Position or Relationship?
So I was reading in Numbers the other day and I wanted to share a lesson that I felt I learned in a certain passage. Now this was just another passage where the Children of Israel were coming against Moses, but I felt there was an important message in there. Let me show you.
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 ?”
Numbers 16:3 NASB
So the story starts with a group of the congregation of Israel coming together to oppose Moses. And their justification for this is that all the congregation is holy and they all have the Lord in their midst. So they come against Moses and accuse him of exulting himself above everyone else for apparently no reason. Now of course we know that there is a definite difference between the Children of Israel and Moses in regards to their closeness to God. But the rebels obviously don’t acknowledge this difference. So Moses responds to them.
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.
Numbers 16:5 NASB
So the gauntlet is laid down. And there will be a test as to who the Lord is with. Now this test is really between position and relationship. It is true that Israel is set apart to the Lord, and the rebels are testing this as justification for their desire to lead instead of Moses. Now Moses knows he has an actual relationship with the Lord, and he is testing this as his justification.
Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord , two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.
Numbers 16:16-18 NASB
So with the gauntlet laid down, they all present themselves before the Lord. Kohath vs. Moses.
But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord .” As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.
Numbers 16:30-32 NASB
So obviously, the Lord chose Moses. And then Moses went to bring justice on the head of Kohath and the men with him. Now I only bring up this passage because I want to talk about position vs relationship. Yes we have position with the Lord because of the sacrifice of Jesus. But do we have a relationship with Him? Obviously, God doesn’t have favorites in terms of position, but He does have friends and close friends. Even Jesus only took James, John, and Peter up on the mountain to the transfiguration because they were closest to Him. So the lesson for today is, don’t rely on your position with the Lord, but rather on the relationship you have with Him. Make time to build a relationship with Him today.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:13-15 NASB
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