Day 61: Numbers 16-17

Welcome to 5 Minute Bible, your daily guide for your daily reading. Today's March 2nd and we'll be looking at Numbers 16 -17.

Today's reading records one of the most dramatic and terrifying rebellions in Israel's wilderness journey.

In Numbers 16 and 17, Korah and a coalition of leaders rise up against Moses and Aaron.

But this isn't simply just a leadership dispute, it's a challenge to the way God himself has structured access to his presence.

At stake is not personality, at stake is mediation. When God appoints a way to approach him, rejecting that way isn't reform, it's rebellion.

The story begins with Korah, Dathom, Abiram, and 250 of the prominent men who are coming to confront

Moses. Their accusation actually sounds pretty spiritual. If all the congregation is holy, then why should

Moses and Aaron stand above everyone else? If we're all special, then why are

Moses and Aaron more special? Well, on the surface it kind of sounds reasonable and almost maybe a little bit humble, but underneath it, it rejects the priesthood that God had already established.

And Moses confidently doesn't argue with them. He proposes a test, let the

Lord decide who the rightful priesthood belongs to. And then the next day, the rebels bring their censers filled with incense and they attempt to act like priests and they attempt to approach

God on their own terms. And what happens next is unforgettable. The earth opens beneath Dathom and Abiram and swallows them alive and fire falls and consumes the 250 men who are offering their unauthorized incense.

And it reminds us of Nadab and Abihu, because God is not confused about how he wants to be approached.

He sets the terms. And what is remarkable is that this same people who saw Nadab and Abihu perish before the presence of the

Lord are the same ones doing it again. And that is even the most astonishing part, because the next day the congregation grumbles again and they accuse

Moses and Aaron of killing the Lord's people. And then immediately God responds to this accusation with a plague that breaks out and spreads through the middle of the camp.

And Aaron, as a good priest, takes his censer and fills it with incense and runs into the middle of the assembly.

And he stands between the living and the dead and the plague stops. Then in Numbers chapter 17,

God provides an undeniable confirmation for the priesthood. Each tribe is going to lay a staff before the

Lord. And by morning, Aaron's staff was the only one that had budded and blossomed and produced almonds.

All the other sticks were left dead, but Aaron's dead stick came to life and the priesthood of Aaron was vindicated.

God himself had definitively spoken. Now as you read today, I want you to ask yourself the following question.

What happens when we reject the mediator that God has chosen for us or the leadership that God has chosen for us?

Number 16 and 17 shows us that resisting God's appointed leadership is not harmless.

It's actually a spiritual revolt. And the thread that runs through these chapters is rebellion against God's mediation.

Chorus complaint again, it sounds noble. Every one of us are holy. So what's the big deal? But holiness does not eliminate structure, it actually requires it.

God has established an order for how he wants his people to approach him. And in this text,

Moses is the prophet, Aaron is the priest, and the sacrifice is the means by which God has ordained for his people to come.

And if they don't come that way, well, they are violating God's commands. Korah does not even deny

God's existence, but he bypasses the way that God had provided. And that is the heart of the problem because it's not just about hierarchy.

It's about how sinners draw near to this holy God. And when the God ordained mediation is rejected, well, then judgment breaks out.

The earth opens up, fire falls, a plague spreads. But underneath all of this judgment, there's another pattern that's working itself out here that is just as important, and that's intercession.

When Aaron runs into the middle of the camp and he stands between the living and the dead, death stops at the boundary of his mediation.

Authority, when it's appointed by God and exercised faithfully, provides life rather than death.

But authority that's rejected brings nothing but consequences. Now, these chapters also unmistakably point to Jesus Christ because Korah's rebellion reflects a deeper human impulse because all of us prefer direct access to God on our own terms.

We want to resist the appointed authority that we've been given. We want holiness without the priesthood. But God has provided us a true mediator.

You see, when Aaron was standing between the living and the dead, he was foreshadowing something greater than himself, which is

Jesus, who stands between the judgment and us. Where Aaron's incense halts a temporary plague,

Christ's sacrifice on the cross halts eternal judgment. And the budding staff is more than just a sign of authority, it's a picture of the resurrection.

The lifeless branch that was thrown in the tomb now suddenly blossoms and blooms and is alive again.

And in that way, Jesus' own authority is confirmed by his life emerging from death in the same way that Aaron's authority was confirmed by this staff.

Christ is publicly vindicated, not by argument, not by force, but by resurrection power, which means that he has all authority.

He is the one that God has vindicated. He is the one that God has said, I have set my authority on him.

Now, as you read number 16 through 17 today, I want you to feel the terror of rebellion, but also the comfort of intercession.

Tomorrow, we're going to see how God further defines the priestly responsibilities and how he reinforces again that guarding his holy presence is an optional for the people if they want to have life inside of his camp.

But with that, read your Bible carefully, devotionally, and joyfully today, and may the Lord use his word to sanctify you completely, and we will continue our journey tomorrow.