Know-Love-Obey God

Vile contempt, rebellion, sin of man.
Plague and death came from God’s holy hand.
The wrath of God revealed against
the wickedness of man.
Before consuming fire, who can stand?

And since we have a Kingdom
unshakable,
I worship You, Lord Jesus, I’m in awe.
Author of salvation,
because You died for me,
the mighty Lord is
Father to me.

I wrote that song, my first, in July 2006. Now, with Good Friday just behind me, I want to relive how it came about.

I was in the middle of a story (Numbers, Chapter 16). The people rebelled. Earth heaved, cracked mightily, “opened its mouth and swallowed them up” (v.32). The very next day, the people grumbled. In fact, they assembled together for the very purpose of grumbling. It was organized, corporate whining.

And then…(here’s where the story took hold of me, entering not only my mind, but also my pounding heart, my wide, unblinking eyes, my tense shoulders, the tightening behind the upper part of my throat)…

(The following quotes are from Numbers 16:44-50, NASB.)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they [Moses and Aaron] fell on their faces.

The Lord spoke. Get away! Moses and Aaron–can you see them? feel their fear and dread?–Moses and Aaron, they drop; they are down, down on their faces.

The Lord just told them He will consume, will consume instantly. And instantly, Moses speaks.

And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!”

Hear the urgency of Moses; desperate urgency quakes his voice. Go now, Aaron! Quick! Move! No time to lose! Run, Aaron, run! The plague has begun! It is the wrath of God!

Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people.

What did that sound like? What was the plague that would kill instantly? Heart rates spiked. I heard the screams, the wailing cries, the pain-struck voices of the people. Instant. Plague. Consume. Death. And Aaron, shaking hands fumbling with incense, running and moving as fast as he can.

So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

I imagine the plague starting at a center point, perhaps where Aaron and Moses fell on their faces, then radiating rapidly and fiercely outward. Aaron ran, trying to outrun the plague, the point where death was striking, the fierce anger of the Lord.

Then, Aaron caught up with it, caught up to the point of striking death. On one side lay the fallen; on the other, the living awaited their turn. Aaron stood between the living and the dead. The plague, the death, the Lord’s fierce anger, ceased.

But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

Aaron acted quickly. How long did it take him to put fire to the incense and run? However short the time, 14,700 had already died. The Lord consumed, instantly.

The Lord consumed. God’s wrath. Consuming fire.

And then, the realization hit. Hit me head-on, and my heart bowed in gratitude, in amazed gratitude.

For it so happens that in the Bible reading plan I use*, the reading before Numbers is…Hebrews.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

for our God is a consuming fire.

And the wrath I just read about in Numbers 16, yes, that is the wrath of God, the punishment that should have fallen on me. This is the very wrath that Jesus took on Himself, for my sake.

For me.

*Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan (navpress.com)

Note: While it was originally a song, it is also a Random Act of Poetry.