bling people of Israel at times in their wanderings wanted to reject Moses as their leader? They wanted to take over themselves. Because God had chosen Moses to be the leader, He would not endure the two agita tors (Num. 12:1-2). Miriam and Aaron needed d isc ip lin ing . You know, it’s easy to criticize. People would rather do this than something positive for the Lord. There are those who seem to have been born in the “objective case.” At the door of the tabernacle God reminded the self- important culprits that while He spoke to other appointed messengers by visions and dreams, to His own servant Moses He spoke mouth-to- mouth (w. 5-8). The Lord covered Miriam, the instigator of this rebel lion, with leprosy (w . 9, 10). Horri fied and thoroughly repentant, Aaron pleaded for pity. Moses, in his gen erosity, prayed for Miriam’s heal ing (Num. 12:11-13). For those who still doubted, God instructed the 12 princes of Israel, representing the 12 tribes, to place their rods in the direction of the Tabernacle. This was a test of which family had been chosen for the priesthood (Num. 17: 1-2). In the morning, in absolute vindication of Aaron and the Leviti- cal priesthood, Moses’ brother’s rod had sprouted and blossomed. It even bore ripe almonds (w . 8, 9). The Levitical priesthood was settled once for all. The fruitful rod was placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. God stood behind His own leaders. At the beginning of the Church age, after the day of Pentecost, the Lord a u th en tic a ted His apostles (Heb. 2:3-4) by signs, wonders, and powerful deeds. A typical example of this is the healing of the lame man by Peter and John at the beauti ful gate (Acts 3:2-9). The religious leaders of Israel were enraged and arrested them. These otherwise or dinary men had gotten authority from the Lord Jesus Christ. Their 19
MIRACLES
by Lloyd T. Anderson, Biola Hour teacher and Pastor of B e t h a n y B a p t i s t C h u r ch West Covina, Calif. (Continued from last month) P art S even M iracles not only prove that our Lord is God of the universe, but also they authenticate His name and purpose. God performs miracles to buttress His own messengers whom He sends to deliver His truth. You and I represent heaven down here on earth. The Lord’s special messengers were often endowed with miraculous credentials so that they could represent properly their heav enly country in a hostile and unbe lieving world. As ambassadors for Christ, we’re not at home, but live by the laws of our homeland, making impressions reflecting upon our Sov ereign. We need to study the sign manual of our own government, which comes to us through the Scrip ture. A foreign diplomat loves his own country first of all, no matter where he happens to be located. God frequently uses miracles then to stand behind His message and His messengers. Do you remember how the grum
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