In today’s Old Testament reading, we see where God takes His Spirit upon Moses and places it on seventy elders of Israel. This equips the elders to share the burden of leadership with Moses, signifying God’s desire to empower His chosen people. However, this event happens only once and does not extend to all the Israelites, even though Moses expresses a heartfelt wish for all of God’s people to be prophets filled with the Spirit.
Fast forward to the New Testament, and we see the fulfillment of Moses’ wish with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. After Stephen’s martyrdom, the spread of the Gospel accelerates, and we see believers in Samaria receive the Holy Spirit. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch further illustrates how God’s Spirit brings people into a deeper understanding of the Scriptures and a personal relationship with God.
Through Jesus Christ, the promise of the Holy Spirit is now accessible to all who believe (Ephesians 1:13-14), transforming our lives and empowering us to live according to God’s expectations.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help me walk in the consciousness of the Holy Spirit at work in my life.
Today’s reading
Numbers 11-13
Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah,[a] because fire from the Lord had burned among them…
Acts 8:14-40
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus…