COMMENTS
Our local Community Bible Study class is
studying Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers this year—at least we were before the
Covid-19 outbreak. Exactly one week to
the day before Arkansas had its first case, we studied a chapter in Numbers
that was eerily similar to what we were about to experience.
NOTES
Let me fill you in. In Numbers 16, a man named Korah led a
rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. If you’ve ever heard about a story in the
Bible where the ground opened up and swallowed a bunch of people and a bunch
more got burned to a crisp, this is that story.
The Lord made it very clear that Moses and Aaron were HIS chosen
leaders. The Israelites stood right
there and watched as all of this happened.
They didn’t just “hear” about it; they WATCHED it happen!
I stress that point because THE VERY
NEXT DAY, “the whole Israelite community” came to Moses and Aaron complaining
that they (Moses and Aaron) had unjustly murdered the rebels. (Like they had the power to open up the
ground! Really?) Now, God and Moses had a very close
relationship; and God frequently told Moses what he was about to do, and Moses would
intercede for the people when God was ready to just wipe them all out. I find it very interesting that Moses didn’t
do that here—God didn’t give him time. The
people had gone too far. God immediately
sent a plague that swept through the community.
Even as God was sending the plague, Moses was acting. He told Aaron:
“Take
your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to
the assembly to make atonement for them.
Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.”
Aaron, of course, did exactly that. He “ran into the assembly…stood
between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.” But not before 14,700 people died.
Now, I’m not saying that God told me
that He sent this plague (Covid-19). He
didn’t tell me that, and I don’t know.
But whether it’s a judgment from God or a devastation from Satan, I
believe there are elements in this story that we need to observe and apply.
We have rebelled
against God. The entire world is in rebellion. We don’t like being told how to live our
lives. We don’t like not getting our own
way. We don’t like being told we’re
selfish. Many don’t like being told
there is only one way to God. Etc., etc. Whether this virus is a judgment, an attack,
or a natural result of our fallen world, we are defying the Lord God Almighty,
and we need to repent.
As Believers, we
are priests. Aaron was God’s priest to the
Israelites. But guess what? If you’re a Jesus-follower, you are also a
priest—a priest in this current age.
Speaking to Christians, Peter proclaimed:
“You
are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His wonderful light.” (1
Peter 2:9)
The incense is the
prayers of the saints. Moses told Aaron to put incense in his
censer. In Revelation 5:8, we are told what
our incense is:
“And
when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down
before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and
they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints.”
If you are a
Christian, you are a saint. Who says?
God says. He tells us so in Acts
9:13, Acts 26:10, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 4:12, Philippians
4:21, 1 Peter 1:15-16, and many other verses.
In fact, according to compellingtruth.org, “saints” is used 67 times in
the New Testament, always as a reference to all believers. So, your prayers are the prayers of a saint.
CONCLUSION
We currently find ourselves in a
situation that is at least comparable to the one Moses and Aaron faced
centuries ago. A plague is running
rampant through a rebellious people. I
submit that, as God’s “royal priesthood”, it is our responsibility to
figuratively “run into the assembly” with our incense of intercessory prayers
and to stand “between the living and the dead” and the critically ill. Perhaps God, in His mercy, will stop the
plague.
Praying for you and yours…
Brenda Edge
