Let them speak

But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” – Numbers 11.26-29

Eldad and Medad were interesting characters. They were not in the mould of the rest of the prophets. I am not sure about the significance, but they ‘had not gone out to the tabernacle, but still prophesied in the camp.’

Joshua was bothered by this. ‘Moses, stop them from speaking!’ Joshua was one of the official prophets. He held the office and was a bit zealous, or maybe jealous, or maybe bothered by the fact that Eldad and Medad were not part of the group and they still dared prophecy. ‘Stop them’ he said. ‘that’s our job.

But Moses said ‘I wish all of the Lord’s people were prophets.’ He was glad that there were more prophets.

Ministry envy appears to be nothing new. Those in vocational ministry can be quite jealous of our ministry. We can get so focused on our work and even proud that God has called us that we get upset when someone else encroaches on ‘our’ territory.

There was a time when Jesus’ disciples complained about someone working miracles in Christ’s name but was not a part of their group. They wanted Jesus to make him stop, but Jesus told them ‘he who is not against us is for us, let Him continue.’

In Philippians Paul talks about some preachers who were opposed to him and some were even preaching for their own gain. Paul said he was just glad that Christ was being preached.

I am reading a J.C. Ryle book about British preachers of the 18^th century who God used to bring revival to the land. Some were Calvinists and some were Armenians. Some were in the Church of England, some were Methodists, some were dissenters, and others had any number of preferences. They did not agree on all kinds of issues. But Ryle picks up on the point that the gospel of Christ was so important that they were not fighting and squabbling over their differences. Ryle himself chooses to praise them for their good instead of condemning them for where they differed from him.

We have to stand for Biblical truth. We cannot compromise with error. But too often our squabbles are over petty stuff that doesn’t really matter. Rejoice in those who are faithfully preaching the true gospel – even if they don’t do it just like us.