Verse for the Day, 16 June 2016.

Numbers 16:1-45, “Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.  (2)  And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men.  (3)  They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"  (4)  When Moses heard it, he fell on his face,  (5)  and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him….(20) And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,  (21)  "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."  (22)  And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?" …(41) But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."  (42)  And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.  (43)  And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,  (44)  and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  (45)  "Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces.”

In reading Numbers 16, one is inclined to lament, “No, not another rebellion!” Yet this is precisely what takes place, two rebellions back to back, each one followed by God’s judgement and punishment. The people of Israel are truly unrepentant and hard-hearted, for whilst they repent every time God punishes them, they do not repent from the heart as their ways remain unchanged.

What is it that lies at the centre of their constant rebellion, why have they not learned? Why do they continue to rebel, but at the same time make the assumption that God should only ever bless them and acquiesce to their every demand?

The answer is pride. Their hearts are proud, they feel entitled, as though God owes them and must constantly prove Himself to them, if He would have them believe in Him. Their pride leads them to only ever think about themselves, their wants and desires. Therefore, they constantly bicker, complain and argue against God for He is not giving them what they believe they deserve. Their pride leads them to give very little respect to God’s commands, and to display even less respect to those whom God has appointed over them as their leaders. So great is their pride that some of them think they are entitled to a higher office and therefore seek to oppose, even overthrow the God-appointed men. Pride has caused them to think that they are owed the Promised Land. Now that God has refused them entry and Moses leads them back into the wilderness, they accuse both God and Moses of cruelty and desiring after their suffering, demise and death. This is pure, undiluted, shameless pride.

Whilst the excessive, ugly and destructive pride of Korah, his followers and the nation is clearly visible, it stands in stark contrast to Moses and Aaron. There is a phrase that is repeated three times in this chapter, in relation to Moses and Aaron, “and they fell on their faces” (verses 4,22 and 45).

What is Moses and Aaron’s response to the pride and rebellion of Korah and the nation as a whole? Their response is one of humility, fear, to contend for the glory of God and to plead with God to be merciful. In fact, this is their immediate response, before they speak or act, they fall to their faces before God. Why? The sin of Korah, his followers and then of the nation as a whole, has called God’s sovereign wisdom and will into question and has accused God’s appointed servants as being proud, arrogant, power-hungry and evil men. By virtue of their accusations, they are directed more against God, than Moses or Aaron, and is based upon the foolish assumption that Korah knows better than God.

Moses and Aaron had seen how God responded to such insolence and rebellion before and realise that such accusations and actions are sure to invite God’s wrath and judgement. Secondly, Moses and Aaron both knew that they did not chose or appoint themselves to these positions. Moses was a shepherd, Aaron a slave and it was God who had called and appointed them. I am certain that these men, especially Moses, knew how unsuitable and unworthy they were to have received such a calling. Therefore, they respond with humility, falling on their faces, lying in the dust before God. They seek to humble themselves, they urge the people not to rebel in this manner and when they continue in rebellion they ask for God to vindicate His glory, honour and sovereign will. At no point do they try to defend themselves, or prove that they are worthy of the office they have received. Moses and Aaron humble themselves, before God, urge the people not to rebel, call upon God to establish His glory and defend His cause, but also for God to be merciful, compassionate and forgiving. They intercede on behalf of the people, they even offer up a sacrifice so as to make atonement for the people in order to satisfy God’s justice and turn back His hand of judgement.

Numbers 16 clearly demonstrates to us the ugly, destructive, man-glorifying nature of pride in contrast to the grace, life giving, and God-glorifying nature of humility.

Humility is the path way to salvation, the Lord Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:3&5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” It was out pride that kept us far from God prior to our salvation, pride that God had to confront in us and humble us. We should be grateful that God has chosen to be so gracious towards us when He confronts our pride, instead of causing the ground to swallow us or fire to consume us. Such is God’s grace to us in the midst of our pride, that He comes to take our judgement upon Himself.

We need to learn from this passage the grave danger of pride, and to understand that as Christians we are not immune from it. Pride is something which we will have to battle against every day, and humility does not come naturally. But if we constantly remind ourselves of who God is, the great and awesome God, the God who is to be feared above all others, the God who is holy, holy, holy, the God who is all-knowing, seeing and powerful, and that we are but grasshoppers in comparison to Him, that will help us to keep our pride down and pursue after humility. If we keep in our minds the majesty of God and then the humility of God as He came in love, mercy and grace to redeem us. If we focus on how Christ humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death. If we constantly consider the work of Christ on our behalf, that which brings us salvation, it will help to put our pride to death and keep us humble and thankful.

In humility before God, we will find life, for we will find God. In humility, we will find spiritual nourishment and growth, for we will realise our need to constantly know more and more about God. In humility, we will find strength, for we will know that God is our strength and His grace is sufficient for all things and in all things. Let us pursue humility daily and be active in seeking to put our pride to death.

Most glorious God, may we like Moses and Aaron, constantly falling down before You in humble worship, never presuming we have the right to approach You on the basis of our own efforts. May we constantly remember how pride was leading us to our death and eternal damnation for it led us away from Christ. Thank You that You have humbled us through the Gospel and the work of Christ, but we pray that You will help us to remain humble and put pride to death. Keep our eyes, minds and hearts fixed on how awesome and great You are, and may we learn to fear You, for that is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 15 June 2016.

Numbers 15:27-31  "If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.  (28)  And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.  (29)  You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them.  (30)  But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.  (31)  Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him."

The arrangement of Scripture is no mistake, nor a result of pure chance, there is a distinct and divine order to every single verse. We see the truth of this in Numbers 15. Having just recorded the rebellion of the Israelites, we would expect to read in the next chapter of how God dealt severely with the people. But instead of judgement and punishment, we read of sacrifice, forgiveness, thanksgiving and the faithful promises of God.

The chapter begins with an encouraging statement made by God, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you…” Though they have rebelled, refusing to go into the Promised Land and have broken the covenant with God, God is stating that He will remain faithful to His promise. The people of Israel will still receive this Promised Land as their inheritance, one-day God will bring them in and bless them. The current generation would not live to see this, but they had the assurance and comfort that the next generation, their children would enter into and receive this land.

The restating of the sacrificial system is by no means accidental. This restatement follows on the back of their rebellion and God’s announcement of judgement as a means to point them back to God’s grace and forgiveness. Furthermore, it is to remind them of the reasons as to why God’s judgement has come upon them, lest they think it is too severe or unfair.

Provision is made for unintentional, unknown sin, what is often referred to as sins of omission. For example, if you are lied to by another person, and repeat that lie as though it were the truth to somebody else, you are guilty of lying by omission. You believed what you were told was the truth, and when you repeated it, you were lying although you were completely unaware. Some might think that to regard this as a sin is unfair and unreasonable. But what we need to understand is that sin is sin, sin is still sinful when it is done knowingly or unknowingly. God is absolutely holy and therefore cannot tolerate any sin, nor can anyone who has sin stand before Him and dwell in His presence. Sin is always utterly sinful, no matter what the circumstances are.

However, God is a God of mercy and grace, and we see the reality of this through the means that God provides so that the people of Israel can seek after God’s forgiveness for these unknown, unintentional sins. The sacrificial system serves this purpose on a national and individual basis. The priests were to offer up a sacrifice on behalf of the whole nation for such sins, and the individual people were to offer up a sacrifice once a year seeking God’s forgiveness from these sins of omission. Through these sacrifices they would come under the grace and forgiveness of God.

But, as verse 30 makes clear, when a person sins intentionally, consciously and deliberately against God it is a very different situation. This type of sin takes place despite knowing God’s commands, holiness, authority, glory and presence. To sin in this manner is to break the covenant with God, for it is a denial of God’s authority and position as God. The people of Israel committed themselves to the covenant promise, that God would be their God and they would be His people. Deliberate sin was a betrayal of this promise and therefore a breaking of the covenant.

When a covenant is broken the consequences are significant, and in the case of this covenant, the consequences were to be cut off from God and His covenant people. If you break the covenant then you have no right to be a part of the covenant relationship or the covenant community, you have no right to receive the covenant blessing, nor the future promises. Not only will they be cut off from the covenant, God will also hold them accountable for their sin and punish them accordingly.

The people of Israel had done exactly this when they rebelled in the previous chapter, and now they were enduring the consequences of their actions. They had broken the covenant, they would now be under God’s hand of judgement and they would never come to know the blessings of the covenant promises. God would hold each of them accountable for their deliberate and defiant rebellion. But in the midst of God’s wrath, there is mercy, for God will hold them and only them responsible, He will not punish those who are innocent, namely their children. God will continue to keep His covenant with them, and they will enjoy the blessings.

We often trivialise and reduce the severity of our sin. We don’t look upon our sin as being all that sinful, or as a “great” sin. What is a lie here and there, a lustful thought or two? What is a little bit of greed or envy? What’s wrong with a few harsh words and a little gossip? If no one is harmed, then surely it doesn’t matter? But what Numbers 15 communicates to us is that sin is sinful and it is all utterly sinful. There is never any justification for sin, there is never an occasion when it is right, permissible or excusable. Sin will always meet with God’s just and perfect judgement irrespective of its degree of sinfulness.

It is important that we do not reduce or trivialise our sin because it has a direct and immediate impact upon our relationship with God, and if left undealt with, will have an eternal impact. We need to imbed this truth into our minds, sin is sin and it is always sinful, therefore it is never acceptable and must always be repented of. God’s grace it still available to us through Christ, which means that when we do sin, instead of trying to justify it or excuse it, we should run to God in prayer, asking for His grace and forgiveness.

We need to remember that if we are believers in Jesus Christ, our sin still has an impact on our covenant relationship with God. Yes, we may have been saved from the eternal consequences of our sin. Yes, we are secure in our salvation for Christ’s work is sufficient to deal with all of our sin. But it still has a negative impact upon our relationship with God, until that sin is repented of and we seek to walk in obedience. Let us be thankful for the grace we have received, and not spurn it by continuing to sin, failing to take sin seriously and not pursuing after holiness. May we seek to be faithful to the promises we have made to God, to serve Him faithfully as our God.

Our faithful and gracious God, we thank You that You have given to us the full forgiveness of sin through the work of Christ. We thank You for setting us free from the eternal consequences of our sin and filling us with Your Holy Spirit to keep us from sin. May we understand more of Your holiness and the sinfulness of sin. Keep us from spurning Your grace and failing to take sin seriously. May we daily reflect on the grace we have received and set ourselves to the pursuit of holiness. In Your holy and gracious Name we pray. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 13 June 2016.

Numbers 14:39-45, “When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly.  (40)  And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned."  (41)  But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed?  (42)  Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.  (43)  For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you."  (44)  But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.  (45)  Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.”

Numbers 14 goes from bad, worse to worst! The people of Israel continue on in their deliberate and defiant disobedience of God, and on this occasion had the audacity to think that it was obedience. Even when Moses clearly warns them against going and attempting to take the land, they ignore his warning and continue on their way. The text makes it clear that God was not with them as they went out to battle. We are told that Moses, their leader, and the ark of the covenant, which was a symbol of God’s presence, remained in the camp. The people went out in their own strength and in stubborn disobedience.

On this occasion they would learn the cost of disobedience in blood, for they were defeated and chased off. We are not told how many people died, nor how many were injured in battle, but blood was shed, lives were lost.

Numbers 14 teaches us many truths, and one of those truths which it shouts out to us is that disobedience is not just deadly, but it also leads to death. Living and walking in disobedience will lead us straight into the jaws of death, and having claimed our lives, we will then face the eternal judgement of God, suffering eternal death in hell. When it comes to God there is no room for disobedience, God doesn’t work with varying shades of grey, it is black or white, obedience or disobedience. The people of Israel had wrongly presumed that if they obeyed God now and went up to take the land, God would ignore, turn a blind eye to their previous disobedience, and be pleased by their current obedience and willingness and therefore bless them.

What has led to this change of heart? If only it were a change of heart! The people of Israel have heard what the consequences will be for their rebellion and disobedience, and it was far from pleasant. They will never enter into the Promised Land and they will all die in the wilderness. This is far from the fairy tale ending they had hoped to enjoy, life in a land flowing with milk and honey. Realising the consequences and eager to escape them, they presume they can redeem themselves by being obedient now.

Some may think that God is being harsh and ungracious, why not accept their obedience and set them free from His coming punishment? The fact is this, the people of Israel are rebellious, they have not truly served God nor been faithful to their covenant promises, and they never will be. Their hearts are hard, they are stubborn and defiant. God has been gracious and patient on numerous occasions, He has relented and restrained His hand of judgement several times. But now the time of grace has passed, an ungrateful, stubborn, defiant and rebellious nation are being handed over to their sinful disobedience, which will lead to their eventual death and eternal judgement.

For those of us who claim we are true believers in Jesus Christ, it is important for us to take note of the disobedience of the people of Israel, their slowness to obey and the many times they tested God. We need to compare it to the example of Christ, who was humble, submissive and quick to obey, it was His delight to do the will and work of God the Father. Having compared these two we need to understand the importance, benefit and blessing of obedience and how destructive and deadly disobedience is. We should also be careful to avoid delayed obedience, as many others have said in the past, “Delayed obedience is disobedience.”

There is great joy, peace and blessing to be found in obedience. Joy and peace because we know that we are listening to God and to His Word and are responding with obedience, which leads us to peace as we will not live in fear of God’s judgement or discipline. Instead we can look forward to receiving the blessings that come through our obedience. Numbers 14 urges us to be on our guard against disobedience, stubborn defiance, rebellion and the rejection of God. It reveals to us the great dangers of doubting God, calling God’s character, attributes and promises into question, and to just how sinister and sinful it is to accuse God of evil.

Let us keep a close watch on our lives so that we don’t develop this same attitude, instead let us look to Christ as our great example of what obedience looks like. Let us walk in that example for the glory of God and for our eternal good and reward.

Lord Jesus Christ thank You that You were entirely obedient to the will of God the Father. Thank You that through Your obedience we now have salvation. We know that You have called us to be obedient to You and Your Word, yet we are slow to hear and obey. Many times we resist Your will and choose to go our own way. Forgive us for our many disobediences, may You help us to see the joy, peace and blessing that comes through obedience to You. May we follow faithfully in the example set for us by Christ. Amen.