Numbers 18:1

Numbers 18:1 says, 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.  God told Moses that Aaron and his sons and the Levites would bear the responsibility if the tabernacle was profaned.  Aaron may have been receiving what seemed to be a great honor, but He also bore a great responsibility.  We may receive great honor from God by being followers of Christ, but we also have a great responsibility to keep our life sanctified for Him and to keep His word holy.  Verse two adds, 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.  Though the Levites were to join Aaron and his sons in the priesthood, only Aaron and his sons were to minister before the tabernacle.  As Christians, we are all a part of the priesthood of believers, but we don't all have the same calling to serve the same way.  Verse three continues, 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.  The Levites were to keep the charge of Aaron and the tabernacle, but they were not to come near the vessels of the tabernacle, or they would die.  We should never attempt to claim a role in the church that God has not called us to.  Verse four continues, 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.  Though the Levites were to help Aaron and his sons by serving in the tabernacle, they were to keep strangers from attempting to.  Again, we as followers of Christ have a responsibility to keep those who are not from attempting to take over the church.  Verse five states, 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.  Aaron and his sons were responsible for keeping the charge of the sanctuary and the altar so that there would be no wrath from God on the people of Israel.  Though Aaron might have been called to a position that might have been seen as a great honor, it was even more a position of great responsibility.   As followers of Christ, we have been called to a position of great honor as we have been forgiven of our sins and have become a part of the family of God, but this also brings with it great responsibility to keep the kingdom of God holy.  We cannot allow the things of this world to become acceptable in the church if they are 8n opposition to what the Bible teaches us.  Verse six adds, 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.  God told Aaron that He had given the Levites to Aaron to help in the service of the tabernacle.  We need to allow God to call people to their position of service today.  We cannot simply decide what we want to do in the church without knowing that is what God wants us to do.  Verse seven continues, 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.  God told Aaron that He had given the service as priests as a gift to his sons and him.  Whatever God calls us to do today as followers of Christ is a gift from Him, and we must do it humbly and faithfully.   We are not called to any position in the church because we are better than other Christians, but are called simply because God chose that position for us.

Numbers 17:8

Numbers 17:8 says, 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.  After God instructed Moses to have all the heads of the tribes of Isreal carve their name on a rod and put it in the tabernacle, the rod of Aaron, representing the tribe of Levi, was budded out, bloomed with buds, and yielded almonds.  This could only be the work of God.  I believe that God will always let us know when He is at work, even if we are murmuring against Him.  Verse nine adds, 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.  Moses brought out all the rods in the presence of the LORD and each man took his rod.  Since their names were carved on them, there could be no doubt whose was whose.  We should always know what is ours before God and not try to claim what belongs to someone else, because God certainly knows.  Verse ten declares, 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.  God instructed Moses to bring Aaron's rod before the tabernacle of the testimony as a token against the rebels, so that they would quit murmuring and not die. Jesus stands as a testimony to us today as His followers, and for that reason we should never murmur against God.  Verse eleven adds, And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.  Moses did as God commanded Him to do, and so must we as followers of Christ today.  Just as God showed the people then that He had indeed selected Moses and Aaron to be His representatives with the people, I believe that He will let us know who He has chosen to lead His congregations today, so we should not murmur against them or God.  Verse twelve states, And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.  Yet, the people still continued tto complain, saying they would all perish.  Verse thirteen adds, Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?  They asked if anyone who came near the tabernacle of the LORD would die, were they all doomed to die.  God had never said this.  He said if anyone other than the ones He chose tried to take over the service in the tabernacle that they would die.  We cannot change God's plans to suit our own desires or feed our own ego.  Matthew Henry said that this could represent either the people still murmuring against God or their finally accepting His leadership, but to me it seems more like they were still murmuring and claiming God was too strict.  We may sometimes have the thought that God expects too much from us and start to complain, but this should never happen if we are truly living by faith.

Numbers 17:1

Numbers 17:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, 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.  God told Moses to have the prince of every tribe of Israel to take a rod and write the name of the prince on it.  This included all twelve tribes, and still had to do with whom God had chosen to be His spokesman.  Since they were questioning God, He involved them in the process of answering the question.  I believe that God gives every person enough personal knowledge to come to Him, and also that He gives each Christian enough knowledge to know what they should be doing in His kingdom.  There should be no reason for murmuring amongst the followers of Christ.  Verse three continues, 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.  Moses was to write Aaron’s name on the rod of the tribe of Levi.  This was the one exception, and it placed both Moses and Aaron in the process.  They and the Levites were the ones God had had set apart to serve Him as His representatives to the people.  We need to make certain that we follow those that God has put in position as preachers and teachers today without jealousy or murmuring as long as they are faithful to Him.  Verse four states, And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.  God instructed Moses to then lay the rods in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony where God met with Moses.  If we are going to get answers to spiritual questions today, we need to come before God for those answers.  Verse five adds, 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.  God said that He would make the rod of the of the man He had chosen to serve as His representative to blossom.  God then said this should eliminate the murmuring against Him.  I believe that God still lets His people know what they should be doing in the work of His kingdom today, and therefore there should be no murmuring against other Christians and especially not against God Himself.  Though we may not have as drastic example to show us, the Holy Spirit will let us know what God has called us to do.  Verse six declares, 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.  Moses spoke to the people of Israel and told them what God had instructed him to do, which was to take the twelve rods, one from each tribe, which also had the rod of Aaron among them.  Since they had chosen and marked the rod for their tribe they were very much involved in the process.   I believe that God still gives us clear answers to what we should be doing in His kingdom today, yet we still too often murmur about other Christians and even about God Himself.   Verse seven concludes, And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.  Moses then laid the rods before God in the tabernacle of witness.  Moses did as God instructed him to do, then whatever happened was in God's hands.  We need to simply put ourselves before God in obedience to His word and then leave everything in His hands. 

Numbers 16:43

Numbers 16:43 says, And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.  Moses  and Aaron once more came before the tabernacle of the congregation, which represented where thay worshipped God.  Even if others are murmuring against us, we still need to gather together where God is to be found.  Verse forty-four adds, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Though the people might have been questioning Moses's right to lead them, God wasn't, and that was what mattered with Moses then and what matters us today as followers of Christ. What other people say, even other Christians, should not keep us from doing what God has called us to do, and it certainly won't stop God from talking to us.  Verse forty-five continues, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.  God told Moses to move away from the congregation so that He might immediately destroy them, and Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.  If we as Christians continually murmur against God and those He has placed in authority over us, I wonder if He sometimes feels the same way about us.  Verse forty-six states, 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.  Moses once again interceded for the people of Israel, even though they were rebelling against him.  He told Aaron to take a censer from the altar, fill it with incense, and move quickly into the congregation, because the plague had begun.  This would put Aaron in danger of dying himself if God wasn't with him.  We should be willing to place ourselves in danger if need be in order to share the gospel with the lost people of the world today.  Verse forty-seven adds, 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.  Aaron did as Moses told him to do, and ran into the congregation with the incense to make atonement for them, even though the plague had already begun.  We cannot reach everyone with the gospel today, because the plague of sin has already begun, and some will never listen to the gospel.  Still, no matter if they treat us badly, we must be willing to make intercession for them.  Verse forty-eight continues, And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.  Aaron stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.  Jesus Christ stands between those who are spiritually dead and those who are spiritually alive today. Verse forty-nine says, Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand, and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.  Fourteen thousand, seven hundred had already died before Aaron interceded for them, in addition to those that died with Korah when the earth swallowed them.  Many people are going to die in sin today no matter what we do, but we have a commitment from God to be sharing the gospel with them and I believe that we also need to be praying for them making intercession for them before God.  Verse fifty adds, And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.  Aaron then returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle and the plague was stayed.  We may never know what our intetercessory prayers do to give others an opportunity to be saved, but we should never stop offering them, even it it requires us to put feet to our prayers and even put ourselves in a dangerous situation. 

Numbers 16:35

Numbers 16:35 says, And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.  Those who were offering incense under the leadership of those who had rebelled against Moses, these false priests, were consumed by fire from the LORD.  We don't have such drastic signs today that someone is a false priest, but must rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal to us if they are or not.  Verse thirty-six adds, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse thirty-seven continues, 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.  Moses was instructed by God to have Eleazar, the son of Aaron the true priest of God, to collect the censers these false priests had used to bring their incense and scatter the fire in them outside the camp, for they were sacred.  The censers themselves were hallowed, since God had instructed them to bring them.  Even though the priest may be false, they cannot make the things that are truly God's to be as well.  Verse thirty-eight states, 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.  The censers were no longer to be used the same way in the tabernacle, but were to be beaten into broad plates that would serve as a sign to the people of Israel about what would happen to those who attempted to claim to be something that God had not called them to be.  Verse thirty-nine adds, 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:  These censers were made into a broad plate to cover the altar.  Verse forty continues, 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.  This was to be a memorial to the people of Israel that no one who was not a descendent of Aaron should attempt to offer incense before the LORD, as Korah and his company had done.  Though we may be not see the drastic results when someone falsely attempts to claim to be called by God as a preacher today, the everlasting result will be the same.  Verse forty-one says, 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.  The next day, the people of Israel were once again murmuring against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of having killed some of the children of Israel.  They were attributing what God had done to Moses and Aaron.  We need to be careful as followers of Christ that we do not attribute God's righteous judgment of those who would falsely claim to be His spokesmen today to some other church leader.  It should have been very obvious to these people, who had seem the power of God manifested many times, when something was His work.  Verse forty-two adds, 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.  While the people who were gathered against Moses were looking toward the tabernacle,  it was covered by a cloud and the glory of the LORD appeared.  God will always stand with those that He calls against all who defy them.  

Numbers 16:23

Numbers 16:23 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twenty-four adds, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.  God told Moses to tell the congregation to move away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.  We also need to move away from false places of worship today.  Verse twenty-five states, And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.  Moses went to Dathan and Abiram and the elders of Israel followed him there.  Verse twenty-six adds, 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.  Moses warned the congregation to move away from Dathan and Abiram and to touch nothing that was theirs, lest they be destroyed with them.  It was still up to each individual to decide what they would do.  We can warn people of the dangers of following false teachers today, but it is up to them whether or not they choose to do so.  Verse twenty-seven continues, 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.  The people listened to Moses and left, and then Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their families came out of their tents.  They had attempted a take over, and now they found themselves isolated from God's people.   Those who attempt to change God's word and lead God's people away from Him will ultimately stand alone before God to face His judgment.  Verse twenty-eight says, 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.  Moses told them that they were now going to know that God had sent him, and that what he had done had been done by God's hand, or power, and not his own.  As followers of Christ, we also need to make sure that whatever we do is done by the power of God.  We cannot just follow our own desires under our own strength and successfully follow God.  Verse twenty-nine adds, 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.  Moses said that if Korah, Dathan and Abiram died normal deaths, God had not sent Moses.  Of course, people today can die normal deaths, even if they are leading people away from God, and this does not mean that they are teaching the truth.  Verse thirty continues, 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.  Moses said that if God made a new thing and the earth swallowed Korah, Dathan and Abiram up, then they would know that they had provoked God.  This was something that had never happened before, so if it happened after Moses proposed it, it would be proof that God was speaking through him.  We really don't have any sign like this to prove that people are leading others away from God, so we need to make sure that we know God's word and are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse thirty-one states, 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:  As soon as Moses stopped talking, the earth began to open up.  It was too late for those who had not listened to Moses to do so now.  Verse thirty-two adds, 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.  The earth opened up and swallowed these three, their houses and goods, and all those who had continued to stand with them against Moses.  Verse thirty-three continues, 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.  Korah, Dathan, Abiram and all those who followed them fell into thee pit that had opened up and then the pit closed up again.  We cannot look for the same thing to happen today, but those who corrupt God's word and lead others away from Him will one day be swallowed up by the pits of hell.  Verse thirty-four declares, And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.  All those who had been close by fled the area, saying that they needed to lest they be swallowed up as well.  We need to move away from those who teach false things about God today, so that we do not begin to believe them instead of God and get caught up in their everlasting punishment.  Of course, I believe that if we have truly put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we never will be pulled away by false teachers. 

Numbers 16:12

Numbers 16:12 says, And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:  Moses called for Dathan and Abiram, who were rebelling against him, to come to him, and they refused.  Moses was God's appointed leader and they would not obey him.  Too often today Christians refuse to listen to preachers, God's called leaders of congregations, because they don't tell them what they want to hear, and they sometimes rebel against them.  Verse thirteen adds, 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?  Dathen and Abiram asked Moses why he had brought them out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill them in the wilderness, unless it was to simply put himself in a position of power over them.  Moses didn't do this, but God did, and if Egypt was a land flowing with milk and honey, they were still slaves there.  We cannot look back to life before we became a follower of Christ and feel that we have given up too much.  Verse fourteen continues, 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.  They then said Moses had not given them a land flowing with milk and honey and asked if he would blind them because they could see this.  It was the lack if faith on the part of the majority of the people that was keeping them out of the Promised Land, and not Moses.  If we are following God simply for material rewards and refuse to obey Him in doing what He calls us to do, we are being spiritually blind by our own actions.  Verse fifteen states, 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.  Moses was upset and asked God to not respect their offering, and said he had taken nothing from them to benefit himself.  As followers of Christ today, we cannot follow Him simply for material benefit.  Verse sixteen adds, And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:  Moses summoned Korah and all his company along with Aaron to come before the LORD the next day.  This is always the best way to settle disputes in the church.  We need to bring everyone and everything involved in the dispute before the Lord, and let Him settle the dispute.  There is no reason to be fighting amongst ourselves.  Verse seventeen continues, 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.  They were all to bring the same offering to God, including Aaron.  Sometimes, we use church disputes to justify not bringing our tithes and offerings to God, but this is not Biblical.  Verse eighteen says, 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.  They at least did as Moses asked and brought their offering before the tabernacle.  They then stood there with Moses and Aaron.  Verse nineteen adds, 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.  Korah was still gathering the people to follow him and not Moses, and as they gathered at the door of the tabernacle, the glory of God appeared to all the congregation.  When we gather together as the church today, God's glory should shine on and through us.  Verse twenty declares, And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,  God did not speak to Korah,  who was allied with Dathan and Abiram, but to Moses.  Verse twenty-one adds, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.  God told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the others so that He could consume them in a minute.  We cannot rebel against God and His chosen leaders and not expect consequences for our actions, because if we are truly following Christ by faith, we will not be rebelling against His chosen leaders because we don't like what is happening in our lives materially.  Verse twenty-two continues, 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?  The people, who had been ready to follow Korah suddenly fell on their faces before God and asked if all the people would have to suffer for sins of one man.  People are often willing to follow someone who goes against God's leadership until this starts to bring consequences, and then they want to blame their sin on the action of others.  We are all responsible for our own sins and cannot expect to he relieved of that responsibility by attempting to blame someone else for them.