Do not ‘COMPLAIN’ against God’s ordained LEADERS!
February
14 Bible Reading: Numbers Chapters 16-18
Do not ‘COMPLAIN’ against God’s ordained LEADERS!
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.” (Numbers
16:41-45)
In the above
passage we read that the Israelites accused Moses and Aaron of killing God’s
people. God in His anger threatened to destroy all of them with one stroke, but
Moses and Aaron went before the tabernacle of meeting to intercede for the
people. However, God struck the people with a dreadful plague that killed
14,700 people that day. Only when Aaron rushed into the midst of the
congregation with incense and made atonement for the people was the plague
stopped. It was the priestly intercession
of Aaron which stopped the plague and saved the people who complained against
him and Moses!
We should
note that the cloud signified the presence of the Lord not only for guidance,
but also for judgment (Num. 12:5, 10; 14:10; 16:19). The plague was a punishment
from Yahweh against His people who were slow to learn some vital lessons. God was
prepared to destroy the nation of Israel but Moses and Aaron acted as
intercessors for the sinful people. In fact, Aaron stood “between the living and the dead” to stop the plague—as a shadow of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who took a similar stand in the gap between
life and death for all of us!
The important lesson to be learned here is that we should not complain
against God’s leaders no matter what
happens. If God has placed them in a leadership position, God will take
them out of that position if they fail to live up to God’s standards (Psalms
75:6-7). Who are the people who complain? Jude gives us an accurate description
with these words: "Likewise also
these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of
dignitaries." (Jude 1:8)
So, what
should we do instead of complaining? Lam 3:39-40 gives us the answer: "Why should a living man complain, a
man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search out and examine our ways, and
turn back to the Lord." Let this incident be a life lesson for us to
remember always!
