43 SHARING

NUMBERS 31:1-6, 25-27; 1 SAMUEL 30:20-25; ACTS 4:32-35

31:1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.


31:25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. 27 Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.


30:20 He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.” 21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. 22 But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.” 23 David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. 24 Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” 25 David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.


4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

This is a study on Christian leadership. A subset of Christian leadership is the principle of sharing alike because leading for the common good is a part of good leadership. Moses is the first source of instruction, followed by David who later correctly applied the principle of sharing and then finally the early church in which the idea is developed into full bloom. In Acts 4 each person shared what and how they wanted. It was not forced, demanded or imposed. Such coercion, as implemented in communism as a political or economic policy is a perversion, an extreme form of a good thing. When implemented correctly and voluntarily, sharing is a beautiful thing. Those with extra possessions or provisions can freely share with those who lack. This is a good thing. In Numbers 31, we observe the distribution of the spoils which were taken in an expedition against Midian. God himself directed how they should be distributed, and Moses and Eleazar acted according to His directions. In this way unhappy contests among themselves were prevented and the victory and its spoils became a common benefit. It was fit that the God who gave them the spoils of victory would order how it would be disposed. All we have is from God and therefore all must be subject to His will.


The spoils of battle are ordered to be divided into two parts, one for the 12,000 men that undertook the war, and the other for the congregation. The spoils that were divided seem to have been only the captives and the cattle. Jewels and other goods, it appears, every man kept what he took as is mentioned in verse 53, “Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.” One half of the spoil was given to the whole congregation, Moses allotting to each tribe its share, and then leaving it to the heads of the tribes to divide their respective shares among themselves, according to their families. The war was undertaken on the behalf of the whole congregation so they would all have been ready to go to the help of the Lord against the enemy if they had been so ordered. They probably did help by their prayers and, therefore God appoints that the principle of Psalm 68:12 was to be implemented here: “Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.” Those who are employed in public trusts must not think to benefit themselves only by their toils and hazards, but must aim at the advantage of the community. Even with the sharing, we notice that the 12,000 that went to the battle still had as much for their share as the whole congregation of fifty times as many had. The individual soldiers had a much better share than of their brothers who remained at home and this too was evidently considered fair since God is the One who said to divide it this way. The greater efforts some make, the greater hazards they risk in the service of God and our generation. So, the greater will be their reward at last. When we get to heaven we will observe that all do not receive the same reward. Rewards are evidently calculated fairly based on the merit of the individual. This is consistent with many other Scriptures.

In 1 Samuel 30 we have an account of the distribution of the spoil which as taken from the Amalekites. When the Amalekites carried away a rich booty from the land of Judah and the Philistines, they spent it in sensuality, eating, and drinking, and making merry with it, but when David disposed of the spoil he recovered from them, he following an entirely different principle. David knew that justice, love and sharing must govern us in the use we make of whatever we have in this world. What God gives us He intends we should do good with it; not serve our selfish personal desires with it. In the distribution of the spoil, David was just and kind to those who stayed by the stuff. They came out to meet the conquerors, and to congratulate them on their success, though they could not contribute to it. Everyone should rejoice in a good work well done, though circumstances may have laid some aside as unable to lend a hand to it. David received their address very kindly, and was so far from upbraiding them with their weakness that he showed himself kindly disposed toward them. He greeted them. He enquired how they did, because he had left them faint and not well. He wished them peace. He wished them good cheer, they should lose nothing by staying behind. They may have feared they would be left out and David could read their facial expressions. There were those that opposed the ones who stayed behind receiving a share in the spoil. 1 Samuel 30:22 says, “But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, ‘Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.’” We may suppose that David had instructed his soldiers, and prayed with them, and yet there were many among them that were selfish and/or wicked men. These men suggested that the 200 men who stayed by the stuff should only have their wives and children returned to them, but none of the goods; give them mouths to feel but no food to feed them. Awhile ago they would gladly have given half their own to recover the other half, yet now that they have all their own they are not content unless they can have their brothers’ too; so soon do men forget their difficult condition. All seek their own, and too often more than their own. But David would by no means allow this. He ordered that those who stayed behind should receive an equal share in the spoils with those that went to the battle.

David upheld the principle that Moses had laid down years before when the Midianites were conquered before Israel entered Canaan. Here is what 1 Samuel 30:23, 24 say, “David replied, ‘No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.’” The spoil we have is something God has given us; we have it from Him, and therefore must use it under His direction as good stewards. Let this caution us today when we are tempted to misapply something God has entrusted us with of this world’s goods. God has been kind to us in preserving us and giving us victory, let us not be unkind. God’s mercy to us should make us merciful to one another. It was true they waited behind; but, it was not for lack of good-will to the cause or to their brothers, but because they did not have the strength to keep up with them. It was not their fault, but their weakness and therefore they ought not to suffer for it. Though they stayed behind this time, they had formerly fought many times in battle and done their part as well as the best of their brothers. Their former faithfulness must be considered now that there was something to enjoy. Even now they did a good service, for they protected the possessions of all. They guarded things somebody must take care of or else that might have fallen into the hands of some other enemy. Every post of service is not alike a post of honor, yet those that are in any way serviceable to the common interest, though in a lesser position, ought to share in the common advantages. So we see David, the gracious and fair leader, overruled the wicked men with reason and mildness. The force of reason is sufficient without the force of passion. David calls them “brothers.” Superiors sometimes lose their authority by haughtiness, but seldom by courtesy or humility. David not only made the present decision fairly, but also established it as a permanent policy. Verse 25 says, “David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.” Interestingly, even before Moses, Abraham returned the stolen possessions of Sodom to the rightful owners, and abandoned any claim to the spoils of war. God appointed that the spoils of Midian in Moses’ day should be divided between the soldiers and the whole congregation, and, even though the case is not exactly the same, still the policy was based on the  same general rule—that we are members one of another and share alike.

The disciples as recorded in the book of Acts also followed the ‘share-alike’ principle. We have a general idea given us in Acts 4:32-35 of the willingness to share alike evident in the early church. It is a beautiful idea describing the spirit and state of the early church. The disciples loved one another dearly. Look how good and how pleasant it was to see the fine quality of unity as shown in verse 32, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.” There was no such thing as discord nor division among them. The beauty of the Lord our God shone on them and all their attitudes and activities. Great grace was on them all, not only all the apostles, but all the believers. The grace that was on them had something great, magnificent and very extraordinary in it and it was on them all. It may have included the favor they were in with the people. Every one saw a beauty and excellency in them, and respected them. Christ poured out abundance of grace on them, such as qualified them for great services, by giving them great power; it came on them from on high, from above. There were evident results of this grace in all they said and did as we observe how they fulfilled the policy of Abraham, Moses and David in their eagerness to generously, freely and voluntarily share what they had. The grace they experienced had a practical application. The last part of verse 33 and the first part of verse 34 say, “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.” They were very liberal to the poor, and dead to this world. This was as great an evidence of the grace of God in them as any other, and recommended them as much to the esteem of the people.

They did not insist on the ownership of their own property. Even children seem to have a sense of ownership, possession and a jealousy for what is theirs. And worldly minded people triumph in claiming  as Laban did recorded in Genesis 31:42, “Laban answered Jacob, ‘The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?’” And Nabal refereed to what was his as recorded in 1 Samuel 25:11, “Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?” Nabal did not share even with someone who had helped him and his shepherds and flocks. These early believers were so taken up with the hopes of an inheritance in the other world that what was in this world was as nothing to them. They were indifferent to earthly property. They did not call what they had their own in a way of pride boasting of it or trusting in it. They did not call it their own, because in their hearts they had, in affection, forsaken all for Jesus, and were continually willing to be stripped of all for their adherence to Him. They did not say that anything was their own. Was that because we can call nothing our own but sin? What we have in the world is more God’s than our’s. We have it from Him, must use it for Him, and are accountable for it to Him. No man said that what he had was his own, “idion”—(in Greek) his peculiar or uniquely a personal possession, for he was ready to distribute it, willing to communicate it and eager to share it. They desired not to eat their morsel alone, but to share what they had with their less fortunate neighbors. Those who had property were not eager to keep it, but very willing to lay it out, and would inconvenience themselves to help their brothers. No marvel that they were of one heart and soul, when they were so unbound to what just days before they might have clung to. Men’s holding and clinging tenaciously to their own, and grasping at more than was their own, are the cause of wars and fightings. These believers abounded so much in generosity that they “shared everything they had.” Earlier in Act 2:46 we see that they ate together in their homes. It says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,” As there were many poor that received the gospel, so there could have been some rich that were able to help them, and the grace of God made them willing. Those that gather much have nothing over, because what they have more then others they have for those who gather little, that they may have no lack. Paul had not yet written 2 Corinthians 8:14, 15, but these believers already understood its principle just as Abraham, Moses and David had. Paul wrote, “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: ‘The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.’” When the teachings of Scripture are applied to the congregation of God, the poor do not beg or rob the rich, but the rich are happy to relieve the poor. Some sold their properties and we are here told what they did with the money that was so raised: They laid it at the apostles’ feet—they left it to the apostles to be disposed of as the apostles thought fit. The apostles probably preferred it to be laid it at their feet to demonstrate their own lack of love for the wealth of the world. Surely the apostles thought it better for these gifts to be laid at their feet than lodged in their hands, pockets or purses. These apostle had no bank accounts in which to preserve anything. Being laid at the disciples feet it was not kept, but distributed. In our churches today care should to be taken in the distribution of public donations so that they are given to qualified persons who have real need. Age, sickness, bodily disability, incapacities of various types, losses, oppressions are all possible reasons to help people in the family of God. Paul in 1 Timothy 5:3-5 describes a part of his guidelines for giving help to widows. It says, “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.” Later in that same letter, Paul says in 6:18, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

No one among us needs to feel resistant to this teaching or policy, because it is left to each individual to implement it as they choose. It is not required and certainly not forced.


Abraham, Moses and David were each good leaders. Generosity and sharing alike were a part of their administrative policies. Let us follow their good example. Our churches and the body of Christ will be stronger for it.