Wishes and Prophecy Fullfilled

In Numbers 11:24-25 Moses needed help. He was desperate for it. So he gathered 70 Jewish men of the congregation and took some of the spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy men he had chosen as elders. God's Spirit was put on a very limited amount of people, and it was on them for a  limited amount of time. These men prophesied, but not for long. In vs 29, Moses makes a wish that "all of the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit on them!" 

Numbers 11:24-25

70

Jewish

prophesy

Men

Old 

Free men

Limited Spirit 

In Joel 2:28-32, Joel has been pretty hard on Israel, and has given them a lot of negative prophecies to consider, so he gives them a glimmer of hope. He prophesies that Jerusalem will be restored, and God will pour out his spirit on all flesh. He specifically goes into sons AND daughters, old AND young, male AND female, slave AND free, and his spirit will be poured out (not limited). He tells this to a nation and a culture that had a rigid hierarchy, was patriarchal, and had servants at the bottom of that hierarchy. Now, even the servant woman had God's spirit poured out on her.  

Joel 2:28-32

All

prophesy

Male and Female

Old and Young

Free and Slave

Spirit Poured Out

Peter quotes Joel in Acts 2, and says "this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." (Acts 2:16) God's spirit was finally being poured out on all flesh. The Day of Pentecost started with God's spirit being poured out on only 120 people, but it ended with 3000 being baptized. The rest of the book of Acts tells a story of unprecedented inclusion of Gentiles, women, slaves, rich, poor, old, and young.

Then we get to Galatians 3:26-29. If you have been baptized into Christ, you are heirs of his according to the promise that God made to Abraham. We are Abraham's offspring, and we are numerous like the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach, just as promised. It doesn't matter if we are male or female, bond or free, Jew or Gentile. We are all one in Christ, and we share in the inheritance of Israel, and God's spirit is poured out on us. Moses got his wish that he made in Numbers 11:29. 

Galatians 3:26-29 and Acts 2

All 

Jew and Gentile

Prophesy

Male and Female

Old and Young

Slave and Free

Spirit poured out. 

Moses wished that God would put his spirit on you. Joel prophesied that it would happen in a big way. Jesus died so it would happen. Peter watched it happening. It's encouraging to me that we were thought of so long ago, and we can read how all things worked together to make it happen. We are truly given a gift.