Numbers 16-17

Rebellion and complaining mark the generation of Israelites that perish in the wilderness who do not enter the promised land of Canaan. Korah's rebellion at first glance seems reasonable, while Levites themselves are keepers of the Tabernacle and are the holy priesthood it is abundantly clear from even a glance at the book of Leviticus that each clan of Levite have specific responsibilities and are set apart for a specific purpose and task. Similar to the uprising by Miriam and Aaron the rebellion of Korah arose from a place of jealousy and classist superiority. Korah's argument is that the entire congregation of Levites are holy because YAHWEH is among them but then in pride and presumption accuse Moses of self exaltation. What's even worse is that a few from the tribe of Reuben falsely accuse Moses of acting like an oppressive prince over them, these behaviors and accusations anger Moses. After assembling and separating the rebellious households from the rest of the Israelites the glory of YAHWEH appears and the earth swallows up all the families of the rebellion, immediately the next day complaining continues and the glory of YAHWEH appears again and consumes 14,000 people until Aaron makes atonement. 

The sin of rebellion is grievous unto the LORD, rebellion is an intentional or willful act of sin against a holy, righteous and good God in whose presence sin cannot exist. In the same way that unintentional sin separates man from God, intentional sin like rebellion is rooted in pride and signifies a deliberate act of defiance. By God's amazing grace and matchless love in Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross we have freedom and atonement from sin through faith alone. In our sin and rebellion, Christ died for us offering the gift of forgiveness and salvation to all who believe in faith. We are made anew and righteous before God through Jesus Christ and as children of God we are to be holy, consecrated, set apart because YAHWEH is holy. 

Leviticus 11:44-45 (NIV) " I am YAHWEH your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy... I am YAHWEH, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy."

What a challenge. As believers and people of God we are to be holy because God is holy, in our fallen sin nature introduced into humanity by Adam and Eve we have fallen short of the glory of God - but by the amazing grace of our holy and perfect, loving and merciful God, in Christ alone we have been restored in relationship with YAHWEH. The gap has been bridged by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. O LORD may I never forget the price you paid by sending your one and only son in my place so that I might have an eternal relationship with you. YAHWEH you are good, your mercy and lovingkindness endures forever. Holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. All power, glory and authority belong to you my King and my Lord. I am yours. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deuteronomy 1-2 (Psalm 69)

In these first few chapters of Deuteronomy after Israel's exodus from Egypt and 40 desert years Moses reviews their history of God's hand of power, provision, protection and purpose. Consistently the Israelites are faced with the decision of operating in faith and courage in the way God has for them though they continually with stubborn hearted rebellion walk in fear and discouragement. The theme of presumption continues to resurface in the story of the Israelites and I am greatly convicted of this even in my own life. Deuteronomy 1:42-43 (NKJV) "And the LORD said to me, 'Tell them, "Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies."' So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain." This presumption is referring to when the Israelites invaded the Amorites on a mountain after the 12 spies came back with a bad report from Can...
Read more

Genesis 16-18

 Today's reflection in Genesis 17 and 18 is on how God said he wants Abram to walk faithfully and blameless, similar to Job in his blameless and upright life, I align my life in a way that pleases and honors God by being faithful (consistent, demonstrative of unwavering trust in action). Additionally, I found the comparison of God's will for the destruction of Sodom and Nineveh (in Jonah) to be interesting. In Abraham's case he pled for God to be merciful and spare Sodom, while for the Ninevites God intended to display the liberality of his grace all while Jonah wanted God to destroy the people.  Psalm 86:15 "But you LORD are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." As an image bearer of God, we must aim to be faithful like God is. The mighty God we serve is unendingly faithful and full of unfailing love - I want to be more loving and faithful the older I get! 
Read more

Exodus 22-24

 Exodus 23:2 (NIV) "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong." I was watching NHL hockey with my wife the other night and the teams that were playing began getting frustrated and consequently began playing unfairly and fighting. When penalties are given it's not indicative of cheating per se, though you would be hard pressed to find a definition making the distinction between a cheating scandal and a game misconduct or penalty. Often penalties can be properly called by the official referees, though at times it seems the calls are made incorrectly - it's ultimately the best judgment of the ref on the ice at the time and sometimes after the time the rule infraction was witnessed, many times to the great dismay of those in attendance of the hockey game even when the hockey players admit guilt in some instances. Fighting is an entirely different scenario. In just the past 3 years I have noticed a marked increase of violence in the NHL though I'm told that "original...
Read more