Eldad and Medad

Reading:   Numbers 11

Another great unsung biblical story is found hidden in the verses of chapter eleven; it is the oft forgotten tale of Eldad and Medad, the reluctant elders.  It all began with Moses who had become overwhelmed with his office and plead with God to lighten his load.  The Lord responded by commanding Moses to select seventy elders from amongst the people.  The selected elders would be set apart to assist Moses, God, and ultimately the Israelites, in the great task of prophecy and judgement.  Moses did as he was commanded and the selected elders gathered together at the tabernacle where each began to prophecy through the power of God.

Now there were two men, Eldad and Medad, most likely brothers, who were selected as elders but did not gather with the others at the tabernacle.  There is no record of why these men weren't in attendance,  but some believe that they simply did not receive the invitation to join as they were out of reach, on a journey or something.  Others believe that they did receive the invitation to join but did not feel worthy to accept such a calling, because of their humility, and simply chose not to attend.  Either way, they were chosen and could not escape the calling.  So, as the story goes, while all the other elders met in counsel at the tabernacle, prophesying and such, these two guys began prophesying in the camp were they stood - exercising the calling they felt inadequate to accept.  Their humility not only elevated them to the calling of elder but also earned them specific notice within scripture (they were the only two, of the seventy, specifically named).

That brings us to the scriptures of note, keep in mind that the story of Eldad and Medad is a mere seven verses long but nonetheless vital...

NUMBERS 11:27-29

27    And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 

28    And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 

29    And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them! 

So Joshua counseled with Moses to swiftly end this highly irregular and unsanctioned prophesying - I don't believe it was because he felt Eldad and Medad were acting under false authority but more so because they were practicing in the camp and not within the hallowed gathering of elders at the tabernacle.  Moses teaches a great lesson in his response, "...Enviest thou for my sake?" Meaning, "...Do you believe only I can receive prophesy at any time or place? Not so...and, Joshua, dear Joshua, I am certainly not jealous of others, who in righteousness, receive such guidance.  Let them receive, let all receive! How great would it be if all these people magnified there callings, walked in righteousness, and glorified God - how light my burden would be!"

Moses, as our prophet and apostles today, want all of us to receive the spirit of God.  They want us all to live righteously and humbly testify, with the power of God coursing through our very beings, of the power and sanctity of our faith and belief in the redeeming grace of our savior.

Eldad and Medad were humble men, unwilling to accept their callings as elders, but they could not escape the story of their lives, the paths of righteousness they had already walked, the examples they had already set, the Lord needed them and they were found.

~Kipling