Two men, however, had remained in the camp--one named Eldad and the other Medad--and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. Two men, however, had remained in the campThis phrase introduces a unique situation where two individuals, Eldad and Medad, did not follow the rest of the elders to the tent of meeting. The Hebrew word for "remained" (שָׁאָר, sha'ar) implies a sense of being left behind or staying back. This sets the stage for an unexpected divine encounter, highlighting that God's Spirit can move beyond human expectations and locations. Historically, the camp represents the community of Israel, and remaining there signifies a connection to the people rather than the leadership alone. one named Eldad and the other Medad
The names Eldad and Medad are significant. Eldad means "God has loved," and Medad means "love." These names reflect the character and purpose of their prophetic ministry, emphasizing God's love and favor. In a broader scriptural context, names often reveal divine purposes or characteristics, and here they underscore the message of God's inclusive love and the unexpected ways He chooses to communicate with His people. and the Spirit rested on them
The phrase "the Spirit rested on them" is pivotal. The Hebrew word for "Spirit" (רוּחַ, ruach) denotes breath, wind, or spirit, signifying God's active presence and power. The Spirit resting on them indicates a divine anointing and empowerment for prophecy. This event foreshadows the New Testament Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit descends upon believers, emphasizing that God's Spirit is not confined to specific places or people but is sovereign and free to act according to His will. they were among those listed
This phrase indicates that Eldad and Medad were part of the seventy elders chosen to assist Moses. The Hebrew word for "listed" (כָּתַב, kathab) means to inscribe or record, suggesting that they were recognized leaders within the community. Their inclusion in the list signifies their legitimacy and the divine order in their selection, yet their experience shows that God's Spirit can operate outside human structures and expectations. but had not gone out to the tent
The tent of meeting was the designated place for encountering God, yet Eldad and Medad did not go there. This highlights the theme of God's omnipresence and His ability to meet His people wherever they are. The phrase challenges the notion that divine encounters are limited to specific sacred spaces, reminding believers that God can manifest His presence in the ordinary and unexpected places of life. and they prophesied in the camp
Prophesying in the camp signifies the public and communal nature of their prophetic activity. The Hebrew word for "prophesied" (נָבָא, naba) involves speaking under divine inspiration. This act within the camp, rather than at the tent, underscores the accessibility of God's word to all people, not just the leaders. It serves as a reminder that God's messages are meant for the entire community, encouraging believers to be open to His voice in all areas of life. Persons / Places / Events 1. Eldad and MedadTwo men who were part of the seventy elders chosen to assist Moses. They remained in the camp and received the Spirit of God, enabling them to prophesy. 2. The CampThe location where the Israelites were encamped during their journey through the wilderness. It serves as the backdrop for the event where Eldad and Medad prophesied. 3. The Tent of MeetingThe designated place where Moses and the elders were to gather to receive the Spirit. Eldad and Medad did not go to the tent but still received the Spirit. 4. The Spirit of GodThe divine presence and power that enabled Eldad and Medad to prophesy, demonstrating God's sovereignty in choosing whom He empowers. 5. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, who was instructed by God to gather seventy elders to share the burden of leadership. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in ChoosingGod chooses whom He will empower, regardless of human expectations or locations. Eldad and Medad were not at the tent, yet God still chose to use them. The Universality of the SpiritThe Spirit of God is not confined to specific places or people. This event foreshadows the New Testament reality where the Spirit is available to all believers. The Importance of ObedienceWhile Eldad and Medad did not go to the tent, they were still obedient to God's call. Our physical location does not limit God's ability to use us if we are willing. Encouragement in LeadershipMoses' acceptance of Eldad and Medad's prophesying shows the importance of recognizing and encouraging the gifts of others in the community of faith. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the event of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp challenge our understanding of where and how God can work in our lives? 2. In what ways can we be open to the Spirit's leading, even if it comes in unexpected places or through unexpected people? 3. How does the account of Eldad and Medad encourage us to recognize and affirm the spiritual gifts in others within our church community? 4. What parallels can we draw between the outpouring of the Spirit in Numbers 11 and the events of Pentecost in Acts 2? 5. How can we apply the lesson of God's sovereignty in choosing whom to empower to our own lives and ministries today? Connections to Other Scriptures Joel 2:28-29This passage speaks of God's Spirit being poured out on all people, indicating that the gift of prophecy and the Spirit is not limited to a specific location or group. Acts 2:17-18The fulfillment of Joel's prophecy at Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers, showing the continuity of God's work through His Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11Discusses the diversity of spiritual gifts given by the same Spirit, emphasizing that God distributes gifts according to His will. People Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, NunPlaces Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, TaberahTopics Camp, Described, Eldad, Elders, Listed, Medad, Named, Names, Power, Prophesied, Prophesy, Prophet's, Recorded, Registered, Rest, Rested, Resteth, Spirit, Tabernacle, Tent, Tent-circle, Written, YetDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 11:4-34 4438 eating Numbers 11:24-27 3275 Holy Spirit, in the church Numbers 11:25-29 3272 Holy Spirit, in OT Library April 12. "They were as it Were, Complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
"They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1). There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence. In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Deaf Stammerer Healed and Four Thousand Fed.
^A Matt. XV. 30-39; ^B Mark VII. 32-VIII. 9. ^b 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but verse 35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Baptist's Testimony.
"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.... John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. For of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified."--John vii. 39. We have come to the most difficult part in the discussion of the work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the tenth day after the ascension. In the treatment of this subject it is not our aim to create a new interest in the celebration of Pentecost. We consider this almost impossible. Man's nature is too unspiritual for this. But we shall reverently endeavor to give a clearer insight …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Numbers 11:26 NIVNumbers 11:26 NLTNumbers 11:26 ESVNumbers 11:26 NASBNumbers 11:26 KJV
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