King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Thursday, March 02, 2023
Chapters: NUMBERS 16-17, PSALM 90
Study: The LORD is My Portion
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Last night at church we had a mission who serves in the Middle East to places like Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, we saw the devastation of those nations, all being governed by a Muslim nation. It is all proof that we are one step closer to Christ’s return. And as I was reading the chapters for today, this passage came to mind, [Lamentations 3:17-24 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: 19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.]
It truly is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, and not only that, that earth has not been consumed yet. Remember when I talked about the people in the back of the line complaining the most and starting controversy as others chime in? Well, this is what was going on when a man name Korah, a Levite, decided that Moses should not be in charge anymore. As we continue in the reading of Numbers, Korah, managed to gather up some of the popular men, all disgruntled, and form a revolt.
[Numbers 16:1-3 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: 2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?]
[seeing all the congregation are holy,] You see, Korah, and all the other fools who believe this, made the huge mistake of thinking that because they were Israelites they were automatically saved because of their ancestry. Well, they do not know God too well as there is a difference between a promised people and a holy people. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these were men that God had promised to bring a nation of people so large that it would be like counting the sands of every sea, but He did not promise that they would all be saved from judgment. He may call Israel His people, but not all of His people are of Israel, [Romans 9:6-8 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.]
All this reminds me of a girl from work, we had the same team lead and she hates her because she is on the edge of losing her job and thought she could go to HR to get her fired. This is basically what Korah was doing here. Well, Moses came up with a plan, [Numbers 16:16-19 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. 18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.]
[and the glory of the LORD appeared] So, here comes God in all His glory, which probably looked something like a cloud with the sun shining so bright that you could not even look at it, and He was not pleased. In fact, He told everyone there to move away from them instantly.
[Numbers 16:21-24,31-33 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.]
[and the earth closed upon them:] This was not your average earthquake, the ground opened up, swallowed up everyone and everything that these people possessed, then closed it back up. The one sin that God despises more than anything is arrogance, and watch how fast He makes an example out of those who think that they have no sin and can get into the promised land on their own, [1 John 1:6-8 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.]
Now, after they had witnessed Korah and all those who sided with them, you would have thought that these fools would settle down, but they did not. The next day the rest of the congregation comes against Moses and Aaron in front of the tabernacle for having killed God’s people. God had had enough, and while He did not consume them all, He did send a plague, one in which only Aaron’s censer could save them.
[Numbers 16:41-45 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.]
[Ye have killed the people of the LORD.] Just because people serve in the church that does not mean they are God’s people. Do you think that God had different rules for the Jews and Gentiles? He did not. The same rules applied to all. Even before Christ came here in the flesh, God was still the same.
[Numbers 16:46-49 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.]
[the plague was begun among the people:] Do you see how Aaron stood between the ones who died and those who were still alive to make an atonement for the ones who were still alive? There is no salvation for anyone who does not receive Christ while they are yet alive in the flesh. And if it were not for Jesus standing there pleading with God on our behalf, then we would all be consumed the moment our soul leaves our flesh, [1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.]
Once again, you would have thought that after even more of them died from the plague that the rest of the congregation would listen, but they did not. Now, they go after Aaron, this time for his having authority in the Tabernacle. To prove to the congregation once and for all that God is the one who chose Aaron, God commands every tribe to bring a rod and set it before the tabernacle.
[Numbers 17:2-5 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. 3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.]
[and I will make to cease from me the murmurings] God, was going to show them once and for all who will be in charge. The next morning, it was Aaron’s rod that budded, [Numbers 17:8-13 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. 12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?]
[shall we be consumed with dying?] So, here are these men complaining that God was destroying everyone with such violent deaths that there will be none left. I will tell you this, God, does not need to lift a finger to destroy the wicked, they are destroying each other.
[Psalms 90:1-7 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.]
[For we are consumed by thine anger,] All of this could have been avoided, had they just repented in the first place, and trusted that God would bring them into the promised land, especially after all they had witnessed. When they continued to rebel what they were literally doing was telling God that His authority did not matter to them, and that is what consumed them. We are on this earth for only a short amount of time, we get no where, but hell by rebelling against God, but His mercies endure when we trust every Word.
[Psalms 90:9-14,17 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.]
[So teach us to number our days,] Sometimes destruction is necessary for two reasons, one; it keeps us pursuing God, and two; it keeps us fearing God. That is as long as we are living by faith, and truly want God in our lives. So many people want the blessings that come from God, but do not want the responsibility that He expects with it. While our salvation is surely by grace through our faith in Christ alone, it is still important to keep God’s commands, for the sole fact that what we do makes a great impact on others, [Titus 3:7-9 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You know, that there are times that we can do some foolish and rebellious things when we are denied something we have been waiting so long for. Nevertheless, You know who are Yours and we thank You for Your mercy upon all who call upon Your Son to save them. You know our hearts and exactly what we plan to do with the gift of salvation that You have given us. Lord, give us Your power to use that gift in whatever You call us to do so that we can be a witness and testimony of the pattern that You have given us to follow. Help us to keep looking to You and Your Word as our guide to keep from getting caught in the middle of a battle between You and the rebellious. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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