Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays

Morning by Morning, February 26 - Standing in Faith Between the Living and the Dead with the Incense of Prayer

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek Your face and call on Your name to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...

"On the next day, however, the whole congregation of the Israelites rebelled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, 'You have killed the people of the Lord.' And when the congregation assembled against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the Tent of Meeting; the cloud had covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Get away from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer, put fire on it from the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun.' So Aaron took it as Moses had ordered, and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped" (Numbers 16:41-48).

The stories of the Old Covenant speak to us about spiritual principles of the New Covenant. "Now these things occurred as examples to us, so that we might not desire evil as they did" (1 Corinthians 10:6). An evil desire that arose in the hearts of the Israelites, as Moses and Aaron led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness, was the desire to rebel against God and His leadership of the people through Moses and Aaron. First, Korah spoke against Moses and assembled the people in rebellion, but suffered the consequences of his rebellion and disobedience at the hands of the wrath of God (Numbers 16:1-35). And now, "the whole congregation" were joining in rebellion against God and His leaders, accusing them of being the hand of God's wrath against Korah and his followers (Numbers 16:41). They too would now suffer the wrath of God in response to their rebellion, as a great plague began to move throughout their camp, taking the lives of those who stood in rebellion -- "for wrath has gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun" (Numbers 16:46).

Even then, Moses and Aaron did not join in accusation against the people for their rebellion against God and His leaders. Instead, they turned to God (Numbers 16:42), they "fell on their faces" in humility and prayer to make intercession for the people that mercy would triumph over judgment, even when judgment was deserved (Numbers 16:45).

The thought came to Moses' heart to send Aaron with his censor of fire and its burning incense from the altar of the Tabernacle into the midst of the people to "make atonement for them" (Numbers 16:46). "(Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped" (Numbers 16:48).

There are many spiritual principles to learn from this account. But one that speaks to me today is the power of prayer in the face of a plague. No matter the source of the plague, even if we are the ones who have opened the door to our own destruction in our lives or in our world, the heart of God is to call us to prayer. The burning incense speaks of intercession. Carrying the censor from the Tabernacle to the place of the plague speaks of putting action to our prayers and running to the battle instead of hiding in fear. Standing between the living and the dead speaks of standing in our place of authority in the name of the Lord to speak against the plague, the sickness, the disease, the destruction, and the death that would seek to consume us. And that the plague was stopped speaks of the mercy of God, that mercy triumphs over judgment, that prayer prevails, that's there's authority of life over death, that faith in God overcomes whatever we face.

In this Old Covenant story, Aaron the priest went among the people to "make atonement" for the sins of the people and to stop the plague (Numbers 16:46). Under our New Covenant in You, the Blood of Jesus has made atonement for us. "For in (Jesus Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the Blood of His Cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).

Through the Blood of Your Cross, You have taken upon Yourself every plague or virus, every sickness we endure and every sin we allow, that we could humble ourselves before You in prayer and take our stand with You in faith against all we face. "Surely He has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgression, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6 fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Matthew 8:16-17). "He Himself bore our sins on His Body on the Cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounds (we) have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

Come, Holy Spirit. Draw us to the deep place of intimate prayer, to the humble place of willingly choosing to be desperately dependent upon You alone, to the trusting place of believing in faith that You see every form of sickness or death, virus or plague, in our hearts or our bodies or our world, coming against us to destroy us. Rise up within us to take our stand, with authority and prayer in the power of the name of Jesus and in the mercy of the atoning Blood of our Savior, even between the living the dead. Let our prayers arise like burning incense; let Your mercy triumph over judgment (James 2:13); and let life in You prevail over the sickness, disease, and death of this world (John 10:10). The Coronavirus cannot trump the Crown of Christ!

In the authority of Your name, let us run to the battle and not hide away in fear. Let us declare in the authority and power of Your name, "This far and no more!" (Job 38:11) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you run to the battle for your family and all the Lord has entrusted to you with responsibility and authority in the name of Jesus to take your stand with the incense of prayer and see His mercy triumph and His life prevail over whatever you face, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!