“So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.”

Numbers 16:47 (ESV)

The LORD said of His people that they were stiff-necked. Today’s story illustrates this. After the earth opened and swallowed Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and fire came from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who offered incense, I think I would have thought twice about questioning Moses and Aaron’s right to lead. But the next day the congregation grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people.” Did they really think that Moses had the power to split the earth and swallow people?

Once again, the LORD told Moses to step away, and He would consume the congregation. (This tells us what God thinks of murmuring and complaining!) Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, but a plague had already broken out. Moses told Aaron to take fire from the altar and put it on the incense in his censer to make atonement for the people. Now this is interesting because the incense going up before the LORD was symbolic of the people’s prayers. This was yet another example of Moses interceding before the LORD to spare the people.

As the plague struck, Aaron walked among the people, standing between the living and the dead. In one sense, we are each called to do this. We walk among people every day. Some are spiritually alive, and some are spiritually dead. But through our prayers we can intercede for them. We pray that God would spare their lives and open their eyes to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ so they may be saved (2 Corinthians 4:4).

In doing this, Aaron stopped the plague, but not before 14,700 people perished in addition to those who died in the Korah incident. God’s wrath was stirred because of the people’s continued unbelief. But He had a creative and “fruitful” way of stopping their complaining once and for all!

There is always an easy way and a hard way to learn. May we not be stubborn mules, who must be harnessed with bit and bridle, but rather sheep who hear and obey their Shepherd’s voice.

Thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re here. 😊

Photo by Sayak Bala on Unsplash