I read Numbers 14 [show] Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. [2]And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! [3]Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" [4]And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
[5]Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. [6]And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [7]and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. [8]If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. [9]Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." [10]Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
[11]And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? [12]I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
[13]But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, [14]and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. [15]Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, [16]'It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.' [17]And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, [18]'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' [19]Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."
[20]Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word. [21]But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, [22]none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, [23]shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. [24]But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. [25]Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
[26]And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, [27]"How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. [28]Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: [29]your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, [30]not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. [31]But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. [32]But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. [33]And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. [34]According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.' [35]I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
[36]And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- [37]the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD. [38]Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
[39]When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. [40]And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned." [41]But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? [42]Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. [43]For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." [44]But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. [45]Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. (ESV)
as part of my morning devotions, and am struck by the idea of the covenant mediator as intercessor before God.
The events of Numbers 14 [show] Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. [2]And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! [3]Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" [4]And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
[5]Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. [6]And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [7]and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. [8]If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. [9]Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." [10]Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
[11]And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? [12]I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
[13]But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, [14]and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. [15]Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, [16]'It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.' [17]And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, [18]'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' [19]Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."
[20]Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word. [21]But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, [22]none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, [23]shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. [24]But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. [25]Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
[26]And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, [27]"How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. [28]Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: [29]your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, [30]not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. [31]But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. [32]But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. [33]And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. [34]According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.' [35]I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
[36]And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- [37]the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD. [38]Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
[39]When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. [40]And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned." [41]But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? [42]Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. [43]For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." [44]But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. [45]Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. (ESV) take place after the Exodus, after the Manna and the waist-high pigeons, immediately after the spies have returned given their bad report of the land of Canaan. When Joshua and Caleb hear the people say they’d rather be in Egypt, they’re obviously upset. And so is God.
So, in a Noah-like pattern, the LORD comes to Moses and says, “I will destroy all this people, and make of you a nation greater than they.” But unlike the Noah pattern, Moses intercedes for the people (like his father, Abraham, before him). Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, and he had a certain standing before God–a certain audience before the King. But, as the inspired writer to the Hebrews teaches us, Christ is a better mediator of a better covenant, who has a better audience with the Great King. Moses and that people came to a Mount that could not be touched; Christ and our people have come to Mt. Zion–Moses and the weak-because-of-death Levitical priesthood could only enter once a year and brought only the blood of bulls and goats. Christ, the Second Adam, the better-than-Moses, has entered once for all time into the holy of holies, on account of his own most-pure blood, and because of the power of an endless life, is able to stand continually before the throne interceding for our eternal, not just our physical well-being.
It seems that with each successive covenant-mediator type, the mediator’s role of intercession becomes increasingly clear, increasingly closer to the heavenly throne, and increasingly more eternal and permanent in nature, until we see the Christ; the final, permanent, and only Mediator between God and men.
This morning, I’m yet again blown away that Christ Jesus, High King of heaven and earth, stands with “all authority” even now in intercession for my eternal well-being. The majority of the characters in the story of Numbers 14 [show] Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. [2]And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! [3]Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" [4]And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
[5]Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. [6]And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [7]and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. [8]If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. [9]Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." [10]Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
[11]And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? [12]I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
[13]But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, [14]and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. [15]Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, [16]'It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.' [17]And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, [18]'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' [19]Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."
[20]Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word. [21]But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, [22]none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, [23]shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. [24]But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. [25]Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
[26]And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, [27]"How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. [28]Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: [29]your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, [30]not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. [31]But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. [32]But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. [33]And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. [34]According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.' [35]I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
[36]And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land-- [37]the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD. [38]Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
[39]When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. [40]And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned." [41]But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? [42]Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. [43]For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." [44]But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. [45]Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. (ESV) didn’t make into the promised land; but we have a better-than-Moses mediator, who upholds a better-than-Moses’ covenant–so all who come under Christ shall enter into the true promised land, because it is impossible that Christ should fail.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24, ESV [show] [24]Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (ESV)
(With this in mind, now read the whole of John 17 [show] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2]since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3]And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4]I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5]And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
[6]"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7]Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8]For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9]I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10]All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11]And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12]While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. [13]But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14]I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15]I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16]They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17]Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18]As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19]And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
[20]"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21]that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22]The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23]I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. [24]Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. [25]O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. [26]I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." (ESV) for what Christ is most likely praying for us even now…)
gmail.com
