A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 18

Numbers 18:1-7—1 Then the LORD said to Aaron: "You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. 2 Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness. 3 They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle; but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die—they and you also. 4 They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; but an outsider shall not come near you. 5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the LORD, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death." 

We are still in this section from Numbers 16-18, and wrapping up the damage that was done by Korah, Dathan, Abiram and the other 250 men with them, who challenged God’s way of doing things, and who thought they knew a better way. So basically, the priests had to start all over again in making the Tabernacle and themselves right before God before they could perform their rites in making atonement for the people and their sins. “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary.” How had the Tabernacle been defiled, seeing as how Korah and company would not even draw near it? By the golden censers, which had been held by the rebels. Because these were defiled, and even though they had been melted down, the gold was used as a covering for the altar to remind the people that it is God who makes the rules (Numbers 16:38-40). So they had to be purified, and atonement had to be made for them. Those who did not fear Him did not understand the awesome power and glory and majesty of God. They were even more ignorant than animals. Isaiah 1:3—The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. Even the ox and donkey know that God is God, but Korah and company had forgotten their God and all the works that He had done for them. And they rebelled against Him, had taken up the consecrated incense censers and because these rebels had touched them, the censers were defiled and atonement had to be made for them. Even the censer used by Aaron, for his was one with the defiled censers, and was now impure. 

“And you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood.”  Korah was a Levite, and thus was part of the priestly service. Because of his rebellion, all the priestly class were now defiled in the eyes of God, and the entire class had to be made pure because of his sin of defiance against God. The High Priest had to make this atonement, which is another reason God made Aaron’s rod to bud (Numbers 17), to show that he was the one to expiate their sins. He was the High Priest, the only one who could go into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the priests. “Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi…They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle.” Besides the work of the High Priest in atoning for sin, there were other duties that had to be performed in the work of atonement. There being other miscellaneous deeds to be done, which if the High Priest performed them would run the risk of becoming defiled, these tasks were left to the Kohathites and Merarites. They would attend all the needs of the tabernacle, for example bringing in the animals for sacrifice, cutting them up and carrying out any offal or any part of the animal which was not to be placed on the altar. 

But, God set limits for what these assistants could do and where they could and couldn’t go. “They shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die—they and you also.” Yes, Aaron was in a high position. But with that high position came high responsibilities. He had to make sure that no one, not even another Levite, came near to the Holy of Holies. Because not only would that man die, having transgressed the command of God, but also Aaron, being over the work of the priests. Remember, this was a very delicate time in the people’s relationship with God. They had just had an open rebellion against God, and after the instigators were swallowed up by the earth, the people accused Moses and Aaron of killing Korah and company. Which led to God sending a plague which killed 14,700 people besides the original rebels. So the people, and the priests, had to tread lightly and do all that God said the way He said it should be done. Even Aaron was not immune to God’s wrath, so he made sure that everything was done the right way. 

“And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel.” God is love (1st John 4:8). Too many people think that He is only love. They do not like to think that He is a wrathful God. But He is. And Korah’s rebellion incited that wrath, and it still hung over the people. But God can control His wrath. Ever know someone that has an out-of-control temper? One who, once they get wound up, can’t control themselves, and they just go into a berserker rage? That is not God. God knows how to control His anger, and how to save the righteous while punishing the wicked. Matthew 25:31-32—31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.” He will take those who fed and clothed the poor and naked and welcome them into His kingdom, and will take those who ignored and oppressed the poor and hungry and cast them away from His presence. So even though His wrath hung over all the people, including the priests, He stayed it so that atonement could be made for the Tabernacle and the priesthood. “But what of the one who believes in Christ and lives a godly life for, say, fifteen or twenty years, and goes back to his old ways?” Jesus spoke of these people first in the parable of the sowers. God will let them grow for however long, and will judge them just as one who never believed. Matthew 15:26-30—“26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'” These, even the ones who grew for fifteen or twenty years, were ones who were not planted by God. Matthew 15:13—“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” He will pluck out the ones whom He did not know, but will gather His elect into His barn. 

“Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the LORD, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting.” Here we see another picture of Election—Here, God is electing a certain family to give as a gift to the High Priest, for the ministry of the people to God. We now have a greater High Priest, One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Hebrews 8:1), to whom the Father gives a people as a gift. And it doesn’t matter what family we descend from. We could be Levites, or Gadites, or Gentiles. Just as God chose the Levites as a gift to the High Priest Aaron, so now God chooses people as a gift to give to the Great High Priest Jesus Christ. This is a somewhat controversial position to hold these days, but I do believe it is correct. For anyone to believe, faith is a gift given to us, it is not something we do on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9). For we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), and could do nothing to effect any faith toward God. Why? Because there was nothing inside us that wanted God. So He had to choose some to be saved, and predestined them to believe. And just as the Levites had to be purified to be given to Aaron, so we too need to be purified to be given to our Great High Priest.  Which is why Paul says in Romans 8:29—Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. He took us out of the muck and mire we were trapped in because of our sin, washed us, gave us a new heart, wrote His Law on our hearts, gave us faith to believe, and gave them to Christ as a gift for what He did on the Cross. And although I believe this to be true, there are some who do not. And that is okay. When we stand before the Bema of Christ, He will not ask us “Do you believe in Election?” He will simply ask us if we believe, and when we say “Yes, I believe!” He will usher us into the Kingdom of God! What a joyous Day that will be! 

“I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” If it wasn’t clear enough from what happened to Korah and the other rebels, God lets it be known here, in no uncertain terms, that only the family of the tribe of Levi shall come near to the Tabernacle. Earlier we saw that only certain members of certain families of the tribe of Levi could even touch the tools used in the priestly service, and if any member of a family not specified touched them they—and Aaron—would die. Here we see that if anyone of any tribe got too close to the Tabernacle, God would cut them down as well. Now, here we need to share the words of Peter, regarding our standing in Christ. He is our High Priest, but guess what? We are priests! 1st Peter 2:9—But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. The Apostle is echoing the words God spoke to the people in Exodus 19:6. We are a gift to Christ, just as the Levites were a gift to Aaron! Imagine that! When your day is not going well, remember that you are a gift to Christ! Nothing could ever be better than that! And why are we called to be Christ’s? That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. So that we may show Christ to the world. That we may proclaim the God is God and Christ is Lord. Can you think of any greater calling in life? Being a doctor? Christ is the Great Physician. A lawyer? Christ is or Advocate and Mediator. No matter what profession you can imagine, being called to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ is far better than any! 

“But look at the text! The outsider shall be put to death!” That is why God chose and purified us! So that He would not give His Son a defiled people, but a holy people. And nothing can separate us from Christ (Romans 8:1, 38-39). God the Father has given us to Christ as a gift, and He does not take returns. Once you are in Christ, you cannot be taken out of Him! “But you can apostatize! You can fall from grace!” Friend, if God would cast a person away who has run to Jesus for salvation, then we could not call Him a faithful God. Besides, if you try to walk away, Jesus will come and bring you back (Matthew 18:12-13). And if a person professes faith, for even a number of years, and falls away, that person was never given to Christ by the Father. “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?” (Luke 11:11). In this verse, Jesus is telling the people about God giving good gifts to people. How much more will He give His son even greater gifts! Will He give His Son a gift that He knows will be defective? When God saves us, we are no longer outsiders, but rather brothers and sisters in (and of) Christ. And we can go to the throne of our God at any time. Hebrews 4:16—Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Paul Kretzmann—

 

In all hours of trial and affliction, then, when we feel so sorely in need of some comfort that cannot be challenged and doubted, we have this fact to rely upon, that our High Priest has perfected a full and complete reconciliation, and that God no longer is angry with us, but will accept us with all the kindness of a fatherly heart and give to us all that we need for the enjoyment of eternal bliss in His presence. Thus both the assurance of pardon and of divine assistance is ours, and we may go on through life in the cheerfulness of faith, knowing that the rest of the Lord awaits us at the end of the course, when He takes us home. 

We need an appointment to see a doctor, or mechanic or plumber. But we can go to God at any time, day or night, no matter where we are, and hold an audience with the great Creator and Lord. The One who is sovereign over all creation will always hear the prayers of His children. What a mighty God we serve! 

Numbers 18:8-19 outline what things of the sacrifices belong to the priests, what was to be redeemed, etc. Before we pick up with verse 20, however, I do want to touch on a phrase in Numbers 18:19—“It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you.” Salt is mentioned frequently in Scripture. In Leviticus 2:13, God tells Moses that when a meat offering is made to Him, it must always contain salt, for salt not only adds flavor, but also preserves. When one is making a ham from a pig, how do they preserve it? By burying it in salt. If you’ve ever had country ham, you know that not only is it very salty, but it is also shelf stable, meaning it can be left out at room temperature for a long time without spoiling. That is because curing with salt removes many of the impurities that can cause the meat to spoil. In Leviticus, the salt was added to the offerings as a way to prevent them from spoiling in the harsh desert heat. But what of the “covenant of salt”? It was a sign that the covenant that God made with the people of Israel could not putrefy and spoil, and would be an everlasting covenant. It is as the covenant that Abijah reminded Jeroboam of in 2nd Chronicles 13:4-5—4 “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?” This too was an everlasting covenant, one which Jesus continues to fulfill, being the Son of David. 

And what is that salt? What is the salt that was added to Christ’s sacrifice to keep His kingdom pure? It is we who believe. Jesus says, in Matthew 5:13—“You are the salt of the earth.” We are in Christ, preserving His kingdom until His return, and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27). “But what if a Christian falls away from the faith?” Well, first, a true disciple of Christ cannot fall away from the faith; a true Christian will be kept by our good and faithful God (Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 10:14). Those who claim to be Christians but are in fact false converts, Jesus addresses at the end of Matthew 5:13—“But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” That salt is one that was impure from the beginning, and was not good for taste or preservation. Adam Clarke shared an insight into the saltiness of salt, and how salt can lose its saltiness, that I have always remembered:

 

That this is possible in the land of Judea, we have proof from Mr. [Henry] Maundrell, who, describing the Valley of Salt, speaks thus: “Along, on one side of the valley, toward Gibul, there is a small precipice about two men’s lengths, occasioned by the continual taking away of the salt; and, in this, you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a piece of it, of which that part that was exposed to the rain, sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it had perfectly lost its savour: the inner part, which was connected to the rock, retained its savor, as I found by proof.” 

“What does this mean?” Simply, that in order for us to retain our saltiness, we must remain close to the Rock that is Christ, to not go wandering near the tents of Korah and Dathan, to stay in the Word and to not stray from the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, we are “good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” and we will bring shame upon the Kingdom of God. 

The first mention of salt that is of great importance is in Genesis 19:26, when Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at the demolished cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Why was she turned into a pillar of salt?” Perhaps so that Jesus would have an object to point the people to, as He did in Luke 17:32—“Remember Lot’s wife”. He is telling the people to not look back fondly upon their former sinful selves, but to look forward, with Christ, to the coming Kingdom of God. To put Jesus’s words in context, Luke 17:31-33—31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” He is talking here of the times of His return, and those who would rather hang on to the fleeting pleasures of this life, rather than looking forward to Eternity in the presence of Almighty God. When there are people telling Him that they will abandon all to follow Him, He warns them in Luke 9:62—"No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." In other words, “Do not mourn for your former days, when you enjoyed the luxuries of the life, while neglecting God. Once you have begun following Me, do not yearn for the former days, when you did what you wanted without your conscience bothering you. Follow Me”. We should all remember Lot’s wife, and the dire consequences that will overtake us when we forget Him and look back at the pleasures of our former sins.
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A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 17

Numbers 17:1-7—1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father's house, all their leaders according to their fathers' houses—twelve rods. Write each man's name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father's house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you." 6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.  

Numbers 17 could be considered a continuation of Numbers 16, and in fact Numbers 16-18 could be considered as one unit. Here we see God finally putting to rest any question about who is the High Priest. Not only by the negative sign of destroying Korah and company, but by a positive sign that Aaron was High Priest. They were to gather twelve rods, one from each family, and gather them together inside the Tabernacle so God could show whom He had called as High Priest. He had shown, in Numbers 16, was not High Priest, now He is going to show who was High Priest. And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom. 

Numbers 16:8-11—8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die." 11 Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. Eventually, Aaron’s rod was to be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, along with the Two Tablets of the Law and a pot of manna. This was a picture of the Christ to come. The Roman Catholics think of Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant because she bore the one who was High Priest, Prophet and King. And they are sadly mistaken. Was Mary a blessed woman? Yes, for God chose her to bear His Son, the One who would bring salvation. But Mary is not the new Ark of the Covenant; that title belongs to Jesus. What was held in the Ark of the Covenant? Three things: The ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant (Hebrews 9:4). 

The two tablets of the Law. Christ lived under that Law, kept that Law, and was the fulfillment of that Law. Matthew 5:17—“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” He did not come to open up the floodgates of sin; He did not come to make every device of a man’s heart acceptable to God. He came to live under the Law, to carry it within Himself, and to fulfill every word which was written about Him. And He is the fulfillment of that Law for all those who believe in Him. The God’s Word Translation (not a literal word-for-word translation, but a thought-for-though translation) renders Romans 10:4—Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God’s approval. That is essentially what this verse is saying, that Christ has fulfilled the Law in our place, and we receive the fulfillment of that Law by faith in Him. What could we possibly do to earn such a reward? There are not enough good works to do in the entire world to merit any kind of favor from God! We are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone. Titus 3:5—Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. The Law was against us, there was nothing we could do against that Law, and it condemned us. And Christ, who is our life, took upon Himself the burden of our sins, that we may be found approved of by God, apart from the works of the Law or any “good works”, for that matter. Romans 8:2-4—2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. “The Law was weak? How?” Because of the flesh. The Law only prescribed sacrifices that were to be carried out after the person sinned, it could not prevent them from sinning. Just like laws against murder and robbery cannot prevent people from committing these crimes, but only prescribes a penalty to be served after the crime has been committed. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh. He condemned His Son to die in order to take away the penalty we owed because of our sins. So that that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who…walk... according to the Spirit. 

Mary, blessed as she was, contributes nothing to our salvation. Yes, she bore the One who would save us from the wrath of God, but there is nothing about her herself that is in any way involved with our salvation. We don’t pray to her, we pray to God. We do not look to her for our salvation, we look to Christ. She has passed, she was not “assumed to Heaven” as the Romanists say. She died just like anyone, having fulfilled her role in bringing forth the body of our Lord. 

Aaron’s budding rod. What we see here in our text in Numbers 17. Just as God chose Aaron to be the High Priest of His people Israel, so He sent His son to be the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). We will see more of Aaron’s and the priests’ responsibilities in Numbers 18. But let us focus on our Great High Priest. We see in Hebrews 4:15 why He came in the flesh. Hebrews 4:15—For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Was Christ tempted with sin? Absolutely. Was Christ tempted by sin? Absolutely not. “What’s the difference?” you ask. If your friend tries to get you to run to iniquity, he may dangle some hope before you that you will somehow benefit from it. But in Christ, you know that what they are doing is wrong, and will only turn out to your hurt. He is tempting you with sin, but you are not tempted by it. Take Aaron, the High Priest of our passage in Numbers. Was he tempted to sin? Yes. Did he sin? Yes. When the people did not know Moses’ fate when he was on Mount Sinai, they prodded Aaron into making a golden calf that they could worship. And what did Aaron do? Did he rebuke them, and let them know that only YHVH is God? No. He took their gold, and as he told Moses, he “cast it into the fire, and this calf came out!” (Exodus 32:24). “Can you believe it? Out of that molten mass of gold, this calf just *POOF* appeared!” No, it didn’t just appear. It was fashioned by the hand of Aaron, a man who should have known better. But our great High Priest knows better! What was His goal while on the earth? To glorify God. John 17:1— “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You”. He did not come to glorify Himself, but to glorify the One who sent Him. 

Hebrews 5:4—And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. Aaron was the one chosen by God to offer up sacrifices for the sins of the people that the other priests could not. And making his rod to bud was a work of God that no man could work. Could a man make not only blossoms but full, ripe almonds grow on a rod that was cut off from the tree? And overnight, no less? This is the work of a God who creates. Just as at creation He did not create eggs, but birds; He did not create fish eggs, but fully formed fish; He did not create calves but fully grown cattle, and He did not create a baby, but an adult Adam from the earth. And here, He caused ripe almonds to grow from a stick taken from a tree. And He showed the people that they do not decide who will be High Priest, but God calls the High Priest. 

The pot of manna. When the people were in the wilderness, and cried out because they had nothing to eat, God caused manna to come down at sunset. The people were to gather for themselves one omer, that nothing be left for the morning, and they were not to gather on the Sabbath. And what happened? Exodus 16:18—So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Each person had exactly what they needed; no one had any more, and no one had any less. This was another sign Christ explained to the people. In John 6, a multitude of people were gathered to hear Him, and it was near twilight. There was not enough food to satisfy the people, so what did Jesus do? He had the people sit down, He took the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, then He blessed it and broke it, and fed the thousands that had gathered. The people came back the next day—to hear more of Jesus’ teachings? John 6:26—“Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” They wanted another free meal. But Christ answered them well (as always). He let them know that He understood what was in their hearts, and that He did not come to simply give them free food, but to give them food that would never perish. John 6:49-50—49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.” Our lives are about more than eating and drinking, but about glorifying God and being in His presence for eternity. What eternal good was the manna to the people? They ate it, and what happened the next day? They ate it again. They had to eat it every day in order to survive their life on Earth. But what happened to them eventually? They “ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead”. It could only sustain them while they were living on this rock; it could not give them eternal life. 

But Jesus taught them something better. He said “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51). This must have been a hard saying for the people to understand. “Live forever? How can someone live forever and not die?” But He was not talking about physical death, everyone will experience that. He was talking about spiritual life; eternal life lived in the presence of God. And it is the spiritual bread that Christ gives us. John 6:52—The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" Jesus answered them, but did so in the way He always answered those who questioned Him with ulterior motives (Proverbs 26:4-5). He did not give them a direct answer, but rather a parable. Was He saying you had to eat His literal flesh and drink His literal blood? Of course not, and it is foolishness to think this is what He was saying! This was a parable, a truth hidden beneath a story parallel to what He was teaching. For if He was saying that the people needed to drink His literal blood, then the Jerusalem Council was lying (Acts 15:29). No, He was teaching them something hard to understand for a reason: those who believed Him would understand, but those who did not believe would not understand. Hebrews 6:4 speaks of those who have tasted the heavenly gift. Did they eat this gift? No. But the Writer uses this metaphor to describe those who have had some experience with religion, even salvation, but go looking for something else to do what only Jesus could do. He is the true Manna, He is the One who can give us eternal food and drink, He is the only One who can sustain us forever at the table in New Jerusalem. From the hymn “The Marriage Supper” by Carrie Breck: 

Oh, the bride shall shine in bright array/With her tears all forever wiped away–

There will be a great rejoicing on that day/At the great marriage supper of the Lamb

From all sin forevermore released/They will come from the west and from the east,

For all nations will be gathered at the feast/Of the great marriage supper of the Lamb

We shall praise him by the crystal tide/When the Lamb that was slain is glorified

And the ransomed church of God shall be the bride/At the great marriage supper of the Lamb.

That is when we will feast with our Lord who ransomed us, who gave His life for us, and who gives us meat to eat and wine to drink at the marriage supper of the Lamb! 

Numbers 17:12-13—12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! 13 Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?" What was one of the first lies ever told? “Thou shalt not surely die!” (Genesis 3:4). Here, the people put forth a lie that was the opposite of this, “we shall surely die!” This was an echo of when they were at the base of Mount Sinai, when God said “Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 19:12). They were under the impression that if they even went near the Tabernacle, God would cut them down. This was not the case. They could not go into the Tabernacle, and certainly not the Holy of Holies, but as long as they stayed outside the tent, God would not strike them down. It is also an echo of Eve’s argument to the serpent. Genesis 3:3—“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” Did God tell her she could not touch the fruit? No. Did God tell the people they could not come near the Tabernacle lest they die? No. Perhaps they were afraid because of the punishments God had inflicted upon them because of their various rebellions. Now, they were afraid to even put God to the test, lest they incur His wrath. Was it necessarily a bad thing for them to stay as far away from the Tabernacle as they could? No. But it could have prevented them from bringing the offerings they needed to in order to stay God’s wrath. 

It’s not a bad thing to set up boundaries and fences against sin. Will God be angry if we stay farther away from sin than may be necessary? No. No one has ever been condemned to Hell for being too far away from sin! And sometimes, we need to set those fences even further back from sin than may be necessary. Jesus even warned us we may need to cut off our hand or gouge out our eyes to keep us from sin (Matthew 5:30, 18:8; Mark 9:43). Is this going too far? Is it too much to mutilate ourselves to keep us from sin? Well, as RC Sproul once said, “What’s wrong with you people?” Jesus said “it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:30). If you are in Christ, and destined for an eternity in the presence of the Father and the Lamb, then go maimed and blind, rather than going into eternal destruction with all your limbs and both eyes. Now, did Jesus mean we should maim and blind ourselves to keep us from sin? No. He was telling us to cut away anything that may lead us to sin. If one of our temptations is drink, and our route to and from work takes us by a bar, find a different route. If we are tempted by someone we work with, maybe we need to find a different job. There is always a way to avoid sin. 1st Corinthians 10:13—No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Stay close to God, do not fear to call on Christ. Do not avoid drawing near to the Tabernacle, in fact run to it! Run to the One who will save you from your sins. Run to the One who can give you eternal food to eat and eternal drink to drink. Run to the One Whose arms are open wide to accept any who call on His name. From “Untitled Hymn” by Chris Rice: 

Weak and wounded sinner/Lost and left to die

Oh, raise your head for Love is passing by

Come to Jesus

Come to Jesus

Come to Jesus and live       

 

Now your burden's lifted/And carried far away

And precious blood has washed away the stain

So, sing to Jesus

Sing to Jesus

Sing to Jesus and live

 

And like a newborn baby/Don't be afraid to crawl

And remember when you walk sometimes we fall

So, fall on Jesus

Fall on Jesus

Fall on Jesus and live

Come to Jesus, sing to Jesus, fall on Jesus, cry to Jesus, dance for Jesus, fly to Jesus—and live! 

Father, may we never be afraid to run to the arms of our great High Priest for forgiveness of our sins. May we always cling to the One who tabernacled among us, who ever lives to make intercession for us. Thank you for this eternally wonderful gift, that we may taste of His glory and be saved from Your wrath. Help us to avoid the pitfalls of our flesh, that we may ever live to glorify You!

 Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 16 (Part 3)

Numbers 16:36-40—36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 37 "Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to pick up the censers out of the blaze, for they are holy, and scatter the fire some distance away. 38 The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar. Because they presented them before the LORD, therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel." 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar, 40 to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the LORD had said to him through Moses. The golden censers, although carried by ungodly men to rebel against God, had nonetheless been consecrated to God, and were to be reserved for the service to God. Because they presented them before the LORD, therefore they are holy. Since they had been profaned by not only these men, but by their ashes that were left after God burned them, they could not be used for the ministry of reconciliation, but they could not simply be discarded. So Aaron’s son Eleazar forged them into a covering for the altar, to remind the people that it was God who determined who would be priests and prophets, and that only men from the tribe of Levi were called to be priests. And when they see this plate, they would also be reminded of the judgment that God delivers to those who mock Him. So that every time the people came to bring a Burnt Offering, and every time the priests burned these offerings, they would remember that it is God who makes the rules, and not man. 

And after this incident, the people never complained, and went happily forward toward the Promised Land. Right? Numbers 16:41—On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD." What more can I say about this? These people never stopped complaining! He led them to the Red Sea, where they complained and God delivered them. They complained because there was bitter water at Marah, and He made it pure. They complained because there was no food in the Wilderness of Sin, and He gave them manna. They complained because the manna spoiled overnight, even though they were told not to keep it until morning. They complained because no manna came down on the Sabbath, even though they were told that would be the case. They complained because there was no water at Rephidim, so He made water come from the rock. They complained against Him and convinced Aaron to make the Golden Calf. They complained against Him at Taberah, until He had to burn up the outskirts of the camp. They complained because “all we have to eat is this manna!”, so He sent them quail. They complained because, even though the report came back that it was a good land God was leading them to, “we looked like grasshoppers compared to the people there!”

And even now, when God displays His holiness and wrath and destroys those who would seek to usurp the callings of Moses and Aaron, what do the people do? They complain. And even now, are we any different? We go through one trial, and God delivers us. Then we have another trial come up, and what do we do? We complain. We often forget the goodness of God, that He will bring us through trials and deliver us, maybe not in the way we want, but in the way we need. James 1:2-3—2 Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And recall, patience is a fruit of the Spirit. If you have God’s Holy Spirit living in you, God will use the trials you go through to produce the fruit of patience. And if we have patience, the world will know we truly belong to Christ. 

Numbers 16:42-50—42 Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting. 44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 "Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces. 46 So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun." 47 Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. 50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped. Had Moses killed Korah and Dathan and Abiram? No. How had these 250 men perished? Moses did not part the earth and cause the men to fall into it. Moses did not send fire down from above and consume them. These men did dot perish by the hand of Moses, but by the wrath and power of God. 

So really, the people were not complaining against Moses, but against God. And it is the common theme of atheists today. “See that? God is a vindictive, bloodthirsty monster who is full of nothing but petty anger, and wants to hog all the glory! And He doesn’t exist so I hate Him!” Makes as much sense as these people and their constant complaining. But here we see the difference between offerings made by the ungodly versus offerings made by those whom God has chosen. What happened to those who offered incense with Korah and Dathan and Abiram? The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up… And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. Those men were destroyed by the hand of God. Why? Because they offered up incense wrongly, and like Nadab and Abihu, God had to show that His ways are the only ways. But what happened when Aaron offered up incense? Did the earth open up; did fire come down from Heaven to consume him? No. The plague was stopped. Simple. A man of God offered up prayers to God for the people and God stayed His wrath because of that. And just as Jesus asked forgiveness for the very ones who drove the nails (Luke 23:34), so here Aaron seeks God’s face to grant forgiveness to the very ones who were just complaining against him. We read about the humility and patience of Moses, but let us also remember the patience and humility of Aaron. 

And even the atheist, whose heart is set against God and His people, is not far from the love of God. “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Does Paul catechize them? Does he go into a long soliloquy about all the things he must do to be delivered from the kingdom of Satan to God’s? Does He go point-by-point through a long list of good deeds he must do to earn the favor of the Almighty? No. His answer is quite simple. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). We humans make things so complicated. Do you want to be saved from the wrath to come? Believe. Do you want to be delivered from your sins? Believe. Are you sick and tired of being held down by the weight of the burden you carry? Believe. As Alistair Begg said of the man on the cross to the right of Jesus, how do we get to Heaven? “The Man on the Middle Cross said I could come”. Just as the people in our text had a High Priest who would seek atonement for the people, so we too have a High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us (Romans 8:24; Hebrews 7:25). But how do we make known to Him the things we need? Friend, remember, He is God. He is our Father. He knows what you need before you even ask (Matthew 6:8, 32; Luke 12:30). “But I never know what to say”. Doesn’t matter, He knows! And if you do not know what to say, the Holy Spirit does. Romans 8:26—Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Think on this: we have a great and faithful Father, who knows how to give good things to His children (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13). We need the good things He gives. And not only do we ask Him, but we have the Holy Spirit asking and our Great High Priest Jesus Christ asking as well. Friend! What more could a person need? What better way to finish up this chapter than to quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from his sermon “The High Priest Standing Between the Dead and the Living” (Numbers 16:47-48):

 

Well, you note again that Aaron, in thus coming forward as the deliverer and lover of His people, must have remembered that he was abhorred by this very people. They were seeking his blood. They were desiring to put him and Moses to death, and yet in spite of all thoughts of danger, he snatches up his censer and runs into their midst with a Divine enthusiasm in his heart…Into the midst of the crowd he boldly springs. Most blessed Jesus, You might not only think thus, but, indeed, You did feel it to be true. You did come unto Your own and Your own received You not. ..Jesus, You were willing to die a martyr, that You might be made a sacrifice for those by whom Your blood was spilt. Jesus transcends Aaron—Aaron might have feared death at the hands of the people—Jesus Christ did actually meet it. And yet there he stood even in the hour of death, waving his censer, staying the plague and dividing the living from the dead. 

Father, let us never seek for ourselves an office or a mantle that You Yourself do not give. Let us never seek greater for ourselves than what You will. May we always fear You, that that fear may keep us from sin and pride, that we may not be puffed up, that we may always be humble in Your sight. May we always flee from those who would lead us into sin and rebellion and death. May we never complain against You, even when things are at their worst, so that we may always see You as YHVH-Yireh, the One who provides. And may we always see Your justice as perfect, consuming all your foes, those who run to do iniquity and cause You name to be blasphemed. 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 16 (Part 2)

Numbers 16:15-19—15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them." 16 And Moses said to Korah, "Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the LORD—you and they, as well as Aaron. 17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer." 18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation." We see so many times in the Pentateuch God making a distinction, a separation, a sanctifying of His people from sinners. The commandments about foods? To establish distinction. The commandments about fabrics? To establish distinction. Everything in the Law was to either show what God thought to be sin or to establish the people as distinct and unlike the neighboring nations. This is another place where God wants to show that He will decide who does what, how His people are to be led and by whom, and that, in the end, He is the Sovereign who will make the ultimate decisions. 

Moses understood this. He understood and obeyed what God had commanded. He was the one with whom God spoke face to face. "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them." He took nothing from these, and thus was under no obligation to favor them in the slightest. He has also done them no harm, showing that they could bring no charge against him. Moses was only devoted to one thing, and that was the glory of God. “Do not respect their offering.” Do not accept their incense, for it is as that of Nadab and Abihu. It is polluted by their pride and arrogance in their thinking that they know how to perform worship better than God does. It would not be a sweet aroma to YHVH, but rather a foul stench which would come up into His nostrils. As the works of man’s hands in exchange for salvation cannot appease the wrath of God, Moses cried out to God that He not accept the offerings given by these men who rebelled against God. As Paul would say in Acts 20:33—I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Paul accepted no money as a gift for himself from anyone, just as Moses accepted nothing from these men of Korah. 

So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Korah and company still had a chance to end this, to admit that Moses and Aaron were the ones chosen by God, and God would have passed over their temporary ignorance. But no—they pressed on, they took up a censer, put hot coals in it, and then the holy frankincense which God commanded, and went to the Tabernacle, to see which group God would choose. Korah and company did not even think that what happened to Nadab and Abihu would happen to them. At this point, the die was cast, and Korah and company were about to cross their Rubicon. The battle lines were drawn, each side was arrayed for the fight, and they were about to see whom God had chosen. And as it says in verse 17, it was 250 against 2. Again, God doesn’t care about the numbers. It could have been all 600,000 against 2, and God wouldn’t care. As Robert Hawker once said, “It is really astonishing, considering the badness of their cause, that Korah and his party should have been willing to put things to such an issue. But, Reader! When our hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, what judgments of GOD do we not brave? How often hath my stubborn unsubdued nature gone about to establish my own righteousness, instead of seeking the righteousness of GOD my Saviour?” Korah and company had seen the many miracles God had wrought, and still decided to fight against Him. They were as the men of Sodom groping at Lot’s door. 

Numbers 16:19-27—20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." 22 Then they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?" 23 So the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'” 25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins." 27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children. Think of what went through Moses’ mind when God said this. He knows from these words that things are not going to end well for Korah and Dathan and Abiram and the other 245 men with them. “Separate yourselves”. “Get away from them. I’m getting ready to do something to them that will not be pleasant, and I don’t want you to be caught up in it.” He told Moses that He would consume them in a moment. It was going to happen quickly, and there would not be time for anyone nearby to get out of the way of it. And what was Moses’ and Aaron’s reaction? Did they say, “Yes! Can’t wait for this!”? Did they say “Good, they’ve got it coming!”? Did they say, “Come on God, I hope you punish them severely!”? No. They fell on their faces. Do we sometimes laugh, or at least snicker, when an unbeliever meets their demise, knowing that at the next moment they will be face to face with Almighty God, having to give an account for their lives and knowing they will be naked before Him, with nary a plea? Moses knew, from hearing what God said, that this would be the case for these men. It doesn’t say so in the text, but God may have given Moses a vision of what was going to happen. 

And he did not want this burning wrath of God to fall on the entirety of the camp. "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?" Would He be right to be angry with the whole of the people? Wouldn’t be the first time, and would not be on the biggest scale. Romans 5:12—Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. Did you or I receive a direct command from God Himself? Were you or I commanded not to eat the fruit of one particular tree? No. But Adam was. He heard from God Himself that he was not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil. But when Eve succumbed to the first lie (“Hath God indeed said?”), she gave to Adam to eat. But rather than correcting her and instructing her that they should not eat of that tree, he ate anyway. And what happened? One man sinned, and God was angry with all of humanity. “Shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?” Moses here echoes Abram’s prayer to God in Genesis 18:23—“Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Would He have been right and just to do so? Of course. Would He have been right and just to not do so? Of course. What was the final verdict? He destroyed the entire city, after Lot and his family were escaped from there. Moses and Abram, the men with whom God spoke most closely and as friends, were devout men of God, who sought always, with few exceptions, to live the way He wanted them to. And when they failed, they asked for forgiveness and repented of their sins. They were righteous men, who sought to please God. And what do we know about the prayers of a righteous man? James 5:16—The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Phillip Schaff wrote, “Prayer, in order to prevail, must proceed from an earnest heart, and be made by a righteous man; that is, by a good, sincere, true-hearted man.” Moses was such a righteous, good, sincere, true hearted man. 

“Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'” Words that are echoed, to a degree, in the New Testament. These sinful men in our text represented sin, and Moses pled with the people to flee from them, lest they be caught up with them. We are encouraged as believers in Christ to avoid sin, to not look long at sin, and even, in one verse, to flee from sin (1st Corinthians 6:18). A man who is considered to be a faithful man of God has recently been found to be in an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman who is not his wife. We don’t know everything this entails (God knows), but one thing can be assumed: he was near to sin, he saw sin, and did not remove himself from the situation until it was too late. He was near to the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and instead of fleeing he kept himself nearby and got caught up in their sin. Much like Solomon, the wisest man ever, whose wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David (1st Kings 11:4). I call this “The Solomon Paradox”™: how the wisest man ever did some of the dumbest things. David, the man after God’s own heart, was not immune from the desires of the flesh. 2nd Samuel 11:1-4—1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her.  David could have had any number of wives and concubines. But instead, he took his friend’s little ewe lamb, and killed him for it. And in all three of these cases, the consequences were visited on the men. David’s son Absalom laid with his concubines; Solomon’s son Jeroboam led all Israel to sin; and Steve Lawson has lost his ministry. Because they did not flee from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. 

Unlike the members of the people of Israel who did get away. So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. What instruction do we read in Revelation 18:4—And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” These people removed themselves from the tents of Korah and company, and the angel in Revelation 18 warns the people to come out of Babylon the Great. Why? “Lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Do not be near to unbelievers when they are doing what is contrary to God, lest you be caught up in their malicious deeds. 1st Corinthians 15:33—Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." There is no clearer example of this than in Proverbs 1:10-18—10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; 12 let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit; 13 we shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil; 14 cast in your lot among us, let us all have one purse"—15 my son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; 16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird; 18 but they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. Remember being in high school, maybe hanging around with an unsavory bunch? They liked to do things and go places they shouldn’t be? You decide to tag along one day. And they start breaking windows at an old, abandoned business. Suddenly the police arrive. And whether you were sharing in their hooliganism or not, guess who gets scooped up and put in the back of a cruiser? Then you had to call mom and dad to explain. If mom and dad were good parents, you got punished. Is God a good parent? When those who despise Him do something abhorrent to Him, they may think they are being crafty and secretive, but God sees all, and they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. They are heaping up wrath for themselves. 

Numbers 16:28-35—28 And Moses said: "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD." 31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up also!" 35 And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. The moment of truth. The moment when two men of God would stand against 250 prideful men of their father the devil, to see which one God would choose. And it is clearly shown here that it is God, in His will, not man nor the will of man, who chooses prophets and priests. These men, who thought of themselves as something, were brought down into the depths of the earth to make this very thing known. 

There are many today who reckon themselves to be prophets, who speak great swelling words that are contrary to what God has said. They tell people that they will be rich and prosperous, that they will never be sick, that if they just believe enough, they can have more health, wealth and prosperity than they could ever imagine. And of course they draw big crowds, because they tell people what they want to hear. These are the ones that Paul warned us about in his second letter to Timothy. After all, who wouldn’t want to hear smooth words of flattery, that everything that comes into our lives will be good and smooth? 2nd Timothy 4:3-4—3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. It is no different today than it was then, and has been no different at any point in between. How many times in Israel’s history did the people turn away from God to worship Ba'al or Asherah or Molech? And today, how many times do people turn away from God to follow a god of their own choosing? In both instances, these were nothing more than worshipping the flesh. People don’t want to hear hard truths, when the lies are so much easier to hear and to tolerate. And these are the things these modern-day “prophets” are spewing to the people that follow them. 

But what will happen to these “prophets”? What will be their destination once their flesh fails and they go down to the grave? It will be as these, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. And will they be alone in their torment? No, they will be joined by all those who followed them, who came to them with itching ears, who followed their Godless teachings, and who did not follow the ways of righteousness; who saw Jesus as an ATM to give them all they wanted, and who gave God no glory, but served and worshipped their faith in themselves and sought to create for themselves a life of luxury and ease. All those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. John Piper said rightly about this ungodly health, wealth and prosperity “gospel”—

 

“I don’t know what you feel about the prosperity gospel—the health, wealth and prosperity gospel—but I’ll tell you what I feel about it—Hatred. It is not the gospel, and it’s being exported from this country to Africa and Asia, selling a bill of goods to the poorest of the poor: ‘Believe this message and your pigs won’t die and your wife won’t have miscarriages, and you’ll have rings on your fingers and coats on your back.’ That’s coming out of America—the people that ought to be giving our money and our time and our lives, instead selling them a bunch of crap called ‘gospel.’”

 Instead of telling people the truth—that we are all sinners in the eyes of God and we need the righteousness of Christ to be acceptable to the eternally holy and righteous God—they are telling people that Jesus only came to make their lives more comfortable, to give them material riches and not that He came to give them eternal riches in Heaven. What good will their material wealth be to them once they are standing before Almighty God, who will ask them why He should let them into His Kingdom? Instead of thinking that our faith will make us rich in this life, let us consider the eternal riches that Christ can give us if we repent of our sins and turn to God and ask forgiveness for our sins! And let us see Christ as the one who will lead us through pain and heartache, when our faith is not enough to prevent calamity from befalling our family.

 

“I’ll tell you what makes Jesus look beautiful,” Piper told them. “It’s when you smash your car, and your little girl goes flying through the windshield, and lands dead on the street . . . and you say through the deepest possible pain, ‘God is enough.’” 

1st Timothy 6:7, 10—7 We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out…10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

Those who prop themselves up falsely as prophets will meet an eternal fate that will be unimaginable. Not only will they die, as all men do, but they will be judged more harshly than any sinner, since he (or she) took upon himself (or herself) a mantle reserved for those whom God actually called. God is not slack, and He will punish them in due time when He is ready. And God is not to be mocked, as He will visit on all who mock Him a punishment beyond anything one could imagine. Jesus had stern words for such. Matthew 7:21-23—21 “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” Even those who do “good things” will not be forgiven of their sins by the “good works” that they have done, but only by faith in Christ and love for God and neighbor. 

And those who support and prop up these false prophets, there end will be the same. And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. Not only were Korah and Dathan and Abiram pulled down into the earth, but those supporting them were burned up with fire. Another warning to not be caught up with those who are rebelling against God. Even after seeing the wonders that God had done among them and for them, they still kept groping at the door. We are warned about men like these in Titus 3:10-11—10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. The Apostle John would not even suffer his disciples to be under the same roof as a known heretic. In his work “Against Heresies”, Irenaeus wrote—

 

There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost thou know me?" "I do know thee, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth. 

Let us always flee from those who preach heresy, and run to Christ, the only one who has words of eternal life! (John 6:68). 2nd Peter 2:1-3—1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. Those who flatter you with smooth words easy to hear and to digest will bring you down into judgment with them!

Part 2 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.