“But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets. The Lord would put his spirit on them.”
– Numbers 11:29
Now the context behind Numbers 11:29 is really interesting because there were two men in the camp at this point, Eldad and Medad, who the Bible says in Verse 26, the spirit of God was resting on them and they were out prophesying in the camp. So some guy comes and tells Moses, “Hey, these guys are prophesying in the camp,” and Joshua says, “Hey, we need to stop them.” Moses says, “No way. We’re not gonna stop them. Would that all of God’s people were prophets. The Lord put his spirit on all of them, so they all,” so think about it. What does a prophet do? A prophet if it’s a true prophet speaks the word of God, and so Moses, “I’d love for a lot of people to be speaking the word of God on behalf of God.”
We have been empowered by the Spirit of God to speak and proclaim His Word.
We’ve got this picture in the Old Testament. The reason I camp out here today is because when we get to the New Testament, this is one of the mammoth shifts that takes place, when the Holy Spirit comes down at Pentecost in Acts 2 and when the spirit comes down on all the believers who are assembled there, they all start doing what? They all start speaking in the word of God on behalf of God. They all start speaking the word of God and the whole picture that Jesus had promised begins to come true.
Numbers 11:29 Reminds Us We Are Witnesses For God
If the spirit of God is now resting on all the followers on Jesus so that they’re all witnesses. What does a witness do? A witness speaks for God. A witness speaks on behalf of God, and so realize this, when we get to the New Testament, for every single follower of Jesus, who as the Holy Spirit in them, that’s every follower of Jesus, we are spokespersons for God. We have been empowered by his spirit to speak for God.
In this sense we prophesy. That doesn’t mean we go around making these random pronouncements. No, what does a prophet do? A prophet speaks the word of God. We take the word of God, the Bible, namely the gospel, and we proclaim it. The reality is, what Moses prayed for here, like, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets. The Lord would put his spirit on all of them,” is a reality. So realize today, follower of Jesus, you know what you are. In this sense, you are a prophet.
Numbers 11:29 Reminds Us We Are Empowered By the Spirit
Just feel the wonder of this and the weight of this responsibility. You have been empowered by the spirit of God. I’m speaking to every follower of Jesus right now. The spirit of God is resting on you today, so that you might speak for God.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray For God to Use Us
Oh, so I encourage you. Let’s do the work of prophet today. Let’s speak for God, wherever we go, let’s tell people the word of God, the good news of God’s love in Jesus. Oh God, we praise you. What Moses just longed for we experience. We are experiencing right now, your spirit is resting on us. You have given us this privilege of prophesying, of speaking for you, of declaring your word so God, make us faithful prophets in this sense.
Make us faithful we pray today to speak your word. Help us not to be silent. This gift you’ve given us, this word you’ve given to us, word of how people can be saved from all their sin and brought into eternal life with you. Oh God, use us to proclaim that word today, wherever we go, wherever we go. In our cities, communities, in our workplaces and neighborhoods, we’re around all kinds of people. God, please today, use us. Help us to realize in conversation with others, we’re prophets, we’re spokespersons for the God of the universe and help us to speak, give us boldness to proclaim the Gospel we pray.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for Russia
We pray for that here, we pray that you would send more and more prophets around the world in this sense. Send more and more people proclaiming your word, to the Tatar in Russia, oh God, five million plus of them, so few followers of Jesus. Give those who are Tatar believers, give them strength and boldness to proclaim your gospel. May your spirit be strong upon them. Bless the Tatar church for the spread of the gospel among this almost completely, .4% are followers of Jesus. God, among that, 99.6%, God may more and more Tatar in Russia here the Gospel hear the words of your spokespersons. From the words of your children fill with your spirit. Oh God, help us to be faithful to this assignment you’ve given us today, as prophets, proclaiming your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
