National Treasure 3, The Path of God

Christ Church of Ballenger Creek

Home |  Worship | Sharing in Missions | Building Relationships |

Growing & Discipleship | Service & Ministry

Series List

National Treasure, part 3

The Path of God

Hebrews 9:1-4 and Numbers17:1-11

I. Today we conclude our July sermon series “National Treasure.”

A. We began several weeks ago by looking at the first four verses of Hebrews 9.

1) {Read Hebrews 9:1-4}

2) These verses led us to talk about the significance of each of these three things that were placed in the Ark of the Covenant.

B. When the Ark was placed in the center of Israel’s community as she marched through the desert, each object inside was to remind them of something important to them as a nation – their “national treasure.”

1) The first thing in the Ark was the golden jar of manna that Aaron collected. It was a sign of God’s provision for His people.

2) Last week we talked about the tablets of stone on which God wrote the Law (or the Ten Commandments). They were placed in the Ark to remind the people of God’s Precepts – His Laws.

3) Today, I want us to think about Aaron’s rod, the third object placed in the Ark.

a) By asking a series of questions about this story, we will learn a bit about God’s path – how he wants us to approach him.

b) The story of Aaron’s rod is in Numbers 17:1-11.

II. The story really begins in Chapter 16 and for the sake of time, let me tell it to you.

A. One of the beautiful things about God is that He wants to be in fellowship with His people.

1) And in His wisdom He provided a way for it to happen:

2) He said, “This is how I want you to approach me, I’m going to appoint a High Priest and it’s going to be Aaron.

3) I want you to come to me through Aaron; he’s the one I’ve chosen. He will be the one who goes into the most Holy place once a year behind the curtain.

4) He will offer prayers and make sacrifice for the people. I will listen to Aaron’s prayers as he intercedes on your behalf.

B. Well, that was all well and good until a few people began to question God’s plan.

1) The Bible says they became insolent, and as they sat outside their tents they began to talk.

a) “Who is this Aaron guy anyway? Who does he think he is? And who appointed him that he should be the only high priest? It hardly seems fair.”

b) “Well,” another one says, “he’s Moses’ brother. A bit of nepotism if you ask me.”

c) “Well, isn’t it all to do with the holiness of God? There has to be a high priest who comes into God’s presence on our behalf”

d) “Yes, of course. But Aaron’s not any more holy than you and I. He’s just a man like the rest of us. So who does he think he is. You know, we’ve all swallowed this business of there only being one way to come to God for far too long. I’m not sure there’s any basis for it.”

e) “My goodness, we’re living in the middle of the 2^nd millennium BC. This is probably just a mechanism Moses is using to keep him and Aaron in power, megalomaniacs. Aren’t we all children of God? Surely there’s nothing Aaron can do for us that we can’t do for ourselves.”

2) In the middle of this discussion a man named Korah came to the fore. No doubt a man of great charisma.

a) Along with a few friends he began to lobby, and soon he had 250 supporters in their group. Not just ordinary folks in Israel, but leaders of the council, part of the leadership of the community.

b) As a group they came to Moses and Aaron and said, “You’ve gone too far. The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the lord is with them. So why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” – Numbers 16:3.

c) What they are in essence saying is, we want the freedom to come to God in our own way, and by our own choosing.

d) “You know what’s wrong with you Moses? You’ve made this business of fellowship with God too restrictive. You’re saying the only way we can have a living relationship with God is through this one man. We’re not going to accept that anymore.

3) Positions harden and soon Korah and his supporters will not even meet with or speak to Moses, and the debate splits the nation.

a) Because you have a clash of two incompatible belief systems.

i. Korah and his supporters who are saying, we’re all children of God and we are free to come to God in the way we choose.

ii. Moses and Aaron saying, God is God and none of us can come to him except in the way of His choosing.

b) Do you see that you can’t have both?

i. You can’t say we can all come to God in any way we choose and also say that we only come to God in the way he has appointed.

ii. It splits the community and the integrity of the nation is at stake.

4) This is what Moses says:

a) If any of you have pitched your tents near to Korah and his 250 supporters, its time to pull up pegs and move, because the judgment of God will come upon all those who take their stand on this position with Korah.

b) “Don’t be ridiculous. Where’s my remote?

C. The question the people faced was simple. Do you believe Moses or do you believe Korah?

1) Do you believe that the word Moses speaks is the Word of God is he full of hot air?

2) If you believe Moses, you move your tent.

3) In Numbers 16:31-33 it says, “The ground under Korah and his supporters split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with their household and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave with everything they owned. The earth closed over them. And they perished and were gone from the community.”

4) Sounds like God takes this all pretty seriously.

D. As if that wasn’t enough, God goes one step further.

1) He instructs Moses to collect 12 sticks, 12 rods, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

a) On the stick for the tribe of Levi, I want you to write the name Aaron.

b) Take all 12 sticks and bring them into the tabernacle and leave them there overnight.

2) Moses did that and the next morning went to collect them.

a) When he brought out the stick the Bible says that Aaron’s stick had blossomed and produced almonds.

b) Could you miss the point? God is saying “Never let there be any doubt in this nation that you come to me in the way that I appoint not the way of your own choosing.

3) God instructed Moses to put Aaron’s rod in the Ark so that every time the people saw the symbol of their national life, they would be reminded of God’s path. That we come to God only in the way He has chosen, not by the way of our own choosing.

III. Now to our questions that will help us understand and apply this story of God’s path. First, what is the path that God has made?

A. The people of Israel had to make a decision between the path God revealed to Moses, the path through Aaron the high priest or the path proposed by Korah – a path we would be free to choose themselves.

B. We face a similar question every Sunday when we come to church.

1) For Israel, the path that God made was through Aaron, the high priest.

2) Implicit in accepting that, was believing in Moses as God’s messenger.

C. The path that God has made for us is revealed in His word.

1) It is through His Word that we believe that God is revealed to us.

2) So our question more rightly become, “is this book the Word of God that directs what we should believe and how we should behave or is it just a relic of religious history from which the pastor if he works hard enough can get some blessed thoughts for us every week and enable us to go on living exactly the same as we were before?

D. Our answer to the question is this: God’s path is revealed to us through His word.

1) For Israel that word came through Moses.

2) For us, that word comes through the Bible.

IV. Our second question is this: Who is our high priest?

A. Obviously the story in Numbers 16 and 17 makes it clear that God’s choice for High Priest was Aaron.

1) But Aaron and his sons died a long time ago.

2) What do we do today?

B. That brings us around to Hebrews again.

1) Later in Hebrews 9, it speaks of Jesus Christ coming to be our high priest, the high priest for every generation before him and after him.

2) It goes on to explain that the whole setup of the tabernacle and the curtains was a vivid visual illustration.

C. When Jesus came he didn’t go behind the curtain in the temple and shed the blood of an animal on the Ark of the Covenant

1) Jesus went into the most holy place – into the very presence of God and he went there on our behalf.

2) But before he went their he did make a sacrifice, not by killing an animal but by the shedding of his own blood and the laying down of his own life.

a) This is what all the sacrifices of Aaron were pointing toward.

b) They pointed toward the fact that through the blood of Jesus Christ, spilled and shed for us, we would be made acceptable to God.

D. The answer to our question is: Jesus is our high priest who intercedes for us before God.

1) Jesus assumes the role of High Priest once and for all.

2) He is the one made acceptable to God and all who follow Him into that Holiest place are made righteous before God because of Jesus’ righteousness.

3) The same God who took a dead stick and made it blossom took a dead corpse, the body of Jesus, and breathed life into it.

4) God has appointed Jesus as Priest and Savior and given evidence of it by raising him from the dead – giving him new life.

V. Our final question is this: Are you going to follow the path that God has made?

A. Are you going to accept with gladness the path that God has laid before you and accept that Christ is our High Priest – the one that God has designated.

1) Are you going to accept that the path of God leads through Christ?

2) Are you going to accept the evidence of His resurrection and new life as proof of God’s stamp of approval?

B. Or are you going to create a road for yourself or follow the road of another?

1) Will you create that path yourself?

2) Or will you rely on someone else to create that path for you? Someone like Korah?

C. The answer to this question is: one I can’t provide.

1) Only you can answer that.

2) All I can do is give you the opportunity to make your choice.

end

Series List