It was the ancient counterpart of the day of Pentecost, when the
disciples met, and the Spirit came upon them as a mighty, rushing wind,
and they began to speak with other tongues, as men chosen and inspired
by God.

In the 25th verse of the eleventh chapter of Numbers, it is said that
"_the Lord took of the spirit that was upon Moses, and gave it unto the
seventy elders_." Some conclude from this statement that, as a
punishment for his intemperate prayer, the wisdom of Moses was thus
lessened, while others were enriched at his expense. But wisdom, and
all gifts similar to it, are not diminished by distribution. If we
impart information, we do not lessen our own store of knowledge. If we
give of our love lavishly, yet affection is not lessened by such
outpouring. The spread of fire over what is inflammable increases its
intensity. Though we light a thousand candles from one which burned
alone at first, it still burns brightly as before. So is it with the
Spirit of whose fulness we all receive. No Christian man is poorer
because his brother is enriched with grace, nor was Moses. "_There is
that scattereth, and yet increaseth_."

It is time that we turned to the two men, Eldad and Medad, who,
although summoned with their brethren, did not come to the assembly at
the Tabernacle. They may have been absent from their tents when the
papyrus letter was delivered, and would not be quickly found in the
vast camp. Be this as it may, what followed is evidence that they did
not wilfully disobey the summons, and that their absence was not due to
any bad motive. For some reason unknown to us they failed to put in an
appearance at the critical time, when others of the elect were
receiving the mysterious but efficient grace of the Spirit. Yet, at
one and the same moment, they also were inspired while walking