Today is Easter, and we celebrate that Jesus our Lord has risen from His grave to return to His Father. It is by this that we know He is our Lord and we can call on Him for our salvation.
Today we read in Numbers of other ways that the Israelites had to remember their law and their requirements to please the Lord. We read in Numbers 15:39-40,
"You shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God."
God knew the ways of man, and He knew that there would be times they, (we) would forget what we need to do. Today, we use various types of reminders for ourselves and this was God's way of providing a reminder to them, a visual item to trigger in their minds when they started thinking of things that would be outside of God's ordinances.
Too bad this didn't remind Korah, Dathan and Abiram when they said in Numbers 16:12,
"We will not come up!"
They had the attitude like many do today, "My way or the highway!" and took it upon themselves to be the leaders that God made Aaron and Moses. This insurrection in the community can have a devastating effect, that leads to poor communications and conflict in the group. God ended this problem by putting them and everyone in their household to death by opening the earth and swallowing them whole. We learn to not let things get out of control, to resolve with God's help, or to move away from them.
God made clear He chose Aaron as His priest in Numbers 17:8,
"the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms, and yielded ripe almonds."
This was a pivotal time in the congregation of Israel, in that they now knew God's choice as priest. It would bring to an end all the bickering about who was leading and that Aaron and Moses had not assumed this leadership on their own.
God tells all in Israel of the need to offer parts of their livelihood, not just any part, but the best part. In Numbers 18:29 we read,
"Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them."
We are to offer our best to God, the first fruits, and to offer it graciously.
We read in Psalms 113:4-6,
The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our god, Who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
God is like no other, and we must give all glory to Him in all that we do.
Blessings to all
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