A Second Reminder (Num. 17:1-13)

1/14/2009 7:41 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  A second reminder

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 17:1-13

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2  "Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, 3  and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households.  4  "You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.  5  "It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."  6  Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.  7  So Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

            8 ¶  Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9  Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. 10  But the LORD said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die."  11  Thus Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.  12  Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!  13  "Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?’”

            These thirteen verses are all of the verses in chapter seventeen and they tell the story of a test that the Lord would give to all of the tribes of the nation of Israel in order to show which tribe came the priests of God who represented Israel.  The test was simple as a rod as given by each tribal leader to Moses with their name on it and from the tribe of Levi would come the rod of Aaron with his name on it.  Each rod would be placed in the tabernacle and the one that budded by the next day would be the tribe that the priesthood would come from.  The next day not only did the rod of Aaron have leaves on it but it also had blossoms and ripe almonds on it to prove that the priesthood was from Aaron and his sons.

            Israel over reacted and decided that they could not go near the tabernacle or they would die.  The feared the tabernacle but not the Lord of the tabernacle. 

            In this chapter of Dr. Wiersbe book which included chapters fifteen through seventeen of Numbers the nation of Israel was given “three reminders to encourage them to obey God’s Law and submit to His will:  the tassels on their garments, the brass plates on the altar, and Aarons rod in the holy of holies.  To encourage believers today to be obedient children, the Lord has given us His Word (John 17:17), the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20), the Lord’s Supper, reminding us of the death of Christ and His promised return (11:23-34; 1 John 2:1-3, and the interceding Savior in heaven (Heb. 4:14-16; Romans 8:34).  Before we judge God’s ancient people, perhaps we’d better examine our own hearts to see if we’ve submitted to the authority of His Word and of His appointed leaders.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to make sure that I am submitted to the authority of God’s Word and to His appointed leaders.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. To learn more about my God.
2. To be content.
3. To be submitted to the authority of God’s Word and to His appointed leaders.

Memory verses for the week:                                              Romans 6:19-21

19. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

21  Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

1/14/2009 8:09 AM