Moses and Aaron
275
Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people
that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate
yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon
his brother, that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day.”
Here Moses defines genuine consecration as obedience to God, to
stand in vindication of the right and to show a readiness to carry out
the purpose of God in the most unpleasant duties, showing that the
claims of God are higher than the claims of friends or the lives of the
nearest relatives. The sons of Levi consecrated themselves to God to
execute His justice against crime and sin.
Aaron and Moses both sinned in not giving glory and honor to
God at the waters of Meribah. They were both wearied and provoked
with the continual complaining of Israel, and, at a time when God was
[302]
to mercifully display His glory to the people, to soften and subdue
their hearts and lead them to repentance, Moses and Aaron claimed the
power of opening the rock for them. “Hear now, ye rebels; must we
fetch you water out of this rock?” Here was a golden opportunity to
sanctify the Lord in the midst of them, to show them the long-suffering
of God and His tender pity for them. They had murmured against
Moses and Aaron because they could not find water. Moses and Aaron
took these murmurings as a great trial and dishonor to themselves,
forgetting that it was God whom the people were grieving. It was God
whom they were sinning against and dishonoring, not those who were
appointed of God to carry out His purpose. They were insulting their
best Friend in charging their calamities upon Moses and Aaron; they
were murmuring at God’s providence.
This sin of these noble leaders was great. Their lives might have
been illustrious to the close. They had been greatly exalted and hon-
ored; yet God does not excuse sin in those in exalted positions any
sooner than He does in those in more humble positions. Many pro-
fessed Christians look upon men who do not reprove and condemn
wrong, as men of piety and Christians indeed, while they think that
those who stand boldly in defense of the right, and will not yield their
integrity to unconsecrated influences, lack piety and a Christian spirit.
Those who stand in defense of the honor of God and maintain
the purity of truth at any cost will have manifold trials, as did our
Saviour in the wilderness of temptation. While those who have yield-
ing temperaments, who have not courage to condemn wrong, but keep