Family Legacy

So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.

Numbers 36:9

 

The perpetuity of the inheritance in the Promised Land by tribe was prescribed in the Law by Moses. Why? Because the land was God’s blessing. It was home, family farm, and livelihood. And God did not want the nation to become a patchwork quilt of cross-tribal holdings. Keeping land within tribes assured that disputes over what was an important and vital possession would be minimal.

 

God cared enough for how Israel handled possessions and income that He prescribed common sense regulations to minimize property disputes. He knows that as human beings we get caught up in the stuff we have.

 

There is also a wonderful picture of the importance of family in this last chapter of Numbers. The daughters of Zelophahad were promised a share of their father’s allotment as long as they married within their father’s tribe. A sonless family could still carry on a legacy and keep its inheritance. This was something unheard of at that time. It speaks to the family’s crucial and indispensible role in society. And it was designed by God to promote continuity in families that obeyed Him throughout generations.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

respect for life & respect for God

You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.

Numbers 35:34

 

This is the only verse from which I find personal spiritual instruction in a chapter detailing how to deal with murder and manslaughter. God is making a point to Israel: senseless, non-defensive taking of a human life disrespects HIS holiness. He would not tolerate it.

 

That principle holds true for today because it is rooted in relationship with God. That exists now, though in a different dimension than that which Israel experienced as a theocracy. Taking of a human life defiles what God desires. And Israel was to obey God in judicial handling of human justice in these matters, which really is the whole point of Numbers 35.

 

So the principle is simple but impacting: human life is treated as special and important out of reverence for God. Remove any reverence for God, Who is truly holy, and human uniqueness devalues as well. Voila! We have today. In a truly secular society there is little basis of human life being valued. And today their reigns a growing disrespect for human life all the way from conception to the last breath in old age.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Knowing your future.

Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.”

Numbers 34:13

 

All of Numbers 34 is about the boundaries of the Promised Land of Canaan. There is a verbal map directed to Moses that let the Israelites know the extent to which God had given them a new possession. But it also meant that territory had to be conquered. It was great to know God’s will for the future. Yet, there was responsibility with that knowledge.

 

With the knowledge of God’s revealed will there comes about a necessary human responsibility to obey it. We cannot shirk away from this truth. Yes, God was giving them this geographic territory that was not theirs. Yes, it was God’s will that they have it. But receiving the gift meant entering into battle and eradicating the idolatry of the existing Canaanites in order to possess the promise of God.

 

God does not make easy promises today. We know heaven and eternity with Christ await us. But we don’t get to sit back on that fact. We tend to be starry-eyed as evangelicals. We put on our rose-colored glasses and insist that “believing in Jesus is so easy, a child can do it” (sounds like a Geico commercial!). But it takes manly faith and outward demonstration of childlike faith to live like we should. Sanctification happens to us when we receive the holiness of Christ, but we must also WORK OUT our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). That sounds like sweat equity to some degree, not for salvation, but because of it. God always expects commitment with His gifts.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

The Idol Factory

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

Numbers 33:51-52

 

God wanted the idolatry of the Canaanites eradicated. Israel was supposed to do this fully when they moved into the Promised Land. God warned them that if they did not obey Him in this matter, idolatry would lead to their own regrettable demise (see Numbers 33:55-56).

 

By now in the story, this generation of Israel should have had ample opportunity to have this taught to them. They had grown up with the Ten Commandments. The first two of these explicitly deal with the exclusivity of a relationship with God and forbid any semblance of idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6). They had seen their parents flagrantly disobey with the golden calf. They had seen the more recent Midianite flirtation with idolatry and sexuality and how it devastated the camp. This warning was quite real.

 

The propensity of the human heart for idolatry is enormous. We always want to make our own god that we can control. We want tangible gods with tangible results. And this is not just an Old Testament warning. The apostle John warns us today of the idol-making and idol-following ways of the human heart (1 John 5:21). Left to myself, my heart is an idol-making factory looking for something other than God to worship. I have to shut it down in real worship and obedience to God my Father!

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

2 & a half tribes: selflessness & sacrifice

We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance.

Numbers 32:18

 

Two and a half tribes found the land the land east of the Jordan that had just been conquered by defeating Midian to their liking. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were all predominately herdsmen, and the land east of Jordan was suitable to their herds and livelihood. They wanted to settle in and start enjoying permanent possession of the land. But before the farms and towns went up, they would be men of honor and courage.

 

They also realized that they had an obligation to the nation of Israel, not just their individual tribes. Most of their countrymen had hard work to do to win full possession of all the land that God had promised. That is why they made the commitment to stay in the fight until all their brothers received the inheritance they were claiming now. They vowed to stay in the battle until then.

 

I am encouraged by a faith that fights not just for itself. My culture is so obsessed with personal pursuits that few people would make these kinds of selfless commitments. We want the American Dream first, a society somewhere distantly down the line. The mantra of most is “what’s in it for me?” But there is none of that kind of thinking in the what these Reubenites and Gadites say. It is about God being honored first, working to see their brothers blessed second, and then personal concerns coming further down the list. And they trusted God for the outcome of all this hope. That kind of refreshing commitment could certainly use a resurgence!

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

The end of a prophet for hire.

Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.

Numbers 31:16

 

This chapter is about a battle to eradicate an evil influence. God directed Moses and the people of Israel to annihilate the Midianites. They had successfully defeated Israel, not in battle, but by enticing the nation into idolatry. And that influence could not be allowed to stay active. These were harsh measures against an insidious social degradation. It was the spiritual duty of Israel to obey God’s command in this matter.

 

One of the casualties of this war was Balaam (Numbers 31:8). It is undoubtedly part of his influence on Israel that even though he could not prophecy against Israel, he could align himself with those who enticed Israel into sin and judgment from God. It was for this deed that he was eliminated. Ultimately his pragmatic practices were his undoing. He died with the ones who paid him the most for his spiritual duties. Not a great end.

 

That is the real lesson from this chapter. Israel is back to obedience, and a false prophet is judged for his disobedience. He sounded pious when he refused to prophecy against Israel, but in the end his actions of aligning himself with Israel’s enemies showed that profit was his motivation, not prophecy. Human fame and fortune are not enough in the end. They never are.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Broken promises by broken people

If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Numbers 30:2

 

God expects and appreciates complete honesty in keeping the commitments we make to Him and to other people. That is why pledging an oath is very serious business. God is truth. And He expects human beings to be truthful. It is the clearest sign of our fallen depravity that we find the keeping of an oath so very hard to do and so easy to shirk off as unimportant.

 

But today oaths are pointless and broken without much thought. We casually promise. Vows are cheap and easy as well, which is why divorce is rampant and marriage is disdained. The culture of “hook-up, shack-up, and break-up” (Mark Driscoll) exists because no one will commit the moral backbone to enter into a real commitment in a relationship. Often it is the guy who is spineless and the woman who is frustrated but enables it anyway because in her mind it is better than nothing.

 

People will not commit to God at all and they will not commit to each other without a string of lawyers in tow. What chance do we have at remedying this? There was one person who fulfilled God’s promises to save us: Jesus. He can redeem all our sins and broken promises. He can salvage souls and make us people of our word. He can mend marriages. He can fix families. He is a real and living hope in a world of broken promises made by broken people. 

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

The inadequacy of public devotion

These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

Numbers 29:39

 

This is the final footnote summarizing two chapters of details about public sacrifices. It serves to clarify that in no way would these public displays of national devotion during feasts supplant the need for individuals to practice the offering of personal sacrifices. Both were necessary for true obedience to God and His Word.

 

God has always wanted individual devotion from the heart to mark His people. It is no different today. Although I am thankful for “high attendance” at Easter services in churches around the world, I do not see those attend one or two public services a year as truly Christian. And I don’t think it is good for the culture in the long run. Here is why… these people have a nominal interest in spiritual things. They may uphold a tradition of public worship. But privately other things are much more important to them than God, and they may be deceived into thinking that they are doing just enough to make Him happy and get into heaven. And the church is encouraging the practice by giving away free cars… really!

 

Jesus said to truly follow Him and be His disciple, one has to practice a significant self-denital and take up a cross daily. That is private, personal and sacrificial. And that is the practice of Christianity at its core. It is about trusting Christ, following Christ, and living for Him in every dimension of our existence. It is a significant personal commitment to a substantial powerful Savior!

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

continuous sacrifice

It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

Numbers 28:6

 

Atonement for sin was a costly procedure in ancient Israel. Every day two lambs were offered to the Lord at the altar as public sacrifices. That does not even count private, individual offerings. In addition, on Sabbath, two more lambs were offered beyond this. Monthly on the first of the month (like today) two bulls, a ram, seven lambs, and a goat would be added to the tally. During feasts, that “first of the month” formula kicked off the the feast.

 

So sacrifice was a blood-soaked litany for Israel. It was part of the daily experience of worship at the altar. There was never a break from the constant atonement for sin. The tabernacle was a literal slaughterhouse where this occurred over and over, day after day, in obedience to God’s command.

 

This has led me to a significant Maundy Thursday reflection for this week. Jesus, my Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed once for all (1 Corinthians 5:7). I don’t need to have my focus fixed on how I will atone for my sin. Instead, I look to a Savior Who died and rose again to end my estrangement from God and forgive my sins.This is significant. I celebrate the completion and not the action of sacrifice. I trust in His saving work and celebrate it daily by offering Him the living sacrifice of my life (Romans 12:1-2).

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

leaders building leaders

And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.

Numbers 27:22-23

 

Every good leader finds other people to continue leadership. In the case of Moses, God provided Joshua. But Moses had a strong desire for assurance that the leadership of Israel would pass into capable hands (Numbers 27:15-17). I think Moses knew God’s choice would be Joshua. But he waited to hear from God, and then followed God’s desires completely in the choice and manner of appointment.

 

I am looking at this account with a little more humility these days. I have had 21 years of ministry, and I might get to enjoy another fifteen or twenty more. Best case: I am at the halfway point of my ministry service. Mill Creek has been blessed recently with a fine crop of motivated and gifted people in their 20’s and 30’s. It is time to spend a big chunk of my ministry investing myself in these new leaders so that the next godly generation will follow Jesus.

 

As I look at Moses’ life from this point in Numbers until the end of Deuteronomy, I will look for principles from him that will assist me in developing these leaders. God… give me a Joshua! It is what God has called me to do at this stage of my life. I am excited about it.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Administration as God’s desire

This was the list of the people of Israel, 601,730.

Numbers 26:51

 

The second large census taken of Israel recorded in the book of Numbers was for determining the fighting force of Israel’s army. At this point they have already taken some parts of the land through defense against their aggressors. It is important to realize that the 600,000 number represents men only who were twenty years of age and fit for war (Numbers 26:2-4). Following levitical guidelines, this number probably consisted of men from age 20 to 50 who were physically fit for warfare.

 

The actual number of Israelites was much higher when older men, those not physically capable of warfare, and women and children were factored into the tally. Easily this was a number of over one million people in the encampment. Israel was a large, mobile, city on the move. They needed places to settle. God was preparing them for the next step.

 

Although this census is to me one of the sleepier moments in the Penteteuch, I draw a lesson from it.  It is all about advance planning. God wanted Moses fully aware of the “boots on the ground” at his disposal. It was vital for Joshua’s future success. If God sees it as important and commands it, then I should not shrink from administrative duties for the greater cause of the Kingdom.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

The reward of repentance.

Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"

Numbers 25:12-13

 

God confirmed the Aaronic priesthood without reservation due to the actions of Aaron’s son Phineas in the matter of ending Israel’s flirtation with Moab’s Baal worship at Peor. This is not an easy account to read. Moab quietly seduced Israel into idolatry. It began as sort of a “cultural exchange” where Israel was invited to participate in feasts. It quickly progressed into idolatry with Baal worship that included prostitution. It got dirty and nasty really fast and Israel was caught in the trap. It ended with 24,000 dead in the camp by judgment of God with a plague. As Israel wept over her sin, a man flagrantly brought a Moabite temple whore into his tent. Phineas made the bold move to strike down these last two sinful idolaters to stave off a relapse.

 

It was this bold faith and action of the priest that led to God’s recognition and reward. God saw Phineas as possessing His feelings on the matter. And that is what made the difference. It saved the day for the entire nation because it prevented a second episode of idolatry and unfaithfulness. Sometimes having God’s heart means we are serious about sin in ourselves and in His people. And we will not sit around and watch God’s worship being defiled.

 

Two quick final observations: 1) Sin can be a slippery slope experience. Once you take a small step a really big fall can happen. What starts as a small choice can quickly become out of control until you are consumed by a driving passion. That is exactly what happened with Israel in this episode. They “met their neighbors” only to quickly be caught up in the exhilaration of a sexually driven false religion that made them forget their God and all He had done for their deliverance. 2) God will reward obedience when we are filled with His heart on the matter. It wasn’t that Phineas got mad that made the difference. It was that His outrage was God’s hurt heart on this matter and it led him to complete obedience for Israel. That was what God chose to reward with this covenant for the Aaronic priesthood.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Prophet for hire, part 3

And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, 'I will certainly honor you,' but the LORD has held you back from honor."

Numbers 24:10-11

 

This is the end of the matter between Balak and Balaam. God used the pagan seer to shut down and frustrate an enemy of Israel. And in the process Balaam learns some things. His prophecies in Numbers 24 sort of “seal the deal” for Israel’s success in the eyes of her enemies. And he is convinced that God will ultimately destroy Moab and all those who oppose Israel’s move into the Promised Land.

 

Balaam is an interesting study because of who he is. He is used by God, even inspired by God, to deliver these messages. Yet, we cannot be convinced he ultimately comes to know God. He seems more interested in divination than devotion. And his final verdict in scripture is that he was a deceiver (Revelation 2:14).

 

Still, it is more than amusing that God would use Balaam to get his truth out. And obviously what happened made it back to Israel because of these scriptures providing record of the events. Balaam would eventually die in the conquest of Canaan. But God’s truth and His plan for His people would continue… forever.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

Prophet for hire: part 2

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

Numbers 23:19-20

 

Poor Balak! He has paid good money to hire Balaam to place a curse on Israel. He has tried three different times, really four if you count the initial encounter with Balaam, and each time Balaam comes back with a blessing for the people that Balak hates. And it comes at the cost of building 21 altars and sacrificing 21 oxen and 21 sheep. This was a serious investment on his part in the hopes he could secure Israel’s demise.

 

But this much was true about Balaam… whatever message he “channeled” he stayed faithful to the content. He may have sold out to the highest bidder in terms of religious services, but he had enough sense to realize that he was dealing with the “real deal” when the God of Israel spoke to him. He may have been easy, but he was not quite sleazy.

 

The humor in these episodes is obvious. A pagan king and a flim-flam celebrity psychic “to the stars” would be used by God to confirm Israel’s purposes in His plan. And no one was going to stand in the way of what God was doing. Even the gods and religious practices of the people of Canaan would fall before the power and will of Yahweh. Israel’s God would be shown as having sovereignty over all people. They might get frustrated at the collapse of their pagan worldview. But they clearly and repeatedly saw the truth.

 

God gave grace to Balak through Balaam’s oracles. It enraged the pagan king, but he could not deny the truth of it. God managed to irrefutably establish His sovereignty, literally at Balak’s expense! It is funny, powerful, and tragic all at the same time!

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,Discipleship

Prophet for hire: part 1

But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.”

Numbers 22:18

 

The story of Balaam is an interesting one, and not just because of the part of the story where his donkey speaks to him. It is a crucial story because it is clear that regardless of his past practices, Balaam 1) knows he has heard from the true God on this matter, and 2) claims some level of commitment to being faithful to God’s Word. This is seen in his statement that he cannot say “less or more” than what God has given to him. It is seen in his claim that to “the LORD my God.”

 

But Balaam is a study in decline. His firm resolve that no amount of money could persuade him to curse Israel if this was not God’s command begins to wilt in the repeated offers from Balak. Eventually he caves in, at least to meet with this rich patron who believes Balaam has the power to curse an entire nation. But even then, God has a bigger plan at work. The reluctant “prophet for hire” will still be used to get Balak’s attention and to witness to the greatness of what God is doing with His people Israel.

 

Balaam, however, would eventually be undone by these slow accommodations to greed.  He is known in future generations as a false prophet who loved to gain from wrongdoing (2 Peter 2:15). He would eventually die under the later conquest of Canaan because his advice to Balak resulted in Israel falling to prostitution and idolatry.

 

The lesson of Balaam is that little choices can lead to major slides from truth and from commitment to God. Balaam was a pagan oracle who had a brief dramatic encounter with the true God, only to fall away into materialistic greed and be judged by God. He serves forever as a warning to be true to God’s message, no matter what tempts us away.

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,Discipleship,Christianity

Victory for spiritual losers.

So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.

Numbers 21:35

 

This chapter actually recounts the very initial conquests Israel experienced in battle as they began moving into Canaan.  They began by settling the western banks of the Jordan River. The territories they seized were a result of defensive warfare in which aggressive nations came to attack them. God eventually brought them the complete victory which resulted in Israel taking some of the land promised to them by God so long ago.

 

These initial victories came at the hand of God’s grace, because Israel still was not the nation they should have been in terms of spiritual commitment. What interests me is that after the first victory, there is an immediate failure (the infamous bronze serpent episode: Numbers 21:4-9). But God graciously responds to Moses’ plea for the people and once again they are back on track conquering their aggressors again. Moses is getting a taste of what the next generation of leadership will know.  And God is continuing to develop a faithful generation that will want to obey His leading in the conquest of Canaan.

 

Israel is advancing spiritually as a nation throughout the book of Numbers. But they are falling forward in stutter steps. They aren’t quite the noble heroes we would hope for. They struggle with unbelief and selfish complaining even after God has saved them from threatened destruction from a larger and established nation. They just can’t seem to stay spiritually consistent. But God is faithful. And that is the insight worth considering for today.

 

We may fail. We may struggle with consistency. Our faith may be small at times. And our sins may overwhelm us when we fail. But God is faithful. He will lead us beyond our failures so that He gets the glory. We experience profound grace when He does this.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

celebrity failures

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."

Numbers 20:12

 

Moses and Aaron eventually fell into the same condition as their generation. They failed to believe and trust God. In the waters of Meribah Moses chose to display his anger dramatically. He made it more important than strict obedience to God’s command. That is why this swift sentence came upon them. It was a horrible offense against a wise and holy God. When you read Moses’ speech in front of the rock, it is clear he has his personal interests at heart, more than God’s holiness.

 

Spiritual leadership can experience the same difficulty today. It is so easy to let personal feelings and emotions get in the way of obeying God’s call. And if we are not careful, we will certainly draw attention away from the God we are supposed to be leading people to know, love, and understand.

 

I know there have been times in my ministry service where I have miserably failed by drawing attention to my own personality or feelings. It is easy to do. People like the drama. They will be drawn to entertainment and entertaining them can be easy and lucrative (see Benny Hinn), but any time celebrity personality is enjoined with God, true worship is lost, gone, outta’ there! Really. Let’s stay away from developing any kind of Christian celebrity culture. Let’s draw near to God!

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,Discipleship,Leadership

sin, death, and ritual impurity

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.

Numbers 19:20

 

God gave ancient Israel certain practices regarding ritual impurity in His worship that do not correlate well to the New Testament experience of life in Christ. This chapter is one of those kinds of things. At issue is not whether the ashes of a dead bovine mixed with water essentially convey holiness. The point is obedience to God’s command on the subject. Certain life experiences rendered a person “unclean” regarding contact with God in worship or contact with His people in the assembly.

 

The “water for impurity” made from the ashes of the red heifer was used daily no doubt. One of the main situations described in this passage involved ritual impurity when coming in contact with a dead body. And people lived and died in the desert camp daily. So on any given day there were hundreds of people who had become ceremonially unclean. The practices in Numbers 19 brought them back to a ritual purity that allowed full participation in worship again after confronting the death process personally.

 

We tend to read hygiene into this sort of thing. That was not the issue. I think the reason ritual impurity existed at the presence of death was to remind Israel that the curse on sin is death. There is a consequence. Paul called death the wages of sin for good reason. Death separates us from God because sin separates us from Him. Participating in a ritual that restored purity emphasized this over and over again in Israel.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Religion,Sanctification,Discipleship

God as inheritance and portion

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.”

Numbers 18:20

 

God made it clear to Aaron and his descendents that the priestly duties of service to Him were a unique blessing and privilege. God blesses Aaron and his family with this birthright. Other Israelites might get land and houses in the Promised Land. The priests and Levites would get God Himself as their inheritance.

 

This chapter contains details for the support of the priests and of worship of Yahweh. All the tithes and offerings that came in would be collected by the priests. From that, 90% was available to support the priestly class. The top 10% was offered by the priests as their tithe (a tithe of the tithes) before the Lord. The rest was used to provide for all the priests and Levites and their families who guarded and served in the worship of the Lord. When God told Aaron He would be his portion, He backed it up with real support from the nation of Israel. God would provide for His servants. He would use His people to do this.

 

It interests me how much those involved in such ministry would need to trust God. They were forbidden from having any other means of support. When times were hard, they had to see God provide quite literally through His people. And the bulk of the budget for operating the sacrificial system was labor. 90% of the received gifts went to provide for priests, Levites, and their families. A lot of people were dependent upon God being their portion and inheritance!

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Ministry,Religion

The lesson of the staff

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."

Numbers 17:10

 

 

The Lord created this little object lesson for Israel to prevent any further uprisings against the household of Aaron in the priesthood. The test was a simple one. A staff was collected from the elders of each of the twelve tribes. One staff for each tribe, with Aaron’s standing for Levi. These staffs were placed before in front of the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle for an overnight stay in God’s presence. The next morning Aaron’s staff had miraculously budded, bloomed, and produced almonds. That got the attention of Israel as a confirming sign. This was exactly what God wanted.

 

The response of the people in Numbers 17:12-13 is fearful, respectful and contrite in repentance. They are so overcome by this sign (coming right on the heels of God’s swift judgment at Korah’s rebellion) that they are afraid to even come near the tabernacle to worship. Continued revelation from God in the next chapter will help reassure and lesson this anxiety. For now, it is healthy. God’s goal was to quash rebellion in the worship of Him and the display of His power. And that has happened with this simple yet powerful symbol.

 

The rod of Aaron’s that budded was kept inside the ark of covenant as a reminder of this moment in Israel’s journey. It served to confirm both the power of God and the perpetuity of the priests who would serve Him and the nation at the altar. God will confirm His right to receive our full worship, not because His is bound to do so, but out of His mercy to His people. This brought His people back from the brink of destruction. God knew this. And they said as much themselves. It is right for God to use His power (the staff of Aaron that budded) and His justice (instantaneous destruction of Korah and those who took part in his rebellion) to call His people back to the proper worship that is due to God alone.

 

Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,Discipleship