Lessons from the book of Numbers 11 : 16 – 17
Some churches use Numbers 11:16-17 to ordain 70 elders/ministers as part of their ministry, as they say this is how God wants his ministry to run.
So YHWH said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone” (Numbers 11:16-17).
Most churches would go this way about Numbers 11:16-17. We need to choose 70 men (people in our ministry who do what we say) and appoint them as elders so that they can also do our ministry work. When we read Numbers 11:16-17, we see God first talking to Moses and telling him to gather 70 elders of Israel. The first thing we need to ask is, what is the meaning of the word “elder”? The word “elder” comes from the Hebrew word “zaqen” (pronounced as “zaw-kane”) concordance number 2204 and 2205. This means a person who is recognized by the people for his gifts of leadership, wisdom (in righteous living based on the Torah) and justice. Then we see Moses choosing, based on what God told him, 70 men and bringing them to the tabernacle so that the spirit of YHWH could be upon them. So the flowchart of events over here is:
God talking to Moses with an instruction >> 70 Elders chosen >> Spirit of YHWH rests on them.
In modern-day churches, we don’t see God talking to the elder of the church or God sanctifying these elders. We see men appointing men based on an event that happened during the time of Moses. Moreover, we need to understand why God chose 70 elders to help Moses. In the previous verses of Numbers 11:10-15, we read Moses is pleading to God to kill him because the people were weeping before Moses. Moses was unable to bear the grief of weeping, as the burden was too heavy for him. God then, in His great mercy, told Moses, “I will sanctify elders to help you so that you don’t have to bear all of these burdens yourself”. So we see that the elders and the duty of Moses were to serve the people, and not serve themselves.
– To be Continued