MONDAY 24 January 2022 “Insolent” Numbers 16

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Good Monday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Now here’s a word we don’t often hear people use the days: INSOLENT. Probably you’ve observed such an attitude, or maybe even felt it from someone in their behavior or words toward you. The definition of “insolent” is: intentionally and rudely showing no respect / showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect. As you look around your world, do you see ‘insolence’ in almost every segment of your society, especially among leadership?

In these days we are looking at one of the most significant moments in history. We find it in Numbers 13 & 14. Moses selected 12 leaders from among the more than 1 million Hebrew former slaves who were all together at Mount Sinai. It had probably been about 15 months since they left Egypt in the middle of the night, following the pillar of fire in the sky, as the angel of death killed the firstborn son of those in Egypt who had not painted the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts. These 12 were among many leaders who worked with Moses in seeking to lead this huge city of people as they followed God’s promise to bring them to the land of promise. These 12 had been personally selected by Moses to go in and spend 40 days making an evaluation of this land of promise, and return to give Moses and the people a report.

We’ve looked closely at their fearful report and how the people responded by turning away from God and actually talking about killing Moses, and selecting a new leader who would take them back to Egypt! God has declared His judgement upon these rebellious, fearful, faithless people. The cloud above them would turn back and lead these people back into the desert where over the next 40 years they would eventually all die, all except those under age 20 and two of those 12 leaders who were men of great faith in God and had courageously called the people to trust God and follow Him into the promised land… Joshua & Caleb! God had then struck those 10 leaders dead where they stood, after they gave such a fearful report and had led the people in rebellion against God! It had been a shocking, unforgettable day!

Numbers 14:40-45 tell us some of those rebellious people changed their mind and tried to force their way into the land of promise, and were soundly defeated by those who lived there. It appears that experience caused some other Hebrew leaders to become angry, arrogant and defiant toward Moses and God. Numbers 16:1 tells us: ‘Korah son of Izhar, of the tribe of Levi… and certain Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab… became INSOLENT and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well known community leaders… They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron…” Oh my, that sends a chill down my spine! Despite all they’d seen in the past several days, especially God’s response to the rebellion of those leaders who’d given such a fear awakening report of their 40 days of exploring Canaan, this group of 250 leaders, some of whom were Levites, were determined to overthrow the God assigned leadership of Moses and Aaron. Insolent: intentionally and rudely showing no respect / showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect!!

My friends, while our God is merciful, patient, and loving, He is also holy and there appear to be some attitudes which are abhorrent to God. Insolence toward God seems to be one of those attitudes which crosses the line and pushes God to a harsh response. That’s important for us to hear, especially in our day of social media ruthlessness, and political rancor, and the ‘cancel culture’, and so much uncontrolled malice, slander and anger. It’s important we hear that holy God has a line of demarcation with us human beings, especially those of us who claim to have some spiritual awareness, and when we cross that line in “insolence” toward God, the results from God may be shocking. Now ponder that my friends as you consider the ‘insolent’ slaughter of unborn children, or the ‘insolent’ refusal of God’s design for human gender identity, or the ‘insolent’ rejection of God’s design for marriage, or the ‘insolent’ rejection of God’s truth, and even dramatic ‘insolent’ efforts to remove God from every segment of society, especially political leadership!

May I invite you to read or listen to the audio dramatic Bible reading of Numbers chapter 16? You’ll see the links at the conclusion of my “Walking with Jesus” today. Be prepared to see God do something to these 250 insolent leaders that had never happened before! The ground opened up and swallowed them alive! God is a holy God who has put in place a truthful, God honoring, design for the human life experience, and ‘insolent’ rejection of that will bring God’s judgement response. Look around our world, even to what some are calling “climate change”, are we beginning to experience God’s response to our insolence?

Finally, in the last part of Numbers 16, we find a remarkable account of mercy by Moses and Aaron. As God poured out His judgement on Korah, Nathan, Abiram and all who belonged to them, Moses and Aaron were again face down on the ground before God, interceding for the people, begging God for mercy. The record says: “Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly of the people to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.’ So Aaron did as Moses said, and he ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. Aaron stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped...” (Numbers 16:46-50)

Can you see the picture my friends? Aaron is likely 85 years old, yet he runs like a young man to stand between those dying and those alive, crying out to God for mercy, pleading for God’s forgiveness for the rebellious insolence of the people! I see a direct link with 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their sins against them… We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God is making His appeal [to the world] through us…” There it is friends, a picture of everyone who has trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins… they become new creations in Christ, ambassadors of Christ, doing just what Aaron did… standing between the living and the dead, bringing the hope of Jesus to a world facing the fair judgement of God for their insolence! Now that, my friends, is remarkable… an ambassador of Jesus! Is that you today? What a great life purpose!! Ponder that, and here’s a song to help us celebrate this truth…

Today’s Scripture is Numbers 16.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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