Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Tree of Life
Weekly Review
Dispensation of the Mosaic Law.
The Conspiracy Continues. 070917
NUM 16:1, Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and on the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took {action,}. “Took action†means that they gained over thousands of Jews to their conspiracy. Now, his associates were Dathan and Abiram, and a man called “On†who later on, for whatever reason, ended up backing out, so there were three major players in the conspiracy plus 250 princes. And they formed the “association†or the inner circle for the conspiracy.
NUM 16:2-7, and they rose up or rebelled before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. And they assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?†When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; or he appealed to the Supreme Court of Heaven, 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 bring  him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. “Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!â€
Now what is a censer?
The censer is a fire pan, it is a round decorative piece that carries coals which was used to offer up incense to the Lord. As the Jewish religion progressed, the censer became more and more sacred and beautiful in appearance. So when they built the Tabernacle with all its different items you put the coals in the fire pan and you walked pass the first veil into the holy place. Then you walk all the way to the second veil. And in front of the second veil is the altar of incense. And then you put the coals down on the altar of incense and you put the incense on the coals and we have a whole passage that describes how the incense is made. And anyone who tried to duplicate this was to be executed.
So, you would put the incense on the coals and up goes the aroma. And the aroma represented the doctrine of propitiation and the fact that God the Father is satisfied with the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eph 5:2, He gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Now, the point is that you had to have the authority to do all of this. And not only did you have to have the authority but you also had to know the rules. The right thing had to be done in the right way.
So in Num 16:6, Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, In other words, by tomorrow morning there will be over 250 new fire pans, new censers, and you and all your company report to the front of the tabernacle. And then all of you can take your coals and go into the tabernacle and we will see what happens. In other words, Moses says, if you want to be priests and think that you can perform the function of the high priesthood, go ahead. Moses has complete confidence that whatever happens, the Lord would show who has been ordained to function in the tabernacle.
NUM 16:7, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!
Now, let’s go back to the tabernacle.
There were seven main items in the Tabernacle: 1.
The Altar of Burnt Offering.
The Laver.
The Table of Showbread.
The Lampstand.
The Altar of Incense.
The Ark of the Covenant.
The Mercy Seat.
The offering of incense inside this tabernacle is one of the holiest functions of the Levitical priesthood. In our day and age, the communication of doctrine is one of the holiest functions of the priesthood. And by that I mean that the communication of doctrine is a very serious thing.
Any man who gets behind the pulpit must make sure of five things.
- That he has the gift of pastor-teacher.
- That he has prepared himself properly for the ministry.
- That he communicates doctrine accurately and precisely.
- That he refrains from criticizing and judging others.
- That he rids himself from negativity.
Now, why do I say negativity?
Because negative attitudes are destructive to the ministry and multiply like a cancer whereas unity is needed for the believer and the church to progress and go forward. Negativity is destructive to the ministry and spreads like a cancer. Now, notice for example in NUM 20, verse 8, where the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock.
NUM 20:8, “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.
Now, notice our Lord told Moses to speak to the rock. However, what did Moses do? Here we see the devastating effects of negativity, here on the part of a man we have come to admire, but he himself failed this test. His name of course is Moses!
And so let’s read the passage in NUM 20:7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
NUM 20:8-10, “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.†So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?â€
 Now, here is the big problem Moses faced and failed. Notice Moses called the people rebels. NUM 20:11, Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice [that is one of his biggest failures as a leader] with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.
That is one of the reasons why the Lord would not allow Moses to go into the promise land.
JAM 3:1-10, Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
When Moses called the people rebels, in doing so, Moses misrepresented the character and nature of God. You see, when the Lord created the world He did not create it by means of His justice and righteousness or else the world would eventually be destroyed because mankind would not be able to live up to the Holy commandments of God. Nor did the Lord create the world based upon just His grace and mercy lest the world would self-destructive from its distorted lust without any laws to keep the human race in line.
What the Lord did was to create the world by means of His justice and righteousness and His grace and mercy, thereby giving mankind what he needs to worship and honor the Lord without any fears. So Moses did not follow the Lord’s directions and he misrepresented the holiness or the character and nature of God to the congregation. The rock was to be struck once says 1CO 10:4; HEB 10:10,14.
Therefore, look at EXO 17.
EXO 17:1-7, Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.†And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?†But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?†So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.†Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.†And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?
First, Moses was to strike the rock once and then from that time on he was to just simply speak to the Rock. And please note a second and very important principle; the Lord still honored his man in authority even though his man failed.
ROM 14:4, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
So, when I say the Lord still honored his man in authority even though his man failed, we know that because water still came out of the Rock as we read in Num 20 even though Moses did not follow the command of God correctly.
Let’s look at the doctrine of Christ the rock.
Point 1. Christ is the Rock of salvation.
1CO 3:11, For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
EXO 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.
Drinking water is used for salvation in ISA 55:1 and REV 22:17.
Point 2. Christ is the Rock of perfection. ZEC 3:9, For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it, declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
The seven eyes refers to the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ and His omniscience. And the removal of iniquity refers to the Lord dying for the sins of the whole world.
Point 3. Christ is the rock of provision of logistical grace. PSA 144:1, (A Psalm of David.) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
Christ provides whatever you need to honor Him. ISA 26:3-4, “The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting rock.
Point 4. Christ, as the rock, is the foundation rock of Israel. PSA 118:22; ISA 28:16. PSA 118:22.
ISA 28:16, Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
Point 5. Christ is the foundation rock of the Church. MAT 16:18; EPH 2:20-22.
Point 6. Christ is the destroying Rock of the second advent.
DAN 2:34‑35, “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Point 7. To the unbeliever, Christ is the rock of judgment. 1PE 2:8, for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
And so the striking of the rock was another test for the children of Israel. A test to see whether or not they would trust in TLJC as the Rock of their salvation. A test to see whether or not they would trust in TLJC as the rock of perfection. A test to see whether or not they would trust in TLJC as the rock of provision of logistical grace. He is our rock!
MAT 7:24-25, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.