Standing Between the Dead and the Living
“And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped” (Numbers 16:48).
To help with this message, I would like to lay a strong foundation based upon our Lord’s three-fold office, which are Prophet, Priest, and King. Though fully God and fully man, Almighty God in the flesh, Jesus operated in his earthly ministry as Prophet, Priest and King.
Prophet
In the Old Testament Moses declared in Deut. 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” This prophecy is quoted by Peter in Acts 3:22-23 in reference to Jesus, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed in everything He says to you. ‘And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’”
Islam claims this prophecy points to Mohammed as THE PROPHET, the final and complete revelation of Allah. Trouble with that interpretation is there are six Biblical requirements they ignore to support their claim. Mohammed fulfilled none, while Jesus Christ fulfilled them all.
There is another major discrepancy Islam must face. If Jesus Christ is a true prophet, why do Muslims reject His Words? He claimed to be Almighty God in the flesh. When dealing with the Jews in John 8, Jesus declared, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus dared to mention the special name that God revealed to Moses. The Jews knew exactly the implications as they took up stones to slay Him. Therefore, Muslims cannot have it both ways. Either they must reject Jesus as a false prophet that blasphemed (claiming to be God in human form) or He is a true prophet whose revelation must be heeded, lest they perish in their sins.
Priest
Jesus is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek. “Where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). As a priest, Jesus is our mediator between God and ourselves (1 Tim. 2:5).
In Matthew 26, the High Priest put an end to the Kangaroo Court of false witnesses whose testimonies conflicted and demanded:
I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God! Jesus said to him, It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
When asked point blank if Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, Jesus quoted Daniel 7:13. Every Jew in the room knew this was the premiere prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. The High Priest tore his clothes in protest to Jesus’ answer. At that point, the High Priest office was torn from him and given to another. The very One they were condemning to death. As a result, Jesus became our faithful High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).
King
One of the titles of Christ is King of kings and Lord of Lords. Notice it does not say King of pastors and Lord of saints. These are political titles not ecclesiastical titles. Revelation 1:5 states, “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.”
This passage fulfils the Messianic prophecy announced in Psalm 2. God’s Word states:
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 2:10-12).
Because Jesus has been set upon God’s Holy Hill, seated at the right had of God expecting His enemies to become His footstool, God warns the kings and judges who represent the state to “kiss” and “serve” the Son (Psalm 2:6, Psalm 110:1). He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. In other words, “He is not our soon coming King.” He is King now!
The Church as Prophet, Priest, and King
Prophet
Jeremiah 23:22 declares the true function of the prophetic office, “But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.” Clearly, this calling was upon the church as God called the church to confront the sinful, wicked, and perverse world with the claims of Christ and the truth of His Word. Jesus fully expected His church to receive the same treatment from the world as the prophets who went before us. Matthew 5:11, 12 states, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The Apostle James encouraged the church to look to the prophets as an example of being patient in the midst of tribulation. James 5:10 states, “My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.”
King
Revelation 1:5, 6 reveals, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kingsand priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 2:12 promises, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” The Apostle Paul taught, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?”
Prophetic Emphasis
Typically, Operation Save America highlights the prophetic obligation of the church. We call our nation to amend our ways and doings. Abortion, homosexuality and host of other abominations have invoked God’s wrath upon us, which jeopardizes our future. It is altogether fitting and proper that we warn our nation to flee from the wrath that is to come and find refuge in Christ.
But as I studied our opening Scripture of Aaron standing between the living and the dead to help stop the plague, he was not functioning in a prophetic role, rather a priestly one.
Royal Priesthood
1 Peter 2:9, states, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
This passage teaches that each Christian has a priestly duty, function, and role to fulfill in our service to God and others. We must remember In the case of the prophetic, the church delivers the word of God to people. In the case of the priest, the church intercedes for the people. The prophetic represents the commands of God to the people, while the priest represents the needs and failures of the people. Priests stand in the place of intercession. It begins in prayer and ends with intervention as we see in the case of Aaron. As a priest he stood between the living and the dead, and stopped the plague of death that was savaging Israel.
As a company of royal priests, this is also the church’s calling. This is what we do when go to the gates of hell (abortion clinics) leaning on the promise that they will not prevail against the church of the living God and declare, “Gates be lifted up, so the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of Glory, the Lord mighty in battle? He is the King of Glory” (Psalm 24:8-10).
As guardian at the gates and watchmen upon the wall we are called as royal priests to intercede and intervene to confront the culture of death and end the plague of the American holocaust savaging our nation. As God anointed Aaron as High Priest to stop the plague of death in his day, I pray God will anoint us to stay the plague in our day in Jesus’ name!
IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,
Rusty, Kendra, and the Thomas Nation
P.O. Box 3126, Waco, TX 76707
Email: rusty@elijahmin.com, statesofrefuge@sprint.blackberry.net, mail@statesofrefuge.org
Website: www.elijahmin.com, www.operationsaveamerica.org, www.statesofrefuge.org
