Aaron's Blooming Rod [Part 1]

Pastoral author and Bible teacher I will use yourself. This is the standard we should all is not only if we try hard to be good, but even when we are at our bravest and our identity. We feel like we are in their little part of you feels like something that's faster Allen right into another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light excited for you to hear the teaching today. In our series called Moses is presented in an old church in North Carolina not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. Yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright ministries so as you listen to today's message. We encourage you to go deeper as we send you today special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org that's pastor out and.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright are you ready for some good news. Jesus is alive and because he's alive.

It means that we have a great high priest in heaven.

And because we have a great high priest in heaven who intercedes and advocate for us is changed everything. We continue today in a series on Moses and we fast-forward in our journey with Moses to some years ahead of where we've been in recent weeks in order to look at one of the great pictures of resurrection in the Old Testament what's happened is that the people of God have sent some spies into the land of Canaan to spy it out and they came back with a bad report and the people became afraid to go in and take the land that God given to them there only two that brought a positive report back but they were overwhelmed by the negative report and so the people are now being relegated to wander the wilderness for 40 years, because they they didn't go take what God had given them and the people have been as we been following the story of Moses.

They have been in a cycle of rumbling and murmuring.

I will provide for them and then as soon as they get thirsty they grumble. Again, God will provide for them. But as soon as I get scared. They murmur again and now we come to a very interesting uprising that is told in the book of Numbers. This is the fourth book in your Bible numbers Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus numbers and you come to chapter 16, where there is what is known as Cora was rebellion. Cora is a Levite which I'll explain in a few moments and he rises up and gather some others around him to rebel against Moses and his brother Aaron. Aaron has been appointed as the high priest and Cora wants to be the high priest verse two of Numbers chapter 16 and they rose up before Moses with a number of the people of Israel 250 chief of the congregation chosen from the assembly.

Well-known men they assemble themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you've gone too far for all in the congregation are holy. Every one of them in the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord. So what happens if we are to read the rest of this chapter is that this heinous rebellion, which is stemming from Cora and others.

Instead of seeing Moses and Aaron as servants which Moses there certainly were.

They accuse them of trying to wield all the power themselves, and God is very displeased with this. In fact there are so several judgments that come against these people, including this dramatic scene where the earth opens up, and they are all swallowed up in some sort of gigantic sinkhole but people continue to grumble and so God has a different plan in mind that is going to change the attitude of the people forever.

In other words, the judgments didn't cause the people to be transformed. But what happens in Numbers chapter 17 does bring a transformation. Everybody sees what happens.

Number 17 verse one the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the people of Israel and get from them. Staffs one for each father's house from all their chiefs according to their father's house is 12 staffs write each man's name on his staff and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi for this should be one step ahead of each father's house, then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you and the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to seize from me. The grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you. Moses spoke to the people of Israel all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief according to their father's house, 12 staffs and the staff of Aaron was among their staffs and Moses deposited the staff before the Lord in the tent of the testimony on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth lines and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds and Moses brought out all the staff from before the Lord, all the people of Israel and they looked each man took his staff and the Lord said to Moses put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign for the rebels that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.

Thus did Moses as the Lord commanded him, so he did so with this sign of life.

Everything change for the people. Most of you heard me tell that when Abby daughter and I went to Papua New Guinea for the ultimate mission trip. After six flights, making it through Australia through the mainland up obligated to a little island just off the northern coast of the mainland of Papua New Guinea.

We had come into a sort of paradise that was right near the equator.

About 95° and 95% humidity all the time.

Everything on the whole island was green green. Everywhere you look was green. It was so green that one of the missionaries was tell me that some people in his village back over the mainland.

They just if they found a piece of trash of his red paper something off of a piece of trash like they've been putting it up in their huts. In the end he knows I want you putting trash up on your walls look as tragic as it was just a different color than green and so everything is green everything grows the soil so far on this little island is a volcanic island and along the beach.

The sand was black because it was volcanic and it was just all that somehow admixed into almost fertile soils. Even I could have grown stuff there and here's how I know this is because in a very gracious way the local Papua New Guinea and had made for us Westerners with our sensitive Western skin. They had made a little shelter that stretched out like a canopy with thatched palm branches that the top during the long Bible dedication service we could sit under it and watch this people get their first New Testament in their own language and it was absolutely marvelous and I just appreciated. I got all this trouble. They know they put the sticks in the ground and other sticks across and just laid this this palm branches and fats all across the top. One point of this saying is that after number of days of the sticks being stuck in the ground with all of that humidity and all that fertile soil. It was just unbelievable. The sticks had sprouted.

They were just butting what today's story reminds me of that. It reminds me of the crosses that we come in the door on Easter day that start out symbolically with bare crosses and the end of yesterday. We've adorned with all these flowers, but what we have today is a store this far greater than this because what happens is Aaron's rod miraculously besides and then blossoms with these beautiful aromatic flowers and then it produces ripe almonds all accelerated in time. It buds with life, it becomes alive. If blossoms of beautiful flowers and then it is all the sudden bearing ripe fruit and I want to just talk to you today about three basic things with this text. What is Cora and all those others. What are they so upset about why this rebellion. What makes them so jealous, so upset to rebel against Moses and Aaron and what was the symbol of this butting flowering rod of Aaron. Why is this so important to identify the true high priest and then finally, why is this such good news or the start with was start with with Cora and this whole rebellion.

Why is he so upset will in order to answer that question. You have to think a little bit about who the priest of Israel were and this is really really important to understanding the story. Understanding why Cora was so upset and it's so important to understanding ultimately with the good news is for us all of the priest of Israel. God had said must come from the tribe of Levi.

There were 12 sons of Jacob, so those were the 12 tribes of Israel. That's Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series like something is holding you back if you can important see what could change everything.

Is there someone you can stack what's missing blessing.

We all can override you can learn how to embrace who practice a blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which became an Amazon number one best seller. After 370s until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demo sent you a gift today discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries.

This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor out and lick today's teaching now continues once again is when they would go and eventually into the promised land. Each one of those tribes of those families would get a portion of the land assigned to them except for one, one tribe, one family. The family of Levi, getting land they getting land because God is said that the Levites descendents of Levi.

They were going to be farmers. They were going to be building their own estates.

There would be tending to the things of God at the tabernacle so the Levites were assigned at different levels. Responsibilities for handling the sacred furniture handling the sacred vessels handling all the things that went on with the service of the Lord at the at the tabernacle so all the Levites didn't get land which by the way goes far to explain places like Psalm 73 where the psalmist says whom have I in heaven, but the on earth I desire.

None besides the my flesh in my heart might fail, but you oh Lord on my portion forever. Whenever you see something like that you can do since this is that this is a Levite who is talking really saying is I didn't get a portion of land that God is my portion, and the Levites would live off the tithes of the people so they would raise their farms and give the first 10% of their produce into the temple and Levites will be able to live off this so the family of Levi was the family that was assigned to serve the Lord in all the tabernacle all the workings of the ministry, but not all the Levites were priests. This is the important thing the no all priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests there were really three subsets with in the family of Levi or the Levites in only one of those families could become priests and that was the family of Moses his brother, his older brother Aaron and why was this the case because God said so got it set up this way, and he is said that merit Moses is the deliverer of the covenant maker the lawgiver. Aaron is going to be the high priest and so in order to be a priest in Israel you first had to be a Levite and then you also had to be of the family of Aaron so Cora was a Levite, his great grandfather and Aaron's great-grandfather was Levi, and so dear to fathers Cora and Aaron were brothers. Aaron and Cora were first cousins makes it a problem for Cora was that he was allowed as a Levite to handle the tabernacle the furniture in and to do certain assigned tasks, but he couldn't be a priest because he wasn't in Aaron's family. To make matters worse, and Cora's mind. Cora was a firstborn son and Aaron was a firstborn son Moses was Aaron's younger brother and so is a firstborn son he thought I should have the rights of a firstborn son, and I am a great-grandson of Levi.

I am a Levite. Why does he get to be a priest, and so the initial jealousy is rooted in the fact that he didn't get to be a priest but can I go a little deeper with this and say that I think that this kind of deep jealousy would lead even to arousing a rebellion is about something that even deeper than that it's been touched in the in the heart of Cora is something that is very painful to him and this is pointed out by the fact that Cora says to Moses and Aaron.

The Lord has said that were all holy and this was true only to a point because in Exodus 19 in the formation of the old covenant, the Lord said, you shall be my treasure people, a holy nation to me, but was all predicated upon this if you will obey my commands, you are holy and the old covenant because you are obedient. So here's the reality in the old covenant. What we see under the law is that nobody could keep the law. And so in this sense, people by their own efforts were proving that they could not be holy and yet the Lord had said.

His intention was he wanted his people to be set apart unto himself. You see what Cora is saying here is he saying you act like you are better than us. You and your you.

You are acting like your holier than us you're not holier than us. And in this was this was running deep within them. The fact of the matter is, God had said that Aaron and the priest are considered by me to be more holy in this sense, they are allowed to come into the inner place in the in the tent of meeting or later the tabernacle of the temple and they are allowed to do ministry that others are not in the high priest, one man, Aaron, on the day of atonement could come in behind the veil and their offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. Sprinkle blood of an innocent animal over the ark of the covenant in the lid of the ark of the covenant was known as the Mercy seat.

It was thought of as the throne of God and they are could meet with God. So Cora was great. Complaint is actually the cry of every human heart. I want somehow to be acceptable and be close to God. I want to be holy enough.

I want to be able to go behind the curtain. I want to be able to meet with God to the reason that Cora was so jealous and was so hurt is because he was riddled like all humanity is without Christ it was riddled with an inward sense of shame.

I don't quite measure up to something is flawed about me and this bothers me so much I would rather fight and kill you try to deal with my own shame. Instead of coming to God and Santa help me deal with the shame I want. I want to be in your presence instead of being thankful that he was a Levite and it was a privilege and so anyways instead of being faintly been deliberate and steady, which is consumed with this sense of of as something is not measurably make controlling and demanding people who are always putting others down. Arousing up a rebellion against somebody else, with most of the time.

Haven't you found those people are actually though all puffed up on the outside or inwardly insecure because secure people don't have to be like that secure people don't have to go controlling and it is really rooted in the deep insecurity and the problem with humanity is that even when we try our very hardest. We know there's something in us it just doesn't ever quite measure up and this is what causes so much angst in the human soul. This is the source of most of the sin most of the problems. Most of the division mostly addiction most of the depression. This is the problem is is some sort of unconscious vague awareness. I don't measure up.

No matter what standard you try to live up to UK live up to it. You could say the standards the 10 Commandments, or you could say it's the sermon on the mount or you can say it's the teachings of Mohammed or you could say that the teachings of Buddha. Whatever it is you and I will be a live up to it.

This was II got his permission to go to great brother George Hayden. Ireland told as best we were the funniest sword I had just made mention last week of how I'd had a small situation with a deputy sheriff on the highway in Virginia where he left me a friendly piece of paper to commemorate our little encounter and he said you think that there are things Lainey told me this story.

He said in his neighborhood.

The stop sign, thereby Run the stop sign and really bothered Hayden because it was dangerous people rolling right through a stop sign and rolled I'd stop sign and finally it is all this is unsafe. I got do somebody call the police. They said I need to bring to your attention that people keep going to the stop sign in our neighborhood and is dangerous. I said thank you for letting us know the next week, Hayden got up early in the morning to go to new Kansas. I was still dark outside and he got to meet the police officer that had been sent out there right after he rolled through that stop sign and even if you set the standard years is said this is the standard we should all live by is not only if we try hard to be good, but even when we are at our bravest and our identity. We feel like we are at our best in their little part of you feels like yeah but there's still something right. Errands blooming blessing your life grayscale vision for your rights, free grace and encouragement. It's free just passed away feel like something is holding you back if you can important see could change everything. Is there someone you seen stock what's missing blessing on patients can override you can learn how to embrace the practice of blessing to Pastor Ehrenreich's new book, which quickly became an enzyme number one best seller after its recent until now the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales this month right ministries once send you the I thank you for your demos make your gift today discovered the power to bless the gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer. We are happy to send this to you as I banks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor out and got a quick hello.

I love what you said there. I think that is a big take away for today and is illustration. Even if we were setting the standard even if somehow we could call those shots.

I think we would have even a tough time abiding by our own standard. We could in the week and we can't abide by any standard in clay are growing our own standard.

This message actually was breached on Easter day and there was an apt image of this dead otherwise dead piece of wood that blooms and how powerful that image is for us, remembering that the things that we can't do.

God can do, and he made everything out of nothing and so what is possible with God bends our minds and it is such such good news for us, not just resident resident resurrection news, but it is to say, you know, take your old wooden dead self surrender to the presence of God and say Jesus you're the great high priest and you been raised from the dead, and so make me sprout and he can do.

Alan today's teaching in the middle of this Moses series is errands blooming rod instantly was also given on Sunday, resurrection Sunday. The Sunday of Sundays and the life church.

It's a house in the world do you marry the resurrection of Christ with Moses and Aaron living room tile well is simply this clearly did blossoms and then bears so there's a resurrection picture and picture what got done right us were dead, great image. Today's good news message production Alan Wright Ministries