Having dealt with the Kohathites, Moses summons the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram. They refused to come. There reasoning was absurd. The reason they had not entered the Promised Land was their won refusal to go in. More ridiculously still they spoke of Egypt as a land flowing with milk and honey. Nothing could have been further from the truth. They were under cruel bondage in Egypt, under forced labour. Things were so bad that latterly Pharaoh had instructed that all male babies should be killed. We need to be aware that when we become full of rebelliousness or self-importance our thinking becomes highly suspect. If we experience such thoughts we need to make a concious effort not to act on them.
Moses reacted with anger and called out to the Lord. Then he summoned all the rebels. Instead of relying on his own authority, Moses relied upon God. Moses relied upon God acting in a unique way. The earth opened up and swallowed the rebels up. This is where our phrase "I wish the earth would open up and swallow me" come from. You can be assured that you do not want the earth to open up!
After this the people as a whole were still rebellious, blaming Moses. God threatened to destroy all the people. Aaron went among the people to stop the plague killing all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment