“However, as the community was assembling against Moshe and Aharon, they looked in the direction of the tent of meeting and saw the cloud cover it and the glory of Adonai appear. Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the tent of meeting. Adonai said to Moshe, ‘Get away from this assembly, and I will destroy them at once!’ But they fell on their faces.”-Numbers 17:7-10
Yet again we encounter a scenario we’ve seen many times before.
The Lord threatens to destroy the rebellious community of Israel and yet again Moses gets down on His knees to plead with God not to do such a thing.
And yet again the Lord commands Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the wicked lest they become collateral damage.
Understand the Lord wasn’t planning to destroy all of Israel, just the rebellious lot.
At this juncture it would be good to meditate on God’s Words to “Get away from this assembly…“.
There’s a really important principle being communicated to us here.
If we don’t separate from the wicked, we will be destroyed right along with them when God unleashes His vengeance.
Let’s rewind the tape and take a look at three good examples of this principle in action.
LOT IN SODOM
Even though Lot had serious problems in his thinking concerning God and life, he was connected to Abraham by blood and was considered righteous enough to NOT be counted among the wicked when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, get this. Two angels literally had to drag his butt out of the city or he would have ended up as burnt toast. And unfortunately Lot’s wife wasn’t so lucky. In a moment of weakness, she stopped for just one quick look back to yearn after what she would be leaving behind and turned into a pillar of salt.
NOAH AND THE FLOOD
Why do you think God ordered Noah to build an ark to save his him and his family? The answer is simple. The flood wasn’t gonna be discriminating between the righteous and the wicked. Any land-dwelling living creature that wasn’t on the Ark would have been drowned. Only those who trusted God and joined Noah were saved. Unfortunately, those numbers were very, very few. Narrow is the road indeed!
THE FIRST PASSOVER IN EGYPT
This was the awesome event when the avenging Angel of the Lord visited every household in Egypt and without exception killed every firstborn male human and animal. It didn’t matter what nationality one was whether Israelite, Egyptian, American, Arabian or whatever. It also didn’t matter whether one was righteous or not. If you didn’t trust the Lord enough to obey His Commands and paint the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost of your home, the firstborn of your family was a goner.
The lesson here is pretty clear.
If you attach yourself to the wicked people and ways of the world, you risk being terminated along with them when the judgement begins.
Understand that it is possible to still be a believer and still be identified with the wicked.
In thought, word, and deed, we must demonstrate whether we stand with the world or with the WORD.
For example, if you agree with the general worldly consensus that Israel should give up their land inheritance to the Palestinians, you’re not standing on the Word, you’re with the world and in a very dangerous place with the Creator of the Universe.
The conclusion of the matter is simple.
Are you going to to take the wide road of the majority that leads to destruction or travel that narrow path (a path that is getting even narrower) leading to life?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate
and broad is the road
that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.”
-Matthew 7:13
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