Today we
worshiped at Victory Family Church, 21150 Route 19, Cranberry Township, PA
16066, 724.453.6200, www.lifeatvictory.com,
John & Michelle Nuzzo, Senior Pastor.
Scripture
– NIV
Numbers
16:44-50
“Korah
son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan
and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up
against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders
who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose
Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community
is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set
yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
When
Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his
followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is
holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will
cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take
censers and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The
man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too
far!”
Moses
also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the
God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and
brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand
before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your
fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.
It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together.
Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”
Then
Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will
not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing
with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord
it over us! Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and
honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat
these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”
Then
Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I
have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”
Moses
said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord
tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. Each man is to take his censer and put incense
in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to
present your censers also.” So each of them took his censer, put burning coals
and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent
of meeting. When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at
the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the
entire assembly. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from
this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”
But
Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath
to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one
man sins?”
Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of
Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”
Moses
got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He
warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not
touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all
their sins.” So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and
little ones at the entrances to their tents.
Then
Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all
these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and
suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord
brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows
them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the
realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with
contempt.”
As
soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the
earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those
associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive
into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over
them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all
the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us
too!”
And
fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the
incense.
The
Lord said to Moses, “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the
censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for
the censers are holy— the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives.
Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented
before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”
So
Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been
burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, as the Lord
directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one
except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he
would become like Korah and his followers.
The
next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You
have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
But
when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward
the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord
appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, and
the Lord said to Moses, “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to
them at once.” And they fell facedown.
Then
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with
burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for
them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” So Aaron did
as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already
started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for
them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But
14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because
of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting,
for the plague had stopped.”
John
3:16-17
For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Hebrews
7:27
Unlike
the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day,
first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for
their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Isaiah
53:7-12
He
was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did
not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of
his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for
the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with
the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor
was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet
it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the
Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong
his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has
suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my
righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the
spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was
numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.”
Mark
16:15
He
said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
2
Corinthians 5:17-19
Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is
here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has
committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Jude
1:22-23
Be
merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to
others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted
flesh.
Bob’s
thoughts:
I was
wondering where we would worship after we were led past the first five of our choices.
When it was too late to look further, we ended at Victory.
We
had a worthwhile time of ministry in the hall and got to hear the message on
the monitors.
Israel
had become an insolent group rebelling against Moses and God, much like us. God
sent a plague that would have killed many of them, but Moses sent Aaron running
into their midst with a censer and incense to redeem them. Aaron took his
position between those who had already died from the plague and those still
living.
Another
point I had not considered was the tremendous amount of faith it must take to
look at the splendor of the night sky and not believe in God. The stars are
just one of the many things I can’t begin to comprehend without God.
Jan’s
thoughts:
Several
possibilities fell through this morning, and not until arriving here did we
learn this was where God wanted us today as someone for whom we care a great
deal needed us.
After
picking up a cup of coffee, we all sat outside the worship area where we could
talk occasionally. The great thing was, we could listen to the message from
where we were.
At
times I have thought of the book of Numbers as boring, but it actually contains
some breathtaking stories from which we can learn a great deal about God.
This
story about one of the rebellions against Moses was the basis for several
thought-provoking and inspiring points by the pastor:
1
– It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God without a Redeemer;
2
– Aaron ran toward the plague and stood between the living and the dead;
3
– This is what we are called to do in our generation: stand between the living
and the dead, being willing to give the Good News of the Redeemer Who saves.
He
then told the story of Christopher Alam, a former Muslim who was introduced to
Jesus Christ, accepted Him as his Lord and Savior, and has since brought 4-5
million people to the Cross, all because one person had the courage to speak to
him and tell him about Jesus.
The
pastor affirmed that Easter Sunday is the easiest day to invite people to
church and urged everyone listening to extend invitations to people who do not
know Jesus…to stand in the gap between the living and the dead.
Our
prayer for this church:
Lord,
we pray we are all willing to take up our cross and stand between the living
and the dead. Amen.
