Year A - Pentecost or Energy to Witness
June 8, 2014
Prophecy and power travel together. Prophecy can be passed on as Spirit is distributed among the gathered. It can also have tricks played through technical means, as Eldad and Medad had happen to them. They were registered but not at the gathering and prophesied beyond the once-and-done prophesying by the other 68 (numbering in Numbers can get to be tricky).
In another 5 chapters we will have what is referred to as the rebellion of Korah, which might be thought of as a counter-prophesying against Moses. Eldad and Medad are in some sense forerunners of Korah, even though here they are permitted (what are just 2 to get worried about) but when it gets to be 250 an earthquake is called to swallow them.
We are all in the happy time of everyone being able to prophesy. In theory Pentecostal prophesying has a unifying feature to keep everyone on the same page. This doesn’t seem to be true anymore as folks claim the prophet role from every perspective. Now we are back to the interesting time of discerning true prophets from false—those who see connections between today and tomorrow most clearly and those who would cover tomorrow up with today to keep current power inequalities alive and well.
Pentecost doesn’t just take place in a vacuum of Jesus, but in a context of Judaism. How do you play with these?
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