Greetings,
I have been addressing the ten tests of Israel from Egypt and in the wilderness. Those tests manifested the carnal nature of the Old Covenant people of Israel and their failure caused them to wander for another thirty-eight years in the wilderness. It is only by the power of God’s grace, by the overcoming power of Christ in us, that we can pass these tests and live in the reality of the Promised Land in our lives. I believe that the true Promised Land is a life that is motivated by the internal kingdom of God, the place of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit within our hearts. As leaders we must set an example to others in embracing the overcoming power of God’s grace to see these tests passed in our lives. The passing of each test is really simply a testimony of God’s grace supernaturally working in our lives.
So far I have addressed seven tests that we must all face in our journey of destiny. These are the test of bondage, the test of relationship, the test of bitterness, the test of living on every word of God, and the test of purpose, the test of the likeness and image of God, and the test of fire. Today we have come to the eighth test. This is the test of meat – the test of personal desires. In this test we choose personal desires and personal agendas, or we choose the will of God. It is a test of the desires of the flesh verses the need to fulfill God’s will in all things and to depend upon His will in all things. God’s life is able to make our hearts come alive to His purpose and thus we can overcome any temptation to yield to our personal cravings and desires.
Numbers 11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
This test occurred after the test of fire. The test of fire is a test of our willingness to follow God who changes us from glory to glory. It is transformation of our way to His way in our journey of destiny. The test of meat is a test of God’s will. Jesus said that His meat was to do the will of His Father in all things. His strength of purpose was not His own desires or agendas, but the desires and will of His heavenly Father. God wants us to manifest as sons and daughters who walk in the path of His will in life.
We have a need for the prophetic life and direction of God in order to be and do His will in life. When the children of Israel cried out for meat, God instructed Moses to pick seventy leaders of the people to be a testimony of the strength of the Spirit that prophetically changes our world.
Numbers 11:16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.”
Numbers 11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” 29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”
In the Scripture, the number seventy represents all the nations of the world. There were seventy nations established from the sons of Noah that became the seed of all the nations of the world. This story in the history of Israel is a prophetic testimony to God’s desire to pour His prophetic Spirit out upon all the flesh of humanity. In this story two of the seventy were not in the right place at the time of the pouring out of God’s Spirit. Their names were Eldad (meaning, favored or loved of God) and Medad (meaning, he that measures or water of love). These men represent God’s favor and love for all people. Moses’ servant wanted them to be silenced because they were in the wrong place, but Moses foresaw that God wanted to make all of His people prophets. In Acts chapter 2 there was a firstfruit of God pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh and Peter testified that it was the prophetic Spirit foretold by the prophet Joel. That prophetic Spirit was sent both to help and to change the worlds of men. God is moved by His love and affection for all people and He desires to give them the prophetic power of life. In the face of this test of meat in the wilderness, God gave a demonstration of His desire for all people. He desires to empower them for His purpose in life. He wants to empower all people by His resurrection life to be and do the will of their heavenly Father in all things.
Numbers 11:31 Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. 32 And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
God caused the wind to blow and the wind brought quail to the people. In every direction around them was the possibility of eating meat. They could simple reach out and satisfy their personal desires. God did not say to eat, He simply made it possible to eat. When the children of Israel ate the meat, the consequence was sickness and death by a great plague. God did not put a plague upon them. Their own fleshly desires brought the plague upon themselves. They were buried in Kibroth Hattaavah, a place that means, graves of lust. Their personal cravings and desires proved to be graves to their journey of destiny. God wants us to pass this test of personal desires. He wants us to receive His prophetic power of life. It is a testimony of His will being done and His kingdom coming in all things in our journey of life. God will make it possible for us to take hold of what we want so that we can choose to receive the power of His Spirit to give us the desire to want what He wants.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
