Moses: Aaron's
rod that budded (2/2)
Charles E. Wigg
The Fear Of God:
Those of the people that had survived the destruction that the rebellion of
Korah had brought upon them, (the fire and the plague), were now made aware that
Aaron was indeed chosen by God to serve Him in the office of High Priest.. Moses
had been wrongly accused of ‘giving jobs to the boys’, which our politicians are
often guilty of. They had been misled, and had ignorantly rebelled against the
sovereign choice of God. This filled their hearts with fear, as they began to
realise that they had, by supporting Korah and his band, exposed themselves to
the judgement of God, they had rebelled against the sovereign choice of God. So
with fear they complained to Moses that if any of them, being guilty of such a
heinous sin were to attempt to draw near to God, then they would surely be
consumed.
God’s Longsuffering: However they had nothing to
fear. The fact that they had escaped his judgement thus far, in spite of their
ignorant but wilful actions, was a testimony to the Long suffering of God. He
knew their hearts. God knew that they had been beguiled and misled by clever
men. He looked into their hearts, He understood their weakness, But hereafter
they would surely be more careful as to whom they gave their support. Let us
learn from their mistakes!
The Priesthood Of All Believers:
Perhaps it would be well to point out here the difference between our calling
and blessings to those of the Children of Israel. There are many within the
denominational systems that will use the Old Testament order of things to
justify the existence of an order of priesthood today. They fail to see that the
coming of Christ put an end to the Old Testament system, and covenant order of
things, and introduced what is entirely new. God has taken away the first, and
established the second, He has taken away the Old, that which was worn out and
perishing, and introduced the New, that which is better, is lasting, even
eternal. In that New system of things, each child of God, each person that is
born again, is a priest, (a member of the priestly family), and has the right
and the privilege of drawing near to God, and of presenting gifts and offerings,
(worship), and of praying and asking God who is now our Heavenly Father to
supply our needs. The Lord Jesus alone is our Mediator, and the intermediary
between man and God. (1Timothy 2:5). Christ alone is able to forgive sins, and
we no longer need an earthly priest to come between us and God. Christ is able
to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God through Him, and having thus
saved us, He is able to keep all that trust in Him, because He ever lives to
make intercession for us. (Hebrews 7:25)
Though we are not able to forgive sins, (except those sins
that are committed against us), yet we may, (and we must), pray for each other,
and for the lost that they might be saved. This does not conflict with the
teaching that we have given regarding Korah and his band in the previous
chapter. Because once God has saved us, he then puts us into families, and when
gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus we are formed into local Churches and
become God’s house, where he sets elders to bear the rule over us. Though Elders
are not perfect, and they are sure to make mistakes, yet we are to constantly
uphold them in prayer, rather than to hurl criticisms at them. To be an elder is
a thankless task, and those that are entrusted by God with that responsibility
need all the love and sympathetic support that we are able to give them. We need
to read and to practice the instructions given to us in Hebrews chapter
thirteen, (Hebrews 13:7&8, & 17)
Let us praise God for our Great High Priest, the One whom
God has chosen, & the one who can never, and who will never fail or falter
in His service of Love to His God and Father, and to His saints. [Concluded]
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[Reproduced with permission of the
Author]