And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
The verse belongs to Israel's rebellion in the wilderness, when complaints about food and doubt that God could provide were rebellion, and fire at Taberah punished the guilty complainers. The setting was Israel's craving for meat and murmuring against God's provision, after which God gave the demanded meat and many died, showing God's displeasure when appetite controls His people. Though Israel had manna from heaven, angels' food, they remained unsatisfied and mourned and murmured for flesh meat until the Lord gave the vast multitude quails in abundance, then left them to reap the result of transgression without a miracle to preserve life, sending a plague while the flesh was still between their teeth that destroyed thousands. Indulgence of appetite was the means by which Satan overthrew Israel in the wilderness failures, and nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness rather than entering Canaan.
Joshua the son of Nun stood beside Moses as his servant during the wilderness journey and asked Moses to stop or silence the two men, two elders, who were prophesying in the camp. Joshua's request came from jealousy on Moses' behalf and for his master's honor, and from fear that prophesying apart from the others might cause division. The two men were exercising a genuine prophetic gift given by God's Spirit even though they had not gathered with the others at the tabernacle. Moses rejected the request, taught Joshua not to envy on his account, welcomed the Spirit's work, and expressed the wish that all the Lord's people would receive the Spirit and prophesy.
Moses' leadership was not exclusive, for others also prophesied, though their prophecies were not published, without displacing the leader, yet Moses still held a leading position that the others did not hold. The verse does not mean the time has come when all who are in the right relation to God can have the gift of prophecy to the same extent as those who have visions, nor that God's speaking to each person for his own benefit fulfills Joel's prophecy. Teaching universal prophecy from Moses as a parallel prepares the way for Satan to bring in spurious exercises, for unbalanced minds to be led into fanaticism, and for designing persons to further selfish purposes. The story shows that temperance in eating and drinking in health reform means much for ministers, giving clearer minds to discern what affects the salvation of the soul and what does not.
The verse belongs to Israel's rebellion in the wilderness, when complaints about food and doubt that God could provide were rebellion, and fire at Taberah punished the guilty complainers. The setting was Israel's craving for meat and murmuring against God's provision, after which God gave the demanded meat and many died, showing God's displeasure when appetite controls His people. Though Israel had manna from heaven, angels' food, they remained unsatisfied and mourned and murmured for flesh meat until the Lord gave the vast multitude quails in abundance, then left them to reap the result of transgression without a miracle to preserve life, sending a plague while the flesh was still between their teeth that destroyed thousands. Indulgence of appetite was the means by which Satan overthrew Israel in the wilderness failures, and nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness rather than entering Canaan.
Joshua the son of Nun stood beside Moses as his servant during the wilderness journey and asked Moses to stop or silence the two men, two elders, who were prophesying in the camp. Joshua's request came from jealousy on Moses' behalf and for his master's honor, and from fear that prophesying apart from the others might cause division. The two men were exercising a genuine prophetic gift given by God's Spirit even though they had not gathered with the others at the tabernacle. Moses rejected the request, taught Joshua not to envy on his account, welcomed the Spirit's work, and expressed the wish that all the Lord's people would receive the Spirit and prophesy.
Moses' leadership was not exclusive, for others also prophesied, though their prophecies were not published, without displacing the leader, yet Moses still held a leading position that the others did not hold. The verse does not mean the time has come when all who are in the right relation to God can have the gift of prophecy to the same extent as those who have visions, nor that God's speaking to each person for his own benefit fulfills Joel's prophecy. Teaching universal prophecy from Moses as a parallel prepares the way for Satan to bring in spurious exercises, for unbalanced minds to be led into fanaticism, and for designing persons to further selfish purposes. The story shows that temperance in eating and drinking in health reform means much for ministers, giving clearer minds to discern what affects the salvation of the soul and what does not.