Lesson for the Lord’s Day
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Numbers 16: 47,48
A plague was sweeping through the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness, and people were dying by the thousands. God was punishing the people for their rebellion against their leader Moses and their high priest Aaron. They deserved what they were getting. They had seen the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when they had tried to seize control of the priesthood, but they still raised their voices and hands against Moses and Aaron. But Moses and Aaron were deeply concerned, and made a plan to stop the plague. And the plan worked, as our text explains. These two men are a lovely example for us of what our God has accomplished for us through the work of His Son.
There is a plague of sin upon this world because of the rebellion of Adam and all of his descendants. ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ Romans 5:12. Because of our sin, there is a physical death that awaits us all, apart from the imminent return of our Savour for His own. But there is also a spiritual and eternal death for the rebels, and it is that death that God moved to provide a remedy for when He sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. As John 3:16 reminds us, He desired that we ‘should not perish’. That is why the Lord Jesus came to stand, as Aaron stood, between the dead and the living.
What a sight that must have been when Aaron took his incense and stood at the point in the camp that the plague had reached. One one side of him was death that had already swept through thousands. One the other side of him were the fearful people, with no defence against that plague. But Aaron with his incense made an atonement that God recognized and accepted. What a lovely picture to us today of the intercession of the Lord Jesus for us at Calvary. The thieves who died beside Him that day represent those who the Saviour came to stand between: the dying who never are saved and the dying who receive assurance of a home in Paradise.
Today we remember the One of Whom Aaron spoke, the Great High Priest Who made intercession for the transgressors. – Jim MacIntosh