ELITISM, COMMODIFICATION, AND JEALOUSY - B: 26th Sunday in OrdTime

First Reading: Num 11:25-29 (26 September 2021)

“When the spirit came on them they prophesied, but not again” (Num 11:25b).

This is the narrative description of what transpired to the seventy elders, who were inside the Tent of the Lord when he came down to talk to Moses. They had been extraordinarily blessed at that time, receiving a portion of Moses’ gift of prophecy that they readily utilized. However, it was short-lived. Incidentally, Eldad and Medad, who were not with them, unexplainably received this charism as well. This information drove the elders to raise their complaints to Moses, with Joshua as their spokesperson, saying, “My lord Moses, stop them!” (v. 28).

What is discernible here are three things. First is their adherence to elitism. The elders perceived themselves to be exclusive members of a privileged group that has the sole hold of the prophetic ministry. Their collective number of seventy supports the narrative of their divine election, especially since the number seven (and any number divisible by it) is considered among the Semites as a perfect number, e.g., God’s consecration of the seventh day of the week (Gen 2:2-3 and Exo 31:13-17, where the word Sabbath is derived), seven pairs of animals Noah brought to the ark (Gen 7:2-4), seven lambs Abraham set apart as offering (Gen 21:28-30), and the Feast of the Weeks called Shavu’ot (Exo 34:22, i.e., the seventh week of the wheat harvest).

Second is the elders’ commodification of grace. They thought that God’s grace functions like a commodity that, once received, remains a personal perpetual property of the recipient as long as he continues to be faithful to God’s command. However, God does not operate within this understanding. Rather, grace can be given, removed, and relegated to another for unknown and even bizarre reasons.

Apparently, the elders in the narrative could not accept the fact that their special gift was given to other persons, whom they considered to be not of their ranks.

Third is their blatant display of jealousy. This was clearly noticed by Moses, uttering, “Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all” (Num 11:29). With this prevailing negative sentiment in their hearts, they spoke against Eldad and Medad, discounting their unworthiness even if these two did nothing wrong: they were mere passive recipients of God’s gift of prophecy. Indeed, in the biblical stories, jealousy can be a catalyst for the emergence of more sins, such as malevolent fabrication of lies and even sinister acts of violence (e.g., Cain in Gen 4:1-16; Saul in 1 Sam 18:6-16). In the narrative, Moses reprimanded the elders for harboring such a divisive attitude.

In our present context, there are many political leaders who behave like the 70 elders. Banking on their legitimate ascent to power as indicative of their divine election, they romanticize the idea of elitism, believing that they are the only ones capable and worthy of the task of leadership. Alongside, they begin to commodify God’s grace, extending authority to only whom they like. Moreover, out of jealousy, they repress and persecute individuals who begin to manifest leadership skills, indiscriminately tagging them as usurpers of power.

As God, through Moses, condemned these behaviors, let us also disprove and speak against politicians and socio-religious leaders who similarly display the same evil tendencies.

- Rex Fortes, CM