Numbers 20;18

Numbers 20:18 says, And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. When Moses asked the people of Edom to let them pass through their land, they said only by the sword could they pass through.  We should not be surprised if people stand in defiance of us as Christians, even if we are nice to them and mean them no harm.  Verse nineteen adds, And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.  The people of Isreal told the Edomites that they would pass through on the highway without doing them any harm, even paying for the water if their cattle drank any.  Verse twenty states, And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.  The king of Edom told Moses that the people of Israel would not pass through, and then he came out to them with his army.  God could have just led the people of Israel on through Edom, but He had Moses ask permission instead.  I don't believe God is going to lead us to simply take what belongs to others simply because we are His people as followers of Christ and they aren't.  Verse twenty-one adds, Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.  When he did this, the people of Israel turned away.  Verse twenty-two continues, And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.  All the people of Israel went from Kadesh to mount Hor. God could have led them to victory, but He chose another way, even if it was longer.  We should be willing to go out of our way to reach people with God's word today.  Verse twenty-three says, And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,  Verse twenty-four adds, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.  God spoke to Aaron and Moses at mount Hor and said because of their rebellion at the bringing forth of the water from the rock at Meribah that Aaron would not be allowed to go into the Promised Land.  Though we didn't really see Aaron being involved in that, he was God's spokesman for Moses, so they were both identified as representatives of God.  It is possible that we may lose some material blessings, maybe even life itself, if we are too closely allied with someone who claims to be doing God's work, but really aren't.  Aaron was not allowed to go into the earthly Promised Land, but he still went to his heavenly home, and if we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we may miss out on some earthly blessings if we act in a way that is contrary to God's will, but we will still go to our heavenly home once die.  Verse twenty-three states, Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:  God instructed Moses to take Aaron and his son Eleazar up the mount of Hor.  Verse twenty-six adds, And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.  The garments of the priesthood were to be removed from Aaron and passed on to Eleazar.  God does not let the priesthood die with a particular individual, but continues to call others to fill the position.   Aaron was to die on mount Hor.  Verse twenty-seven declares, And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.  Moses did what God had instructed him to do in the sight of the people.   I believe that God still expects us to do what we do for Him openly and not have some secret meeting where we claim God has called us to do something that other Christians cannot understand.  Aaron died on the mount of Hor, but not before Eleazar was installed as priest.  God will not leave His work undone as long as people are obedient to His call.  Verse twenty-nine continues, And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.  When the people of Israel realized Aaron was dead, they mourned for him thirty days.  He had been God's spokesman through all their time in the wilderness, but God had now appointed his successor.  We may mourn when a Christian leader passes away, but we also need to realize that God's work will continue to be done by someone else that God has called.