Speak ye unto the rock

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 20:1–13, “Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.”

Even though Miriam was Moses older sister and had been told to watch him while he was is the ark among the bulrushes,she eventually died. Until today, every person who was born can look forward to dying one day. There will be some alive when the Lord returns but no one can actually claim to be certain that they will never die. The people started their complaining again. They had already seen the Lord provide water for them but as soon as they struck a dry period they began to complain rather than trusting the Lord to do what He had always done. There were about two million people and they probably had about ten million head of stock altogether but, by this stage, they should have realised that that was just a small issue for the Lord. After all, He made all the water and He made people so that they needed water so He knew exactly what they needed every day that they were in the wilderness. Moses and Aaron went to the Lord and prayed again. They knew that they Lord was the only Person able to solve the problem so they brought it straight to Him. The Lord Moses to speak to the rock and the water would come out but he was angry and struck the Rock with his rod. The Lord honoured Moses but refused to let him lead the people into the Promised Land. This was very hard for Moses but the Lord knew that Joshua would not be able to properly lead the people if Moses was still alive. However, Moses chose to disobey the Lord and the Lord dealt with him accordingly.

Bodies

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 19:11–22, “He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.”

One of the first things we learn about dead bodies is that they start to smell after a relatively short time. This is because the bodies begin to decay and anyone who touches a body can easily become contaminated himself. There is an added danger when someone has died from some kind of disease for the disease can be passed on from a dead body to a living body. Unless the proper procedures are followed and bodies dealt with in an appropriate way an entire population can be contaminated by the products of decay and then the people will be decimated through an epidemic. The Lord also understood that death was the consequence of sin and the contamination of sin could also destroy an entire population. There was spiritual as well as medical benefits to making sure that bodies were dealt with in an appropriate and timely fashion. Sin could also destroy the work that the Lord planned to do with Israel as the source of blessing to all the families of the earth.

A red heifer

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Numbers 19:1–10, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.”

This sacrifice was even more significant than any of the other sacrifices. Not only did the sacrifice have to be a heifer withouts spot or blemish, it had to be red as well. There is special symbolism in this fact because red is also the colour of blood. The blood of this special sacrifice was sprinkled on the altar for the forgiveness of sin. The heifer was then burnt and then cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet was added to the fire. The cedar tree is the symbol of Lebanon, even today. This wood was known for its long lasting properties and was resistant to insects and decay. It was one of the most valuable kinds of wood available in the region at that time. Hyssop was a smaller plant with flowers that grew in bunches at the end of its stems. The Israelis used bunches of hyssop to paint the blood onto their doorposts and lintels during the first Passover (Exodus 12:22, “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.”) so hyssop was associated with blood and life in that culture (Genesis 9:4 , “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”) A scarlet thread was used when twins were born to show which of the twins was the firstborn (compare Genesis 38:28–30, “And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.”) All these add up to show that this sacrifice was even more special and had more dignity than the other sacrifices. The ashes were later placed in water that was used for purification for sin. Sin could not be dealt with unless blood was shed, the blood had to come at great cost from a rare and precious place and be part of a sacrificial offering. This showed the high price that was placed on the sacrifice for sin.

No inheritance

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Numbers 18:20–32, “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest. Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.”

We saw before, that Aaron and his tribe were dedicated to serving the Lord as long as the nation existed with the Tabernacle and, later, the Temple. They were not given any farming land, like the other tribes, so that they would not be distracted from serving the Lord. They were given a tenth of all the produce and trade of the other tribes as they worked their own inheritance and prospered in the Land that the Lord had given them. On the other hand, no member of the other tribes was allowed to come to Tabernacle or the Temple and offer priestly service. This meant that anyone involved in the Lord’s service should be at least as prosperous and the average person in the rest of the nation. The Lord understood that the priests and Levites would need to be in a position where they were not corrupted by too much wealth and not forced into sin because they were constrained by poverty (compare Prov 30:7–9, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain”). The Lord did require that the rest of Israel make their offerings from their best produce rather than their worst produce.

This shall be thine

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Numbers 18:8–19, “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee. And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”

Representing the Lord to Israel and Israel to the Lord was an important task and took up a significant amount of time. This prevented the priests from taking full time employment elsewhere so Israel was to support the priests in this job. When someone offered a gift to the Lord the Lord passed that gift on the the Levites so that they wouldn’t become impoverished in their service to the Lord. The other issue concerned the firstborn of Israel. They were delivered from slavery at the cost of the Egyptian firstborn so the Lord claimed the firstborn in Israel for His own. The tribe of Levi were chosen to represent the firstborn and they were dedicated to the Lord’s service. However, a price had to be paid for all the firstborn, both of people and animals. Sacrificial animals could not be redeemed but the had to be offered to the Lord.

The priest's office

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Sinking Sand

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Numbers 18:1–7, “And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.”

The Lord had just demonstrated that Aaron and the tribe of Levi were specially selected to act on His behalf for Israel and to act on Israel’s behalf for the Lord. They were to deal with the issue of sin by offering sacrifices to the Lord. This was an hereditary task and would always belong to this tribe. If anyone from another tribe tried to act as a priest or a Temple servant they would be rebelling against the Lord. They were entirely responsible for all the ceremonial aspects of Israel’s religion. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned mankind was tainted by sin. The Lord was offended by mankind’s sin and no one could presume upon His goodness. The Lord freely gave of His grace and sought to effect reconciliation with mankind but this could only be done on the Lord’s terms. The entire sacrificial system was devised to allow Israel to deal with sin and be the means whereby the Lord would use them to bless all the families of the world. However, this could only happen because the Lord is gracious and merciful and acted from His own goodness. We cannot demand that the Lord deal with us on our terms but come to Him on His terms.

Almonds

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Numbers 17:8–13, “And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?”

Moses asked all the tribal leaders in Israel to put the Lord to the test to see who were the approved leaders of the nation. They were asked to put their walking sticks in the Tabernacle of witness and see what happened. When they looked at the walking sticks the next morning they discovered that Aaron’s stick had produced fruit. The dead walking stick was alive and even producing seeds for the next generation. The Lord made sure that everyone understood He supported Moses and Aaron as leaders and no one else. The fact that the Lord brought almonds reminds us of another event that happened many years later. When the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet to Judah just before they went into exile He gave the prophet a vision. The vision was of  a rod from an almond tree The Lord said, at that time that he would hasten His word to perform it (Jer 1:11–12, “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”) The almond tree was known to be the first tree to flower in time for spring. It was know as the tree that heralded the coming of the spring. In the same way the Lord was watching over His nation, Israel, and making sure that His word would be kept. He was removing any people who may prevent His will from happening.

Every one of them a rod

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Numbers 17:1–7, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.”

The Lord knew that it was time for another miraculous demonstration of His authority. He had chosen Moses to lead Israel and refused to let other people hijack the nation, that He had chosen to be the apple of His eye (Deut 32:10, “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”) The Lord knew that Moses was the best leader available at that time and was determined to bring Israel through their wilderness experience in spite of their tendency to rebel against His authority. The Lord devised a way that would demonstrate, once and for all, that Moses and Aaron were His chosen leaders. He told Aaron and a leader from each of the other tribes to take their walking stick and write their name on it. They were to leave their walking sticks in the Tabernacle and see what happened.

The congregation murmured.

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Numbers 16:41–50, “But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.”

There had been a great rebellion in Israel. They tried to overthrown the leaders that the Lord had chosen for them. The Lord intervened and punished the people who rebelled against Him. However, the rest of the people weren’t content to accept that the Lord was in control of their circumstances. They actually committed treason. Much earlier in the earth’s history the Lord established human government. We know that all governments, whether good or bad, are set up by the Lord (see Rom 13:1–6  “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.”) We should remember that we always get the national government that we deserve. If a nation is evil they will get an evil government even if there are some good people in the Land. The Lord had established Moses as the Israeli leader at that time and the nation had to be purified rather than allowing them to have the evil government that some people wanted. The Lord was still determined to bring Israel, as a nation, into the Promised Land, whether they liked it or not. Moses understood the Lord’s plan and prayed that Israel be saved from their sin.

The censers

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Numbers 16:35–40, “And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.”

Even though the Lord punished Korah and the leaders of his rebellion in a powerful and unique way, there were still others who had challenged Moses and Aaron’s authority. These men had come to the Lord to offer fire in their censers and were waiting to see what the Lord would do. The Lord sent fire to those men but the fire was so intense that all the men were killed. We may think that we can control the Lord but that is not the case. We can only come before the Lord in humility and trust His grace. These men were all executed by the Lord for their rebellion. However, they all carried censers that had been holy before their rebellion. All the censers were taken and beaten out to make a cover for the altar to show what the Lord could do. Every time the people looked at the altar they should have been reminded of the folly of rebelling against the Lord.

Get you up

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Numbers 16:23–34, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.”

This section shows us the final end of Korah’s rebellion. These people put the Lord to the test and challenged Him to do something about the situation. They chose to refuse the Lord’s authority by rejecting the leaders that the Lord appointed. Moses wanted to everyone to know that this was a very serious rebellion and the Lord showed what could happen if people rebelled against His authority. These men had refused to come to see Moses so Moses went to them and the Lord showed His authority. The earth swallowed these people and their families and they went alive into hell. This was a sobering warning to all who chose to rebel against the Lord.

Is it a small thing

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Numbers 16:12–22, “And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?”

Moses was the supreme leader of Israel, under the Lord. He was called and appointed to this position Dathan and Abiram were rebelling. When Moses wanted to talk to them they refused to come and see him. Never the less, they were not rebelling against Moses but against the Lord and by refusing to do what Moses asked they were refusing to do what the Lord asked. They complained that Moses promised them a Land flowing with milk and honey but he didn’t deliver the Land to them. They forgot the important fact that Israel refused to go into the Land. Moses was completely innocent in this regard. He had not hurt anyone, in fact, the only thing that Moses had done was obey the Lord and deliver Israel from the land of slavery. Moses asked the Lord not to respect the offerings of the men who were rebelling against the Lord. Each of the rebels took a censer and they stood next to the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. The glory of the Lord appeared and the Lord told Moses and Aaron to move away from the rest of the people. Moses prayed that the Lord would not destroy the whole congregation because they were not all rebels.

Together against Moses

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Numbers 16:1–11, “Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?”

There is always some jealousy when people are given leadership positions. This is true even if the people are elected to those positions. In this case, the Lord appointed Moses to lead Israel. He was from the tribe of Levi. Levi was Jacob’s third son. Reuben was the firstborn, followed by Simeon and then Levi (See Gen 29: 31-35). In the normal course of events, the leader should come from the tribe of Reuben. However, Reuben lost his place as the firstborn (Gen 49:3–4, “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.”) Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and should not have been in a position of leadership in Israel. Korah was also a member of the tribe of Levi and thought that he should be the leader. He gathered some other people who were also dissatisfied and they established a rebellion against Moses by talking to other people and seeking their support. Moses was a meek man and he didn’t fight for his own place, rather he prayed to the Lord. He was concerned for the integrity of the nation rather than his own position so He went to the Lord. Moses told them to come before the Lord and let the Lord show everyone who was the proper leader. They were not grumbling about Moses or Aaron, they were grumbling about the Lord. They were all to bring censers and see whose censer the Lord would light.

Fringes

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Numbers 15:37–41, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Israel’s time in the wilderness was spent learning through experience, interspersed with instructions from the Lord. There are two theories about memory. One is simply stated, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The other, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The first theory is more correct than the second theory. In order to make memory more active the Lord established a principle whereby Israel would be helped to remember all the things that the Lord told them. They were told put a blue border at the edge of their clothing so that they would see that and remember. They were also told to wear fringes as well. These particular garments were different to what they were used to wearing but they were to act as a memorial device throughout their generations. The Lord was able to justify this command by the fact that He was the Lord Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. The Lord had done so much for them that, if they continued to remember what He had done, they would always be mindful of the great love that the Lord had for the “apple of His eye”. The basis for genuine contentment is having an attitude of gratitude.

Cut off from among his people

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Numbers 15:30–36, “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.”

It is easy to overlook something that you have to do. We can often be taken up with the busyness of our lives and discover, at the end of the day, that we have done something that we should not have done or not done something that we should have done. However, there are other times when we deliberately do something that we know to be wrong. We may hurt another person when we don’t have to or we may go out of our way to manipulate someone so that we can get our own way. This is called a presumptuous sin. The first time that we sin in this way we have to do it deliberately but then it may become a habit after a while and we just do malicious things because they have become a habit. This doesn’t mean that we are no longer committing a presumptuous sin, it just means that our consciences have become hardened and lost sensitivity (compare 1 Tim 4:2, “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”) The Lord knows that this kind of habit can be catching and other people will follow this example and sin presumptuously as well. This is why sins of this kind have to stamped out before the infect the entire group. A specific example was given of this happening. One particular man didn’t rest on the Sabbath as the Law commanded. If nothing was done and the man was allowed to get away with doing that, it wouldn’t be long before everyone was refusing to keep the Law and they would soon slip into the bad habits that characterised the nations that didn’t know God. The Lord would no longer be respected and no one would see that the Lord was good and had something special to offer all the people in the world. In order to make sure this didn’t happen straight away this man was punished according to the Law.

Committed by ignorance

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Numbers 15:22–29, “And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses, Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance: And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance. And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.”

Even though Israel had just been through a time when the deliberately refused to obey the Lord and move on to the next stage. The Lord sill let them know that sometimes a person might sin without planning to sin. This may be done by oversight or because of lack of knowledge. These days people say that ignorance of the law is no defence. However, in the Lord’s system there was a system whereby a person would be able to recover from an accidental sin by offering a special sacrifice as soon as they discovered their sin.

The good LORD pardon every one.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 15:1–21, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock: Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the LORD bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil. And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb. Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil. And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the LORD: Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil. And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid. According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the LORD. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering in your generations.”

Israel sinned because the refused to go into the Land when the Lord had promised it to them. However, those who sinned were punished and the sin was dealt with. After that the ceremonial rituals were reestablished and the people continued in their way, following the system of worship that the Lord had given to them. This is always the way with the Lord. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10–12) Once our sin has been dealt with the Lord will act with justice and integrity and restore us to a proper relationship with Him. Sometimes it is impossible for us to do anything about our sin because we have sinned to much. Then the Lord will intervene and deal with our sin Himself (compare 2 Chron 30:18, “For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one.”)

Made them murmur

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Numbers 14:36–45, “And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.”

The men who discouraged Israel from going to take possession of the Promised Land, at that time, died in a plague. The Lord dealt with them because they tried to lead Israel astray and they refused to accept that the Lord was the only true God. These men persuaded Israel that there were other gods that they should fear. However, both Caleb and Joshua refused to recognise that these other gods were real or that they should be afraid of these gods so they were not punished. The people were still struggling with accepting that the Lord was their God in every sense of the word. When they realised that they had chosen to reject the Lord and refused to go into the Promised Land they Lord gave them what they chose and condemned them to remain in the desert until all that generation had died and their children would be able to go into the Land. They decided that they wouldn’t accept the Lord’s verdict and go to take the Promised Land instead. Moses warned them against taking this course of action. Never the less, they went towards the Promised Land. They didn’t take the ark because the Lord’s Presence didn’t go with them. Moses remained behind as well so they were not led by the godly man whom the Lord had chosen. When they approached the Promised Land the inhabitants came and defeated these people in a battle. They made a choice and the Lord gave them what they had chosen.

Shall fall in this wilderness

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Numbers 14:20–35, “And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”

Actions always have consequences even though we may sometimes be able to dodge a bullet when we do something silly. However, “to whom much has been given much shall be required. “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48) Much had been given to Israel when the Lord took them away from their slavery, gave them great riches and their own nation. The Lord was also determined to give them a Land of their own as well. They had seen what the Lord could do to mighty armies but they were scared of a few giants and walled cities. Israel kept testing the Lord by complaining and refusing to do what He told them to do. They would now be forced to experience the consequences of their unbelief. These people would all die in the wilderness and their children would go into the Promised Land. The Lord understood that a nation of slaves was not ready to take possession of their own Land so he allowed Israel forty years in the wilderness so that all those with the slave mindset would die and there would be a new nation of warriors to take possession of the Land.

How long?

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Numbers 14:11–19, “And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

The Lord was angry with the people because they were unfaithful. He brought them out of Egypt to bring them in to the Promised Land (Deut 6: 23, “And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.”) but now they had been brought out of the land of slavery they were unwilling to go into the Promised Land. They deserved to be punished and the Lord explained that to Moses. He said that He would destroy these people and make a new nation from Moses’ descendants. However, Moses was concerned for the Lord’s reputation and pointed out the Lord that everyone would despise Him, saying that He was unable to bring them into the Land. The Lord put Moses in a position where he would have to decide where his own loyalties lay. The Lord didn’t change His mind, at that stage, but gave Moses a chance to express his opinion and his loyalty to the Lord. Moses asked the Lord to save the people because He is longsuffering and and merciful.