Numbers 11:16-25

God's Spirit upon the Seventy

Numbers 11:16

God's considerateness for His overwrought servant was very tender. He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. He does not chide, nor keep His anger forever. The remedy for the situation was provided in the appointment and enduement of the seventy elders, who became the germ of the Sanhedrin.

Moses' depression led to unbelief. It seemed impossible to suppose that God could provide a table in the wilderness of such magnitude that in it the whole host could participate. Unbelief says, Can God? Faith answers, God can! See Psalms 78:19. Child of God! God's hand is not waxed short, that it cannot reach to you. Even if we believe not, He remains faithful, 2 Timothy 2:13. This equipment of the elders, Numbers 11:25, reminds us that we, too, need to receive the Holy Spirit, first for our sanctification in character, and then for our service and office. This is the special characteristic of Pentecost, Acts 2:1.