Join the Band of Others

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest… He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”  Luke 10:1-2, 16 NKJV

It was September of 1980. I had just moved into my new apartment in Tulsa after leaving Oklahoma City to go to Bible school. I left a really good job behind. To pay tuition and rent, I cashed in my retirement. Now I was looking for work. The cupboards were bare. I knew no one in Tulsa. I was excited for the adventure, but more than a little anxious. What if I was just crazy and not called?

After a lot of tossing and turning, I prayed myself to sleep. Early the next morning a dream woke me. It looked like an old, grainy black-and-white movie of a dusty, chaotic city street I didn’t recognize. Then, like an old newsreel, a newspaper came spinning toward me and stopped so I could read the headline. All it said was “Ezekiel 3:11.” I had no idea what that verse said, so I got up and looked it up. (This was in the days when dinosaurs roamed and we all used the King James.)

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.  Ezekiel 3:11 KJV

I heaved a sigh of relief. No matter how insignificant and incapable I felt, God had called and commissioned me. My job was to go and speak for Him. The results were God’s problem.

In Luke 6, Jesus singled out twelve men from among His disciples and appointed them by name. He called them apostles—ones who are sent (Gk. apostellō) with a message. In chapter 9 He gave them power to heal and cast out devils, along with specific instructions to proclaim the kingdom of God to the house of Israel. That elite group is still recognized today as the vanguard of the gospel mission.

Then comes the story in chapter 10 of Jesus sending “others.” These “others” seem to have a less specific commission. They were sent (Gk. apostellō) to “every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” They were told to heal the sick and proclaim the Kingdom. We know they had authority over demons because when they returned they were rejoicing that “even the demons are subject to us in Your name” (Luke 10:17).

Unlike the Twelve, the seventy are nameless. Names for a few have been suggested over the centuries, but none are verifiable. He sent them “before His face”—a frequent Old Covenant way of speaking of His presence and blessing. The number seventy corresponds to the nations that arose from the seed of Noah in Genesis 10, the peoples scattered at Babel. These “others” were a nameless army of disciples, the first wave carrying His presence and Kingdom to the nations.

Israel was small. Maybe twelve could handle it. But the world is a big place. The harvest was beyond the imagination of that little band of “others.” He told them to pray for laborers. As they went, they were to recruit more “others”—an anonymous army of men and women sent to prepare the way in the places He intended to visit. That started a progressive multiplication of the band of “others” that will continue until Jesus returns in glory.

You and I are in that company—part of the army of “others” sent to carry His presence and His message to the nations. Wherever you serve—on the job, at school, or on the street—you are the answer to the prayers of those who have gone before. You carry the answer to the hopes of the people He puts in your path. You are on a mission from God. The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are you.

After the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit, Peter preached the first Christian sermon. In it, he reached back to the prophet Joel to describe this new phenomenon.

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, THAT I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS. AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY. (Acts 2:16-18 NKJV)

If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and you have been endued with the Holy Spirit, then you are commissioned to go prepare the way for His next visitation. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, young or old. Your socioeconomic status is irrelevant. You have the Holy Spirit and He will enable you to speak in the Name of Jesus.

When you realize you are part of the ever-expanding band of “others,” it changes everything. Verse 16 of Luke 10 becomes yours. Speaking to “others,” Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, said, “The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” Selah.