Can you name the three items that were inside the Ark of the Covenant? We’ll come back to that in a second…
God people had just seen the ground open up and swallow whole households of people who rebelled against Moses and Aaron. What would it take for the people to continue their rebellion against God’s appointed leaders? About 12 hours. “The next day…”
I am shocked at how quickly God’s people fell back into sinful habits and thoughts. They had received God’s commandments on two stone tablets, not once, but twice! There was a pillar of fire and cloud that led God’s people every day. Every day they gathered manna to eat – bread from heaven. Every day they were wandering the wilderness as a reminder – a consequence – of their rejection of God’s plan for them to conquer the Promised Land of Canaan. How could they fall away and rebel?
Every day a handful devotions grace my inbox with their presence. Every day a least two audio podcasts and one video devotion show up magically on my phone. Every day I am tempted and I fall. I have yet to make it through a day loving God and my neighbor perfectly with my whole heart. God doesn’t slip open the interstate as I drive my children to school. He doesn’t send a plague. Lightning has yet to strike me. For all of his goodness, how long does it take for me to forget all that and fall into the same traps that Satan leaves for me? About 12 hours.
God could’ve ramped up the wrath on his people, but instead, he calls the leaders forward and asks for their staffs. He ends this section in grace. He shows his people that he has chosen Aaron by not only making his staff of almond wood miraculously bud but even grow almonds!
As for the items in the Ark? You’ll have to check back next week 🙂
To hear more about God’s mercy and Aaron’s bravery watch this week’s Bible study on Numbers: Counting on God: This Bud’s for Aaron.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.