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Like Father, like Son; like Master, like student
Shooting the messenger happens way too often in history. We are also to guard ourselves against envy, jealousy and covetousness for position authority and esteem. Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) knew who He was and yet, He was willing to live in this world as a servant.
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
John 15:18–19 NASB
We are to praise the Father for what we have, rather than complaining about or yearning for what you don’t have. We are to be thankful for the blessings God has given us and for His mercy, which we have not earned.
We should be humble like this tax collector who realized he needed to turn away from his cheating life and turn toward the Author of Life:
Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
Luke 19:8 NASB
He showed the fruit of repentance by restoring above and beyond what the Torah required of him.
Korach’s bald-faced lie
If you study the genealogy of the immediate descendants of Levi (Ex. 6:16–25; Num. 26:58–60), you discover that Korach was Levi’s eldest great-grandson, born from the line of Levi’s eldest son Kohath, while Aaron, and Moses were descended from Kohath’s third son Amran. Korach, Aaron and Moses were all first cousins from the same Levite clan.
Commentators have noted over the centuries where the ringleaders of the rebellion recorded in the Torah reading קֹרַח Korakh/Korach (“Korah,” Numbers 16–18) camped. The families of Kohath camped just in front of the tribe of Reuben, so they were neighbors. As anyone who has been camping knows, neighbors at campsites tend to talk, and one can easily see how the families of Korah (descended from Levi), Dathan and Abiram (descended from Reuben) would have shared and amplified their grievances together.
Korach twisted God’s words to presume the right to usurp Aaron’s role as High Priest. This is what God says,
“’Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Exodus 19:5–6 NASB
This is what Korach said:
… “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
Numbers 16:3 NASB
Moses replies, asking:
… “Hear now, you sons of Levi, is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?”
Numbers 16:8–11 NASB
We are instructed by God through the apostle Ya’akob to be cautious about those put into positions of authority:
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
James 3:1 NASB
Pride goes before a steep fall
But the rebels, particularly the Reubenite leaders Dathan and Abiram, respond by refusing to approach Moses and Aaron at all. The Torah mentions in the previous reading that Aaron and the other priests were commanded to shroud and carefully cover the most holy items before Korach and the other members of the Kohath clan carried them from one camp to another.
Korach’s cohort decided to accept Moses terms to the challenge, but they approached the Tabernacle outside his covering. Korach was trying to democratize the priesthood, refusing to “come up” to the tabernacle himself.
In Luke 14:7-12, Yeshua warned us not to seek the best seats in the banquets and parties but to sit at the lower seats so the host will call on you and move you up. In Matthew 23:6, He chastises the Pharisees for desiring the seats of honor in the synagogue and at public banquets. He calls His disciples to be humble and low in spirit.
We have been given the greatest gift to be called sons and daughters of God, because of how great God is, not because of anything we have done to earn such a tittle.
The Tabernacle is the ultimate “other” place and people could not just waltz in whenever they wanted to do so without deadly consequences. The only way we can approach the holy place is in humility.
Don’t falsely accuse God or His anointed
Korach continued to make false accusation against Moses and Aaron, and rejected their authority:
“Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
Numbers 16:13–14 NASB
The first generation condemned themselves to death in the wilderness because of their own lack of faith in God, not because of anything Moses or Aaron did, as we read in John 6. God miraculously preserved their clothing, footwear, etc. throughout the entire sojourn in the wilderness, even after the first generation were judged unworthy to enter the Promised Land.
Imagine how much God gave that first generation. He sustained them in the wilderness, and He promised to protect their children from the “giants” in the land and give the land to them.
The spies brought back evidence of the fruitfulness of the Land, and how it could easily sustain them. The only reason they were not sitting in the vineyards and fields is that they didn’t want to go into the land when God gave them the chance to do so, but God will give the second generation the vineyards and fields the first generation rejected.
“Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.”
Numbers 16:17 NASB
The incense not only provides a physical covering but also represented prayers. One may wonder why these rebels even had incense censers in the first place? They might have still had them from before God centralized the priesthood, when the priesthood was held by the eldest sons of the households.
“Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.”
Numbers 16:19 NASB
Korach brought his rebellion right to entrance to the tabernacle. This was a place where the congregation was to come with the singleness of purpose to be closer to God but Korach was sowing division by poisoning people against the high priest and the prophet.
Later in the time of the Temple, this area at the doorway is where the people of the nations were allowed to come to approach God in prayer. But the Temple authorities had made the area into a raucous marketplace, so the place that should have been a place of peace and prayer was a “den of thieves.”
The apostle Paul noted this Torah instruction during his trial in Acts 23:1-5, and Yeshua was also challenged with this verse during his trial in John 18:19-24:
“You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”
Exodus 22:28 NASB
Moshe and Aharon responded to the accusations against them with a prostrated plea for God’s mercy for the accusers:
“O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”
Numbers 16:22 NASB
There is a stark difference between the arrogance and entitlement of Korach and his co-conspirators v. Moses and Aharon. Korach and his co-conspirators are projecting their own arrogance and sense of entitlement on Moses and Aharon.
Do what God calls you to do
Moshe interceded for the people like he did at the Golden Calf, and this time Aharon joins Moshe in intercession. The high priest who condemned Yeshua unwittingly invoked this plea to Heaven — that One would suffer for the nation — because he was more afraid of Roman power to prosper or crush Israel.
We may feel that we have gone too far and gone far beyond what God can reach but we need to trust in the One who can find us, no matter how deep the hole we are in. He can find us regardless of how deep the pit we are in is. But those who love darkness more than light will find themselves in a very bad place.
We may have an idea who should be condemned and who should not be condemned but such decisions are belong to God alone.
Sanctification is the process God puts us through to teach us how to love His ways more than our own.
In the book of Revelation, the dragon, beast and the false prophet are like Korach, Datan and Abiram: They go down together with all those who are part of their “household.”
Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
Numbers 16:35 NASB
This fire is the same fire that came upon Nadab and Abihu, which means that this incense may have been similar to the “foreign fire.”
We shouldn’t ask what we want to do, but what does God want us to do? Are we willing to work in the roles we have or do we aspire a role that God doesn’t have for us. In clerical circles, it’s important for leaders to have accountability to others. In both the Tanach1Hebrew acronym for Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings), i.e., the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, there are levels of accountability.
I am accountable to all of you, to those who attend services at Hallel, but we need to work on more formal levels of accountability between the leadership and the congregation. Every time we read the story of Korach, it’s an opportunity for leadership to check themselves to see if they are exercising leadership in a proper way.
New believers have passion and zeal but not much wisdom and that is why the Apostle Paul warns not to put people into leadership too quickly.
Abraham, when he was negotiating for Sodom and Gomorrah, he also exercised great humility with God. Moses, during this struggle with Korach, exercised similar humility.
“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.”
Numbers 16:37 NASB
It’s very intersection that the instruments of rebellion became holy implements of the tabernacle.
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!”
Numbers 16:46 NASB
Moses could have taken matters into his own hands but even in this very stressful situation playing out before him, he did not usurp Aharon’s authority the way that Korach was doing.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:11–12 NASB
We will face opposition, just as Yeshua faced opposition. But we can learn about how to be good, humble leaders in the example of Moses and Aharon. We can also learn from the mistakes of Korach, Dathan and Abiram.
Summary: Tammy