Numbers 16:41-18:32
Num. 16:41-50
Up until now, Korah's rebellion has been a civil war within the tribe of Levi. Now, the other tribes have become infected by the criticisms against Moses and Aaron. Didn't they see the cloud? When they faced off against Moses and Aaron, the cloud moved.
Vs. 45-46, Moses and Aaron now both fell on their faces. They knew this was going to cost people their lives. Moses somehow understood that Aaron needed to get into the masses and make atonement for them.
V. 48, Wherever this took place, Aaron was standing between dead people and living people. As this was happening and people were dying, they must have seen that Aaron was making a difference. Those who understood this went to Aaron. Apparently, too, those with rebellious hearts were the ones who came toward the entrance of the Tabernacle. Still, 14,700 people is a good crowd.
Num. 17:1-13
This chapter sets the cause of the previous rebellions to rest. God himself took care of the problem stating this in verse 5.
As mentioned yesterday, it seems that whenever there is an organization, we crave the lead roles. This is true in the church in spite of Christ being the head and in spite of the church's mission being that of reaching a dying world. We are still caught up with what we think of each other and who is the leader. God's choices in gifting and giving one person more visibility than another don't occur to us. We look at the organization and forget the God who owns it. They forgot the cloud, although it was in plain view.
With Israel, and even with us, God gives gifts/offices. He makes the choice. We are to live and serve according to "the measure of faith which God has assigned to him." God gives and assigns and orders. We either go with it or mess it up.
God would now confirm the choice He had made again. Twelve staffs representing each tribe would be put between the altar and the Holy Place. You see what happened to Aaron's staff. A class "A" miracle.
Verses 12 and 13 are the reaction of the people to their own rebellion. Notice that 18:1 begins with "so."
Num. 18:1-20
So God gave special laws to Aaron first and then the tribe of Levi. The people are fearful of God because of their iniquity. God takes care of their iniquity by placing it on Aaron and his sons. Sounds familiar, huh? That is exactly what God did to the final priest, Jesus.
These laws also show the privilege of Aaron and his sons having their needs met through the offerings and sacrifices brought to the Tabernacle.
Now, if the people of the nation saw the sacrifices as important in their relationship to God and if they obeyed the Lord and if they understood that God wanted them to come to Him through the ministry of Aaron, then all was well. If not, they would look at Aaron and the Levites as "living off" them, as if by charity.
This principle extends over to the NT, and you see Paul mentioning the command the Lord gave that those who are fulltime in the service of the Gospel, should get their living from the Gospel. Read 1 Cor. 9. Again, this is God's choice for things. If we see the Lord and the harvest as the center of our lives, then it all works. If we think "church" means something else, we get in trouble. I was in a church where people said that both of my predecessors were lazy and never put in an honest day's work. In the file drawers, I found time sheets from them, logging in 55 hour work weeks. The real issue was that the people weren't getting what they paid for, but what they were paying for was to stay isolated on a hill. Both "lazy" pastors burned out.
Num. 18:21-32
I find a couple of things interesting in this section.
First, the Levites were to tithe, too.
Second, the Levites were to serve God to bear the sin of the people and protect them by representing them before the Lord in their service in the Tabernacle.
Third, they were to give the best when they tithed. Just like the people were not supposed to hold back, they were also to give the best that they were given.
It is thought that Cain's sin was not that he offered a sacrifice of his fields instead of an animal offering, but that the fruit and grains he offered were not the best. Instead of giving the best of his fruit, he gave the wormy stuff that he wouldn't have eaten anyway.
One more thing regarding these offerings and tithes - in Malachi these offerings become a major issue. The people brought what was sick and blighted because, hey, times are hard and a blind animal is better than no animal, right? And the priests accepted it because, hey, they had to eat, too. Obviously God didn't agree with them.
Mark 16
In Mark's customary style, chapter 16 is short and crisp. Jesus is raised, the angels say to go to Galilee, there are appearances and then the Great Commission and Jesus' ascension. All the highlights and no detail.
Some observations:
First, Mark alludes to the guys on the road to Emmaus. Luke will give the rest of the story.
Second, Jesus says "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." The message went out first to Jerusalem. Baptism wasn't necessary for salvation but it did supply a visual proof of true faith. 50 days later 3000 people would claim allegiance through baptism proclaiming the name of Jesus, whom some of them had denounced, and whose name was a cause for them to be thrown out of the synagogues in Jerusalem. Baptism has always been symbolic of death with Christ and public identification with Jesus, the Christ, the coming King. Notice also on the negative side of that verse, not believing is the only cause of condemnation. Baptism doesn't save, but in that culture, it sure did show who was really a disciple.
Third, notice the accompanying signs in verses 17 and 18. Then notice the key to this in verse 20. The signs confirmed the message. These men had no Bible to point to like we do. How the signs substantiated their word is easy to see in Acts. I'm not wanting to be divisive here, but just make an observation. Today, it is politically incorrect to disagree with the statement, "all the gifts seen in the book of Acts are normative for today and still in use." I don't buy that. To say that God can still do these things is fine. But the special nature of the formation of the church, like the formation of the nation of Israel in the OT, has to be given some honest evaluation. Do we have people getting snakebites and living all the time? When our shadow falls across a sick man is he healed? Can God still do this, yes. Does God give anyone of us that ability? I don't see the gift. In Acts you see people who have accepted Christ and haven't received the Spirit until Jews from Jerusalem showed up to lay hands on them so the Jews could see that Samaritans were being given the Spirit. It was a special visual aid to help the Jewish Christians get over their racial prejudice. That was only for that time, not now.
Psalm 55
The intro to this Psalm says, "with stringed instruments." It should read, "with stressed instruments." J
The highs and lows in this Psalm are like verses of a song. There is a cry for help, a description of the enemy and then God's help or flying away.
My heart is encouraged with the verses saying that we can cry to the Lord and He hears us. Verse 22 says it all.
Proverbs 11:7
Just a couple things to say here.
First, the hope of the wicked doesn't take into consideration that our 70 years on earth are like walking into the entry of a building. This is not it. He has no hope beyond what he can buy and enjoy. Our hope is in the Lord and our treasure is in heaven. The question is, are we willing to forgo heaven on earth for the sake of the Lord and the harvest and heaven?
Second, the word "wealth" can also be translated "strength." I think the NIV has the best translation, "When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing."
That is good parallelism and it is true. Men hope their power and accomplishments will somehow translate into getting position or blessing in heaven. Alexander Dumas said that if he got to heaven and found that he was out of step, he would just tell them a little story and perhaps it would open doors for him in heaven as it did for him on earth. Harry Houdini said he would find a way out of the afterlife, just like he found ways out of things here on earth. We haven't seen Harry since he died.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
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