Sun.’s Devo - Ministry is Messy

Read: Numbers 11:24-13:33; Mark 14:22-52; Psalm 52:1-9; Proverbs 11:1-3 Moses chose his 70 men and God put the same Spirit upon them as he had put on Moses, much like Jesus chose his 70 men and put his Spirit upon them and sent them out (Luke 10). They prophesied for the first and last time. Two men that were supposed to be in the 70 stayed in the camp and the Spirit of God rested on them and they prophesied there. Their names, Eldad and Medad mean “God has loved” and “God would be loving.” God’s love was not just for the ones that showed up then, but those that would come behind many years later. It was also a picture of how God would not only love the Jew, but those not associated with them - the Gentile… God so loved the world. Moses had to assure Joshua that it was okay with him that they were used by God also. This reminds me of the men who were casting out demons in Jesus name and the disciples wanted to stop them because they weren’t apart of his group. Jesus rebuked them and said if they weren’t against them, they were for them. God has his people everywhere. *** God sent the quail just like he said he would and the people gathered no less than fifty bushels a piece. Those that had craved the meat of Egypt gorged on the meat until it made them sick. God sent a place and killed them. God called the place they were buried “Graves of gluttony.” *** To add to their problems, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for marrying a Cushite woman. Their real problem was jealousy. They were jealous of Moses’ leadership and claimed that God spoke through them also. God heard their words and took up for Moses because he was very humble - more than anyone on earth. *** God called Moses, Miriam and Aaron to the Tabernacle and came down in the cloud where he stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. He called for Aaron and Miriam to step forward. He then begin to tell them that Moses was the only one He trusted to speak face to face with. Then he asked them why they were not afraid to criticize him. *** When God’s cloud departed, Miriam was covered with leprosy. Aaron cried out to Moses on her behalf and begged him to pray for her. Moses begged the Lord to heal her. God told him to put her out of the camp for seven days and everyone had to wait to continue on their journey. I bet she came back much more humbled. *** They traveled to the wilderness of Paran where God told Moses to send out a leader from each of the 12 tribes to explore the land they had been promised. He told them to check out the land, the people, their towns, the soil, and the trees. They were to try to bring back a sample of the crops if they could. It was the time of the grape harvest. *** They can back reporting that the land was fertile and beautiful. The people were powerful, the towns were fortified and there were giants in the hill, on the coast and in the valleys. But, they did have a huge branch of grapes like they had never seen before. Caleb calmed them down and told Moses they should go at one and take the land. They would surely conquer it. But the other 10 had spread their bad reports and paralyzed the people with fear. *** In Mark, Jesus took communion with his disciples, explaining to them the meaning behind the wine and the bread. He explained that he would not drink wine again until he drank the new wine in the Kingdom of God. They sang a song together, then Jesus took them to the Mount of Olives. *** On the way, Jesus told them that he would be stuck and they would scatter like sheep. After he rose from the dead, they were to meet him in Galilee. This all went straight over their heads, but Peter did defend himself and say he would never desert Jesus. *** Jesus told him he would not only desert him, but deny him three times before the rooster crowed. Peter refused to believe it… till it happened. *** Jesus took them to an olive grove and told them to pray while he went apart from them to do the same. Jesus travailed in prayer asking God if it was possible for him to take this from him. But, he prayed that God’s will would be done, not his. *** Every time Jesus came to check on his disciples, they had fallen asleep. The third time, he looked up and say Judas coming and told them to get up because the betrayer was here. *** Judas betrayed him with a kiss and Peter tried to show he could defend Jesus by cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus told them that what they were doing was fulfilling scripture. Then, the disciples scattered just like Jesus and scripture said they would. *** A young man in a linen garment had been watching and he tried to escape, but they grabbed his robe and he ran away naked. All throughout scripture you will find these men dressed in linen. I believe he was one of God’s watchers. Sometimes they are depicted as holding ink horns, or measuring tools. The meaning in the Greek for linen cloth is “esp. that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped.” Angels are all around us, ministering to us as the sons of God. They ministered to Jesus and were mentioned many times. *** Lord, may we not criticize your leaders, but pray for them. May we not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to and may we not be found sleeping when we need to be watching. Thank you for your ministering angels.