Numbers 10 - 15 is full of great stories. The quail, Miriam turning leprous, the spies in the land, and all that.
But there is a little story tucked away in the beginning of chapter 11 that I want to focus on.
11:1 "And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp"
Hebrews says "our God is a consuming fire." I think we forget how actually true that is. As the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they had the opportunity to have a relationship with the God of the universe. That is easier said than done.
Due to our own evil we are tainted, and approaching a God who is completely good is not as easy as just drawing back the flaps of a tent and saying "Hey God, how ya doin'?" Good, real good, cannot exist with evil. Or let me put it this way, evil, real evil, is destroyed in the presence of real good.
So as the people draw near to God, their transgressions begin to show and the goodness of God begins to have an affect, namely fire breaking out and destroying some of them. To draw close required a blood sacrifice, and later, THE blood sacrifice of Jesus. They simply couldn't come near in their present state and even living near God was perilous.
We just should not forget the difficult way Jesus opened for us. Being washed by His blood so that we can come to God and call Him Papa at any time is the most wonderful thing ever!
Pastor Tom
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3 comments:
Great blog today.... You know, I always liked the one analogy I've heard you use several times in your podcasts about walking into a nuclear reactor.
That He should do that for one such as I...is beyond comprehension; yet, it is true.
Read God's love letter to humanity: John's gospel. God loves us, tainted as we are, and he doesn't need us, but wants a relationship with us. He made that possible by voluntarily giving up his life to wash us from evil.
He doesn't need us but we need Him as He is the source of all life. Life here is merely on loan from God. True eternal life comes only from His gift through Jesus.
Read more at: John 1:1
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