Moses rebukes Joshua (and his convergence)!
And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them." But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:27-29 ESV)Notice that Moses did not have a problem with sharing leadership. It was young Joshua who was jealous for the honor of Moses. But Moses wants to see God raise up more leaders. Remember that Moses was “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
To be fair God rebukes Aaron & Miriam only a few verses down.
And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed. When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. (Numbers 12:5-10 ESV)Slandering God's prophet was a bad idea. But before you Joshua guys get excited you need to see the point: They were rebuked for trying to establish themselves on level with Moses. And they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it. (Numbers 12:2) I don’t think any we want to put our Conservative Heroes in that position.
Yes, gratitude and respect are fitting for all Christians. But there needs to be a balance when reverencing our Saints. Our Heroes don’t want all this fuss. Remember, humility – not chest thumping, is the only way to show the character of Moses.
6 comments:
Tony,
I can't speak for everyone, But I am grateful for those that went before us. But do they get a pass when they are wrong?
Kevin, that is the question that everyone doesn't ask. "But do they get a pass when they are wrong?" It's okay for certain leaders to take shots at others' theology, etc. in nationally or regionally published mediums, but no one is allowed to say anything about it.
Speaking of those who've gone before, what about the founders of the SBC and their theology, etc.? There has been much disrespect and misrepresentation of their positions. Where's the outcry in that?
Mark
Kevin - I like what you said on your blog about LOVE.
JohnMark - On the video Caner spoke referenced the early Baptists who were the Persecution-Driven church.
John Mark,
I can't answer for anyone else but me. I have not trashed anyone's character. Disagreement on principles is different than name calling.
Kevin,
I'm sorry if you thought I was accusing you. I'm not. I was just drawing from your good question.
Here is a quick and dirty to the point summary for you. The Founders of the SBC were for arguments sake Calvinists and were not abstainers as far as I know. So today we have some of these conservative ressurgence leaders who have and do take pot shots at and misrepresent Calvinism. Then there is the current alcohol issue.
Which brings me to this: where is the uprising and outcry for the Founders of the SBC? Where is their respect and praises for the heroics of the SB faith?
Seems to me in the context of the SBC the recent Joshua Convergence would need a little reworking so the founding heros of the SBC can be upheld and looked up to.
I'm not saying we should narrow the tent to just Calvinists, for example, but I am asking for constistency.
Make sense?
Mark
John Mark,
Good points. We do need consistancy and it is found by following the Bible and not adding to it.
Post a Comment