Oh, That All the Lord’s People Were Prophets

Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church, Pinetop, Arizona

Rev. Michael “Mick” Mathews

The Day of Pentecost– May 24, 2026

Sermon:  “Oh, That All the Lord’s People Were Prophets”     Numbers 11:24–30

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Feast of Pentecost did not begin as a celebration among the New Testament church. Its roots go back to the time when God used Moses as His prophet to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and then brought them to Mount Sinai. There at Sinai, God told Moses about the rituals and celebrations that they were to observe as His people. For example, each year they were to celebrate the Feast of Passover to remember how God had brought them out of slavery.

They were also to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. It was to be a day of thanksgiving for the beginning of the wheat harvest (Exodus 34:22), and it was to take place 7 weeks from the second day of Passover, a total of 50 days after Passover. In Hebrew, it was known as Shavuot from the word for “weeks” and in Greek it was called Pentecost, which means “fiftieth.” The people of Israel were commanded to appear before the Lord at His temple on both Passover and Pentecost, so many Jews who traveled to Jerusalem from great distances for Passover would stay in Jerusalem until Pentecost as well.

Just as Jesus fulfilled and enlarged the meaning of Passover by dying and rising again to set us free from slavery to sin and death, Jesus also fulfilled and enlarged the meaning of Pentecost by giving the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. At the Last Supper, Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples (John 14:16–17). The Spirit would help them and be with them. Jesus repeated His promise to send the Holy Spirit after His resurrection, just before He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:5), and Jesus fulfilled the promise by pouring out the Spirit on His disciples “when the day of Pentecost arrived” (Acts 2:1).

Prior to this, the Old Testament describes the Holy Spirit as being given only to specific people. One example is when Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit that had been with Elijah, so that could continue Elijah’s work as a prophet of the Lord (2 Kings 2:9).

Another example is in our Old Testament reading from the book of Numbers today. Moses was struggling to lead the people who had come out of Egypt, especially when they began to grumble about the conditions in the wilderness. There were six hundred thousand men (Numbers 11:21) – which meant there were probably around 2 million people altogether. Moses complained to God that he could not carry the burden of leading the people alone (Numbers 11:14). So God told Moses to gather seventy of the elders of the people, and He would take of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders to help Moses bear the burden of leading God’s people. When Moses gathered the elders, God kept His promise and put His Spirit on the seventy elders. The sign that the Spirit rested on them was that they prophesied. God made them His prophets, just like Moses (but they did not continue to prophesy as Moses did).

Two men who had been designated among the seventy elders were not gathered together with the rest of the group of elders. They had remained behind in the camp among the people. But God still put His Spirit on them too, and they also prophesied in the camp. A young man ran to tell Moses about it. Joshua, Moses’ assistant, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 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 11:28–29).

So just what does it mean that the seventy elders prophesied when the Spirit was given to them. When we hear the words “prophet” and “prophecy,” we most often think of someone foretelling the future. But the prophets of God didn’t just tell about the future. Think of the prophet Moses at Mount Sinai. He received messages from God and relayed those messages to the people – messages about they were to live and worship as God’s people. That’s really what a prophet is: someone chosen by God to speak His Word to others. That’s why Moses wished that all of God’s people could be prophets – that all of them would be filled with God’s Spirit and speak God’s Word to others.

Centuries later, God told the prophet Joel to proclaim the promise that God would one day pour out His Spirit on all His people, and they all would be His prophets (Joel 2:28–29). Centuries after Joel, God kept that promise on the day of Pentecost, when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on His disciples. The coming of the Holy Spirit was made known in the sound of a mighty rushing wind and the appearance of tongues of fire resting on each of them (Acts 2:2–3). But even more than that, the disciples were suddenly able to speak in other languages. They were able to walk up to any of the Jews visiting Jerusalem and talk to them in the language of their homeland. To some who witnessed it, it sounded like the babbling of drunken men. But to those who understood each language being spoken, they said, “We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11).

In other words, the disciples were prophesying on Pentecost, just as the seventy elders had done so many years before. God made them His prophets, His chosen instruments to speak His Word. And He made it easier for them to speak to anyone in that moment by giving them the ability to speak in other languages. God wanted everyone to hear about the mighty work that He had done by sending Jesus to die and rise again. So Peter began to address the crowd that gathered that day of Pentecost. He told them about Jesus, and he told them that God was fulfilling the promise that He made through the prophet Joel. God was pouring out His Spirit on all His people, men and women, so they would prophesy. God at last was answering Moses’ prayer: “Oh, that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

Today on this Day of Pentecost, we not only celebrate that the Spirit was poured out upon God’s people that day in Jerusalem, but that God has poured out His Spirit upon us today. When we were baptized, we were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is where the Holy Spirit was given to us. And as Jesus promised, the Spirit continues to help us and be with us. He teaches us the Word of God and gives us the faith to believe it. And even more than that, He empowers us to be able to speak God’s Word to others – making us His prophets. We may not be able to walk up to just anybody and speak to them in their own language. We may have to work hard to learn another language first. But we can certainly tell others in our own language about the mighty works of God in Christ.

Jesus spoke about the work of the Holy Spirit this way in our reading from John chapter 7 today: Anyone who is spiritually thirsty can come to Him and drink of the living water that He gives. If you thirst for righteousness, you will find it in Jesus. He takes away all sin and fills us with His forgiveness. The Holy Spirit works through this message of salvation to give us the faith that clings to Jesus. And Jesus tells us, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). When the Spirit fills you with the message of salvation in Jesus and brings you believe in Him, the living water flows from you like a river. You become a source of living water to others when you tell them about Jesus – when you became a Spirit-empowered prophet of the Lord.

You don’t have to look for God to give you new messages to speak. He has already given us the best message to proclaim: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Everyone who believes in Jesus will be filled with the living water that grants eternal life – they will receive the Holy Spirit who remains with us and helps us and empowers us to speak to others about Jesus so that they can believe in Him too.

And the peace of God which passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Numbers 11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

Numbers 11:26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 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!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

Acts 2:17  “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

       that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

       and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

                  and your young men shall see visions,

                  and your old men shall dream dreams;

18  even on my male servants and female servants

                  in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above

                  and signs on the earth below,

                  blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

20  the sun shall be turned to darkness

                  and the moon to blood,

                  before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

21  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

John 7:37   On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.