He stood between the dead and the living

This blog post follows on from the blog post ‘Swallowed Alive’ published in October 2013. In ‘Swallowed Alive’ Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their followers rejected God’s chosen family of Aaron and his sons who were to be priests before Him and were to intercede on behalf of the children of Israel.

Numbers 16:32-34, “(32) And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. (33) So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit [Hell]; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. (34) Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, ‘Lest the earth swallow us up also’.”

Numbers 16:35 tells us that, “And a fire came out from the lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.” The two hundred and fifty men thought in themselves that they were just as qualified to do the priests’ work as Aaron and his sons and to offer incense to the Lord. How wrong and presumptuous they were! It cost them their lives!

Let’s read on in Numbers 16:39, 40, “(39) And Eleazer the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they made broad plates for a covering of the altar [Brazen Altar]: (40) to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and his company; as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.”

You would assume that the children of Israel would have taken notice and heeded the dire consequences of intruding into the priests’ offices.

Let’s continue on in Numbers 16:41, “But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, 'You have killed the people of the Lord.'

What do we have here? This is the response of rebellious people. It reveals the true state of their thoughts about God, about Moses and about Aaron. They blamed Moses and Aaron for the deaths of their fellow Israelites; not the rebelliousness against God of those who died.

God's response is swift! Numbers 16:44, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Get away from this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell on their faces. Moses then tells Aaron to take a censer put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it and go quickly to the people because God's wrath had already started.

Numbers 16:47-49, "(47) Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. (48) And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. (49) Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in Korah's incident."

Aaron here is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who by His own sacrifice on a Roman cross at Calvary, at Jerusalem, is able not only to intercede on behalf of those who are dying; but is Himself the means of their salvation.

So the Lord Jesus Christ even today stands between the dead and the living. Death is a result of sin in our lives. If you die in your sins there is no hope or cure for you. Salvation happens on this side of the grave. However, if you die with your sins forgiven you will be absent from the body and present with the Lord in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8).

If you die in your sins you will be absent from your body and your destination will be Hell. 

Romans 10:9, 10 states, "(9) That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Don't let your rebellious heart send you to Hell! Salvation is here for you right now; but you have to want it and ask for it!

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

[If you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the comments section below.]