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We continue to look at the person and work of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments.  Today's encounter comes to us from the book of Numbers chapter 11.  This is a long portion of scripture, so I will not re-type the whole passage here, but I do suggest that you look it up and read the entire chapter to get a better feel for the story.  Moses is leading the people in the desert and the people begin to grumble about having only manna to eat.  They complain of having no meat and remember the fish they had in Egypt.  Moses becomes frustrated with their complaining and asks God to relieve him of this burden of leading the people, even if it means his own death.  In verses 16-17 God answers Moses: "The Lord said to Moses: ‘Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people.  Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.  I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them.  They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.'"  Some further discussion ensues between God and Moses, with Moses questioning where all the meat would come from and we pick up in verse 23 with God's response.  "The LORD answered Moses, ‘Is the LORD's arm too short?  You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.' 

So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said.  He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent.  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders.  When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. 

However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp.  They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent.  Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp.  A young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' 

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, ‘Moses, my lord, stop them!' 

But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake?  I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!'"

So what can we learn from this passage about the Holy Spirit?  We see God increasing the number of people that the Spirit will be on from only Moses, to Moses plus seventy others without the power of the Spirit being diminished.  The purpose of giving these seventy men the Spirit was to equip them for leadership.  We also see that when the Spirit was initially received it empowered the men to prophecy, even the two who had remained in the camp.  Physical presence at the Tent of Meeting was not necessary to receive the Spirit.  Lastly we see that Moses' desire was for all of God's people to receive the Spirit, not just a few.  Moses' wish came true on the Day of Pentecost when Peter describing the events, quoted the prophet Joel in Acts 2:17-18: "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."

When I read this passage, I ask, does God only put his Spirit on leaders in the church or am I one of the "all people" that God will pour out his Spirit on?  What does it mean to prophecy?  Will it happen more than once?  Or just once like the seventy in the Numbers account?  I believe that Peter, when he quoted Joel, meant that God would pour his Spirit out on all believers in Jesus Christ.  This was not a one-time only event, nor do you have to be in a "leadership" position to receive God's Spirit.  And as we saw in the story of the seventy, you do not have to be in church, or any other specific place to receive the gift of God's Spirit.  When God chooses, he will pour his Spirit on you wherever you are.  The Spirit is given to equip us for the work God has called us to do, whatever that work is.  That all sound good, but that prophecy thing is a little scary!  Doesn't prophecy involve telling future events?  And Judgment? I'm not sure I want to be part of that.  Prophecy, is defined by The New Expanded Vine's Expository Dictionary as "the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God.  It is not necessarily, nor even primarily, fore-telling.  It is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means, it is the forth-telling of the will of God, whether with reference to the past, the present, of the future. . . .The purpose of their (the prophets) ministry was to edify, to comfort, and to encourage the believers, while its effect upon unbelievers was to show that the secrets of a man's heart are known to God, to convict of sin, and to constrain to worship."  This seems to line up with one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit that I have mentioned before; to encourage us and to bring praise and glory to God.  When we tell of the great and wonderful things God has done in our lives in the past, and what we believe God will do in the future based on the clues the Spirit gives us we are prophesying.  It may not come out as "Thus sayeth the Lord", but it is prophecy and it is inspired by the Holy Spirit within us.  Come Holy Spirit, fall on us, equip us, give us the words to prophecy, lead us in praising and glorifying God, for his arm is not short, and he has done mighty things!