Numbers 11:16-20: a reflection

16The 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; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone. 18“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. 19You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”

Moses is buckling under the weight of leading a complaining, demanding people; earlier in the chapter he tells God the burden is too heavy, that he cannot carry all these people alone. And notice God's response. He does not scold Moses for weakness. He says, gather seventy elders, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.

Notice God's care in that. He does not demand that Moses simply try harder to carry an impossible load. He acts to relieve him, distributing both the responsibility and the Spirit's help among others, so that Moses is not crushed under a weight he was never meant to bear alone. That you may not bear it yourself alone, God says. It is a tender phrase, the concern of God for his overburdened servant.

There is permission and comfort in this for anyone carrying too much. God does not glorify the martyr who insists on bearing everything alone; he provides shared help, and he wants his servants to receive it. If you are buckling under a load, the godly response may not be to grit your teeth and carry more, but to admit, as Moses did, that it is too heavy alone, and to let God bring others to share it. You were not meant to bear it by yourself. Receive the help God provides.

Lord, when I am buckling under a load too heavy to carry alone, remind me that you do not want your servants crushed. Like you did for Moses, provide others to share the burden, and give me the humility to admit it is too heavy and to receive the help you send. I was not meant to bear it alone.