<\/p>\n
Numbers 16:1-18:32<\/strong><\/span> \u201cTrial By Fire\u201d \u2013 ever hear this term?\u00a0 I think this term may have gotten its genesis here in Numbers chapter 16.\u00a0 Korah\u2019s rebellion caused Moses to explain how this true trial by fire would go down in verses 4 through 7 \u2013 \u201cTomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow those who are chosen to enter his holy presence. You, Korah, and all your followers must do this: Take incense burners, and burn incense in them tomorrow before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 A trial by fire indeed occurs subsequently in this chapter.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how Boticelli depicts this scene of scripture in the Sistine Chapel in Rome (note that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine \u2013 whereas other artists painted the walls \u2013 I just learned this just now!):<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Verses 12 & 13 stood out as completely strange, as these 2 men had somehow now thought that instead of being a prison, Egypt was now in their minds a paradise?\u2026.\u00a0 \u201cThen Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, \u201cWe refuse to come! Isn\u2019t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0I wonder if we do this in our lives?\u00a0 Think that things that used to be so bad for us are now somehow good?\u00a0 I know I\u2019ve done this.\u00a0 I\u2019ve left situations or relationships or bad habits \u2013 knowing they were simply bad for me \u2013 and then later down the road I\u2019ve sometimes thought to myself, \u201cahh\u2026 I miss xyz or doing xyz\u2026 I should go back to that.\u201d\u00a0 And I do.\u00a0 And I regret it all over once again.\u00a0 There is a somewhat obscure R.E.M. song that goes \u201cDon\u2019t go back to Rockville \u2013 and waste another year.\u201d\u00a0 I think of this song on occasion when I am tempted to go back to something I know I shouldn\u2019t go back to \u2013 I sing to myself, \u201cdon\u2019t go back to Rockville.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps Dathan and Abiram should have been singing to themselves \u2013 \u201cdon\u2019t go back to Egypt \u2013 and waste another year\u2026\u201d\u00a0 What about you?\u00a0 Is there an Egypt \/ Rockville or two in your life that you\u2019ve left behind?\u00a0 Are you ever tempted to go back?\u00a0 Do you sometimes even think you might have been wrong about how bad things were back then\u2026. that it might have really been a land flowing with milk and honey even!\u00a0 \u00a0Well, I know we\u2019ll all have our moments of going backwards\u2026. but I pray we see the True land of milk and honey in front of us that is only available through a relationship with Jesus and the Father\u00a0\u2013 and that we won\u2019t go back to our \u201cEgypts\u201d\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Today i<\/span><\/span>n Numbers chapter 17 verse 8 we read how God stopped the questioning of the Israelite community about Aaron and his houses\u2019 unique priestly authority \u2013 \u201cWhen Moses went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron\u2019s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, blossomed, and produced almonds!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The 2nd sentence in Numbers chapter 18 verse 20 stood out to me today: \u201cAnd the LORD said to Aaron, \u201cYou priests will receive no inheritance of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your inheritance and your share.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 What a beautiful thing to hear from God!\u00a0 I am your inheritance and your share.\u00a0 In your life today, is God your inheritance and your share?\u00a0 Do you want God to be your inheritance and share?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Does anything else at all compare to this glorious inheritance?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Per my reflections in Numbers above, and somewhat related to that old R.E.M. song, here is Building 429\u2019s great song \u201cEnd of Me:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
~ Click here to read today\u2019s Scripture on Bible Gateway ~<\/span><\/em>
~ Listen to today\u2019s Scripture with <\/em>The ESV Bible<\/em><\/span> ~<\/p>\n