In Numbers 16, 250 Israelite leaders joined Korah, Dathan and Abiram in a rebellion against Moses. They were jealous of Moses’ authority and leadership. They wanted equal rights for all the leaders. Personally, Korah wanted a position and ministry that God had not given him.
There is always a tendency to downgrade the pastor in a church. But while the pastor is an elder, not all elders are pastors. You can’t put Moses on the same level as Korah, and you can’t put Korah on the same level as Moses.
This rebellion was a serious attack, not only against Moses, but against God Himself. The earth then opened up and fire came from heaven to consume the 250 leaders. The next day, the sympathizers of the rebels started murmuring against Moses. They felt that Moses and God were too harsh to Korah and the 250 men. By criticizing them, they were in effect saying that they had more compassion than God.
The Lord immediately spoke to Moses, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” A plague swept through the people and 14,700 men began falling down dead. Aaron quickly took a censer, and with some fire from the altar, ran into the midst of the people and started making atonement for their wrongdoing. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped (Num. 16:48-49).
Who was Aaron? He was just one man in the midst of a terrible plague that was killing the multitude. He was an elderly man who was too old to exert himself. He was a man who bore the scars of failure in both ministry and life. Yet, he ran to the altar, caught some fire and stood between the living and the dead. And where he stood, the plague stopped.
This simple story was the rhema that launched our “Church Without Walls” ministry to the poor and needy in 1995. The essence of Christianity is simply loving God and loving people (Matt. 22:36-40). If you are willing to go to God’s altar, catch the fire of compassion, and stand between the living and the dead in your community, you can stop the ravages of sin and death.
Can one man make a difference? Aaron was a man of limited abilities. He was a man marked with many public failures. But when he caught the fire of compassion, he stood between the living and the dead and made the difference. With God’s compassion in your heart, you too can make a difference in your world.
1:59 AM, & i live by faith and not by sight for you
