Day 26 - BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
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Day 26 - Starts at Sundown Friday
Shock paralyzed everyone, they could not believe their eyes, they were so frozen, with terror, so that no one could move.
A hundred men had fallen and the angel took one step forward. The sword came down again another ninety were mowed down. The sword did not slash indiscriminately, it moved with purpose and skill and it traveled at the speed of light!
Two men urgently talked over at one side, one of them suddenly ran into a large tent of animal skins and disappeared. In the few minutes it took him to return, almost 12,000 souls had already fallen.
He leaped right into the middle of the fray, as though driven by a mission. He leaped this way and that, bounding over the dead bodies of his countrymen. He pushed on, ducking this way to avoid the sword and leaping that way to avoid the dead bodies. He said out loud, "I must get around in front of the angel and in front of the people!"
This man must have had a death wish!
A small bronze box was swinging wildly on the end of a chain held tightly in his right hand. And from the metal box, small clouds of smoke dispersed the heavy scent of incense.
He made one final lunge and landed directly in front of the mighty angel.
There he stood, looking very odd and very small, waving his little bronze box from side to side in front of his face.
Immediately a loud voice out of heaven commanded the angel to put up his sword, and the killing stopped... the fatality count was at 14,700.
This story was not taken from the script on the sci-fi channel or from an action thriller, this is a scene right out of the Bible, from Numbers Chapter 16, and it shows the heart of the intercessor.
The passion of this man to leap into the jaws of death to save who? His beloved bride? a life long friend? No! to save the ones who had just accused him who had spoken out against him.
Let's flashback to an earlier scene, where all this plague was started.
We pick up the storyline so we can understand how this dramatic massacre came to be. In Chapter 12 of the book of Numbers, you will see it all began when Aaron and Miriam who were envious of Moses' position...
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. 5 Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward.
9 So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. 10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. 11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”
Response of an intercessor:
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!”
Our first glimpse of intercession - forgiving sins, healing the sick
While Miriam seems to bear the consequences immediately (immediate leprosy) it may seem that Aaron gets off scot-free? However, that is not the case in fact as we go on through the story you will see that God deals with Aaron more severely because he is a man in authority himself and God wants him to teach him about the spirit of intercession. Aaron is the High Priest after all, and a foreshadow of Christ who is interceding on our behalf right now.
As we move towards Chapter 16, look for the spirit of the intercessor in Moses and in Aaron, see if you can find them, exhibiting the posture, and the heart of an intercessor.
Now Korah the son of Izhar, ...and two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them.
Accusation:
"Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
Response of an intercessor:
So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him. Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!” Numbers 16:1-7
Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you?
- And are you seeking the priesthood also?
- Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord.
- And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
Judgement Pronounced:
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
Response of an intercessor:
Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”
Numbers 16:20-22Our second glimpse of intercession - pleading for the lives of those who are ignorant and innocent.
Korah and a couple of men who refused to come challenge Moses' and Aaron and the ground opens up and swallows them and their families, and all their belongings whole.
Then the most amazing thing happens...the people have seen the ground open and swallow them with their belongings, they have seen fire come out of heaven and consume the 250 men who acted presumptuously and after they slept on it... they are going to do what?Complaints of the People
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.
False Accusation:
“You have killed the people of the Lord.”
“You have killed the people of the Lord.”
Judgment Pronounced:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
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.
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.
Our third glimpse of intercession - stepping into the very experience of those you intercede for, weep with those who weep. - stepping into the place between the person and their present danger.
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God honors a man who will stand in the Gap,
He honors those who will stand between the living and the dead, andHe will command angels (on both sides) to act because of that man's intercession.
Two things to remember here
we must have compassion towards God's children inside and outside the Church,
bring the incense (prayer) to make atonement.
Here is a catchphrase that might help you remember this story.
Run into the fray... and pray
The Heart of an Intercessor example out of Scripture.
- Aaron says - "Please don't lay this sin on us!" - Moses prays Lord, Heal her!
- Stephen in the NT "lay not this sin to their charge" - Saul becomes Apostle Paul
- II Corinthians 5 "not imputing their trespasses unto them" - the world is reconciled to GOD
- Jesus who said, "Father forgive them they do NOT know what they are doing" -
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