AFM turns 40 this year! Two years ago, I did as well, and it got me thinking about the significance of the number 40 in Scripture.
The number 40 is representative of a generation and appears about 146 times in the Bible. It is often associated with a time of trial, testing or judgment. Think of how the Israelites were tested in the wilderness for 40 years (Deuteronomy 8:1-3) or how God gave the Ninevites 40 days to repent before exercising judgment on them (Jonah 3:4).
We can also see that 40 represents a time during which God prepares His people to become spiritually stronger, more mature, and better able to accomplish the work He has set before them. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert before beginning His public ministry (Matthew 4:2), and Moses spent 40 years as a lowly shepherd before God entrusted him with the work of delivering His people from slavery (Acts 7:30-34).
Man would have dispensed with that long period of toil and obscurity, deeming it a great loss of time. But Infinite Wisdom called him who was to become the leader of his people to spend forty years in the humble work of a shepherd. The habits of caretaking, of self-forgetfulness and tender solicitude for his flock, thus developed, would prepare him to become the compassionate, longsuffering shepherd of Israel. No advantage that human training or culture could bestow, could be a substitute for this experience. (Patriarchs and Prophets p. 247)
Moses needed the testing and trial of wilderness-shepherd life to develop his character in a way that would enable him to become the leader that God needed him to be. In other words, there were lessons that he had to learn before he could effectively lead the children of Israel.
Moses was not prepared for his great work. He had yet to learn the same lesson of faith that Abraham and Jacob had been taught—not to rely upon human strength or wisdom, but upon the power of God for the fulfillment of His promises. And there were other lessons that, amid the solitude of the mountains, Moses was to receive. (ibid.)
As I reflect on Moses’ experience in light of AFM’s 40-year milestone, I cannot help but ask if there are lessons that God wants us to learn. Are we, as an organization, prepared to do all that God desires on behalf of the unreached? Have we learned the lessons of faith that great men of old learned through trial and affliction? Is there a higher level of spiritual maturity to which God is calling us in these last days?
How about you, dear reader? Are there lessons that God has been seeking to teach you in preparation for a leading role in reaching an unreached people group with the gospel? Please contact us at 800-937-4236 or recruiter@afmonline.org. We would love to use our 40 years of knowledge to help you on your journey.
