Of Fruit and Fire

Veering from my usual anecdotal revelations, I want to quickly share a bit of Biblical wisdom with you.  The sharing will happen in a stream of consciousness telling with a bit of unnecessary details, I'm sure, because I am still me.

I am in a women's Bible study group and we are in the book of Numbers. Today the study had me reading Numbers chapters 16 and 17.  Here are the highlights to help keep you with me the rest of the time:

-Backstory: The Israelite generation that was liberated from Egypt has just been told that they shall not enter into the promised land, because of their fear at the report of 10 spies (who we can assume would have been very prominent warriors/leaders in the community.)

-Chapter 16: Everybody blames Moses. Everybody is mad at Moses. People are starting to wonder if Moses is a worthy leader. There is a man named Korah who rallies 250 respected and influential members of the tribe to confront Moses and ask for more responsibility at the tabernacle. (Perhaps thinking they could interpret God's word better so they weren't doomed to wandering?) A couple fellas, Dathan and Abiram, who side with Korah, are so over Moses's leadership that they don't even want to come into an audience with him...are just flat out going to ignore him and his God-given authority. Now Moses is offended. He talks to God about his anger, and then tells all the people who were unhappy with their current responsibilities and hungry for more authority to come to the tabernacle with censers in hand. They do. God tells Moses and Aaron to remove themselves from the situation because it is about to get bad. Moses immediately asks God to not consume everyone because of the misleadings of a few. God tells them to make sure everyone is removed from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then these guys and all their worldly possessions are swallowed up in the earth. Then, the 250 who followed Korah and held the censers are consumed by fire. Moses is instructed to have a priest take the now holy censers and melt them down for a plate to cover the altar. (There is more to the chapter. Read if you're interested.)

-Chapter 17: All of the Israelites are, understandably, distraught. God asks the twelve tribes to provide one staff each and present them in the tabernacle. God takes Aaron's staff and causes it to bud and blossom and produce almonds.  After the staffs are all presented to the congregation, God tells Moses to leave Aaron's staff in the temple as a reminder to the people.

So here in the temple we now have two tokens of remembrance: an altar made from the censers and a staff bursting with fruit and life.

The commentary for the study I am in used the altar and the staff to help distinguish between disobedience- which leads to death, and obedience- which leads to life. I like that and I agree with it.  But as I kept contemplating these verses for myself, I was led to something even deeper.

In chapter 16, when the LORD instructs Moses to collect the censers from the burned, He says this:

"Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them unto the LORD, therefore they are hallowed:" (v37-38)

Censers were reserved for priests, and in the Old Testament and under the old covenant, priests were only to be Levites. The 250 were not Levites.  It is why their censers needed the refining fire. It is also why Aaron's staff blossomed. His was the staff that would bear fruit in the temple.

But we are not bound by all of the laws of the old covenant.  We live under the new covenant, established through Jesus Christ. Whereas the Israelites followed the letter and instructions of the Law for holiness and sanctification, we rely on Jesus and His Spirit to sanctify us through the Spirit of God that dwells in us. 

I was thinking about how God operates so differently under this new covenant, and yet so much in the same way. Christ does the sanctifying work in us. We will be made holy--like the 250. But our hearts determine if that sanctification is going to happen through fire or through fruit.

I know I've had a bit of both in my life. 

Fruitfulness is lovelier in the book of Numbers, it is our calling under the new covenant, and I would argue it's the better way now.

But I just want to offer a glimmer of hope from a hard O.T. judgment: God can still use your fire as a holy offering, maybe even to bless others.  I haven't done research yet to see what else the altar of the 250 was used for. I am curious to find if anything else was offered there or if it was simply for remembrance--but I know it was holy, for God Himself had made it become holy.

11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10)

 Keep going-xoxo