Numbers – Chapter 16

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²¹“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” ²²And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” Numbers 16:20-22 – Multiple times within even this single chapter we see the phrase “they fell on their faces.” Each time it is connected with some form of disobedience from Israel. They may be rejecting Moses as their leader or they may be blaming him for not letting them into the Promised Land, but we see this people oppose Moses multiple times. God, who sees all, sees this and speaks words like we see in our passage above, words of destruction of these rebellious people. Yet in that space what do we see Moses and Aaron repeated do? They fell on their faces. Not out of fear of the people, but in prayer for the people. The very people who were angry at them, who rejected their leadership, and who blamed them for all their misfortunes, these were the people they fell on their faces in prayer over to save. Most of us if we were in Moses’ position would have handled this very differently. We’d likely allow God to smite our opposers and been glad to see it happen! And that’s why Moses was chosen for the role he had and not us! Instead of gladly watching those who opposed him condemned, Moses pleaded to the Lord for His forgiveness and longsuffering to be displayed. This is loving our enemy as Jesus directed us to do. Do not celebrate their demise, but pray for God’s patience and longsuffering over their life so they might have the chance to place their faith in Him and turn from their wicked ways. This sort of heart for our enemy may be foreign to us, but it’s the heart faithful men before us had and it pleased the Lord. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3366

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? Numbers 16:13 – After a first read of this verse, is it saying they actually got into the promise land and Moses led them out of it? Not at all. The land they are referring to that apparently flowed with milk and honey that Moses lead them away from was Egypt. The place of slavery for them they were calling their promise land. Oh how the enemy wants us to think this way. That life was better and more fulfilling back when sin was our master, not Jesus. Don’t let the present difficulties and lack be tools the enemy uses to deceive you into thinking what God has ahead of you isn’t as good as what sin offered you in the past. That wasn’t your promise land. What God has ahead for those who follow Him is far better than anything our enemy can give us. If you follow Jesus, know you’ve barely begun to taste the goodness that is ahead for us. Don’t let the bitterness of the struggles tear you away from walking toward what’s truly good. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1432

Numbers 16 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO 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. ⁴⁸And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Numbers 16:47-48 – If you want to see a congregation of people that have issues, look no further than Israel within this chapter. The level of disobedience and the lack of faith is astonishing. For the earth had just opened up and swallowed the people who were causing the rebellion against Moses and Aaron and fire had consumed the leaders of the rebellion, now the people are complaining saying it was Moses and Aaron’s fault the people died. God’s response to such corruption was to begin a plague amongst those leading the charge of unfaithfulness. We see that 14,700 died as a result of the plague yet it could have been many, many more. So why wasn’t it more? Because of what Aaron did. Taking the incense, he ran into the rebellious crowd, towards the deadly plague, stood in the pathway of death, and made atonement for the people. Here we get another early image of what Jesus, their Messiah, would be for them. For Jesus came into this rebellious world, hung on a cross to block death from overtaking us, and became the atonement we need. Jesus stands between the living and the dead and because of Him the plague of our sin is stopped. Thank you Jesus for running into our lives and being our Savior! I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2297