NUMBERS

Numbers Chapter 17

• Numbers 17:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 
• 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 
• 3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 
• 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 
• 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. 
• 6 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 
• 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 
• 8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 
• 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 
• 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 
• 11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. 
• 12 And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 
• 13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? 

The holiness of God and the sinfulness of man caused a great wide gulf. He is so holy that sin cannot dwell in His presence. God had to choose intercessors to go through rituals of cleansing, sacrifices and ordinances before even those chosen for this office could come near the tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt. 

Until Christ came to make a new and living way that would enable any individual to come into the presence of God, they had to insure that no one presumptuously came into God's presence unclean and be struck dead in the process. Sin is so defiling and filthy that we cannot dwell with God as long as sin remains within our innermost being. 

Jesus came to pay the price for our sin and cleanse us from sin at the same time. The blood of Jesus was shed to cleanse us from sin and from the penalty of sin. 

Jesus existed from eternity as part of the triune Godhead from everlasting to everlasting. He has no beginning and no ending. He came to us by allowing Himself to be stripped of His position in heaven with the Father to become flesh and blood man. He was born of the Holy Spirit who placed the seed within the womb of Mary. 

He was born as a full human being but full of the Holy Spirit. All the miracles and things He did, He did by the power of the Holy Spirit to show us that those that follow Him can also be filled with the Holy Spirit at the right time God chose to send the Holy Spirit upon all who believed and received Jesus the Christ or Messiah.

Jesus lived for around 33 years as a flesh and blood man without once breaking the law of God or committing any sin.

The bible says that the wages of sin is death. Physical and eternal death passed upon all mankind when Adam sinned. Sin then separated us from God. Something or someone had to redeem us or buy us back and bring us back to God.

The law was given to show us how serious sin was and how desperately we all needed a savior since there was no way to save ourselves. God had to provide the way since we all have sinned and could not provide for our own salvation. 

Blood had to be shed. Because the law says the soul that sins has to die. Sin brings upon all of us the penalty of death. The blood of animals was shed. The innocent animals for the guilty until the time when a perfect man, would die that didn't deserve to die. That man would be innocent. The only one that could possibly fulfill that requirement would be God but also a human man. 

This is why Jesus came to die for sins. He didn't sin so His death can count on behalf of all of us who did sin. The way to receive this and believe what Jesus did on our behalf is to repent or renounce sin and believe in this one who came to die for sins. Jesus our Christ. He was the Son of God who came into human flesh from a young woman chosen of God to bring Him into our world.

Jesus was crucified and died. He was buried for 3 days and then He rose from the dead. When He arose from the dead, He conquered death. Now all who believe and receive Him will also rise from the dead and receive a new body that can never die. 

The moment we have our sins washed away by the blood He shed and the moment we believe, we are "born again" by the spirit of God. We are new creatures in Christ. We now can inherit eternal life. The soul within us and the spirit within us can never disappear from existence but only the body will die and decay. 

It is the soul that needs to be cleansed of sin and saved. The body will die but be raised again at the coming of Jesus Christ. The soul and spirit of a believer goes immediately to be with the Lord at the point of death. 

The soul of the unbeliever will enter a place called hell where all that have sinned is confined so that one day sinned will be done away with. If we die in our sins we will have to go to that place forever. This is the main reason Jesus came to pay the price for our sins so that we do not have to go there for our own sins. We can escape, we can be saved. We do not have to die in sin. Jesus came to save us from that fate.

Getting back to this chapter though we see that God had to give these people a sign to show them that He chose Aaron and His family to become the priests to intercede and make sacrifices for sin. This was needed at this time because it was many years until God planned to allow Jesus to come and pay the final sacrifice for sins. 

All these sacrifices pointed to the coming sacrifice that would be made only once and never again. At this time though they needed a reminder that they needed to put away sin and trust in God to bring salvation. 

They needed a priest before Christ came but not after Christ. After Christ came all who believe can go directly to God themselves. Through the Holy Spirit we can be in His presence. 

The many sacrifices, washings and preparation in the Old Testament shows us that the way was not perfected yet. Every time someone sinned they had to go bring another sacrifice. Yet when they came with a heart of obedience it was showing faith in God that He would forgive their sins and bring them a perfect sacrifice when the time was right. 

Old Testament believers were saved by looking forward and obeying the ordinances given to them. We now are saved from sin by looking back to the time Jesus died for our sins to bring us back or to redeem us back to God. 

Now we can have the Holy Spirit to abide with us until Jesus comes back again to change our bodies into that which can never die. 

• John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 
• 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Aaron's rod budding was God's way of showing these people who He had chosen to be priest and that they were not to take it upon themselves to usurp His responsibilities. 

The time would come when every individual could come into the presence of God if His sins were cleansed by the blood of Jesus but that time had not come yet. They had to wait on God and be obedient to those He set over them. The final sacrifice for sins was yet to come. By not allowing just any unredeemed person to become priest, it was showing us the holiness of God and how we needed cleansed from sin before entering His presence.  

Rebellion and wanting to puff up self is a sign that someone is not right with God. A holy relationship with God makes us humble not rebellious and proud, ready to usurp authority. 

In saying this though, we make sure that we support only righteous leaders. We shall know them by their fruits. How they live, how they talk, are they humble, do they walk in love, are they kind even when things do not go right? Do they preach one thing and practice another? 

There are many things to look for. 

Moses and Aaron never once sought to be exalted above others and lord over them. They were servants of God and were placed in that position, not because they were better people but just because God chose them. 

Yes, it's true that we do not touch God's anointed but we need to make sure they teach the truth and are not twisting the scriptures to gain power over their followers. 

Good leaders will lead people to Jesus Christ not to themselves. -DC