Ultimate Rebellion

Numbers 16:1-18:32

Korach

"Korah"

The scripture begins with our being told that Korah was a Levi and he led a group of 250 "men of renown" in a revolt against Moses and Aaron.  Ultimately, God opens up a gorge in the earth that swallows Korah and his entire family (including Dathan and Abarim and their families).  Then the Lord sent fire and consumed the 250 who had joined the revolt.  The next day the people of Israel come against Moses and Aaron and blame them for the loss of these lives.  A plague breaks out and 15,000 die before Aaron's intercession stops the plague.

As I allowed myself to meditate over these scriptures one scripture kept coming back to me:

[Num 16:3 NASB] 3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "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?"

Some of the concepts that are worth discussing are:

• Open doors that lead to rebellion
• How these things relate to anti-Semitism
• Humility as we approach God

A thought that kept coming to me as I read these verses is "Who intercedes for Moses and Aaron"?  It was this thought that ultimately led me to what I am about to share.

Without quoting a bunch of scripture we know that Jesus is currently at the right hand of the father where He acts as our intercessor.  In my own words, I would say that He is the "unmerited favor" side of the God Head.  We also know that He descended from heaven and ascended to where He came from.  We also know that He was with God during creation and it was He who breathed all of creation into existence.  With all this in mind, my theological position is that spiritual Jesus performed as intercessor at the right hand of the father in the Old Covenant just as He is now for the New.  As I see it, all those Old Covenant clauses that say "If you_____, then_____, and I will forgive" are explanations of the legal relationship between spiritual Jesus, God, and Israel within the context of the Old Covenant law.

Hopefully that didn't trip you up too bad and you can move on with me through the next thoughts.  I understand that this is somewhat of a unique approach to the Old Covenant.  The simplest way to come alongside me in this is to agree that Jesus (Yeshua) has forever been a part of God, that He does not change, and that He will forever be who He has always been.  Maybe that helps.

I believe that ultimately, Moses and Aaron understood the heart of the Covenant and even their legal rights under the covenant to access Spiritual Jesus and the forgiveness promised.  I believe this is what qualified them to be the leaders and priests.  They understood the covenant from a spiritual perspective, they saw the face of God, and understood what it is to be one of His children.  They understood that it was only because of Him that they were Holy, that they were able to accomplish what He accomplished through them, and that it was Him who was acting through them.  I believe that they understood that without Him in them they were not capable of approaching Him.  And, I believe that they understood that all the understood was simply not because of them but because of Him and what He put into them.  They understood the gift.

This is what I see as the primary difference between Korah and Moses and Aaron.  Korah, leads a rebellion based on the precept that "all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst". 

In other words, he is saying, "We don't need an intercessor.  We are holy enough to approach God directly."  I believe this is the ultimate rebellion.  It is the sprit that says "I don't need Jesus.  I can approach God as I am.  I AM HOLY".

As I reflect on these scriptures I ponder how Korah and this band of rebels fell so far.  There are a few things that I believe each of us can take from this.

• I believe that Korah was jealous of  Moses and Aaron and how he perceived that God saw them.  I believe that he thought that God saw them as holy enough to approach Him directly without an intercessor.  This led to a more than/less than comparison.  Sadly, nothing could have been further from the truth.  I believe that God simply saw the humility of Moses and Aaron and knew He could trust that they would never get so prideful that they would forget that it is only in and through spiritual Jesus that they have access to Him and that in this they were the ones chosen to represent what relationship with Him looks like.
• Another more than/less than comparison is possible in that what Korah may have been experiencing was a jealousy that God, our ultimate father, saw Moses and Aaron as somehow "better" then he and his family.  This again is a lie of the enemy.  The simple truth is, we are all just different.  Some of us have been called to one thing, others to another.  Moses and Aaron were not called to do what Korah and his family were instructed to do right?  So, why did Korah want the jobs of Moses and Aaron but neither Moses or Aaron challenged Korah for his role?
• Maybe there was a jealousy over the power.  As human beings we tend to see hierarchy and struggle to move out from the control of others and into the control of our own doing.  Ultimately Korah and those he led in the rebellion may have seen Moses as being in control.  Again, this is a lie of the enemy.  Ultimately, God was in control.  Moses and Aaron bent their knee to God.  If Korah and the others would have seen truth, they would have known that they were not submitting to Moses and Aaron but to God.  Our battle over control is a battle with God.
• When I think of the "men of renown" I can't help but thinking of Jesus telling us that it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven then a camel through the eye of a needle.  I realize how easy it is when things are going good to believe that we, in our own abilities, have brought about what we have accomplished.  From this place of pride it is easy to leave God out, believe that we are capable of climbing the corporate ladder on our own, and that we are the ones who should be making all the rules.  From this place of pride we believe we are capable of being better leaders than those guys who are currently at the top.  We do not see God in control but man and want to resolve all the problems our way.
• Finally, the concept of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence comes to mind.  I believe this is the jealousy of anti-semitism.  I can't even begin to tell how many times I have heard the words "chosen people" being used in a context of jealousy.  "Why them"?  Why do they think they are so special?  Why do they think that God would have chosen them over any of us?  They are so full of pride!!  Isn't this exactly what Korah was questioning in Moses and Aaron?  Isn't this accusation of pride the same?  The reality is that as leader Moses was caring a substantially larger burden than any of the other Israelites.  As priests, Aaron and his family never got a land inheritance, they bore the guilt of the sanctuary, and they bore the guilt of the priesthood.  They became substitutes for the "first born" of every animal and every family as "being dedicated to the Lord".  This was their calling, their appointment, and their lives. They had no choice in the matter.  How often do we want the benefits of someone else's life without weighing the costs of the effort of living it?

Ultimately, Moses was the greatest prophet because he was able to speak to God face to face.  I believe this was because of his great humility.  He was able to see and understand all of what I have outlined above, stand above the temptations of the enemy, and trust that it is only in and through God that He was able to accomplish all that God had done through Him.  He understood that all of his assignments were based on who God is and separate from who he was.  He understood that it is only through His grace and His cleanliness that we are capable of approaching Him.  And He understood that before he could approach God in behalf of the people that he himself needed to look into the mirror of God's perfect light and see his own flaws, what God was revealing to him about his own un-holiness, and even to get right with God in those same regards surrounding his own family.  Finally, Moses allowed God to be God.  He took God at His Word and was able to share that Word with us.  He was able to allow Him to take responsibility for the things that He did that most of us would say is "not love".  Because of this he was able to speak to God face to face, to be His guy, and was chosen to lead the people.  In seeing God for all of who He is Moses had a tough life.  He saw things and understood things that most of us could not bear.

As we think about the torn veil, our ability to move into the "holy of holies" and approach God ourselves I pray we think about these things.  Do we remember that it is only in and through Him that we can do this?  Are we ready to hear what we need to hear about ourselves before our prayers for others will be heard?  Are we willing to let Him be who He says He is?  Are we ready to bear the weight of knowing?