16:36-40
In some ways this is a rather strange section. The censers and the result of the consuming fire has become holy. What does this mean? God has made it abundantly clear what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. These were to be made into a covering for the altar and were to serve as a reminder for the people of what was allowed by God and what was not allowed, and of God’s judgement. Today we seem so reluctant to speak of God’s judgement, this is a serious mistake, for we need to know that God is a God of judgement. If we forget this then we do not know God.
16:41
Despite the clear demonstration of the will of God, the people are still in rebellion, claiming that Moses had killed the “people of the Lord”. The actions of the people were incredibly foolish. For there were, logically, two possibilities. Either it was the Lord who had pronounced and enacted judgement, in which case they were rebelling against the almighty God. As the glory of the Lord had appeared over the tent, this was by far the most likely explanation. The alternative was that Moses himself had caused the ground to swallow up the three rebel leaders. If this was true, then the people were likely to come off worst in a contest with Moses! When our hearts are full of rebellion we do not think straight.
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