6-28-16. Numbers 16:36-40. God Makes Unholy Things Holy-my devotional
God Makes Unholy Things Holy
Numbers 16:36-40 Kevin E. Jesmer
Key verse 16:40b 6-28-30
“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.” (NIV)
At the beginning of this passage we learn about what happened to the censers from which fire came out to burn up the 250 of Korah’s followers. The censers became part of the altar Let’s see why. Look at verses 36-40 read, “ 36 The LORD said to Moses, 37 “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— 38 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.” 39 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, 40 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.”
God had poured out his judgment on the 250 men. Fire came up, out of the censers and burnt the men to completely. The offices that he set in place had a vital purpose and a holy purpose. The office of the priesthood could not be violated. The censers were picked up, out of the ashes. The ashes were deposited outside the community. Eleazar the priest had men hammer the censers flat and had the bronze sheets fastened to the altar. This is why God has the censors hammered out and attached to the altar. “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.” (40b) The censers would be sign to the people. God wanted the censers memorialized in a way that when the Israelites came to offer up sacrifices they would see the bronze sheets and remember the account of Korah’s rebellion. They would know that the offices of the church are holy and must not be challenged in an unholy manner. It also shows something about God, how he can bring good even out of rebellion and how he can make unholy things holy.
The hammering of the censers also teaches us that the offices of the church are holy and must not be tampered with. The priesthood in Moses’ time, was a holy office. It served a holy purpose, to bring the people to the Lord. Some positions in the ministry among the Israelites could be changed or let go, but not the priesthood. It was to be maintained and protected from generation to generation. In the New Testament era, there are offices in the church that are holy and need to be upheld from generation to generation. 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 read, “27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.” (NIV) The Gospel must be upheld first and foremost.
God changes things that are not holy into things that are. These censors were owned and held by 250 men who challenged Moses’ and Araon’s position as priests. They felt they had every right to do the priestly job that Moses and Aaron were doing and they demanded it. In doing so they were treating that priestly office with contempt and as an unholy thing. But God showed everyone who was right and who was wrong, when he made fire come out of the censers. The men were doing an unholy thing. Their rebellion was unholy. Their censers, which where their own property, were unholy. But God somehow redeemed the story and the censers and dedicated everything, in regards to the rebellion, as holy. God made the censers holy. He made the account of the rebellion holy, for it would teach a good lesson to future generations. People would always remember God’s act of judgment on those who sinned. They would always be reminded of God’s holiness. Our God is the one who makes unholy things holy.
Before meeting Jesus we were unholy. We were living in rebellion towards the Lord. We were the recipients of judgment. But Jesus died and on the cross for our sins. Through faith in his shed blood on the cross, we have been made holy. Prior to meeting Jesus our lives were a huge saga of sinning. But God made our life story holy, for now it is a story of redemption that reveals the glory of God. So in a sense, the hammered censers are a testimony about how God makes things holy. Our past lives, the story about how God redeemed us, is something that we should always remember as we come to worship Christ. That testimony will always lead us to behold the holy, living God.
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