great miracle, great tragedy

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (18)

great miracle, great tragedy

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2324

Numbers 20:1-13

Num 20:1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
Num 20:2 Now there was no water for the congregation. And they collected themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Num 20:3 And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished in the sight of Yahveh!
Num 20:4 Why have you brought the collected assembly of Yahveh into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our animals?
Num 20:5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”
Num 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the collected assembly to the entrance of the conference tent and fell on their faces. And the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared to them,
Num 20:7 and Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Num 20:8 “Take the staff, and collect the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock in the sight of their eyes to yield its water. So you will bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”
Num 20:9 And Moses took the staff from in the sight of Yahveh, as he commanded him.
Num 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron collected the assembly together in the sight of the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: will we bring water for you out of this rock?”
Num 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
Num 20:12 And Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you will not bring this collected assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Num 20:13 This is the water of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with Yahveh, and through them he showed himself holy.

great miracle, great tragedy

This passage combines a great miracle with a great tragedy. The people assemble against Moses and Aaron, and they both come into the LORD’s presence for instructions. He tells them to take Aaron’s staff and speak to a rock and it will provide the water that the community needs.

Instead of following those orders exactly, in anger, Moses speaks to the people and strikes the rock twice with the staff. The water flowed, but so did condemnation. As a result of this failure, neither Moses nor Aaron would enter the promised land when the nation returned to it.

LORD, teach us how to stay calm and committed to obeying your instructions.

 

Posted in anger, commitment | Tagged | 1 Comment

rescued from normality

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

Photo by bruce mars on Pexels.com

Psalm 18:43-46

Psalm 18:43 You have freed me from the disputes1 among the people; you have appointed me the head of nations; a people I had not known serve me.

Psalm 18:44 Foreigners submit to me cringing; as soon as they hear they obey me.

Psalm 18:45 Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their fortifications.

Psalm 18:46 Yahveh is alive– blessed be my rock! The God of my deliverance is exalted.

rescued from normality

Under David’s rule, the Israelite nation became a dominating superpower. Here David attributes that national success to God. The deliverance he celebrated was more than just peace. It was peace through strength. It was more than just respect and admiration. It was submission. David saw himself as not part of the petty disputes of the nations, but above them.

God can save your soul from future destruction. He wants to do that. And he also wants to rescue you from the pettiness and normality that can make life today unpleasant.

Lord, we reach out to you and ask for your help. You are the God of our deliverance.

1רִיב

Posted in blessings, deliverance, dependence upon God | Tagged | Leave a comment

looking beyond death

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (17)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2323

Numbers 19:14-22

Num 19:14 “This is the law when a human dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be contaminated seven days.
Num 19:15 And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is contaminated.
Num 19:16 Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be contaminated seven days.
Num 19:17 For the contaminated they will take some ashes of the burnt mistake offering, and fresh water will be added in a vessel.
Num 19:18 Then a pure person will take hyssop and dip it in the water and spritz it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the souls who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave.
Num 19:19 And the pure person will spritz it on the contaminated on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he will purify him, and he will wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he will be pure.
Num 19:20 “If the man who is contaminated does not purify himself, that soul will be eliminated from the midst of the collected assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahveh. Because the water for impurity has not been tossed on him, he is contaminated.
Num 19:21 And it will be a permanent prescription for them. The one who spritzes the water for impurity will wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be contaminated until evening.
Num 19:22 And whatever the contaminated person touches will be contaminated, and any soul who touches it will be contaminated until evening.”

looking beyond death

In the old covenant community, refusal to become ritually purified after coming in contact with a corpse was in itself a capital crime. It was a choice to reject the LORD offered — hope beyond our present mortality. A dead body is a reminder of our ancestral sin, and the price we all pay for that event. To refuse the LORD’s purification is to embrace that death — that is not what God wants of us. We must accept that death will happen, but we must never forget that it is am abberation.

LORD, give us the courage to trust in your solution for the problem of death — to look beyond it to the resurrection.

Posted in mortality, resurrection | Tagged | 1 Comment

contaminated by death

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (16)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2322

Numbers 19:1-13

Num 19:1 Then Yahveh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and this is what he said,
Num 19:2 “This is the prescription of the law that Yahveh has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a perfect red heifer, in which there is no flaw, and on which a yoke has never been placed.
Num 19:3 And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in the sight of him.
Num 19:4 And Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood with his finger, and spritz some of its blood toward the front of the conference tent seven times.
Num 19:5 And the heifer will be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, will be burned.
Num 19:6 And the priest will take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and toss them into the fire burning the heifer.
Num 19:7 Then the priest will wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest will be contaminated until evening.
Num 19:8 The one who burns the heifer will wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and will be contaminated until evening.
Num 19:9 And a man who is pure will gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place. And they will be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a mistake offering.
Num 19:10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes and be contaminated until evening. And this will be a permanent prescription for the people of Israel, and for the foreign guest who sojourns among them.
Num 19:11 “Whoever touches the dead soul of any human will be contaminated seven days.
Num 19:12 He will purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be pure. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become pure.
Num 19:13 Whoever touches a dead soul of any human who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahveh, and that soul will be eliminated from Israel; because the water for impurity was not tossed on him, he will be contaminated. His contamination is still on him.

contaminated by death

What was so wrong about accidentally or inadvertently touching a human corpse? A corpse is a soul (that is the Hebrew word here) which has died. Death is the aberration of the created order. It should not be. The LORD is making a statement about how wrong death is. But he is also saying something else. He intends to eradicate death from his universe. But that miracle will require a death. The perfect red cow is another symbol of the coming Savior. We still live among the dead and are contaminated with the same ancestral sin that brought death to us. But God has a solution.

LORD, thank you for the hope of eternal life through Jesus.

Posted in Jesus Christ, mortality, the cross | Tagged | 1 Comment

or die

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (15)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2321

Numbers 18:21-32

Num 18:21 “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the conference tent,
Num 18:22 so that the people of Israel do not come near the conference tent, lest they pay for their mistake and die.
Num 18:23 But the Levites will do the service of the conference tent, and they will bear their violation. It will be a permanent prescription throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they will have no inheritance.
Num 18:24 Because the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to Yahveh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they will have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”
Num 18:25 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Num 18:26 “Moreover, you will speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you will present a contribution from it to Yahveh, a tithe of the tithe.
Num 18:27 And your contribution will be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and like the fullness of the winepress.
Num 18:28 So you will also present a contribution to Yahveh from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you will give Yahveh’s contribution to Aaron the priest.
Num 18:29 Out of all the gifts to you, you will present every contribution due to Yahveh; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’
Num 18:30 Therefore you will say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest will be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and like produce of the winepress.
Num 18:31 And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, because it is your reward in return for your service in the conference tent.
Num 18:32 And you will pay for your mistake by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you will not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, or else you will die.'”

or die

The commands from the LORD seem harsh to our sensitive ears. He tells the Levites that the other Israelites cannot come near the conference tent, or else they will die. So, it is the Levites and priests who must do the work associated with the tabernacle. For their salary, the Levites will receive a tenth of the offerings. They, in return must contribute a tenth of those offerings back to the priests. If the Levites fail to do this, they too will die. An underlying truth behind both these commands is that fellowship with God is costly for sinful humanity. He sets the price.

LORD, thank you for paying the extreme price for our eternal fellowship with you.

Posted in fellowship, the cross | Tagged | 1 Comment

all the best

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (14)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2320

Numbers 18:8-20

Num 18:8 Then Yahveh spoke to Aaron, “notice, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent due.
Num 18:9 This will be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every tribute offering of theirs and every mistake offering of theirs and every reparation offering of theirs, which they render to me, will be most holy to you and to your sons.
Num 18:10 In a most holy place will you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you.
Num 18:11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the presentation offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a permanent due. Everyone who is pure in your house may eat it.
Num 18:12 All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to Yahveh, I give to you.
Num 18:13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahveh, will be yours. Everyone who is pure in your house may eat it.
Num 18:14 Every devoted thing in Israel will be yours.
Num 18:15 Everything that opens the uterus of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to Yahveh, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn human you will redeem, and the firstborn of contaminated animals you will redeem.
Num 18:16 And their redemption price (at a month old you will redeem them) you will fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
Num 18:17 But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you will not redeem; they are holy. You will spritz their blood on the altar and will burn their fat as a fire offering, with a soothing aroma to Yahveh.
Num 18:18 But their flesh will be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours.
Num 18:19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to Yahveh I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a permanent due. It is a covenant of salt forever in the sight of Yahveh for you and for your offspring with you.”
Num 18:20 And Yahveh said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, neither will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

all the best

When the land would be allocated to the tribes after acquired, the priests, the sons of Aaron — would not be given a portion. Yahveh himself is their portion. All the best of the offerings given to Yahveh would be at the disposal of the priests. The proceeds from the redemption of all the firstborn would be given to the priests, and everything would be redeemed except for the sacrifice animals. The priests would eat the meat of those animals which were sacrificed. Theirs was a special calling, which came with limitations, but also involved special blessing.

LORD, give us the insight to regard our ministry for you as a blessing, and to appreciate it.

Posted in ministry | Tagged | 1 Comment

two gifts for the priests

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (13)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2319

Numbers 18:1-7

Num 18:1 So Yahveh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you will bear the violation connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the violation connected with your priesthood.
Num 18:2 And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and serve you while you and your sons with you are in the sight of the tent of the testimony.
Num 18:3 They will keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but will not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar or else they, and you, will die.
Num 18:4 They will join you and keep guard over the conference tent for all the service of the tent, and no outsider will come near you.
Num 18:5 And you will keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, so that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel.
Num 18:6 And notice, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to Yahveh, to do the service of the conference tent.
Num 18:7 And you and your sons with you will guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you will serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any outsider who comes near will be put to death.”

two gifts for the priests

The Aaronic priesthood was particular to Yahveh’s covenant with the Israelites, and has no direct counterpart in the covenant initiated by Christ. Under the new covenant, all believers are priests, bringing access to God through the gospel, and protecting people from his holiness and wrath by preaching repentance.

But there are two points of application for us today as we consider our priesthood. God gave the priests of the tabernacle two gifts: the work of the priesthood itself, and the Levites to assist them and guard the sanctuary. By obediently serving, the priests would be blessed. By allowing others to support them, they would be a blessing.

LORD, inspire in us a new appreciation for the work of evangelism, and those who help us in the work.

Posted in evangelism | Tagged | 1 Comment

from accusation to fear

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (12)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2318

Numbers 17:1-12

Num 17:1 Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Num 17:2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff,
Num 17:3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. Because there will be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house.
Num 17:4 Then you will deposit them in the conference tent in the sight of the testimony, where I meet with you.
Num 17:5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the complains of the people of Israel, which they complain about you.”
Num 17:6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.
Num 17:7 And Moses deposited the staffs in the sight of Yahveh in the tent of the testimony.
Num 17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and notice, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.
Num 17:9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from in the sight of Yahveh to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff.
Num 17:10 And Yahveh said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron in the sight of the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, or else they will die.”
Num 17:11 Thus did Moses; as Yahveh commanded him, so he did.
Num 17:12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “notice, we are being destroyed, we are undone, we are all undone.

from accusation to fear

The rebels who opposed Aaron’s priesthood and position were not just curious. They actually believed that Aaron’s position had been gained because of his association with Moses. When God proved that it was his power and choice that put Aaron in his place of respect, an interesting thing happened. The rebels reacted to this sign of life with fear. They immediately thought they were all going to die. How quickly we change our opinion of ourselves when we see the power of God at work.

LORD, thank you for raising Christ from the dead, giving new life to us in him. Teach us to love you and not to fear your awesome power.

Posted in eternal life, fear | Tagged | 1 Comment

dangerous discontent

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (11)

devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2317

Numbers 16:25-50

Num 16:25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26 And he spoke to the congregation, and this is what he said, “Get away, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or else you will be swept away with all their sins.”
Num 16:27 So they got away from the staying of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.
Num 16:28 And Moses said, “Hereby you will know that Yahveh has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.
Num 16:29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then Yahveh has not sent me.
Num 16:30 But if Yahveh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised Yahveh.”
Num 16:31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart.
Num 16:32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their belongings.
Num 16:33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they were destroyed from the midst of the collected assembly.
Num 16:34 And all Israel who were around them ran away at their cry, because they said, “Or else the earth will swallow us up!”
Num 16:35 And fire came out from Yahveh and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
Num 16:36 Then Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said,
Num 16:37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, because they have become holy.
Num 16:38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, because they offered them in the sight of Yahveh, and they became holy. Thus they will be a sign to the people of Israel.”
Num 16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,
Num 16:40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense in the sight of Yahveh, or else he will become like Korah and his company– as Yahveh said to him through Moses.
Num 16:41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, and this is what he said “You have killed the people of Yahveh.”
Num 16:42 And when the congregation had collected against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the conference tent. And notice, the cloud covered it, and the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared.
Num 16:43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the conference tent,
Num 16:44 and Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said
Num 16:45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.
Num 16:46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and provide reconciliation for them, because wrath has gone out from Yahveh; the plague has begun.”
Num 16:47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the collected assembly. And notice, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
Num 16:48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.
Num 16:49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.
Num 16:50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the conference tent, when the plague was stopped.

dangerous discontent

Those rebellious pretenders spread their dangerous discontent about Moses and Aaron were swallowed up by the ground. The would-be priests who were self appointed were struck down by fire from the sky. Even as we read these things, our minds have difficulty conceiving of them. But the hardest to believe is what is recorded in verse 41. How can the community continue to complain? Where is their fear of God? Without the courageous intervention of Moses and Aaron, the whole community would have died of the plague.

FATHER GOD, give us the wisdom to learn from the mistakes of those people — to fear you and follow you, because you are holy, and your will is supreme.

Posted in criticism, discernment, fear | Tagged | 1 Comment

going too far

Posted on March 10, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

marmsky March 2018 (10)

devotional post # 2316

Numbers 16:1-24

Num 16:1 Then Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.
Num 16:2 And they rose up in the sight of Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen from the collection, well-known men.
Num 16:3 They collected themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! Because all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Yahveh is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the collected assembly of Yahveh?”
Num 16:4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face,
Num 16:5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning Yahveh will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him.
Num 16:6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;
Num 16:7 put fire in them and put incense on them in the sight of Yahveh tomorrow, and the man whom Yahveh chooses will be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”
Num 16:8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:
Num 16:9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of Yahveh and to stand in the sight of the congregation to minister to them,
Num 16:10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?
Num 16:11 Therefore it is against Yahveh that you and all your company have collected. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
Num 16:12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up.
Num 16:13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?
Num 16:14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”
Num 16:15 And Moses was very angry and said to Yahveh, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”
Num 16:16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, in the sight of Yahveh, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow.
Num 16:17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring in the sight of Yahveh his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.”
Num 16:18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the conference tent with Moses and Aaron.
Num 16:19 Then Korah collected all the congregation against them at the entrance of the conference tent. And the impressive appearance of Yahveh appeared to all the congregation.
Num 16:20 And Yahveh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and this is what he said
Num 16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
Num 16:22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man make a mistake, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
Num 16:23 And Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said
Num 16:24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the staying of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

going too far

The 250 men who challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron accused them of exalting themselves above Yahveh’s assembly. The men had positions of leadership within their own clans, companies and tribes, but they envied the ministry positions of Moses and Aaron.

In the church today, we are often tempted to criticize those who serve with more prominence. We all have equal status before the LORD. But it is the Holy Spirit who decides where and how we will serve. When we use our equal status to criticize and rebel, we anger him. We go too far.

LORD, show us how to respect those whom you call to serve.

Posted in criticism, Holy Spirit, leadership | Tagged | 1 Comment