Day 45
Reading: Num. 18:1- Num. 20:29
God's Kingdom is full of order. Anything that speaks chaos in our lives on meeting the Word of God is introduced to the order of God's Kingdom. Aaron and his sons were called into the priesthood while the rest of the Levites would serve in the Tabernacle and also serve the priesthood. The Levites were not to handle the things of the sanctuary.
Tithing is not just for the church member. Even the Levite serving in the Tabernacle was to tithe. God expects those serving Him to be tithers. The revelation of the tithe is be sought and understood. The tithe didn't begin in the Law. The tithe was in the dispensation of Abraham where he tithed to Melchizedek.
God expects us to give Him the best, not the remains. Too many times we give God what is not the best. Sacrificial offerings are to be the best that we can give to God. Abraham gave Isaac. God expects you and I to give nothing but the best.
A red heifer that had never been yoked would be taken outside the camp and killed. Numbers chapter 19 is very prophetic of what would happen to the Saviour. Taken outside the camp, it would be killed, the blood sprinkled outside the Tabernacle. After the blood was sprinkled, the red heifer would be burned together with cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet. Hyssop was the same plant used by the children of Israel to apply blood to the doorposts. The ashes from this burning would be taken and used for the purification process. The pain we go through when we are dying to self is a process of purification as we allow God to kill the flesh and make us alive.
One peculiar thing is that with purification anyone who was clean would be able to apply the water of purification over the unclean. This wasn't left to the priests. Even in the Law God shows Moses and the children of Israel that a life of purity was for everyone, not just the priests.
Leaders don't have the same scales of integrity or judgement as everyone else. Moses and Aaron had just lost their sister, buried her, and suddenly they were confronted with a situation that would be best described as Moses' moment of madness. Moses and Aaron took the cry of the people to God, a cry for water, received an instruction from God and instead misrepresented God. This was the same place the people had cried for water before and they had seen a miracle. Would they see another miracle? The place was aptly named Massah and Meribah meaning Tempted and Contention.
Moses was to speak to the rock instead he struck the rock. For God, this was disobedience that showed disbelief. He relied on what he had done before not the new move. Moses had struck the rock before and water had gushed out, God was simply looking for the same outcome with a different method to not only show forth His power but also to be praised. Be careful of what you do in places of contention. They may cause you to never see the promise fulfilled.
The disobedience of Moses cost him entering the promised land. As I read this I wondered how heavy his heart must have been that he would only lead the people to the boundary and not into the land. Lord have mercy on me. It shall not be said of me that I took people to the to a boundary of God's blessing. No, it shall be said we entered the promised land.
The King of Edom refused to give passage to the children of Israel. No reason is given, however, this action typified many families. Edom was Esau. In Genesis 25:30 we see Esau eating the red strew of His brother Jacob and that was where his name became Edom. The two brothers Jacob and Edom-Esau- were not two nations. The fight that had been resolved when Jacob returned from living with Laban was reignited by this King. Don't revisit the fights of your elders. Learn to live peacefully with family.
Succession is God's idea. God is a God of legacy. The succession of the work of God enables continuity. Aaron would not see the promised land not because of the many wrongs he did but because of not hallowing God's name at Meribah.
Memory Verse: Num. 20:7
Decree:
Father, I thank You for Your Mercies are from everlasting to everlasting. I decree that I will live a yielded life that hallows Your name always. I decree that I will lead people to the land of promise. I will not miss entering the place God has called me to lead His people. I will possess my possessions to the glory of God. I decree that I am a giver, continually giving the best to the Lord. Lord, I lay my life as an offering to You and pray that it will be a sweet incense to You alone in Jesus name. Amen
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