BRAGADAYJAH 454

BRAGADAYJAH 454

The Death of Aaron

While the children of Israel sojourned at Mount Hor by the border of Edom, the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron and told them that Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, because he shall not enter upon the land which had been promised to the children of Israel because of their rebellion against His word at the waters of Meribah.  Accordingly, Moses was instructed to take Aaron along with his son Eleazar and to take them up to Mount Hor. Once there Moses was to strip Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar after which Aaron would die there and be gathered unto his people.

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him and went up to Mount Hor with Aaron and Eleazar in the sight of the congregation of Israel and there he stripped Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eleazar and Aaron died there on the mountain.

After Aaron was dead, Moses came down from the mountain with Eleazar and they and all the people mourned the death of Aaron thirty days.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 453

The Unforgiven Sin of Edom

And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, informing him as follows:

“You our brother, are aware of all the hard times that have overtaken us.  How our father went down into Egypt, and have dwelt in Egypt along time; and how the Egyptians angered us as well as our fathers; and when we cried unto the Lord he heard our voice and sent an angel and has brought us up out of Egypt, and now we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of the territory. “

“Let us pass I pray thee through your country. We will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, nor drink of the water of the wells.  We will go by the King’s highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed your borders.”

But the King’s reply was, “you will not pass by me; if you try to do so, I will come after you with the sword.”

And the children of Israel told him, “we will pass via the highway; and if we and our cattle drink of your water, we will pay for it.  We will only go through on foot and do nothing else.”

But the king of Edom insisted that he would not let them through peaceably. And he gathered an army and came up against the children of Israel.  But Moses refused to engage him and turned away avoiding passage through the land of the Edomites and came to the Mount called Hor.

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BRAGADAYJAH 452

BRAGADAYJAH 452

Moses struck the Rock

I must admit that there were two occasions after which having read the offence and the punishment, I verily said in my heart that God’s punishment was too severe and this is one of them, the other being His summary treatment of Uzi, David’s servant, when he laid his hand on the cart carrying the ark of the covenant.

Of course with riper years and systematic study it was revealed that there were very deep significance to the offences and thus the reason for a fit punishment.

In this case I saw Moses as having toiled and labored hard and faithfully as he pressed towards the promised land, and that he clearly got overdone by the constant threat and rebellious nature of the children of Israel; after  all has God himself not characterize them as an unruly and stiff-necked people?

In any event we must also understand that God saw into Moses’ heart and thus the intention behind his words and actions in a way that we could not.

In striking the rock Moses took credit for what God had done for himself; (he said must we?); God told him to speak to the rock; in striking it he was disobedient; he clearly lost his temper as we see him striking the rock twice; he not only lost his temper but he judged the people harshly, he called them rebels; he resented them for expressing their needs; he sought to get the glory which belonged to God for himself.  Surely God will share His glory with any man! Both he and Aaron rebelled against God in failing to do what God said to do; so both suffered the same fate.  In addition we know that the Rock is Jesus, hence the seriousness of the offence.

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BRAGADAYJAH 451

BRAGADAYJAH 451

Moses struck the Rock

I must admit that there were two occasions after which having read the offence and the punishment, I verily said in my heart that God’s punishment was too severe and this is one of them, the other being His summary treatment of Uzi, David’s servant, when he laid his hand on the cart carrying the ark of the covenant.

Of course with riper years and systematic study it was revealed that there were very deep significance to the offences and thus the reason for a fit punishment.

In this case I saw Moses as having toiled and labored hard and faithfully as he pressed towards the promised land, and that he clearly got overdone by the constant threat and rebellious nature of the children of Israel; after  all has God himself not characterize them as an unruly and stiff-necked people?

In any event we must also understand that God saw into Moses’ heart and thus the intention behind his words and actions in a way that we could not.

In striking the rock Moses took credit for what God had done for himself; (he said must we?); God told him to speak to the rock; in striking it he was disobedient; he clearly lost his temper as we see him striking the rock twice; he not only lost his temper but he judged the people harshly, he called them rebels; he resented them for expressing their needs; he sought to get the glory which belonged to God for himself.  Surely God will share His glory with any man! Both he and Aaron rebelled against God in failing to do what God said to do; so both suffered the same fate.  In addition we know that the Rock is Jesus, hence the seriousness of the offence.

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BRAGADAYJAH 451

BRAGADAYJAH 451

In the midst of their disputation with Moses and Aaron, Moses and Aaron removed themselves away from the congregation of Israel and sought the Lord. And the Lord told Moses to take the rod and gather the assembly together and speak to the rock in their presence, and the rock shall give forth its water, and he shall then give them water out of the rock for the congregation and their beasts to drink.

Accordingly, Moses in the company of Aaron gathered the whole congregation together before the rock and told them , "Hear now you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock?"

And Moses lifted up his hand and smote the rock with the rod twice, and water came out abundantly and the congregation and their beasts drank.

And the Lord told Moses and Aaron, that since they did not believe His word to sanctify Him in the sight of the children of Israel, they would not be allowed to take the congregation into the land which He had promised them; for this is the water of Meribah for the children of Israel strove with the Lord and he was sanctified in them  

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BRAGADAYJAH 450

BRAGADAYJAH 452

Death of Miriam

So the whole congregation of Israel came to the desert of Zin and dwelt in Kadesh and it happened that Miriam died and was buried there.  

Now while there at Zin, there was a lack of water and the congregation gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron.  And they strove with Moses and said that they wished they had died along with the others when they had died before the Lord.

“Why?” they asked him confrontationally, “did you bring us and our cattle up out of Egypt for our cattle and ourselves to die in the this evil place?  It is no place for figs, or seed, or vines or, pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.

And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and they fell upon their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.

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BRAGADAYJAH 449

BRAGADAYJAH 449

The Significance of the Red Heifer

The Red Heifer, without doubt is a type of the sacrifice of Christ as the basis for the cleansing of the believer from the defilement contracted in his pilgrimage walk through the world.  It is also illustrative of the method of cleansing as follows: the slaying of the sacrifice; the seven-fold sprinkling of the blood; the turning of the sacrifice to ashes which is then preserved as a memorial; the cleansing from the twofold nature of sin, namely guilt and uncleanness by sprinkling with ashes mixed with water.  Water typifies the Holy Spirit and the Word. The method is that the Holy Spirit uses the Word to convict the believer of the things that operate to deprive the believer of his joy, growth and service.  In the circumstances the sinner is brought face to face with his sin and the knowledge that Christ has met the price for his sins.

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