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Isaiah 62 Prayer Letter for March 2023

Dear Prayer Partners,

This month, the Lord is drawing my attention to the question of how to ‘Be Holy as He is Holy’. There are two events in the Book of Numbers that challenge me as I pray.

The first is the sin of Korah in Numbers chapters 16 and 17, and the second one is in chapter 19 and the description of the Ashes of the Red Heifer.

Reading about the sin of Korah, I ask myself how someone who experienced the awesome deliverance of God from slavery in Egypt could later rebel against Moses. He and his followers witnessed first-hand: the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and the visitation of God speaking to Moses on mount Sinai. Yet Korah became insolent, and out of envy he challenged Moses and Aaron. He even convinced Dathan, Abiram and 250 other men to join him in his rebellion against the Lord’s appointed and anointed leaders.

It helps to read the story again: The Lord opened the ground, and it swallowed the rebel leaders with their families and all their possessions. Then the Lord sent fire and it consumed the remaining 250 followers of Korah who were offering incense.

God’s judgement angered the people and they grumbled against Moses, saying: “You have killed the Lord’s people.” Then wrath came from the Lord as a plague and another 14,700 died from the plague before Aaron made atonement for them. Their sin was not just rebellion against Moses and Aaron, but against God.

As I considered these events, I also read about the Ashes of the Red Heifer in Numbers 19.  These ashes were to cleanse the unclean, or to make holy again that which had become defiled.

It is interesting that while these ashes were for spiritual cleansing, those who sacrificed the Red Heifer and burnt it to create the ashes are made unclean. Dare I say they were made unholy by that which is to cleanse and make holy.

In reading Jewish commentaries on this passage, I came across the thought that the same holy item as the Ashes of the Red Heifer, or the same holy experience like watching God’s glory revealed on Mount Sinai, can have either of two opposite effects. It can cleanse and make holy or provoke rebellion and make unholy.

In 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 we read: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life…”

The same aroma of Christ in us, the Hope of Glory, is to some an aroma that brings death and to others it brings life.

May we all walk humbly before our Lord, so that His Word, His Holy Spirit, His works in our world provoke us to greater humility and not rebellion.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

Barry R Denison
Vice President for Operations
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

PS: Our next day of prayer and fasting for the Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 1 March 2023. That same day, we also will be hosting our weekly online Global Prayer Gathering, at 4:00 PM (Israel time). So, please join us there at on.icej.org/ICEJGlobalPrayer

And let us hear from you about your needs and how God has answered your prayers! Send a short email to prayer@icej.org to let us know you are praying and fasting with us.