Rebellion & Rejection (Numbers 16-20)

Everyone has a story of rebellion.

Some of you maybe have a couple. I've got a few myself.

You know, a few years ago, I was visiting my parents in Kansas

City, and we were in the living room.

And they're in the living room is one of my mother's treasured

vases who was sitting there in the corner.

And then she looked at it. She did You guys notice there's

a huge crack on the top? And as she got a little closer

to inspect it, she said, wait a second, there's a lot of cracks.

It looks like somebody glued this back together.

Then she looked at me. She looked at my siblings.

Do you guys know who did this? Well, you can probably guess who

it was. Guilty as charged.

You know, actually what had happened was almost 15 years

before then, maybe even 20. I had this big red kickball.

It was oversized. It was gigantic.

And I had one rule with it. You probably guess don't play

with it in the house. But my parents were gone, and

there it was tempting me, and I thought a good game of kickball

would be a good idea in the house.

I kicked it. And I remember I knocked over a

painting that was on the fireplace.

The painting fell and broke the vase.

What I do? Well we had super glue and so I

ran. I got the Super glue, I glued it

back together and I completely forgot about it.

Fast forward 1520 years later, my rebellion was found out.

The cracks gave way. My mother caught me, I repented,

I asked for forgiveness. She gladly forgave me.

We all laughed about it. Even you know the reality is we

all have little stories of rebellion.

Some of them are silly, maybe like that story.

Perhaps others of yours, even today, are more serious.

And you've taken the Super glue. You've tried to clean up your

mess. Your hope is that your story

will hold, that maybe you won't get found out.

And friend, the encouraging thing I want to present you with

today is that even rebels can find grace with Jesus Christ.

Maybe you walked in this morning hiding your rebellion.

Even as we confess in our statement of faith, friend, even

the greatest Sinner can find grace sufficient for them in the

power of the gospel. Brothers and sisters, we're back

in the book of Numbers today. If you don't have a Bible, maybe

you forgot it at home. Maybe you don't even own a

Bible. Just raise your hand.

We're going to be looking at 5 chapters of Numbers.

You will need a Bible. Just raise it.

Dawson's in the back. He's ready to bring you a Bible.

If you need a Bible, If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn

their Numbers chapter 16 through 20.

Numbers 16 · chapter mention

I'll recap the story because it's been about a month since

we've been in the book. After the Lord delivered his

people from slavery to Egypt, he prepared to lead them to the

promised land, but they had to go through the wilderness.

And if you remember, there was a pattern in the 1st 10 chapters

of the book. The pattern was simple.

The Lord spoke, the people obeyed, and no one died.

But the pattern was broken in chapters 11 through 15, the

pattern that we've been looking at, the new pattern was the

people complained, the people rebelled, and so God poured out

His judgement. So the journey that should have

just taken a few weeks ends up taking over 40 years because

when the 1st generation arrived at the promised land, they

refused to enter. You know, we sang on Jordan.

Stormy Banks just a minute ago, cast a wishful eye to Canaan's

fair and happy land. Well, that first generation

friends, their wishful eye was not towards Canaan.

It was towards Egypt. They didn't want to go to

heaven. They wanted to stay in the

world. In chapters 16 to 25 chapters,

the spotlight shifts. Now we're looking at Aaron.

It's about Aaron and the priesthood.

Now you won't be surprised. Chapter 16 begins with a

rebellion against Moses and Aaron.

But it is shocking that in chapter 20, Moses and Aaron are

the ones who rebel against God. And so even Moses and Aaron are

refused entry into the Promised Land.

Brothers and sisters, as we just read, we just had read to us in

First Corinthians, these things took place as an example for us.

So how can rebels like us dwell with a holy God in the Promised

Land? How?

Well, three things we must do. First, we must honour God's

chosen authority. So this is the outline of the

sermon. 3 points honour God's chosen authorities.

That's chapter 16 to 17. Second, we must receive God's

cleansing sacrifice, chapters 18 to 19.

And 3rd, we must fear God's patient holiness, chapter 20.

Now since there's five chapters that cover, if I read the whole

thing, that would be the sermon. I'm going to read some portions

and then I'm going to summarise some of the other sections.

So 1st .1 honour God's chosen authorities.

Chapter 16 to 17 before I read just the structure real quick of

chapter 1617, there's a rebellion, then there's a sign,

then there's a second rebellion, and chapter 17 is another sign.

So that's the structure. The point of these chapters is a

warning. To reject God's authorities is

really to reject God himself. It starts with Korra's

rebellion. Look at verse 1 of chapter 16.

Now Korra, the son of Izhar, son of Co-op, son of Levi, and

Dathan, and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and on the son of Pileth,

sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses with a

number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation,

chosen from the assembly, well known men.

They assembled themselves together against Moses and

against Aaron, and said to them, You have gone too far, for all

in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord

is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves

above the assembly of the Lord? When Moses heard it, he fell on

his face, and he said to Cora and all his company.

In the morning the Lord 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. Do this.

Take censors, Cora and all his company.

Put fire in them, and put incense on them before the Lord

tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy.

1 You have gone too far, sons of Levi.

And Moses said to Korra. Here now, you sons of Levi, 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 the

Lord and to stand before the congregation, to minister to

them? 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?

Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company

have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble

against him? We'll pause there.

So notice the rebellion begins with three groups.

You have Cora who's a kothite, you have 3 Rubenites, Dathan, a

Byram and on and they take 250 leaders from all the tribes and

they gather against Moses and Aaron.

If you look at verse one on is mentioned but he's never

mentioned again in the narrative.

It seems like he changes his mind maybe on repents but still

we have to ask why are Koathites and Rubenites leading a

rebellion? What do they want?

Well, to understand the answer, really, to see the start of the

rebellion and the heart of the rebellion, we really have to go

back to numbers, Chapters 3 and 4.

Numbers 3 · chapter mention

That's where we found out the camp structure.

So the structure of the camp is that the 12 tribes are gathered

around the tent of Meeting, and there on the South side of the

camp are the Rubenites and the Koathites together.

It seems there's some neighborly gossip, some grumbling was

stirring. That's the start of the

rebellion. What about the heart?

Well, the heart of the rebellion is about holiness.

Remember the camp structure? There's gradations of holiness.

So you have the very centre of the camp.

That's the tent of meeting. And then around the tent of

meeting were the priests. 1 ring further the Levites and

Coethites were Levites, and then one ring further was everyone

else. And this very structure was

under attack. You can hear the attack in verse

three. They accuse Moses and Aaron,

hey, everyone in the camp is holy, which in some sense is

true. If you remember the end of

chapter 15, they're all holy to the Lord, but there are

gradations of holiness. And so they accuse Moses and

Aaron. You guys are exalting yourselves

above everyone else. Now Moses responds to Cora.

He says, isn't it enough that the Lord's already separated you

to serve him? He's brought you near.

Remember, Korra was a Levite. He's a Coathite.

He's already been separated from everyone else, and he gets to

serve the Lord in a distinct manner.

But Korra, Moses says, wants Aaron's priesthood also.

And Moses calls Dathan in a Byram in verses 12 to 15.

He calls them up. They refuse to come.

Dathan and Abaram say to Moses, hey, you brought us out of

Egypt. You brought us out of that land

flowing with milk and honey. I mean, that's not Egypt.

That's the promised land. But not to them.

And they say, you brought us out to kill us in the wilderness.

You make yourself a Prince over us.

So what's happening here? Kora strives for the priesthood.

Dathan and Abiram attack Moses's authority like Satan before him.

Korra grasp for greater glory. Being a Levite is not enough.

He wants to be a priest. And Dathan and Abiram, they're

dead wrong about Moses. Moses did not make himself

priest over them. Moses gave up being a priest in

Egypt to serve them. The Lord chose Moses, the Lord

chose Aaron. So ultimately this rebellion,

it's not against Moses, it's not against Aaron, this is a

rebellion against the Lord. And so in verses 16 to 30, to

protect the priesthood, Moses sets up two tests.

And if you look there in those verses, these are two tests that

cannot be accomplished other than God himself acting the 1st

test. He tells Kora, he says, Kora,

you the 250 men and Aaron, you take censors and you go and burn

incense before the Lord at the tent of meeting.

So Kora does that, but he also assembles the whole

congregation. He wants to show, he wants to

show who is the chosen one. But the glory of the Lord

appears. And if so far in the Book of

Numbers, when the glory of the Lord appears, we know judgments

coming. And so the Lord, the Lord warns

Moses and Aaron, He says he's going to consume everyone.

But Moses and Aaron intercede for the congregation.

So the Lord tells them, OK, tell the congregation to separate,

separate from Cora and Dathan and Abiram.

And that's what Moses does. He warns everyone, depart from

them lest you be swept away with all their sins, and many do,

many do depart, many are saved. Moses gives the second test.

He tells the congregation, here's how you will know who

despises the Lord. If the Lord swallows them up in

the ground and they go down into the ground alive, then you'll

know they despise the Lord. And immediately look at verse

31. As soon as he had finished

speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart,

and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their

households and all the people who belong to Cora and all their

goods. And look at verse 35.

And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men

offering the incense. Friends, the Lord could not be

clearer. Dathan and Abiram refused to

come up to Moses, so God sent them down in the Sheol.

Korra wanted the privilege to burn incense like the priests,

so God set him ablaze. God is a consuming fire, and

rebellion ends in destruction. But after the rebellion, there's

a warning sign. Look at verses 36 through 40.

Remember the structure? There's rebellion, then there's

a sign. Moses tells Eleazar, Aaron's

son. He says, turn those 250 censors

into a sign, hammer them and cover the altar with them as a

warning sign to everyone so that everyone would know that only

priests can draw near to the Lord to burn incense.

So what's the lesson for Israel? God's ordained distinctions must

be respected, not rejected. Think of how Moses and Aaron

have been using their authority. They've been given authority by

God to serve the camp. Moses and Aaron sacrifice for

the camp. They say follow us, listen to

us, draw near to God through us, and we will guide you and we

will make it to the Promised Land.

But Korra saw that distinction. He felt slighted when he saw

Aaron lead, when he saw him burn incense.

It was like putting salt in his wounds, like putting a knife in

his own back. And notice the progression.

Rebellion against God begins with the rejection of God's

authorities. The roots of that rejection

sprouted from the sin of envy as Cora grasped for Aaron's office,

and that envy spread there on the South side as they grumbled

and they complained together. What's the lesson for us,

friends? We need to beware of envy in our

hearts and even the influence of our friends, especially with

regard to rejecting God's authorities in our lives.

Now, in God's wisdom, He's placed every one of us under

authority, every one of us in this room, children are under

the authority of their parents, wives are under the authority of

their husbands, employees under bosses, students under teachers,

citizens under governments, members under elders, elders

under the whole congregation. God's chosen authorities are for

our good. But what does envy do?

Envy drives us to strive for and then reject the very authorities

God's placed in our lives for our good.

We're like kora. We're like kora When we yearn

for platforms that are out of our reach.

We're like kora. When we strive to climb the next

rung on the ladder, no matter the cost, we're like Kora when

we fail to honour the leaders God's placed and appointed in

our very lives. Brothers and sisters, how have

you failed to honour the authorities God's placed over

you? It would be a good question to

talk about with one another after the service or over lunch.

To keep our hearts from this sin.

To keep our hearts from envy, we must instead learn to honour.

You know, we could Daydream about the day when we'll be on

top. Or we could privately pray for

the authorities God's placed over us and even praise God

privately for the good that we see.

We could grumble and gossip about our boss kids, about your

parents, wives, about your husband, or we could publicly

honour the authorities God's placed over us.

We could point out even the good that we see to others.

And we can be easily influenced by the sin and the grumbling of

others. You know, years ago when the

church father Augustine was a teenager, he reflected on his

teenage years and he remembers stealing pears with his friends.

Here's the thing, Augustine would never have stole pears by

himself, but when he's with his friends, that's what he does.

He reflects on that moment and he says, why did I derive

pleasure from an act I would never have done on my own?

I'm sure you've all been there, Augustine said.

Friendship can be a dangerous enemy, so beware of those

influences in your life that are causing you to reject the

authorities God's placed over you.

Now, Kora and the rebels were gone in verse 41, but their

influence remained in the camp. So in verse 41, a second

rebellion arises, but this time it's the whole congregation.

Look at verse 41. But on the next day all the

congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses

and against Aaron. Saying, You have killed the

people of the Lord. And when the congregation had

assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned

toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered

it. And the glory of the Lord

appeared. And Moses and Aaron came to the

front of the tent of meeting. And the Lord spoke to Moses

saying, Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may

consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces.

And Moses said to Aaron, Take your sensor and put fire on it

from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it

quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them.

For wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the plague has begun.

So Aaron took it, as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the

assembly. And behold, the plague had

already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and

made atonement for the people, and he stood between the dead

and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Now those who died in the plague were 14,700 besides those who

died in the affair of Korra and Aaron returned to Moses at the

entrance of the Tent of Meaning when the plague was stopped.

Friends, the congregation does not heed the warning sign.

They grumble, they assemble, the glory of the Lord appears.

And this time Moses and Aaron cannot intercede for the

innocent, because no one's innocent now.

And so Aaron the high priest runs into God's wrath with his

censor, and he makes atonement. 14,700 die.

But how many more would have if Aaron had not stood between the

dead and the living friends? This is the purpose of the

priesthood, Korra thought. He could get the priesthood to

maybe have a platform for himself.

Aaron shows us the priesthood is for the sacrificial service of

others. This is a picture of godly

leadership. Authority that protects,

authority that loves and serves and sacrifices for others,

authority that risks death for the lives of others.

Brothers and sisters, this is a picture of Jesus Christ.

Now, it's raining quite a bit right now, so you need to pay

attention to this moment, especially because here we see a

picture not only of Christ, but also a picture of ourselves.

We are the congregation. Don't you see that in this text?

We've rebelled against the holy God.

We've ignored the warning signs. We've rejected God's

authorities. We've rebelled against God

himself. And So what do we deserve?

We rightly deserve God's wrath. We rightly deserve to be

consumed by fire. We rightly deserve to be

swallowed up into the depths of the earth.

Friends, that's the fate that sinners who rebel against God

deserve. We need a mediator.

We need someone to stand between US and God.

We need someone to run into God's wrath and to save us.

And of course, friends, that's Jesus Christ.

Jesus, unlike Cora, did not grasp for the priesthood, but he

received it. Like Aaron, he was appointed

priest forever by God. Jesus was righteous, but Jesus

died on the cross for rebels. Jesus himself bore God's wrath,

and he rose victorious over the grave.

And he stands between the living and the dead, and he's ready to

extend mercy and forgiveness and grace and love to all rebels who

would repent of their sins and trust in him.

So, friend, if you've not trusted in Christ, if you're

still holding onto your rebellion, turn from your sin

and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved after this rebellion.

Remember rebellion, sign, rebellion.

There's another sign in chapter 17.

In chapter 17, Aaron's priesthood is vindicated.

Again, we're not going to read the whole chapter, but if you

think about it, what happens is God tells Moses to gather up all

the tribes and have the leaders write their names on a staff.

Those Staffs are put before the tent of meeting.

And the purpose of this test is to stop all the grumbling, stop

questioning who the leader is. God's going to make it apparent

who it is. And so they gather all the

Staffs. They put them before the tent of

meeting and God says the one which blooms, that will be the

God's chosen leader. And so look what happens in

verse 8, chapter 17, verse 8, on the next day, Moses went into

the tent of the testimony and behold, the staff of Aaron for

the House of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced

blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

And in verse 10, we see that staff is then chosen as a sign

for the rebels to make an end of their grumblings, lest they end

up like Cora, lest they die. The only staff to sprout is

errands. And the staff not only sprouts,

it put forth buds. It produced blossoms, even bore

ripe almonds. Think about it.

The staff was dead, and through God's supernatural, miraculous

work, the staff is alive. It's like a tree of life.

And so the high priest Aaron is vindicated before everyone.

Everyone should know that he is God's chosen priest.

The staff's a sign to everyone that the way to draw near to God

is through his chosen priest. But notice the people's response

at the end of the chapter. They say, Behold, we perish.

We are undone, we are all undone.

Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the Tabernacle of

the Lord shall die. And the chapter ends with this

question. Are we all to perish?

Now they actually get one part right here.

On the one hand, they now understand that if a rebel tries

to draw near to God on his own, he'll die.

That's right. And yet they're missing the

other half of the equation, that God has provided a way for

rebels to live with a holy God in the wilderness through the

priesthood. And so the very thing they cry

for in chapter 17 is what chapters 18 and 19 are about.

Chapters 18 and 19 answer their cry.

How can we dwell with God in the promised land?

The answer, chapters 18 and 19. So point 2.2, receive God's

cleansing sacrifice. Now before we dive into these

chapters, we're moving. We're shifting from story to

speeches. You could say we're shifting

from narrative to law. You might be wondering as you

read the Book of Numbers, why are there narratives?

And then kind of all of a sudden it seems like we're reading

about laws. Well, the narrative set up the

need for the law, and then the laws reflect on the narrative.

So that's what's happening here. In other words, these speeches

are the answer to the Israelites plight at the end of chapter 17.

At the end of chapter 17 they say are we all to perish?

And chapter 18 answers no, not if you draw near through God's

priests. And chapter 19 answers no, not

if you receive God's cleansing sacrifice.

Now chapters 18 and 19 are made-up of five speeches.

The first four are in chapter 18.

Those are all about the priesthood.

Chapter 19, speech is about purification.

So first chapter 18, the priesthood, we're not going to

read all the speeches, but we're going to read the first one.

So the first speech, chapter 18, verses one to seven, look in

your Bibles, one to seven. So the Lord said to Aaron, You

and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear

iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons

with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood.

And with you Bring your brothers also the tribe of Levi, the

tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to

you. While you and your sons with you

are before the tent of the testimony.

They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but you

shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to

the altar, lest they and you die.

They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting

for all the services of the tent, and no outsider shall come

near you. And you shall keep guard over

the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never

again be wrath on the people of Israel.

And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among

the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to

the Lord to do the service of the tent of meeting, and you and

your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that

concerns the altar, and that is within the veil, and you shall

serve. I give your priesthood as a

gift, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.

So here we see the job of the Levites and the priests.

It can be summed up with two words.

Guard and keep and notice their roles.

They're complementary, but they're distinct.

The Levites are like a buffer zone, protecting God's people

from God's holy presence. They stand between the

congregation and the priests, and still the priests are like a

buffer zone. They too protect the tent of

meeting from any, even Levites trespassing like Cora tried to

do. So they work together.

They protect one another. And this is the very thing Cora

was attacking. Think about what Cora did.

It's like he walked up to a dam and thought, well, what?

What happens if I pull a couple of these bricks out?

Well, there's going to be a flood.

Everyone's going to be ruined. That's what Kora did.

The priesthood was put in place to keep everyone alive, not to

be rejected. And think about the relationship

between the priesthood and the people.

So we see these in the remaining speeches.

They're reciprocal. So the priests shield the people

from God's wrath, and then the people in return give to God the

first fruits of their provisions.

And God uses this to provide sustenance, the livelihood of

the priests. Now the 12 tribes of Israel are

heading into the promised land and they're going to inherit

land. But here we see specified the

Levites and the priests. They don't get any land, but

they get the best portion. Their inheritance is the Lord

himself. And to further support the

priests, the Levites receive a tithe from all the other tribes

of Israel. And think about it, it makes

sense. There's 12 tribes, so each tribe

gives 110th to the Levites. So the Levites receive basically

what everyone else has, and then the Levites take that tithe and

they tithe from that to the priests, which is a smaller

subset, and they provide for them.

So Korra's rebellion led to chaos and division and death,

but God intended his camp to run like an orchestra.

You know, there's a conductor, maybe that's Moses, there are

distinctions, there's first chair, maybe that's Aaron.

But the, the whole point of an orchestra is that they play

together. And if they do that, if everyone

plays their part, they can make some beautiful music.

You know, earlier we were singing and on Jordan, Stormy

Banks, and we didn't even write it in the bulletin.

It doesn't say men sing this part, women sing this part.

But there's a beautiful harmony when we each sing our parts

together. And to be by God's grace, I

think we sounded pretty good today in the service.

All the glory to Christ. You know, today in the church

there's also a reciprocal relationship between the priests

and the leaders. You know, so in one sense, we're

all a priesthood of believers. That's one big difference.

As we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament,

it's the job of every church member to guard and to keep the

gospel, but not every church member has the same job.

So for us to do this faithful ministry, God has established

elders in the church to equip the Saints for the work of

ministry. And like in numbers, there's a

reciprocal relationship. Think about it.

The elders teach, they equip, they teach, they model, they

practice the very things they preach with their own lives.

And by doing that, members are equipped and the whole body

starts doing the ministry. The whole body starts building

itself up, and God receives all the glory.

Now everyone has a different role.

Every part of the body is different, but every part is

necessary for the body to function.

So if you're a member of our church and you're still

wondering what, well, where do I fit in?

What's my role? Let me encourage you.

Simply fill the gaps. As you notice there's needs in

the congregation. Perhaps the Lord is equipping

you and providing you to be the very one that fills the needs

that you see. And by God's grace, brothers and

sisters, so many of you are doing this so well.

Praise the Lord. Let's see it happen even more

and more. And in the church, there's also

a reciprocal relationship between those who receive a

spiritual benefit, providing for those who are teaching God's

Word to the people. That's very similar to the

Israelites and the priests. There is a difference, though.

You know that word tithe that's used in numbers after Christ's

resurrection, the word tithe completely disappears from the

New Testament. It completely disappears.

But instead Paul gives principles for giving.

He says, first, you should primarily give to those people

who are providing you spiritual benefit, which would be the

passage of your own church. So from that we take you should

primarily be giving to your own local church.

But also, Paul doesn't just prescribe a percentage.

This is fascinating. Instead, he prescribes a posture

of the heart. Paul encourages in Second

Corinthians 8:00 and 9:00 that our giving should be cheerful

and regular and sacrificial. And in the Lord's Providence, in

his kindness, the congregation here is already being equipped

for the work of ministry. Members are giving cheerfully

and sacrificially to provide for the ministry of the church.

This is all the Lord's kindness to us and I think in many ways

our little church plant and our unity we have and the body

working together is bringing praise and honour and glory to

Jesus Christ. He gets all the glory when we do

our job, which is to work and keep and guard the gospel and

pass it on to the next generation.

So those are the speeches about priesthood in chapter 19.

The laws shift. Now we're talking about

purification. But you might be wondering so

why purity now? The reason is because 15,000

people dropped dead in the wilderness in the previous

chapter and dead bodies means you can be polluted and defiled

from approaching the Lord. And if you remember, the whole

first generation has been told by God because of their

unfaithfulness, they're all going to drop dead in the

wilderness. So this journey to the promised

land is going to have a lot of dead bodies.

It's going to bring a lot of corpse pollution.

It's going to mean that they need cleansing, they need

purification. And that's exactly what chapter

19 is about. I'll just read the first 3

verses, chapter 19. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and

Aaron, saying, this is the statute of the law that the Lord

has commanded. Tell the people of Israel to

bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no

blemish, and on which a yoke has never come, and you shall bring

it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp

and slaughtered before him. So here's what's supposed to

happen. They're supposed to find a red

heifer, and Aaron's son Eleazar takes that red heifer, brings it

outside of the camp, slaughters it, burns it to ashes.

And then those ashes are used for the waters of impurity,

basically for cleansing waters. And so if you think about it,

the ashes in the Water Act like an instant offering to the Lord.

You know, it's kind of like for some of you who drink instant

coffee. Personally, I don't recommend

it, but for those of you who do, it's totally fine.

It's edible. When I'm camping in the

wilderness, I choose to go that route also.

But this is kind of what it was like.

Instant coffee. All you do is add the water to

the coffee grounds and you can have your coffee.

That's what's happening here in verse 18.

Anyone unclean by a corpse must have a clean person.

Sprinkle this water on them twice, once on the third day and

once on the 7th day. And there's a warning here.

Whoever fails to be cleansed must be cut off from God's

people, because failure to be cleansed from death is a

rejection of the God of life. Failure to be cleansed aligns

yourself more with that first generation that's dying in the

wilderness and less with the second generation that's bound

for the Promised land. Now, our modern ears, my

struggle with cleansing, ritual cleansing.

Why do we need cleansing? I mean, we wash our dishes, we

clean our toilets, you know, we take showers.

The cleansing here points to something deeper, something that

I think many of us understand instinctually.

You know, even if you're not a Christian, perhaps you talk

about needing a moral reformation or just needing a

fresh start, or even think about the reality that you can take a

shower and still feel dirty on the inside.

That's what this cleansing is getting at.

It's getting at a deeper problem.

It's getting at the issue that we need to be clean on the

inside. And friends, the author of

Hebrews in Chapter 9, verses 13 and 14, refers to this very red

heifer sacrifice, and he points to the blood of Jesus Christ.

Let me read just those verses. He says if the sprinkling of

defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the

purification of the flesh. And here's the important part

for us. How much more will the blood of

Christ, the blood that cleanses us, even purifies our

consciences from dead works to serve the living God.

That red heifer sacrifice pointed beyond itself to the

blood of Jesus Christ. Many of us sing what can wash

away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

And friends, if you've trusted in Jesus, you've been cleansed

by Jesus. Your conscience is clean, and

he's cleansed you and saved you to serve him and to serve one

another. You know, in numbers here, this

ritual of cleansing was required even by clean Israelites.

It didn't have to be a priest. And as we turn into the New

Testament, as we journey to the promised land together, that's

our job with one another. Our job is to cleanse and to

serve one another. This looks like in many ways,

what we talked about in Sunday school this morning.

For those of you who are there, confession and repentance, you

know, first John says if we walk in the light as he is in the

light, we have fellowship with one another.

And the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

You know, last week it was a lot different than today.

It was not raining all week. It was sunny.

And our staff meetings for the most part were scheduled

outside. Because it is amazing and

beautiful to bask in the warmth of the sunlight.

And it's even better to do it together.

Friends, that's a picture of confession and repentance.

God is light. In Him is no darkness at all.

Sin tempts us to isolate, to move away from our brothers and

sisters. To think I need to clean myself

up before I come to church, before I share this with a

brother or sister. Much better if I tell them, oh,

a few months ago this happened and you know I haven't told

anyone. But I'm telling you now,

friends, brothers and sisters, we are charged with cleansing

one another with the good news of the gospel.

Those who are Christians are not those who stop sinning all

together. There are those who continue

walking in the light, dragging their sin into the light,

repenting of that sin. Following Christ and Christian

community is 1 where the celebration of repentance is

ordinary, where we remind one another of the cleansing freedom

and the power and the goodness of the gospel.

And so, brothers and sisters, as members of the Church, let's

cultivate virtues like honesty and transparency.

Let's pray that we be people of integrity and wholeness, that

when we share a meal together and when we share a coffee

together and when we're walking around our neighborhoods and

sharing meals in our homes that were regularly enjoying the

refreshment and the joy of walking in the light.

Friends, there is freedom and there is joy available today for

you. If you've never made that step

into the light yet you can do that today and find freedom in

Christ. Now we turn to the final

chapter, chapter 20, chapter 20. We find that even our leaders

are fallen. Even in Moses and Aaron, we have

men who fail to follow God. I have to drink a lot of water

right now because when that rain pours, I'm yelling basically.

So appreciate you paying attention, diving into God's

Word. One more chapter, chapter 20,

3rd and finally, fear God's patient holiness.

Fear God's patient holiness. Chapter 20 begins and it ends

with death sandwich. In the middle is rebellion and

then rejection. The timing is crucial to

understanding this chapter. You might not realise it, but

from chapter 19 when you flip the page in your Bible to

chapter 20, you just passed 38 years. 38 years have passed.

We know that one because it says in verse one that it's the first

month. It's signalling to us.

The first month of what? The first month of this new

generation? We also know that because Aaron

dies at the end and later in numbers, we're told Aaron dies

in the 40th year of their wandering.

So the timing is crucial. 38 years pass by, they're omitted.

We don't even know what are they filled with.

Israelites rebelling against God?

Maybe. Israelites obeying God?

Walking with them, dying faithfully in the wilderness.

We don't know. First we see Miriam's death in

verse one. Look at verse one, the people of

Israel, the whole congregation came into the wilderness of Zen

in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh and

Miriam died there and was buried there.

We're back at Kadesh. Do you remember Kadesh in

chapter 13? Kadesh is where they refused to

go into the Promised land. Here we return, but it's the

first month, a signal that this is a new beginning for a new

generation. But crisis arises in verse two.

Look at verse 2. Now there was no water for the

congregation, and they assembled themselves together against

Moses and against Aaron, And the people quarrelled with Moses,

and said would that we had perished when our brothers

perished before the Lord. Why do you brought the assembly

of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die

here, both we and our cattle? 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. Then Moses and Aaron went from

the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of

meeting and fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord

appeared to them. We'll pause there.

Now at this point you might be thinking, OK, new generation,

but it's the same old pattern. The people complain.

They assemble together against Moses and Aaron.

Moses and Aaron fall on their faces.

The glory of the Lord appears. It's the same old story, but

friends, this is the last time the glory of the Lord will

appear, and this time it's different.

We've seen before we're right to expect anger and wrath, but look

what happens instead in verse seven.

Look at verse 7. The Lord spoke to Moses saying,

take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your

brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its

water. So you shall bring water out of

the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their

cattle. And Moses took the staff from

before the Lord as he commanded him.

We'll pause here. So this is a simple complaint.

We need to note that this is a sinful complaint, but it's also

a legitimate request. What do they need in the

wilderness? Earlier they were longing for

the meats they had back in Egypt.

They didn't need that. They had manna here.

They cry out for water. They do need water to walk

through the wilderness. And so the Lord wants them to

know that He is more than willing and able to supply their

needs. But friends, in verse 10, Moses

does not share the same sympathies.

Does he? Look at verse 10.

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the

rock and said to them, Here now you rebels, shall we bring water

for you out of this rock? 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.

And the Lord 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 shall not bring this assembly into the

land that I've given them. These are the waters of Meribah,

where the people of Israel quarrelled with the Lord, and

through them he showed himself holy.

So Moses and Aaron are sinned against and yet they sin to.

It is so easy, as many of you know, to justify our own sin

when others blatantly sin against us.

Moses sin is that he doesn't speak to the rock.

He strikes the rock twice and he scolds the people more than

anyone else. Moses knows that he represents

God to the people. His one job is to hear from the

Lord and then speak to the people.

God speaks and Moses speaks. The people know the Lord through

the mediation of Moses. And while God is patient with

the people, Moses here wants to put them in their place.

God wants to provide for his people, but Moses wants to

punish them. And Moses failure still doesn't

stop the water from flowing. The water flows out abundantly

for all the congregation, even their livestock.

Moses and Aaron didn't believe in the Lord.

That's what the Lord says. The Lord says they did not

uphold him as holy before the people.

He's patiently holy. And Moses failed to teach the

people that. And you can understand why.

I mean, Moses and Aaron now have endured 40 years in the

wilderness, 40 years of the sheep biting at them,

complaining against them, even rallying together to kill them.

They're tired. Their patience has run dry.

But it's still no excuse. The Lord doesn't call this a

mistake. He doesn't call it an accident

later in the chapter. He calls it rebellion.

And so the Lord says you shall not lead them into the promised

land. Friends, if you're ahead in the

fourth quarter, the game's not over yet.

How many Saints ease up when they're on their final lap to

the finish line? How does Paul apply this

passage? Paul takes this passage and he

says we're at the end of the ages.

Brothers and sisters, take heed lest you also fall.

Friends, some of you have been Christians for decades.

You've been following Jesus for more than 40 years.

Now is not the time to let down your guard.

Don't let the years wear you down.

Don't let others sin against you.

Build up and fuel your sin against them.

Instead, fuel your patience for others by meditating on the

Lord's patience towards you. If you've been a Christian for

40 years, how many years? How many instances had the has

the Lord just poured out mercy and kindness on your life and

friend? Even when you fall into sin,

even when you snap when that sinful anger bursts out, maybe

you yell at your kids. Maybe you snap at your spouse.

Let God's kindness and His patience continue to lead you to

repentance. It seems in verses 14 to 21 that

that's exactly what happens with Moses.

Look at verses 14 to 21. We'll just look at this briefly.

The gist of it is that they're trying to go through Edom's

land. Edom rejects them.

And who's leading the charge? Moses.

Moses knows now he's not going to get to lead them into the

Promised Land, and yet Moses still faithfully leads God's

people. It seems Moses received the

Lord's discipline and he was sanctified by the correction.

Now they asked twice to go into Edom.

Edom's a long time enemy. You know, Edom comes from Esau.

Jacob and Esau were brothers, should be some brotherly love.

He even appeals to them as brother.

But Edom shows no hospitality. In fact, Edom even brings out

their army as a show of force and says you're not passing

through. You could say in a sense

Israel's defeated. But friends, this is the last

defeat in the Book of Numbers. Finally, at the end of chapter

20, the chapter ends with Aaron's death.

Look at verses 22. On they journeyed from Kadesh

and the people of Israel. The whole congregation came to

Mount Hor. And the Lord said to Moses and

Aaron at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom.

Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter

the land that I have given to the people of Israel because you

rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

What ends up happening is Aaron climbs the mount with his son

Eleazar. He's stripped of his garments

and he's buried there. There on the Mount of Horror,

the whole congregation mourns. Verse 2930 days, you see the

consequences of rebellion. Because he rebelled against the

Lord's word, He's forbidden entry into the promised land.

But notice also the grace in verse 24.

There on Mount Hor, Aaron is gathered to his people.

It's the same phrase that's used with past patriarchs as God

brings them home. Even though Aaron rebelled, God

graciously still brings him home.

Think about your heroes in the faith.

Maybe it's parents. Maybe it's past pastors that

you've had. Maybe it's missionaries.

You know from biographies. Every single one of those heroes

is fallen. Every one of those heroes

sinned. Why did the Lord bring them

home? Not because of who they were,

but because of His grace, His kindness and friends.

There's still grace for rebels who repent today.

There are consequences for Christians when they sin.

There's no condemnation, though. For those who are in Christ

Jesus. There's enough grace for Moses,

for Aaron, for me, for you brothers and sisters, these

things took place as an example for us.

And as we conclude, I just want you to note how clearly these 5

chapters in numbers point to Jesus Christ.

I mean, think about it. In chapter 16, Moses intercedes

for the people. God's about to pour his wrath on

them, but Moses and Aaron intercede and the wrath is

reverted. And then later in chapter 16,

when the whole congregation rebels, Aaron runs into wrath.

For the sake of God's people, they're pointing to Jesus

Christ. Friends, Aaron's staff.

Jesus, the forever high priest, is also vindicated by a symbol

from death to life, the red heifer we've already seen.

How much more does the blood of Christ?

Cleanse us, even the rock, Paul says in First Corinthians 10.

For he says the rock that was struck was Christ, meaning that

every divine provision that we need in our wilderness days is

provided for us by Jesus Christ. And Moses and Aaron disqualify

themselves from leading God's people.

But Jesus, our great High Priest, our forerunner, will

lead us and bring us into the Promised Land.

Brothers and sisters, how can we dwell with a holy God in the

Promised Land through Jesus Christ?

Let's pray. Father, you are holy, you're

sinless, and you rightly pour out your wrath on sinners for

their rebellion. And yet in your kindness and in

your mercy and in your grace, you've lavishly provided Jesus

Christ as the sacrifice for sinners.

We pray that we would find all the spiritual sustenance we need

in your Son Jesus Christ. We pray in His name, Amen.