“On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.” Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.”
Numbers 16:41-50 NKJV
Standing in the gap between the living and the dead
Darkness is falling. Any human who has any awareness or any sense of what life is supposed to be like, is very much aware that life on planet earth has changed. It is as if the very fabric of humanity has been rent, and nothing, or anyone will be the same again.
Evil is happening everywhere, leaving many victims strewn about. There is nowhere safe, as even the wealthy suburbs and small towns are seeing upticks in the most horrible violence. If ever there was a time for the Gospel to be preached, it is now.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
II Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV
There are many who are looking for people to blame, as the carnage increases and darkness becomes all the more impenetrable.
People are blaming each other based on race, as nation rises up against nation. Whole nations of people are on the brink of war, as kingdoms rise against kingdoms, seeking to rule and reign over a small blue planet.
There are many who blame the God they have rejected. They also blame God’s ambassadors, for in them is the presence of the Holy Spirit, who convicts them of their sin. Those that follow Jesus will be hated, as we are seen as proxies for the One they cannot reach, just as Moses and Aaron were for the angry children of Israel.
Reading through Numbers chapter sixteen, I am reminded of the heart of man bent on rejecting God. Just the day before the sins of Korah had been dealt with when they had challenged God and His choice of Moses and Aaron. The very earth had opened and swallowed them up.
Now, the people once again have rebelled against God, seeking to do away with Moses and Aaron, blaming all that had happened the day before, on them.
God’s foreshadowing is a picture of what followers of Jesus will experience as the world becomes more unstable. They will blame God’s people for the consequences of their unchecked sin. What they will blame on us, is God bringing deserved judgement.
At that movement in the wilderness, God sent a plague and began to wipe out the children of Israel, but Moses and Aaron, a foreshadowing of Jesus, raced forth to stand in the gap between the dead and the living, to atone for their sins, bringing and end to plague.
The plague today is that the Lord has given humanity over to its own desires.
“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Romans 1:24-25 NKJV
Every evil thing is springing from unregenerate hearts, who are acting unhindered, doing all that they desire.
We who have called upon the name of the Lord have been given the ministry of standing in the gap between the dead and the living.
The wages of sin is death, both spiritual and physical. We bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the prayers of the saints, in the hope that we may save as many souls as possible and bring an end to the death that has enveloped the world.
It is mission of reaching one at a time, as the Lord convicts and delivers one more to the cross of Christ. It will not eliminate the coming destruction of the whole world, but it will make an eternal difference for each one who is forgiven, saved, and transformed.
Brothers and sisters, time is running out. We are standing on the edge of an uncertain future, as World War III could pop off in a multitude of ways, and the world powers seem to be begging for it to happen. Let us be bold to go and tell others of Jesus who came to pay for our sins.
The curse of death is looming, and we have way to eternal life in Christ. May we be faithful to race into the gap, between the dead and the living.
Have a happy Sunday!
Musings from an idle mind 
Amen! 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV) We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
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