In Numbers 20, we are in the first month of the 40^th year after the Lord set his people free from slavery in Egypt. That first generation witnessed the ten plagues, went through the Red Sea, saw God destroy their enemies, saw God reveal himself in dark cloud and fire on Mount Sinai, where he entered into a covenant with them to be their God and he took them to be his people. Before the contract was even delivered, they had been unfaithful and broken it, but he forgave and promised to be with them. They followed his instructions to build him a tent so that he could dwell in the middle of their camp. The Lord organized the tribes around his tent, organized them for the march to his promised land, and had the military age men numbered. Following God’s pillar of cloud and fire, when they arrived at the borders of the land, they sent spies, ten of whom brought an evil report, and the people rejected the Lord, his land and his leaders and desired to return to slavery. Their rejection got them what they asked for; their dead bodies would fall in the wilderness, but God would keep his promise to their children; the next generation would enter his land. Numbers 20 jumps ahead to the last of that generation falling in the wilderness. Even their leaders would die outside the land for their disobedience. Miriam died, Moses and Aaron failed to treat the Lord as holy and would join their generation falling outside the land. Only two of that generation would enter in, the faith filled spies Caleb and Joshua.

At the beginning of this chapter, Miriam died. The people complained of no water, and in an extension of amazing grace, Moses and Aaron were instructed simply to speak to the rock and it would give its water to the people to satisfy their thirst. Instead, they spoke to the people a harsh word of condemnation, took credit for God’s miraculous provision, and struck the rock twice. God in his grace met the people’s need, but the disobedience of Aaron and Moses cost them entry to the promised land. They missed an opportunity to put on display the amazing grace of God, giving the people what they don’t deserve. The Lord will defend the honor of his holiness, even when it is his chosen leaders who despise his grace.

Attempted Diplomacy with Esau/Edom

In verse 14, we see diplomatic negotiations with the king of Edom.

Numbers 20:14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

Usually addressing a king, a more humble deferential term is used, like servant or slave. But here Moses introduces the people as ‘your brother’; there is a familial tie, a family obligation. This is not a subordinate making a request to a superior, this is a sibling.

The people of Edom are the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Genesis 36 tells us that ‘Esau is Edom’. Edom sounds like the Hebrew word ‘red’, reminding us both of Esau’s appearance at birth, and how he sold his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew (Gen.25:30). Later Jacob deceived his father and stole the blessing from his brother as well. The relationship between Jacob (renamed Israel) and his brother Esau had been strained ever since.

Moses recounts both their hardships and the Lord’s faithfulness to them; they were harshly treated in Egypt, but when Israel cried out to YHWH, God sent his Angel, his Messenger to deal harshly with their oppressors and set them free with his mighty hand. This could be taken as both a threat and a promise; threat of judgment on those who mistreat God’s people, and a promise of blessing on those who bless them.

The request is simple; safe passage, without any expectation of hospitality. They will not take anything from Edom, neither water nor provisions.

Numbers 20:18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.”

Their request is flatly rejected, with a threat of violence. But Israel gives diplomacy another opportunity.

Numbers 20:19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”

The terms of strict respect for property are restated with the offer of remuneration for any damages or anything taken.

Numbers 20:20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Diplomacy failed to secure the desired direct passage to the promised land. Rather than engage in battle, Israel turned away to take a long circuitous route to the land, a route we will see in the next chapter that caused frustration and grumbling among the people.

We don’t see any prayer, any seeking the Lord’s direction for guidance in this situation. But Moses recounts in Deuteronomy 2

Deuteronomy 2:2 Then the LORD said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’

The Lord had warned Moses to be careful with Edom, the people of Esau. He warned them not to contend with them. And he made clear that he would not give them any of their land. He reminds them of how YHWH God has blessed them and been with them, that he is the source of every good thing.

Deuteronomy 2:8 So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.

Later in Numbers, the pagan prophet Balaam will prophesy that Edom will be dispossessed (Nu.24:18), and in 2 Samuel 8, David subjugated Edom along with many other nations (2Sam.8:11-14).

Aaron Gathered to His People

Numbers 20:22 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. 23 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24 “Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26 And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.”

This chapter began with the death of Miriam, in the middle even Moses and Aaron act in unbelief and rebel against the command of the Lord and are excluded from the promised land, and now the chapter ends with the death of Aaron the anointed high priest. The wages of sin is death. There are grave consequences for unbelief, for failing to treat the Lord as holy.

Moses, Aaron and Eleazar are to go up to the top of Mount Hor for this grim task. Aaron is stripped of his holy garments that designated him as high priest of the nation, the ephod with two onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes, stones of remembrance which he bore before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance (Ex.28:12); the breastpiece with 12 engraved stones that he bore over his heart to bring the people to regular remembrance before the Lord, and to bear the judgment of the people on his heart before the Lord (Ex.28:28-30); a robe of blue with gold bells and pomegranates around the hem ‘and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD’ (Ex.28:31-35); and a turban with a plate of gold inscribed with ‘holy to the LORD’ to bear any guilt and from the gifts of the people, ‘that they may be accepted before the LORD’ (Ex.28:36-38).

There was a sense of shame in this stripping of the holy garments off Aaron because of his unbelief and rebellion, and there was also a practical aspect; if he died in these holy garments, they would need to be cleansed. To remove them before he died allowed uninterrupted continuity, with Eleazar able to immediately assume the role of high priest for the nation. This was a grace for the people.

This was also grace on Aaron. He would die and be gathered to his people. This is an intimation of the hope of something beyond death. In Genesis, this was said of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob; each was ‘gathered to his people.’ When David’s child died, he had the expectation that “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2Sam.12:23). Job said

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Jesus is even more clear; he told the story of a rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16; he said

Luke 16:22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

The righteous; those counted righteous through faith in Jesus Christ will be gathered together, comforted, while those who lived only for this life will be in anguish. To the murderer crucified with Jesus, who turned and believed in Jesus,

Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Hebrews 11 chronicles those who by their faith in God looked not to an earthly homeland but ‘to a better country, a heavenly one’, ‘to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God’ (Heb.11:10,13-16).

Aaron was disobedient, and died outside the land, and was gathered to his people. Although he was excluded from entering the promised land, he had a better country, a heavenly one, where he was gathered to his people.

The Death of the High Priest

Numbers 20:27 Moses did as the LORD commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

The high priest of Israel died. We are told in Numbers 33 that Aaron the priest was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. Eleazar his son took his place as high priest of the nation. From this point on in Numbers it is no longer ‘Moses and Aaron’ it is Moses and Eleazar the priest; in Joshua it becomes ‘Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun’. The transition to the next generation has begun. In Judges it is ‘Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron’ (Jud.20:28).

In 1 Chronicles 6 we find this list:

1 Chronicles 6:3 The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 4 Eleazar fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua, 5 Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi, 6 Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered Meraioth, 7 Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, 8 Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz, 9 Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan, 10 and Johanan fathered Azariah ( it was he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem). 11 Azariah fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, 12 Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Shallum, 13 Shallum fathered Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah, 14 Azariah fathered Seraiah, Seraiah fathered Jehozadak; 15 and Jehozadak went into exile when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

The wages of sin is death. The priests of Israel were all sinners who died. Hebrews 7 laments:

Hebrews 7:23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,

But the author of Hebrews is telling us that in every way Jesus is better. We have a better high priest.

Hebrews 7:23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus is better, because he always lives to make intercession. His service as our great priest will never be interrupted. Jesus, being God, is eternal. He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. When an Israelite sinned, Aaron, or his son, or his son’s son would make atonement, would intercede. Did you know that today, when you sin, Jesus, seated at the right hand of his Father in glory is praying for you? He is able to save fully, completely, entirely, all who draw near to God through him as their only intermediary.

Hebrews 7 goes on:

Hebrews 7:26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Aaron failed to honor God as holy, he was guilty, blood on his hands, he was a sinner just like the rest of Israel. He had his own sins to offer sacrifices for; he had to first be cleansed in order to be fit to offer sacrifices for others. Jesus is our better priest; he is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He is not a sinful descendant of a long line of sinners; he is the sinless Son of God who offered himself for others.

Today, draw near to God through Jesus, our great high priest!

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Number 20 begins a movement in the book of Numbers on a different trajectory. So far in Numbers things had looked promising, the people obedient, organized, following God’s leading, and they quickly spiral into failure, disobedience, rebellion. This chapter sounds a bleak note of death and disobedience, but the following chapters move us definitively back toward the promised land.

This chapter begins with the death of Miriam, in the middle is the death sentence on Moses and Aaron for their disobedience, and ends with Aaron’s death on the mountain and his son established as high priest in his place. We are going to take just the first half of this chapter today.

Miriam’s Death

Numbers 20:1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

Miriam, prophetess of Israel, Moses’ older sister who watched over him as an infant in the Nile, who led the women in song at the Red Sea deliverance, who with her brother Aaron criticized Moses’ leadership and was struck with leprosy, for whom Moses interceded and she was healed, now died and was buried. Unlike the latter part of this chapter where Moses and Aaron are condemned to die for their disobedience, nothing is spoken of her sin or guilt or shame. She simply died and was buried. Because of the rebellion of the people, the Exodus generation would fall in the wilderness, and we see in this chapter that even their flawed but faithful leaders would fall outside the promised land.

The people are on the march again, this time to the wilderness of Zin, camping at Kadesh. Although the year is not specified, this is the first month. In Exodus 12 the first month was established for them as the month of the Passover, the month of deliverance from slavery, to be commemorated every year. In Exodus 40 it was the first month of the second year when the tabernacle was erected. Numbers 9 picks up the story at the same point, the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt. According to the chronology in Numbers 33, we are leaping ahead to the first month of the fortieth year after leaving Egypt, as the last of those fighting men numbered at the beginning of this book were being laid to rest in the wilderness. The wages of sin is death.

The Complaint of No Water

Numbers 20:2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

If you’ve been with us through Numbers, this feels all too familiar. There’s a problem, an obstacle, circumstances are less than ideal, and the people default to grumbling, complaining, even preferring death to the circumstance they were currently facing. They accuse, blame their leaders for their problems.

The current problem is no water. That’s a serious problem, but this is not the first time they have faced problems with water. On leaving Egypt, there was too much water; they were trapped between the army of Pharaoh and the Red Sea, and the Lord parted the waters of the sea so they could walk across on dry land. Those same waters became the waters of judgment which closed over their pursuing enemies. In Exodus 17, at Rephidim there was no water, and the Lord split the rock and brought water from the rock for the people to drink (we will come back to this event in a bit). In Numbers 19 God provided the ashes of a red heifer to be mixed with living water to make the water that cleansed from the impurity of death. Here in Numbers 20, the problem was again no water, and now this next generation, like their fathers, were assembling together against their leaders to issue their complaint. But their complaint goes far beyond water.

They actually say that it would have been better for them to stand with the rebels of chapter 16 and fall under the wrath of God as fire came out from the Lord and consumed them. They would rather be swallowed by the earth and go down alive to Sheol than to endure a lack of the niceties of food and drink.

They attribute the Exodus to Moses and Aaron rather than to the Lord, and they view it as an evil plot to kill them rather than divine intervention to set them free. How often we reflect back on our slavery with fondness as if it were freedom, and complain about the true freedom the Lord has purchased for us!

They fail to take any responsibility for their current circumstances; they were in the wilderness because in chapter 13 they listened to the 10 spies who doubted the Lord’s promise to give them the land, and said that the opposition was just too big for them to conquer, rather than following the two who believed the Lord’s promises and said ‘let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it’ (Nu.13:30). They complain of no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, the very things the spies brought back to demonstrate that the land the Lord promised to give them was an exceedingly good land, flowing with milk and honey. They were now in this ‘evil’ place because of their choice to reject the land God promised to give to them. They were following in the footsteps of their fathers.

A Word Of Grace

Numbers 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them, 7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

This too sound familiar. Moses and Aaron take the complaint of the people to the Lord and intercede for the people. The last time these two were on their faces before YHWH the plague had already broken out and Aaron rushed into the midst of the congregation to take his stand between the dead and the living to make atonement for them, because wrath from the Lord had already gone out. (Nu.16:44-49). But this time is different. There is no condemnation from the Lord, no rebuke of their sinful attitudes, no threat of judgment on the people. The glory of the Lord appeared, but this time with a gracious word. Assemble the congregation, take the staff, speak to the rock, and it will yield its water for all to drink and be satisfied.

I wonder if Moses and Aaron were a bit bewildered as they were on their faces before the Lord. No wrath breaking out, no fire, no plague, no judgment, no atonement to be made; just a word of grace, giving the rebellious people the good they don’t deserve.

The Rebellion of Moses and Aaron

Numbers 20:9 And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Moses took the staff from before the Lord. The only staff that we know was placed in the presence of the Lord is Aaron’s staff from chapter 17 that ‘had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds’, which was meant to ‘make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you’ (Nu.17:5,8). Although we are not told, I doubt this fruitful staff withered in the presence of the Lord. Imagine this abundantly fruitful branch, which was ‘to be kept as a sign for the rebels’, being brought out by Moses and Aaron. This would have gotten the attention of the congregation. Moses was instructed to take the staff and speak to the rock. He took the staff, but he spoke to the rebels. And what he says is startling; ‘Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?’ Moses, who in the past had pleaded before God on behalf of the rebellious people, now berates the people, giving them a verbal lashing. And even worse, he and Aaron take credit for the promised miraculous provision of water with no reference to the Lord as the provider of every good thing. Then imagine Moses taking this fruitful staff, and smashing it into the rock, scattering a flurry of leaves and buds and blossoms and almonds flying in every direction.

It seems they didn’t know how to respond to God’s grace. The Lord had revealed his character to Moses:

Exodus 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Exodus 34:5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

YHWH is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He will be gracious to whom he will be gracious, and show mercy to whom he will show mercy, all the while upholding his absolute justice. What Moses and Aaron were more familiar with was God’s just and holy wrath breaking out in judgment, and their posture of seeking to appease his wrath through incense and intercession. But here it seems they felt the people needed to be rebuked, so they rebuked them, forgetting that even they were commanded in Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord’ (Dt.32:35; Rom. 12:19). It is not for you to take vengeance when I desire to show mercy.

Consequences for Unbelief

Numbers 20:12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.

There were consequences for unbelief, even for the appointed leaders of Israel. Even good leaders can fail. They failed to take God at his word, to believe what he said and to do exactly what he said. They failed to uphold him as holy in the eyes of the people. And the Lord will defend the honor of his holiness.

Strike The Rock

There’s some backstory to this account that we need to consider. Back in Exodus 17,

Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Forty years earlier, Moses had been commanded by the Lord to strike the rock to bring out rivers of living water. We also need to understand what the rock represented. In Psalm 78, which reflects on these events;

Psalm 78:15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. …20 ​He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. … … 35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.

God was their Rock; Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 of Israel:

1 Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

The Lord said ‘I will sand before you there on the rock, and you shall strike the rock.’ The Lord was saying ‘I must be stricken to bring out rivers of living water’

Isaiah 50:6 ​I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 ​But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 ​All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The smitten Rock was Christ. But the sacrifice of Jesus was once for all.

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has entered… into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

The Rock has been struck. Now all who are thirsty need only come to him to drink, speak to him, ask of him, our abundantly fruitful great High Priest, and he is pleased to answer, overflowing with mercy and grace for sinners.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Defiling Death and the Wages of Sin

We’re in Numbers 19; the Lord brought his people to the border of his promised land, but in Numbers 13 they rejected their Lord, his land, and his leaders. God offered them freedom, relationship, the abundant life, and they chose slavery, alienation, and ultimately death. That whole generation would die in the wilderness. Dathan and Abiram died for their rebellion. Korah and his followers died before the Lord. The Lord struck down 14,700 Israelites before Aaron could run into the midst of the people and make atonement for them. In the coming chapters, Miriam will die, Aaron will die, at the end of Deuteronomy even Moses will die. Death will characterize the next 40 years in the wilderness.

Death is not what God meant for humanity. The wages of sin is death. God meant for us to enjoy relationship with him, but we chose to do things our own way, determine for ourselves what was good or evil. We refused to embrace his loving leadership, and we brought death into his good world. Death is the epitome of all that is wrong with the world, and a picture of our ultimate separation from the goodness of God. Death is contagious, contaminating, defiling. Death is excluded from God’s presence. In Numbers 5 God instructed the people to cleanse the camp, and that included putting outside the camp those who were defiled by contact with the dead. In Numbers 9, there were some defiled by contact with a dead body, who were excluded from keeping the Passover.

Numbers 19 graciously gives the procedure for cleansing those unclean through defilement from contact with death, and as we’ve seen throughout Numbers, this points far beyond the Old Testament, to the fulfillment and true cleansing that is only found in Jesus.

The first half of Numbers 19 gives this strange procedure for preparing ashes to be used in cleansing, and the second half describes how these ashes are to be utilized in cleansing from the defilement of death.

The Ashes of a Red Heifer

Numbers 19:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. 3 And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. 9 And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.

There are several unique things about what verse 9 calls ‘a sin offering’. Leviticus 4 gives the standard procedure for sin offering; a bull (a male not a female) is to be sacrificed at the tabernacle (not outside the camp). The one who sinned is to lay his hand on the head of the animal to identify with it; this sacrifice is rather a preparation intended to be applied to cleanse future defilement. Similarly to the regular sin offering, the blood is sprinkled seven times with the finger, but in Leviticus the blood is sprinkled before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary, not outside the camp, in the direction of the tabernacle. In Leviticus, some of the blood is applied to the horns of the incense altar, and the rest is poured on the ground at the base of the sacrificial altar, but in this sacrifice the blood is burned with the animal. In Leviticus, some of the animal is burned on the sacrificial altar in the tabernacle, and the rest is burned outside the camp; this animal is entirely burned outside the camp.

Some other differences; the color of the cow is specified to be red, whereas the usual sin offering was simply to be an animal without blemish. This procedure includes the burning of cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn along with the animal, items that were used in the cleansing of infectious skin diseases or spreading mildew or mold in a house in Leviticus 14.

The priest oversees this sacrifice, sprinkles the blood, and adds the cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn, but he is not doing the majority of the work of this sacrifice. It seems there is involvement by several not-priestly Israelites; one who slaughters and burns the animal, and another who collects the ashes and stores them for future use. It is also interesting that each one involved in this process of preparing ashes for cleansing becomes himself ceremonially unclean, and must wash his clothes and bathe and be unclean until evening.

Unlike the regular sin offering which is immediately effective for the one who offers the sacrifice, this sacrifice is intended to provide a way to cleanse the future defilement of future sinners.

Application of the Purifying Ashes

The rest of this chapter describes how this sacrifice was to be applied.

Numbers 19:11 “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. 12 He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. 13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. 14 “This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. 15 And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. 16 Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17 For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel. 18 Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. 19 And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean. 20 “If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. 21 And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

The ashes of the burnt sin offering were to be mixed with fresh water (literally living water) and the cleansing water was to be sprinkled with hyssop by a clean person on the unclean person on the third and seventh day, and they would be cleansed. This cleansing was readily available to all; both to the Israelite, and to any foreigner who identifies with them. It could be administered by any ceremonially clean person.

Consequences of Neglect

But the consequences of neglect, of failing to apply the provided remedy is also clearly stated; ‘if he does not cleanse himself …he will not become clean.’ ‘Whoever …does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel …he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.’ (19:12-13) ‘If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean.’ (19:20). A failure to be cleansed from the defilement of death meant death.

Moses Wrote of Jesus

What’s the point of all this? Just some ancient trivia about an antiquated Israelite ritual, completely obsolete, obscure and irrelevant?

Remember, Jesus claimed ‘if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me’ (Jn.5:46).

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

How does this strange ritual point us to Jesus?

Death Conquered

Death is contagious, contaminating, defiling; the danger of contact with death is that we too will die. Spiritual death ultimately separates us from God’s good presence.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, … 3 …and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Numbers 19 offers a way to be cleansed from the contamination of death. But Jesus does more; he cleanses us not only from the uncleanness which comes from contact with death, Jesus grants us immunity from death; he inoculates us against the ultimate power and penalty of death;

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

1 Corinthians 15:54 … “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 ​“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Guilt Exchanged for Cleansing

How does Jesus guarantee eternal life to sinners who believe in him? One thing we see in this ritual is that the ones who make and apply the sacrifice become unclean, and the unclean one to whom the sacrifice is applied is made clean. Contact with this sacrifice cleanses the defiled and defiles the clean. But we know there is only one who is truly clean. Peter says

1 Peter 2:22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. …24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 9 compares and contrasts the blood of Christ with the animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant.

Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

The cleansing of Christ is greater! How much more! Not mere outward ceremonial, but inward transformation, transforming our heart, purifying our conscience.

David, after committing adultery and murder, sins not covered by any sacrifice in the Old Testament, cried out for this kind of cleansing;

Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Outside The Camp

This sacrifice was unique in that the entire thing happened outside the camp, the place to which those who were unclean were sent. Hebrews 13 highlights the fact that:

Hebrews 13:12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Like the high priest in chapter 16, who did not stay at a safe distance from death but ran into the midst of the congregation to take his stand between the dead and the living, Jesus comes down to us, he meets us right where we are, in our hopelessness, brokenness and need.

Instant Cleansing; Just Add Water

But sometimes we struggle to believe how something that happened so long ago can have any relevance for us. How can Jesus’ death 2000 years ago apply to us today?

This red heifer sacrifice was a form of dehydrated forgiveness, instant cleansing, just add water! There was no expiration date. The sacrifice could have been made yesterday or years ago, and it was just as potent as the day it was made. This was a sacrifice that was by its very nature pre-made to forgive future offenses.

The ashes were to be activated with living water. In Jeremiah (2:13; 17:13) YHWH God claims to be the fountain of living water. Jesus offered living water to the sinful Samaritan woman in the heat of the day (Jn.4:10). He said in John 7

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit takes the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and makes it active; he brings the cleansing power of the blood of Christ to bear for you today! It is the power of the Spirit who applies Jesus’ sacrifice made in the past to effect cleansing in us today.

This cleansing water is readily available, but it must be applied. It was to be applied with hyssop, the same plant the Israelites used that first Passover in faith to apply the blood of the lamb to their doorposts to protect them from God’s coming wrath.

The merit of Jesus’ death is available to us today; it is freely available, and it has not lost any of its cleansing power, but it must be applied. It must be applied individually, personally. The consequences on the one who does not take the graciously provided cleansing water and cleanse himself are severe. That one is unclean, his uncleanness is still on him, and he shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Ambassadors for Jesus

Here’s a beautiful thing; any clean person was qualified to apply this cleansing to the one who needs to be cleansed. You don’t have to be a priest. You only have to have yourself been cleansed, and now you can extend his cleansing power to those around you.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Holy Justice

Last time we saw 14,700 people experience the wrath of God and die because of their hard rebellious hearts, before Aaron was able to take his stand between the dead and the living and make atonement. They all deserved to die, but God listened to the prayers of his servants, and turned away his wrath.

The Lord is fully able to fulfill all his promises. He brought his people to the border of his promised land, and promised to go before them and drive out the inhabitants and give them victory over an enemy greater and more powerful than themselves. But they refused God’s promises, rejected his leaders, desired a return to slavery, and now God’s chosen people began to experience the hand of the Lord turning against them rather than their enemies.

Many people reading the Old Testament struggle with God wiping out entire people groups. That doesn’t seem fair. But it’s important to recognize that he waited over 400 years to wipe out the inhabitants of the land, ‘because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete’ (Gen.15:16); he was giving them time, gracious time to repent. And when his people did enter the land under Joshua, those of their enemies (like Rahab) who turned away from their false gods to embrace YHWH as their God were spared, even welcomed. We see here in Numbers that the Lord is not discriminating ethnically; the inhabitants of the land will be punished for their sin and rebellion against God; and so will his own chosen people when they rebel and sin against God. The wages of sin is death.

We All Deserve to Die

We saw last time that 2 Corinthians 4 calls the Law ‘the ministry of condemnation’; ‘the ministry of death’, ‘the letter’ which ‘kills’ (2Cor.4:6-7,9). As Paul says to the Jews of his day in Romans 2:

Romans 2:2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? …5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

He says in Romans 3

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

In Numbers 17 God’s own rebellious people begin to see the wages of their own sins when 14,700 of them are struck down, and Numbers 17 ends with the cry of the people:

Numbers 17:12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

God’s holy presence is dangerous! We all deserve to die! That’s true. The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom. Anyone who claims to have a relationship with God which does not include a holy fear of the Lord, either doesn’t really have that relationship, or they’ve got the wrong god.

God’s Provision of a Mediator

Are we all to die? Chapters 18-19 go on to answer this question for Israel; God appointed the Priests, supported by the other Levites, to mediate, to make atonement; it was their responsibility and privilege to stand in the gap, to draw near to God on behalf of the people, to insulate the congregation from God’s holy wrath. As we saw when Aaron ran to take his stand between the dead and the living, to make atonement for the people, this was all pointing us to the hope of a better Mediator, a more permanent and perfect Mediator; the one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1Tim.2:5-6).

Priests and Levites as (Temporary) Mediators

“Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” (Nu.17:13).

Numbers 18:1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. 2 And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. 4 They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. 5 And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel.

The priests were God’s answer to the people’s cry. The priests are to bear iniquity connected with the priesthood and with God’s sanctuary. The rest of the Levites are to guard the priests and God’s tabernacle, ‘that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel’. This is not new information; God had already made it clear in Numbers 1-4 and 8 that it was the duty of the priests and Levites exclusively to care for God’s tent. But now that he has their attention, now that they are beginning to experience the fear of the Lord, it is a good opportunity to remind them what he had said, to teach them why he set it up that way. Korah, a Kohathite Levite, whose duty it was to guard God’s tabernacle from outsiders, led his fellow Kohathites to violate that very command and do what was forbidden to them, and they died before the Lord.

Gifts Of The Lord

Verse 6 continues:

Numbers 18:6 And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 7 And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Our God is a gift giving God. God gave the priests to the people to bear iniquity. God gave the other Levites as a gift to come alongside the priests to do the service of the tent of meeting, to take down, transport, set up and guard God’s holy tent. God gave to Aaron and his sons the priesthood as a gift, this exclusive and holy privilege of drawing near to God, serving in his holy tabernacle.

The gifts of the Lord continue in verse 8:

Numbers 18:8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. 9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. 10 In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. 11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12 All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you. 13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 14 Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 18 But their flesh shall be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. 19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.”

God is giving gifts to his servants the priests. In the next verse (20) he tells them that they will have no inheritance in the land; no land will be given to them. I want to circle back to that verse at the end. But in an agricultural, farming community, how can someone without land survive? This is going back over some of the ground covered in Leviticus, outlining the sacrifices and offerings the people are to bring to the Lord. But our God is not needy. In Psalm 50 he declares:

Psalm 50:12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Many cultures and many religions have needy gods. I’ve seen people burn candles and leave snacks for their gods, as if their gods are hungry and afraid of the dark, and after a while somebody has to clear out all the spoiled fruits and moldy snacks that their god didn’t eat. Other religions, like those the Lord promised to drive out of the land demanded child sacrifices and other horrific acts. The Lord proscribes animal sacrifices for sin, for guilt, for thanksgiving and fellowship, but God does not need those offerings. Our God is not hungry. They are a gift to the Lord, and the Lord in turn gives his portion of those gifts to his priests to sustain them, as compensation for their service in his holy tent.

He goes on to give gifts to the Levites

Numbers 18:21 “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, 22 so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

A Tithe of the Tithe; Even Spiritual Leaders are Sheep

Uniquely throughout this chapter, the Lord specifically addressed Aaron. Now in verse 25 he turns his instruction back to Moses.

Numbers 18:25 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. 27 And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28 So you shall also present a contribution to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the LORD’s contribution to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the LORD; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ 30 Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. 31 And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”

Moses is given these instructions to provide outside accountability to the tribe of Levi. The entire nation is required to give a portion of what the Lord gives to them back to him, and in this way to provide for the needs of those who serve him. The Levites in turn, are to give back to the Lord a portion of what he gives to them, a tithe of the tithe. Although they are set apart to serve as the spiritual leaders of the people, and receive their support from the other tribes, they ultimately are no different than the rest of the people; everything they have is a gift from the Lord, and they are required to honor the Lord in the same way as the rest of the people by giving back to the Lord a portion of what he gives to them. At the end of the day, spiritual leaders are sheep, who must follow the Lord, dependent on the Lord for everything.

They are to feel no guilt or shame in taking what the Lord blesses them with through the tithes of the people; the are to enjoy their portion however they wish, while all the while being mindful of the weight of responsibility they carry, and the danger of taking lightly what the Lord calls holy.

No Inheritance? The Lord Is My Portion

Numbers 18:20 And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

The Lord said ‘I am your portion and your inheritance’. To a materialistic society this seems like the tribe of Levi got the short end of the stick. But the Psalmists and the prophets repeatedly say ‘YHWH is my chosen portion’ (Ps.16:5). David says:

Psalm 84:2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. … 4 ​Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! — Selah

Psalm 84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

In Luke 10, Martha welcomed Jesus to her home. Her sister Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” (Lk.10:39). When Martha complained that she needed help,

Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary has chosen the good portion. The Lord is my portion!

Psalm 73 says:

Psalm 73:25 ​Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 ​My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Is the Lord your chosen portion? Is he your greatest treasure? Is nearness to him your greatest good? Is there nothing on earth you desire more than the Lord? Is he enough? Even if health and heart fail, is the Lord enough?

Lord, give us a heart like David, let our souls thirst for you (Ps.42,63,143), and be satisfied with nothing short of your presence! As believers in Jesus, Lord, you have given us the best gift; you have given us yourself! In your grace, you have given us access to yourself; you have reconciled sinners to you by the death of your Son (Rom.5:10), you have brought us near.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

We are on the downward side of chapter 14. God faithfully brought his chosen people to the border of his promised land, but they rejected him, his leaders, his land. They disbelieved his promises, were controlled by fear, preferred slavery to his freedom. They accused God of bringing them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, so God said, very well, “your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness …But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected” (Nu.14:29,31). Now because of unbelief, beaten back by the enemies the Lord promised to drive out before them, in chapter 16 we saw a coalition of rebellion, both religious and political, come against the Lord’s appointed leaders.

Korah, a Kohathite Levite, responsible for the care of the holy furniture of God’s tent, not satisfied with his own privileged position, led a rebellion of 250 Kohathites in an attempt gain unrestricted religious access and seize the priesthood, and they were consumed by fire that came out from the Lord as they took upon themselves the priestly action of offering incense before the Lord.

Dathan and Abiram, of the tribe of Reuben, objected to Moses’ authority, accusing him of exalting himself over the people, and the ground opened and swallowed them up as they stood defiantly at the entrance to their tents. They, their families, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the rest of the people fled in fear that they also would be destroyed. And they would have been. Their own rebellious hearts convicted them. The Lord had threatened to destroy them all, but Aaron and Moses had prayed for them, and the Lord extended mercy. He restrained his judgment to only the leaders of the rebellion.

We are picking up the story today in Numbers 16:36. In the Hebrew text, this is actually the first verse of chapter 17. Our English translations follow the Greek Septuagint, which puts the chapter break after verse 40, although the content is the same. The chapter (~AD1227) and verse (~1448OT/1555NT) divisions were added much later in the history of the transmission of the text for our convenience.

Purified by Fire; The Second Bronze Covering [16:36 = 17:1 MT]

Numbers 16:36 ​Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses.

Just like Nadab and Abihu, fire came out from the Lord and consumed the rebels who presumed to act as priests. Eleazar is instructed to collect the bronze censers that had been purified by the Lord’s fire out of the smoldering remains of the 250 rebels. Their bronze censers were made into a visible sign, like the tassels of chapter 15; this time a warning of the consequences for unauthorized trespass and contending against the Lord. This would have left a lasting impression on Eleazar, who would soon serve as high priest in place of his father Aaron, and this second layer of bronze on the altar for burnt offerings would be visible even through the open gates of the tabernacle as a reminder and a warning to the people.

Sin Nature

Surely the gravity of the judgment of God on those who in pride sought to seize the leadership roles given by God to Moses and Aaron; the ground swallowing them up, fire from the Lord consuming them, would cure the congregation of their complaints! But our sin is rooted deep in our nature.

Numbers 16:41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”

The very next day! Yesterday, they were fleeing in fear of the Lord’s just judgment; today they are assembling against their God given leaders, accusing them of responsibility for killing those who had rebelled. How grumbling twists the thinking! Rather than taking responsibility for their own rebellion, turning their backs on their own sinful attitudes, rather than turning back to God in humble repentance and faith, they point fingers and place blame.

Yesterday they had witnessed the wrath of God against rebels and fled in fear. Fear, when not combined with love and trust, is a short-lived motivator.

Selfless Leadership and Intercession; Pray for those who hate you

Numbers 16:42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” …

Are you beginning to see a pattern in Numbers? The people rebel, God is rightly angered, he warns his servants of his coming wrath; and look what those who were the human recipients of the rebels’ anger do in response:

Numbers 16:45 …And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”

Selfless humble leadership, recognizing that all sin is ultimately sin against the Lord. Not taking offense, but rather interceding for the transgressors, selflessly seeking the eternal good of those they are called to serve.

Stand Between the Dead and the Living

Numbers 16:47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.

Aaron took fire from the altar, not the unauthorized fire of Nadab and Abihu, or of the 150 followers of Korah, who brought their own fire. This was holy fire from the altar, the fire that consumed the sacrifices and burnt offerings for the sins of the people. Aaron took sweet smelling holy incense, ignited with coals from the sacrificial altar, and carried it out in the middle of the mess, in the midst of the rebellious congregation, and stood between the dead and the living.

What a picture of prayer, of intercession, of humble bold gospel ministry! We all are sinners, we all are deserving of God’s holy wrath, and the Lord doesn’t owe us mercy. We all stand condemned for our rebellion, we aren’t even looking for rescue, and one is sent to make atonement, to take his stand between the dead and the living, to apply the sacrificial fire, through prayer, to those condemned and dying, to save some from the death they deserve.

Understand that the high priest was never to come in contact with death under any circumstance; that would defile his holiness. This was a great personal risk, to go out into the midst of the people who were experiencing death as the wages of their own sins, to risk contamination from those he was sent to save.

A Sign to End All Grumbling [17:1 = 17:16 in Hebrew MT]

The next section (chapter 17 in our Bibles), God takes action to put a stop to the grumblings of the people, and to take away any question of who he has called to make atonement for the people. If fire from the Lord consuming the 250 who offered incense without authorization and sparing Aaron alone were not enough; if Aaron’s self sacrificial action, taking his stand between the living and the dead, making atonement for the people, and halting the wrath of God were not enough; if all this were not enough, God establishes his chosen intercessor with another miraculous sign.

Numbers 17:1 ​The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. 4 Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.”

The purpose of this test is clearly stated; the grumblings of the people must stop. God will establish the one he chooses. One staff, symbolizing leadership, from each tribe is placed in the holy place. Only Aaron was represented from Levi, which would exclude the other Levite family groups of Gershon, Merari, and Kohath, from which Korah’s rebellion stemmed; the Lord had already decisively demonstrated that Aaron and his descendants alone were accepted.

By Your Fruits; the Fruitful Priestly Ministry

Numbers 17:6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 And Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. 8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

The Lord had said “the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout”, but this is over the top! Not only sprouts, but buds, flowers and ripe fruit! In Matthew 7, Jesus warns of false prophets and says ‘you will recognize them by their fruits.’ This was evidently not natural fruit; clearly this was supernatural fruit. Dead branches disconnected from the tree don’t usually sprout; if they do it doesn’t last. They definitely don’t bud and blossom and produce ripe fruit!

Jesus told us to:

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

As followers of Jesus, we are to be fruitful, to ‘bear fruit for God’ (Rom.7:4).

But why almonds? More on this in a minute.

The Ministry of Death

Numbers 17:9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so he did. 12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

The people respond to the Lord’s supernatural affirmation of the fruitfulness of Aaron’s ministry not with trust but with terror; “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” The law of Moses was a covenant of death. 2 Corinthians 4 calls it ‘the ministry of death’, ‘the letter’ which ‘kills’ (2Cor.4:6-7). This all points to the need for a better priest, a better mediator, one who makes a better covenant, one who takes his stand between the living and the dead and makes a better atonement.

Almonds and Watchers

But why almonds? Numbers 17:8 tells us not only that Aaron’s rod bore fruit, but it bore ripe almonds. Is this significant? There is a connection here with the tabernacle; in God’s instructions for building the furniture of the tent in Exodus 25, he instructed them to build a light-giving tree of solid gold.

Exodus 25:32 And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

The gold lampstand of the tabernacle was to be styled after the almond tree, and Aaron’s staff which bore ripe almonds showed a connection to the garden tree theme of the tabernacle, a restoration of Eden. But I think there’s more here. In Jeremiah 1:11

Jeremiah 1:11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch [shaqed].” 12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over [shaqad] my word to perform it.”

This seems disconnected, until we realize there’s a play on words in the Hebrew in these verses; the word for ‘almond branch’ [shaqed] in verse 11 sounds like the verb ‘watching over’ [shaqad] in Jeremiah 1:12. The almond tree, the first of the trees in the middle east to bloom, was named ‘the watcher’ because it was watching over the changing of the seasons, preparing for action; a promise of good things, good fruit to come. This fruitful almond branch, placed in the holiest place in the presence of the Lord was in a sense a watcher, pointing forward, a promise of better things to come. Isaiah 11:1 says

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

A descendant of David son of Jesse would come, a fruitful branch, a better priest, a better mediator, the only one who is mighty to save.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

The Backstory

We are in Numbers 16. Thus far God’s people have been rescued from slavery to Egypt, brought to Sinai, where they received God’s instructions, entered into a covenant relationship with God, broke that covenant, Moses prayed, God forgave, and they built the tent where God would dwell among them and be their God. They were organized around his central tent, 603,550 fighting men were numbered (Nu.1:46), and they set out across the wilderness to possess the promised land following the leading of the Lord’s pillar of cloud and fire. They grumbled along the way, but the Lord led them safely to the borders of the land. They sent 12 men to spy out the land, but only Caleb and Joshua encouraged the people to go up in obedience and possess the land; the other 10 said “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Nu.13:31). The congregation attempted to kill Joshua and Caleb and choose another leader to lead them back to slavery. The glory of the Lord appeared in wrath and he threatened to wipe out all the people and start over with Moses, but Moses interceded, and God extended both mercy and justice; the 10 died in a plague, the congregation who rebelled were sentenced to fall over the next 40 years, but God promised to bring their children in to the land. The next day they again disobeyed, attempting to conquer the land in their own strength, and were defeated before their enemies.

In chapter 15, the Lord affirmed his promises by giving instructions for that next generation when they had come into the land ‘which I am giving you’ (Nu.15:2). He reminds them that there is sacrifice for unintentional sins, but for willful rebellion, there is no forgiveness. This law is applied to a man openly and willfully disobeying by gathering firewood on the Sabbath, who is killed by the congregation. The Lord instructs them to wear tassels with a blue cord to remind them of his laws, to remind them who they are and to whom they belong.

Numbers 16:1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron…

Korah is a cousin of Moses and Aaron; his father Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi was brother to Amram son of Kohath son of Levi, father of Aaron and Miriam and Moses (Ex.6:18-23). Korah was a Kohathite Levite, entrusted with the holy responsibility of transporting God’s holy furniture of the Tabernacle, and stationed to the south of the Tabernacle (Nu.3:29-32).

Dathan and Abiram and On are of the tribe of Reuben, firstborn of Jacob and Leah, however Reuben forfeited his place of priority in the family by his sexual sin, sleeping with his father’s concubine (Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4). The tribe of Reuben was also camped south of the Tabernacle (Nu.2:10), although the Levites were camped closer, to serve as protection between the dangerous presence of YHWH and the rest of the tribes.

This chapter recounts two parallel rebellions, one political and one religious, rising up against the Lord’s appointed leaders.

Korah; Equal Religious Access

Numbers 16:3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

As often is the case, there was some truth mixed in to give a foundation of credibility to their accusations. The last chapter instructed all the people to wear tassels with a cord of blue to remind them that they were all to be holy to the Lord; identifying them visibly with the color of the tabernacle and the priests.

Numbers 15:39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Back in Exodus 19, the Lord said:

Exodus 19:4 You yourselves have seen …how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

It was true that all in the congregation were to be holy, set apart to the Lord. It was true that YHWH had his tent in the midst of their camp. But it did not follow that all had equal access to the holy places. Those who were unclean were to be put outside the camp. The priests, exclusively descendants of Aaron, were set apart by specific outfits and by the proscribed rituals of cleansing, sacrifices and anointing. If you’ve followed the story thus far, it should be blatantly obvious that Moses and Aaron did not exalt themselves above the assembly; Moses specifically was reluctant to answer God’s call to leadership, and burdened by the weight of leadership, was more than happy to share some of that responsibility with those the Lord brought alongside him.

Moses’ Intercession and Plea; Korah and the 250

Numbers 16:4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”

Moses falls on his face in a posture of humility and intercession before the Lord; how do you argue with a leader who is on his face? There was no point in arguing his case or reasoning with these rebels. Moses would leave it to the Lord to make clear his own choice. And God has every right to choose for himself who he will bring near. It is never a popularity contest; never a matter of taking the office to oneself out of personal ambition or a jealous desire for power. Moses turns their words back on them; ‘you have gone too far, sons of Levi!’

Numbers 16:8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

Korah was of the division of the Kohathites, entrusted with the care of God’s holy furniture, the ark of the covenant, the altar of incense, the table of the bread of the presence, the lampstand, the bronze altar and washbasin. They were given a high and holy calling, but they were not satisfied with that; they wanted more. Their responsibilities on the journey should have reminded them of the danger of drawing near to God unbidden; the priests were to prepare all these holy articles by wrapping them in the curtains and coverings and inserting the carrying poles so that the Kohathites would not inadvertently look at them and die (Nu.4:4-20). Like Eve in the garden, they failed to view God’s boundaries as gracious protection to keep them safe, but rather as undue restrictions to keep from them something they desired.

Leadership Complaint; Dathan and Abiram

Attention now turns to the complaint directed primarily against Moses and his authority.

Numbers 16:12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

This is the height of arrogance! Moses and Aaron, dealing with the 250 Kohathites at the entrance to the east of the Tabernacle, now sends for Dathan and Abiram to come, and they refuse even to appear. They send back a rebuttal that calls evil good and good evil. They label the land of slavery with the Lord’s description of his promised land; ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’. They dredge up the tired accusation ‘you have brought us up’ (no, it was the Lord who brought you up) ‘to kill us in the wilderness.’ The reason they were not now enjoying their inheritance, experiencing the Lord’s promised land, flowing with milk and honey, (which even the evil spies affirmed that it was) is because they had refused to obey the word of the Lord through Moses. And the absurd accusation that Moses had made himself a prince over them! They accuse Moses of lying, in our terms trying to pull the wool over their eyes. They flatly reject Moses’ authority.

Numbers 16:15 And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

This is one of the things Samuel will later warn Israel of in their desire for a king to rule over them (1Sam.8:11-18). Moses is free of any motive of greed or self-promotion.

Korah’s Attempt to Usurp the Office of Priest

Numbers 16:16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

The flagrant arrogance of this act; had they forgotten Nadab and Abihu (Lev.10:1-3; Nu.3:4), the first two sons of Aaron, legitimately descendants of Aaron, fully authorized to serve as priests who offered incense with strange fire and were consumed by the fire of the Lord? But in this there is an opportunity to reflect, to remember, to turn, to repent. Tomorrow.

Numbers 16:19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation. 20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

The Lord comes to the defense of those who are unjustly attacked.

Moses and Aaron’s Intercession in YHWH’s Courts

Numbers 16:22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

Moses and Aaron again prostrate themselves on the ground in prayer for God’s mercy. This is reminiscent of Abraham’s prayer ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? … Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen.18:23,25). Not that any in the congregation were truly righteous, but the Lord again extends mercy; tell the congregation to get away from their dwellings!

Judgment and Mercy; Dathan and Abiram’s Tents (where’s On?)

Numbers 16:25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

This is a tragic display of the consequences of a hard heart. They had opportunity to come before Moses but they refused. Now God’s judgment would extend to their whole household. They were united in their willful rebellion. They all came out and stood defiantly at their doors. The call to ‘depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men’ would have been a final call to even those with them in their tents. At the beginning of the chapter, On the son of Peleth, also a son of Reuben is mentioned alongside Dathan and Abiram, but he is not mentioned again in the narrative. What happened to him? Was he included with them? Did he wake up to the folly of rebellion, turn and distance himself from them and escape their judgment? We aren’t told.

Numbers 16:28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.” 31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!”

Moses discerned that their disrespect of him as leader was at its root despising the authority of the Lord. It was more than a rejection of their human leaders; it was a rejection of the God who appointed them. And the Lord defended his own honor. The earth swallowed them up; they went down alive to the grave.

Wrath on Religious Rebels at the Tabernacle

Moses, along with the elders of Israel had gone to the south side of the camp, where Dathan and Abiram’s tents were pitched. Meanwhile, back at the entrance to the tabernacle, with Aaron;

Numbers 16:35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

Just like Nadab and Abihu, fire came out from the Lord and consumed the rebels.

Grace

Numbers 26, reflecting on these events, warning not to contend against the Lord and against his anointed leaders, tells us

Numbers 26:11 But the sons of Korah did not die.

Even in God’s wrath, there is grace. Apparently some of Korah’s own children distanced themselves from the sin of their father and his rebellion. 1 Chronicles 9 lists among the returned exiles after the Babylonian captivity, descendants of Korah who again served at the temple. 11 Psalms, most of Psalms 42-49 and 84-88 are prefaced with ‘A Psalm of the sons of Korah’

Jesus

It’s interesting that this rebellion was a coalition of two different complaints; one political, one religious. Mark records

Mark 3:6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (cf.Mk.12:13)

Religious and political factions united in their rebellion against the one who humbled himself to become man.

Acts 4:25 …“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Moses and Aaron’s prayer was “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” In John 11,

John 11:49 …Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

Korah, Dathan, Abiram each died for his own sins; Jesus died for the sins of the nation, and more, for you, for me!

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, presenting himself as King of the Jews to the acclaim of the crowds. The next day he drove those who bought and sold out of the temple courts, claiming it as his Father’s house. Tuesday and Wednesday, he taught in the temple, and the religious leaders tried but failed to entrap him in his words.

Thursday, he sent Peter and John to prepare for the Passover meal in an upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus dismissed Judas, who went out to betray him. After the meal, they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. On the way Jesus warns them that they will all desert him, Peter will even deny him three times. Jesus wrestles in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane late into the night, while his disciples struggle unsuccessfully to stay awake and pray. During the night,

Judas arrives with the temple guard, betraying Jesus with a kiss, and the disciples, after a brief skirmish attempting to defend him, flee for their lives. Jesus is brought before Annas, the former high priest, father-in-law of Caiaphas, where Peter, secretly seeking to see what would happen, is confronted and denies three times he even knows Jesus.

After sunrise Friday morning, the Sanhedrin is convened, accuses Jesus of blasphemy, and sends him to Pilate. Pilate declares three times that he finds no guilt in him, yet has him scourged, washes his hands of the matter and sends him to be crucified. Jesus stumbles under the weight of the cross, and Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry his cross.

Jesus, nailed to the cross, prays ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Lk.23:34). When one of the criminals crucified with him confesses his sins and turns to Jesus in hope, Jesus responds with the promise ‘today you will be with me in paradise’ (Lk.23:43). Jesus’ mother, two other Marys and John were there at Golgotha watching this all unfold, and Jesus entrusted his mother into John’s care. From noon to 3pm darkness covered the land, and then Jesus cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt.27:46). Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ‘I thirst’ (Jn.19:28), and was given vinegar to drink. He cried out ‘It is finished! Father into your hands I commit my spirit’ (Jn.19:30; Lk.23:46), and he died. The veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. His side was pierced to verify that he was truly dead, and he was taken down, buried in a borrowed tomb before sunset. On the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees have the tomb sealed and guarded.

To say this was a roller-coaster of emotions for Jesus’ followers would be a gross understatement. Dismayed, bewildered, terrified, hopes crushed, filled with grief, loss, despair; these were just some of the emotions they would be experiencing. Their Rabbi, their Messiah, their friend, dead and buried. Would they be next?

The Women and Mary [John 20:1-18]

Let’s follow a few of their stories. First was the women. They are first to the tomb, early Sunday morning. They come with spices to honor the corpse. The burial was rushed to beat sunset Friday evening, when the Sabbath began. They were there watching when Joseph and Nicodemus placed his body in the tomb; they wonder how they will move the massive stone from the entrance. When they arrive, they are dismayed to see the grave already opened. Mary Magdalene runs to tell the disciples. The other women come back with stories of an angel and start a rumor that Jesus is not there; the disciples don’t believe them, but Peter and John run to see the empty tomb, and then go home.

Mary Magdalene stricken with grief, returns and stands weeping outside the open tomb. She stoops to look in and sees two messengers who ask her why she is weeping. Her answer? “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him’ (Jn.20:13). The body has clearly been stolen. After the horrific torture and shame of the crucifixion, why further dishonor the body? Who would do such a thing? Why? She turns away, and sees another man standing, who also asks her why she is weeping, and he asks “Whom are you seeking?” (Jn.20:15). She assumes he is the one responsible for tending the garden, and asks “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away” (Jn.20:15). She is there to honor the body of her fallen Lord, and she is willing to do whatever she must to treat him with dignity. Eyes swollen with weeping, vision clouded with tears, or simply looking past this ‘gardener’ to find the discarded body of her Lord, she fails to recognize him, until he calls her by name. One word. “Mary.” With a wave of recognition she instantly melts in worship and clings to the feet she (possibly) had previously anointed with her life savings. At Jesus’ word, Mary is emboldened to go to the disciples and declare to them what she had seen and heard.

Cleopas and his Friend on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)

Luke 24 records two travelers leaving Jerusalem toward Emmaus, when another traveler joins them.

Luke 24:17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. …

These followers were also reeling from grief. His question stopped them in their tracks. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but their hopes had been dashed by the recent events. Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified by their own religious leaders. Their hopes crushed, they were going home.

Luke 24:21 …Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

There were rumors started by some of the women, and the body had gone missing. This strange traveler rebukes them for their unbelief:

Luke 24:25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 ​Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

He led them in a Bible study surveying how the entire Old Testament points to a Messiah who would necessarily suffer for the sins of his people, and then be glorified. He rebukes them for being slow of heart to believe what the prophets had written. They convince this stranger to stay with them, and

Luke 24:30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.

The risen Jesus had given them an incognito Bible study showing them how Moses and all the prophets were pointing to him. That it was necessary that he suffer, and then enter his glory. Their hopes had been dashed by the recent events, and yet those very events fulfilled the prophecies; prophecies like Isaiah 53. They were lost, confused, they had given up hope. But some of their expectations were unfounded.

With new insight into the purpose and necessity of the crucifixion, with hope re-ignited and hearts aflame, although the hour was late, they immediately got up and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others.

Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Doubting Thomas [John 20:24-31]

Unfortunate for him, but such a blessed providence for us, Thomas wasn’t there that day.

John 20:24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Thomas was resolute in unbelief. He would not believe the testimony of others. He demanded irrefutable proof. He must see for himself. He, like the others had hoped that Jesus was the one; earlier he had been ready to go to Jerusalem and die with Jesus (Jn.11:16). But now that his hopes had been demolished, he was settled in his unbelief; ‘I will never believe.’ Oh, Thomas! If only you had enough faith, faith to believe in spite of the evidence, enough faith to disregard the evidence. Blind faith, a leap in the dark. But faith is not hoping against hope that something most unlikely and contrary to the evidence is true. That’s more akin to stupidity than faith. Jesus doesn’t require Thomas (or us) to take a leap into the dark.

John 20:26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Jesus offered Thomas real tangible verifiable evidence. By the way, Thomas was not the only one. None of the disciples believed until they were confronted by Jesus himself. Each of the eyewitnesses was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus. The law refused to establish anything on the basis of one eye witness testimony alone (Deut.19:15; Mt.18:16,20). Jesus didn’t demand blind faith, he invited reasonable, substantial, substantiated faith. He offered evidence. And to a resolute skeptic, he offered more, he offered patience and grace. He didn’t rebuke Thomas, he invited Thomas to examine the evidence and believe. And he had a gracious purpose in all of this that went far beyond Thomas himself.

John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

This happened for you! Yes, you, right here, right now, today! Thomas was given abundant evidence, more tangible evidence than any of the other disciples demanded, so that we right here today, you and I, reading Thomas’s testimony thousands of years later, would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God,’ we would experience life, eternal life, real living relationship with him. John invites you, today, through the eye witness account of a resolute unbeliever, to enter in to the story.

Peter [John 21:1-25]

Some time later, Peter is with Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two others back in Galilee,

John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” …

I don’t know what was going through Peter’s heart and mind. I do know that Simon Peter was back where he started.

Mark 1:14 …Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Now Simon Peter is back in Galilee, and he goes back to fishing for fish. Jesus had already appeared to him. He was the first one to go in to the empty tomb that first resurrection Sunday. The Lord had appeared specifically to him (Lk.24:34). He was with the others that first Sunday night when Jesus appeared in the upper room where they were hiding in fear. Peter was there the next Sunday when Jesus presented himself specifically to Thomas. The angels at the tomb had even named Peter specifically; ‘go, tell his disciples and Peter’ (Mk.16:7). It wasn’t that Peter didn’t know that Jesus was alive. But it seems Peter was still struggling.

Remember, Peter had been the one to say ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!’ (Mt.26:33-35). And after Peter denied his Lord the third time with cursing and oaths,

Luke 22:60 …And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter had been self-confident, arrogant, boastful. But now he was humbled, broken, a failure. He proved himself in the time of testing not to be a man of his word. Peter probably felt despair; useless, worthless, so he went back to what he knew; he went fishing. And he even failed at that. ‘They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing’ (Jn.21:3).

A man showed up on the shore, asked them how it was going, and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat.

John 21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

Jesus cooked them all breakfast.

John 21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

After Peter’s three denials, Jesus asked him three times to affirm his love for him; ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ And three times Jesus recommissioned him; ‘Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.’ Now that Peter is humbled, broken, at the end of himself, he is useful. Later, Peter writes:

1 Peter 5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! And even after his resurrection, Jesus is pursuing the lost. He pursues those blinded by grief, those whose hopes have been dashed, those in despair, skeptics, doubters, resolute unbelievers, even those who have denied him, who feel broken and useless. Jesus is alive, and he is pursuing you today!

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Palm Sunday Prophecies

This is Palm Sunday. Old Testament prophecies spoke of the promise of the coming King. Psalm 118 says:

Psalm 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 ​The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.

The stone that the builders rejected; the leadership of Israel had rejected Jesus. But he would become the cornerstone. He is foundational to everything. He sets the shape and trajectory of the entire building. This, this is the day! This is the day that we have been waiting for! This is the day that YHWH has made! The long anticipated day has arrived. This is a day of gladness and rejoicing! Hosanna; save us, we pray! Hosanna; save now! Blessed is he who comes in the name of YHWH! YHWH has become my salvation. Open the gates to the King of Righteousness!

Isaiah 62 speaks of Jerusalem established as a praise in the earth; the Lord will delight in her;

Isaiah 62:8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored; 9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.” 10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. 11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” 12 ​And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

Daughter of Zion, behold your salvation comes!

In Zechariah 9 the Lord says:

Zechariah 9:8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro; no oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes. 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

John 12; Prophecies Fulfilled

John gives this account of Palm Sunday

John 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus orchestrated this whole thing. He sent two of his disciples into the village to retrieve the donkey’s colt he was to ride on. Old Testament prophecies were being realized before their very eyes. Matthew specifically highlights the intentional fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Jesus is consciously presenting himself to Jerusalem as their coming King and their salvation, the King of righteousness, humble and mounted on a donkey.

The religious leaders respond in frustration:

John 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

What a day! Fulfillment of prophecies! Jesus publicly presented to Jerusalem as King. Religious leaders losing influence; Jesus receiving the acclaim of the people; momentum is huge; Jerusalem is packed for Passover. ‘Look, the world has gone after him!’ Rejoice! Shout aloud! Behold your King is coming to you!

Anticlimactic Day

Palm Sunday has to be the most anti-climactic day in the history of the world. Mark records it this way in his gospel:

Mark 11:7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Jesus entered the gates to the acclaim of all the people. He entered Jerusalem, went into the temple courts, looked around at everything, and left. He returned to Bethany to spend the night with his disciples. Wait, that’s it? He just looks around and then he walks away? The world has gone after him; finally they acknowledge who he is. This is the day! Ride the wave! Seize the moment!

Instead Jesus walks away. What did the crowds think? The next day he comes back and cleans house. He (again) drives the money changers out of the temple courts. He makes enemies. In a few short days the crowds who were crying out ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ are stirred up to cry out ‘Away with him, crucify him’. This could have, this should have gone so differently! Why?

The Hour Has Come!

Here’s what John records next:

John 12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The hour has come! Starting with his first miracle at Cana (Jn.2:4) , Jesus has consistently said ‘my hour has not yet come’. When his enemies sought to seize him, they could not because ‘his hour had not yet come’ (Jn.7:30; 8:20). Now he says ‘the hour has come’. It’s finally here, the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified!

But how does this answer the Greeks seeking to see Jesus? Here’s what Daniel prophesied about he Son of Man being glorified:

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 ​And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

The divine, cloud riding Son of Man given dominion and glory and an eternal kingdom, a global kingdom by the Ancient of Days, a kingdom that includes all peoples, nations and languages. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!

Glorified Like A Seed

But look at what Jesus says next:

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 ​Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified! But not how you might think. Glorified like a seed, a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies. Glorified by losing his life. Jesus would be glorified by dying, by falling into the earth, being buried. But life would spring up out of that grave! Eternal life, unstoppable life, abundantly fruitful life. Good news to the Jew first, and also to the Gentiles!

The crucifixion of Jesus was not a nasty turn of events that if played differently could have been avoided. The crucifixion was precisely how Jesus would be glorified!

Jesus goes on to say:

John 12:27 ​“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

Jesus’ hour had come, the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified. Glorified like a seed, through death; a painful hour. Should he seek to escape this hour? This is the reason for the season; this is the reason for Christmas. This is why Jesus came. He came to be glorified like a seed that must fall into the ground and die in order to bear much fruit, ultimately to bring glory to his Father.

John 12:31 ​Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

The crowds on Palm Sunday anticipated a conquering King, but their expectations were way too low. They wanted a king to judge their enemies; Jesus came to be Judge of the world. They wanted their oppressors to be judged; Jesus came to pass judgment on the whole world; every sinner stands condemned before a holy God. They wanted a powerful king to overthrow Rome. Jesus came to overthrow the power behind Rome and behind every other nation on the planet. They wanted a king who would strip Rome of its power and control over their lives; Jesus came to strip Satan of his power over our lives, to break the power of sin and death and hell, to save sinners from what we deserve. Jesus was not what they expected, so they rejected him.

Drawing All People To Himself

John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Jesus was about to be lifted up. Exalted. Glorified. But again, not in the way they expected. They expected a throne from which to rule and reign. He was lifted up on a cross, to die. He was lifted up in such a way as to draw all kinds of people to himself. A convicted criminal, being executed along side of him (Lk.23:40-43) looked to Jesus as his only hope beyond the immanent grave, and he was given the promise of eternal life. A hardened military commander, a Roman centurion bowed the knee and confessed ‘surely this was the Son of God’ (Mt.27:54). A rich man, a respected member of the council, Joseph, and Nicodemus, religious leaders, both secret believers because of fear now went public with their faith (Jn.19:38-40). A passionate hater, a persecutor of the church (Ac.9:4-5, 20), Saul confronted by the crucified and risen Jesus, turned and ‘proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God”’. A skeptic, a disillusioned doubter, someone who wanted hard evidence:

John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus glorified like a seed, lifted up to draw all kinds of people to himself. A convicted criminal, a hardened military man, the rich and influential, religious people, fearful people, passionate haters, even persecutors, skeptics, doubters. All sinners. All in need of a savior. And he came to seek and to save, to save now. What about you?

John 3:18 ​Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Friend, what about you, today?

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Rejecting God and His Promises

We’re looking at the end of Numbers 14 and chapter 15. In 13, ten of the spies sent out to assess the land returned an evil report; they said:

Numbers 13:31 …“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 …“The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

They even attempted to execute Joshua and Caleb, who brought a good report and encouraged the people to courageous obedience. The Lord was angry.

Numbers 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Moses interceded for the people, asking the Lord to forgive their iniquity, and the Lord answered his prayers. He has pardoned, but there are consequences for rebellion. That generation who preferred to die in the wilderness rather than enter the land would get their request. Their children, who they feared would be taken captive, would live to capture the land. The ten who brought the evil report and caused the whole congregation to grumble, died immediately before the Lord.

The consequences for the rest? “But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness” (Nu.14:32) over the next 40 years.

Godly Sorrow or Worldly Grief?

How did the people respond?

Numbers 14:39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.”

This is great, right? Finally the people are grieved and confess their sins. Finally they choose to obey. Moses doesn’t seem to think so.

What is going on here? Isn’t their mourning, their acknowledgment of sin good? Not always. The people were practiced at crying, wailing to get their way.

In Genesis 25, Esau despised his birthright; he traded it for a single meal because he was hungry. Hebrews comments:

Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; … 16 that no one is …unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Esau sought the blessing; he treasured the gift more than the Giver. Tears can indicate true repentance, true turning back to God, or tears can be tears of regret, selfish tears because of a loss of something desired.

Paul makes a distinction in 2 Corinthians 7 between godly grief that brings repentance and leads to salvation without regret, and worldly grief that produces death.

It was clear to Moses that this was of the worldly variety.

Numbers 14:41 But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”

After you refused to follow God into battle, do you think he will follow you? The Lord had already said:

Numbers 14:25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

They were not turning back to God, back to his guidance and leadership. They were grasping at the promise they had forfeited through their unbelief in God, but they were seeking to take hold of it in their own strength. They didn’t return to God; they attempted to gain God’s promises without God, through their own efforts. This is not courage, it is foolhardy pride, and further transgression. Delayed obedience is disobedience. When the Lord says go, they refuse; when the Lord says do not go, they say ‘now we will go up.’

Presumptuous Sin

Numbers 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

Hormah means destruction; it may have got its name from this event. Because of their arrogant rebellion they became as something devoted to destruction.

Moses Established, Covenant Confirmed

After all this, chapter 15 comes as a complete shock.

Numbers 15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, 3 and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; 5 and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb.

Leviticus and Numbers are punctuated with this phrase “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying”. Here, after blatant rebellion, the Lord gives instructions for offering grain, oil and wine along with their sacrifices, sacrifices for unintentional sins, and tassels on garments. What is going on here? This seems so abrupt and disconnected that some conjecture a later editor haphazard assembling scraps of texts.

But listen carefully to what God says here:

Numbers 15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,

The people rejected the land, rebelled against God, rejected Moses and chose to go back to Egypt. God wanted to wipe them all out and start over. Moses prayed and God forgave, but said those who rebelled would fall in the wilderness but to their children he would give the land. Now he speaks again through Moses, establishing him as leader, and gives instructions for ‘when you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you’, affirming that he will make good on his promises to this next generation. This is grace, this is not what they deserve.

What he says is not for the next 40 years of wandering in the wilderness; it is contingent on being in the promised land,

Deuteronomy 6:10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant— …

They were pasturing their flocks and herds in the wilderness, and the Lord was providing them with bread from heaven to eat. But now he is commanding fine flour mixed with olive oil, and wine to accompany their offerings in proportion to the meat they offer. This will require fields and olive groves and vineyards. This would have been a rare commodity in the wilderness, but seeing the cluster of grapes carried by two men, God’s promised land could easily sustain it.

Invitation to Fellowship

But this is even bigger than that. Some of the offerings listed were whole burnt offerings where the animal was entirely consumed in fire and went up in smoke to the Lord. But some of these offerings were meant to be a shared meal in the presence of the Lord, where some of the animal went up in smoke to the Lord, some was consumed by the priests, and some by the worshiper. God is inviting the children of this wayward people into fellowship with him, inviting them to enter his courtyards and feast with him on the good things he gives them, with bread and oil and wine.

Verses 3-5 specify 1.5 liters of flour, 0.5 liter of oil and 0.5 liter of wine to accompany every lamb. Verses 6-7 increase the quantities to 3 liters of flour, 0.8 liters of oil and 0.8 liters of wine for a ram. For a bull verses 8-10 require 4.5 liters of flour, 1 liter of oil and 1 liter of wine.

Numbers 15:11 “Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12 As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. 13 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. 15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. 16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

Verses 13-16 make clear that this applies not only to the native Israelite now living in the land, but equally to the stranger who is sojourning with you who wishes to offer offerings to YHWH. God welcomes all from every ethnicity, from every background to join his people in worship and fellowship in his courts. The Lord is welcoming the nations!

Firstfruits; Remember Who Gave It To You

Numbers 15:17 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21 Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations.

Here it is again; ‘when you come into the land to which I bring you’. The Lord is giving them the land, and of the produce of the land, he asks them to give back to him a portion, not because he needs it, but because they need to remember where it came from and to whom it all belongs.

Forgiveness for Unintentional Sins

Numbers 15:22 “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses, 23 all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations,

There is such a thing as unintentional sins; did you know that? Sins of ignorance; I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that; or neglect; I didn’t know I was supposed to do that. Mistakes; I didn’t mean to do that, but I did, are all still sins. They violate God’s holy standards, and appropriate sacrifices are proscribed, whether it is a sin of the entire congregation (v.24-26) or an individual (v.27-29). When they come to realize their sin, and they make the appropriate sacrifices, ‘they shall be forgiven’ (v.25,26,28)

Death for High Handed Sins

Numbers 15:30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.”

There is a sin for which there was no sacrifice. It is a high-handed sin, committed in full knowledge of God’s law. It insults the Lord, despises his word, and willfully violates his commands. This is a sin of knowing rebellion, and it deserves death.

A Covenant Breaker Executed

Numbers 15:32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35 And the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Wow, this shocks our modern sensibilities. Public execution for picking up sticks? In Exodus 31, God gave to Israel the Sabbath rest as a sign between God and his people, and stated there the death penalty for violators. Remember, God set his people free from hard slavery. He was not saying, I demand this much work or you will die; ‘but I just can’t get it all done!’ No, he was inviting them into his rest. And a double portion of manna came from heaven every Friday, to remind them that they were abundantly supplied, so they could really rest on the Sabbath. This was an example, not of an unintentional sin, but a flagrant, public, shaking the fist at God overt violation of his command, insulting the Lord and despising his word.

There was no sacrifice a sinner could make that would cover this kind of rebellious, willful sin. And that’s where we all live. All we like sheep have gone astray (Is.53:6). We have rejected his way and gone our own way. And there’s nothing we can offer that will cover it. The wages of our sin is death (Rom.6:23). God himself had to make a way. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus took my place, paid my price, so even my rebellion could be taken away.

Tassels with Blue; Remember Whose You Are

Numbers 15:37 The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Make tassels with a cord of blue. Blue dye was extraordinarily expensive, and pointed to royalty and divinity. The veil of the tabernacle and its gate were woven of blue and purple and scarlet. The robe of the high priest was made all of blue, and a cord of blue fastened the gold plate engraved with ‘Holy to YHWH’ to his head (Ex.28:31,37). This was to be a visible reminder that every Israelite was set apart to belong the Lord as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex.19:5-6). Remember whose you are!

This chapter closes with an affirmation to this next generation:

Numbers 15:41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

More than just ‘to give you the land’; but ‘to be your God’, the I AM.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

The Lord brought his people out of oppressive slavery, out of Egypt, through the sea, through the wilderness to the mountain where he revealed himself to them, forgave their rebellion, entered into a covenant relationship with them. He came to pitch his tent and dwell in the middle of their camp, organized them for war, to march on the promised land. He led them through the wilderness to the border of the land, poised to enter in. They sent spies to seek out the best routes, to understand the occupants of the land, and to bring back evidence of the fruitfulness of the promised land.

Twelve spies traveled the land, visited the place of the patriarchs, where God made promises to Abraham, where Abraham bought a plot of land, a foothold in the land of promise, where Sarah and Abraham, Rebekah and Isaac, Leah and Jacob were buried.

The report the ten brought back was that the land was indeed fruitful with flocks and produce, flowing with milk and honey. But there were fearsome occupants, even giants in the land; this report ignited fear in the people.

Numbers 13:30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The Choice

The people have a choice. The same choice we all have. Believe God, trust what he says, take hold of his promises; or listen to other voices, distrust God, his character, what he has said. This was the choice of Adam and Eve in the garden; take God at his word and listen to him; or entertain other voices that questioned his goodness, doubted his truthfulness, undermined his authority. This is the most important choice we have to make, and this choice has clearly communicated consequences. As Jesus summarized it,

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

We have the advantage of looking back on those who have gone before, we have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and avoid them, or follow in their footsteps and inherit the same kinds of consequences. What voice will you listen to?

The People’s Rebellion

Numbers 14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Unimaginable! Unbelievable! Unthinkable! God had freed them from slavery, carried them, protected them, provided for them, and made precious and very great promises to them, but because of their present circumstances, because of their fears, they would rather have died slaves in Egypt. They would rather have died in the wilderness. The excuse they use is concern for their wives and children, but is this really the kind of example these men want to set for their families? Do they really want them to follow in their footsteps?

We are amazed at their unbelief, but how often do we do the same? In Jesus we have been set free, free from the power and consequences of our sins. But do we reminisce about the good old days of slavery to sin? Jesus sets us free from bondage to lusts, addictions, pride, greed, holding on to bitterness and unforgiveness. How often do we willfully go back to wallow in our own filth?

Let’s choose another leader who will take us back to slavery, back to death. Have they forgotten Miriam’s challenge to Moses’ authority in chapter 12, and God’s unmistakable affirmation of Moses as the one leader the Lord had established? That cost them a seven day delay waiting for Miriam to be cleansed and brought back into the camp.

They know Moses is following God’s direction, so he won’t take them back to slavery. In their rejection of Moses’ leadership, they are really rejecting God as their leader and admitting that they are going opposite to what God has commanded.

Godly Leaders Care for the Flock

Numbers 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”

These leaders genuinely care for the people. They are not offended; they don’t take it personally. They fall on their faces, they tear their clothes; signs of broken-hearted humility. They understand that the people are operating out of fear and rebelling against the Lord. They understand that there are severe consequences for this kind of rebellion, and they want to do anything they can to prevent the people from going in that direction. In chapter 11, when the people complained, the fire of YHWH burned among them. When they craved other food, the Lord struck down those with the craving with a very great plague, and they buried them there. But this is more than complaint; they are rebelling, rejecting God as leader, rejecting his plan, his purposes, his promises. They are rejecting him and choosing to go back to slavery without him.

God’s Glory Revealed in Judgment

Their response to this kind of leadership?

Numbers 14:10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

They want to execute their humble, godly leaders, but God rescues them by his glorious presence. God’s glory is revealed in his just judgment of sin. God does take it personally, because sin is personal against God. They are despising him. They are refusing to believe in him. Everything God says here is right and just. They deserve to be disinherited. They deserve to be destroyed. God threatens to wipe them out and start over with Moses. This is not the first time God has made this threat. If we look back to Exodus 32; when the people turn to false gods and worship the golden calf,

Exodus 32:9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

Moses Intercedes

There we see Moses interceding for the people, arguing with God about his threats, ‘and the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people’ (Ex.32:14).

Here in Numbers 14,

Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Moses, like a good lawyer, argues the case of the people before God. He doesn’t attempt to justify the actions of the people; they are unjustifiable. Instead he argues for the reputation of God. God is powerful, and has committed to be with this people. If he kills them all now, his name will be slandered among the nations; they will believe that he is not as powerful as they thought he was.

Understand, Moses is not puffing God’s ego; people thinking less of God, disbelieving in God does not injure God’s pride; it injures the people that refuse to believe in him. And God has a heart not only for his own people, but for the nations. God has already commanded his people to welcome the foreigner who desires to follow God and belong to his people. If they come to view him as unable to save, they are less likely to follow him, to turn and trust in him.

Moses also argues from God’s own revealed character. He prays scripture back to God. God revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34;

Exodus 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Here Moses calls on God to put his great power on display by keeping the promise of his character; this is a perfect opportunity to show that you are slow to anger, that you abound in steadfast love, that you indeed are able to forgive iniquity and transgression, and that you all the while retain your integrity and justice, by no means clearing the guilty. Moses calls on the immensity of God’s steadfast love, his covenant faithfulness, and his history of forgiving this persistently wayward people.

These are powerful lessons for prayer; a deep concern for God’s people, a passion for God’s glory, praying his words back to him, calling on him to be who he has revealed himself to be.

The Glory of God in Forgiveness and Justice

YHWH heard and answered this prayer.

Numbers 14:20 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

‘I have pardoned, according to your word’. God grants forgiveness, but forgiveness does not imply escape from all of sin’s consequences. God threatened to wipe them out and start over. That’s what they deserved, but he does not give them all that they deserve.

Moses argued for God to defend the honor of his name among the nations; God answers ‘ all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD’. I will fill the earth with the weightiness of my character. God’s character is revealed both in justice and in mercy, in wrath and in forgiveness. He will not wipe all his rebellious people out immediately as they deserve, but those who saw his glory, saw his miraculous works, who persistently challenged God, disobeyed God, despised God, will not enter the land. Because God’s character is weighty, because he is just and will not let the guilty go unpunished, there will be consequences for their blatant rebellion.

Giving Them What They Desired

Numbers 14:26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

Again, God gives them what they asked for. They would rather die in the wilderness than enter the land; so be it. They rejected the land, so God will not force them to enter in. Their children will suffer for the unbelief of their parents. Sin has consequences not only on the one who sins, but on everyone around them. The children are not being punished for the sins of their fathers, but the sins of the fathers affect the lives of their children. The ones they claimed to be protecting will now suffer as a consequence of their rebellion.

But even in God’s just judgment, there is promise and hope. Their children will enter in. God says ‘I will bring them in, and they will know the land.’

Leaders Held Accountable

Numbers 14:36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land— died by plague before the LORD. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

The whole nation deserved to die; only that generation would fall in the wilderness. The whole nation deserved to die immediately; only the ten leaders who influenced the people to rebel against God die immediately.

Written for Our Instruction

1 Corinthians 10 tells us ‘these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction’. Hebrews 3 warns us;

Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 ​As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org