John Calvin Commentary Numbers 11:28

"And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them." — Numbers 11:28 (ASV)

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses. It is obvious that this foolish and preposterous jealousy arose from a good source. Joshua saw that Moses was so preeminent above all others as to be justly deemed, after God, the head of the people; he feared, therefore, that if any portion of his superiority should be withdrawn, the grace of God would be dispelled and lost. We also know that almost every change is harmful and likely to disrupt public affairs. Therefore, in asserting the rights of Moses, he desired, as much as he could, to consider the welfare of all. However, the excess of his zeal had some flaw in it, because of the immoderate affection and love he had for Moses, just as it often happens to us that, although our desires have a right object, they still go astray into mistaken feelings.

So then, let us learn to revere the most illustrious servants of Christ in such a way that God alone remains supreme, and that He, who is far above all, should still maintain His preeminence. This will be the case if we hold firmly to the principle that although there are diversities of gifts, yet there is but one Spirit from whom they flow; and although there are differences of administrations, yet there is but one Lord who must be served (1 Corinthians 12:4–5), which also Paul confirms elsewhere, where he teaches us that the gifts are so distributed that no individual should have all, but each

according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Ephesians 4:7).