Daily Bible Reading - March 9 - Moses and Christ

Today's OT reading (Numbers 12-14) recounts the sad failure of the ten spies and the sentence of the wilderness wandering. These chapters are also about Moses' relationship with the people in general and his own family in particular. In Numbers 12, Aaron and Miriam (perhaps at her instigation?) complain against Moses, apparently driven by jealousy over Moses' unique status as God's special prophet. And in Numbers 14, the people railed against Moses and Aaron at the report of the unfaithful spies, and threatened to replace Moses with a new leader (by killing him! - 14:10) and return to Egypt.

To reject God's representatives is of course to reject God Himself, and the Lord was furious with Israel's disbelief and rebellion. So angry, in fact, that He threatened to wipe them out with pestilence and start over with Moses and the head of a new nation (14:11-12). But Moses interceded for the people, despite the way they treated him, and pleaded with God to spare the nation for the sake of His own name (14:13-19). God relented.

These chapters highlight the most Christ-like aspects of Moses' character. Consider these parallels-

• Jesus was rejected by His own earthly family like Moses (Mark 3:21, 31-35).
• Jesus was silent in the face of His accusers, like Moses (see Num. 12:3; Mark 14:61).
• Jesus interceded for those who rejected Him (Luke 23:34).

No wonder Stephen highlighted Moses as an example of Israel's tragic legacy of rejecting its leaders (Acts 7:35-42).

Like Moses and Jesus, we must remain faithful to the Lord, even when those of our own family oppose us. And like Moses and Jesus, we should work toward the redemption of those who don't deserve it.