as if it all depends on me. There have been times when I have done what Moses did—taking grumbling against the Lord personally. Please forgive me. But confession is good for your soul too. Disinterest in kingdom work or pushing the default button that someone else will do it needs to be confessed. I’ll let you take care of that. And then we both need to embrace our Lord’s forgiveness. As his forgiven people we are empowered to engage in kingdom work and to encourage each other to do so. What can you do today? Next week? Whom can you encourage? The Lord will equip us with his Holy Spirit so that kingdom work increases.

Part II.

As I said a little while ago, the last thing Satan wants is for kingdom work to increase. He works night and day to shut it down. And one of the ways his does it is to create tension between God’s people. Specifically, one person serves the Lord and another person takes it the wrong way.

That’s what happened here in Numbers 11. The perpetrator was a young assistant of Moses named Joshua. Before we get any further into this, let’s state the obvious. Moses’ ministry needed defending more than once. Joshua knew how fickle and rebellious his fellow Jews could be. Even though Moses was a model leader, the people were lousy followers.

So, it happened that two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, couldn’t be present with the others when the Spirit was poured out on them. But location didn’t matter. The Holy Spirit was poured out on them as well. Joshua took their actions as a challenge to Moses’ authority. Perhaps his thinking went something like this, “Hey, these two guys weren’t present for the ceremony when the Holy Spirit went from Moses to the elders; it’s not right for them to have the privilege of doing the work.” Whatever his reasons, he was offended. He wanted to defend Moses’ authority.

Even though Joshua’s intentions were good, he was dead wrong. The fact that these men prophesied like the rest of them was clear evidence that this is what the Holy Spirit wanted. Who was Joshua to oppose him? Besides, why limit the number of people who possess gifts from the Holy Spirit. Moses was correct when he stated, “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!” The more of the Holy Spirit these people possessed, the better things would be among God’s people.

In effect, Moses was encouraging the young assistant, Joshua. He was encouraging Joshua to rejoice with him that God had provided the solution to his problem of serving the people all alone. And his wish was also an encouragement for Joshua to pray for more of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on more of the people. Wouldn’t it be great to see this happen every day as they led God’s people! Moses was over-joyed!

The Lord pours out his Holy Spirit so that humble leaders rejoice.

I’ll say it once more. Satan can’t stand it when kingdom work is going on. He will do whatever he can to ruin and stop it. So, if he can’t succeed in getting us to be lazy in our kingdom work, then he’ll tempt us with sins such as jealousy which leads to discord and ruins the blessing of unity among us. That temptation sounds like this: “Who do they think they are? Who told them they could do that? They do things like that just to look good in front of others.” Thoughts and words like that will destroy kingdom work and they’ll sap all the joy out of serving in God’s kingdom. So, let’s receive a double dose of humility from our Lord, a humility that recognizes when those sinful attitudes arise in our hearts and minds, a humility that receives our Lord’s full forgiveness, and a humility, then, that realizes it’s not about us; it’s all about our Lord, the one who lived a holy life in our place, the one who died for our sins and the one who rose triumphantly and now rules over all things for our good.

That sounds like the Lord pouring out his Holy Spirit. May he flood our hearts, bodies and souls! Amen.