In my last blog I talked about Numbers 11 and how the people didn't seem concerned about coming close to God and the dangers that came with it. Many of them died in a fire as a result.
The theme continues in Numbers 16. The story of Korah's rebellion is pretty famous. Some of the Levites decided they were as "holy" as Moses (as if that had anything to do with why God was using Moses). The bottom sort of dropped out from under their argument (vs 31) and they fell from grace (so to speak).
So what I find interesting is what happened next. After God clearly said that it is His choice who He uses and puts into authority, the people "grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the Lord." (vs 42).
God's glory appeared in the cloud over the Tent of Meeting and immediately a plague started breaking out among the people. If it were not for Aaron and Moses interceding, all the people would have died. As it was some 14,700 lost their lives.
So after the fire, after the glory, after the plagues - no one among the children of Israel seems all that worried about the wrath of God. That actually trying to approach God and relate to Him on a personal level without the proper covering was a truly dangerous undertaking.
The truth is that God is holding back. One day he will destroy evil and anything that belongs to it. It's not anger in the sense that we think of. God is not vindictive and vengeful. But He is pure. He will take this dimension back and when he does His mere presence will wipe out anything not clean.
As I've said numerous times, thanks be to God for providing that cleansing Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. Let's just not make the mistake Israel made and underestimate the presence of God and the wrath of God. Wrath does matter!
Pastor Tom
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1 comment:
Tom: You are correct. Our world seems to have lost the fear of God. But what bothers me more is that many Christians seem to have lost the reverence of God; the things we tolerate, the things we watch and read and say; God help us to regain a reverence of the Holiness of God and the holiness that He has called us to. Lev 11:45: "You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."
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