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Rom. 16
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.” (Rom. 16:17). This verse, together with the next few, is a nice little summary of Paul’s purpose in writing this letter to the Romans. The Jews who were pushing circumcision for the Gentiles were both causing divisions in the Church and putting unnecessary obstacles – man made ‘requirements’ that had no impact on salvation – in the way of the Gentile believers. Using scripture, Paul set them straight on how this obstacle was contrary to the gospel. He also gave them a lot of advice on how to work through similar disagreements from both sides.
In this closing summary, Paul told the Roman believers two important things. First, though we are not to condemn others for their personal convictions and preferences in serving God, we are to discern whether or not they are serving God. When their interactions with those around them indicate that they are serving themselves rather than God, Paul had some very simple advice. “Keep away from them.” (Rom. 16:17b). This obviously supports the repeated theme of not being in close fellowship with those who are moving away from God. We want to draw near to Him, and it is impossible to move in two opposite directions at the same time.
Second, the way to avoid being sucked in by these self-serving people and their lies and deceptions is to “be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” (Rom. 16:19b). In order to do that, we need to seek to learn God’s ways and practice what is good. As we seek, God promises that we will find. The more we put this into practice, the more in tune we will be with His Holy Spirit within us. Then we will more readily recognize evil for what it is. We do not, as Satan convinced Eve in the Garden, need to “know evil”. We need to know God and avoid evil. As Paul said, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Rom. 16:20a). We want to be sure that we are with God and not with Satan when that happens.
Num. 17-18
What was God’s purpose in causing Aaron’s rod to sprout? What argument was He settling and why was it important? As I read this passage this morning, I saw a lot of correlation between Aaron with his staff and Jesus. God sprouted Aaron’s staff to definitively reveal His chosen one. That is, He made what was dead live, just as He did when He brought Jesus out of that tomb, definitively revealing Him as God’s Chosen One. And God didn’t just sprout Aaron’s staff. That staff “budded, blossomed, and produced almonds.” (Num. 17:8b). Thus, in a sense, God not only gave life to that staff, but He made that staff life-giving.
The Israelite’s reaction to all of this is the same one that we should have when we encounter a holy God through Jesus. “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!” (Num. 17:12). The first step to salvation is recognizing that we need it. But like that staff, Jesus was set between God and us so that we will not die. Like Aaron, Jesus bore the responsibility for our sins and provided a way for us to live in the presence of our holy God.