Rebellion Against God!

Numbers 16 - Korah's Rebellion

Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,

And certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab,

And On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses.

With them were 250 Israelite men, well known community leaders

Who had been appointed members of the council.

They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said the them,

'You have gone too far! The whole community is holy,

Every one of them, and the Lord is with them.

Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?'

[Today, we must remember

That there is not necessarily spiritual validity in numbers.

Many who claim the Name of Christ would have you believe

That anyone who names that Name is in good standing with the Lord;

They would claim that because they are called “Christian,”

All is well with them and that no one need tell them any different;

That anyone who teaches a different “path,” has gone too far!

Never mind that it is the narrow WAY Christ taught.

The reality is that any way outside of Christ's narrow WAY

Is rebellion against Christ.

Christ is the ONE Teacher and all rebellion is against Him!]

When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.

Then he said to Korah and all his followers:

'In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to Him

And who is holy,

And He will have that person come near Him.

The man He chooses He will cause to come near Him.

You Korah, and all your followers are to do this:

Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the Lord.

The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy.

You Levites have gone too far!'

[Today, the Lord will show who belongs to Him! He alone chooses!

Today, those “Christians” who love the world, will be left with the world,

When God's Great Tribulation comes upon the world.

In so doing, God will show those who belong to Him and those who do not.]

Moses also said to Korah, 'Now listen, you Levites!

Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you

From the rest of the Israelite community

And brought you near Himself to do the work a the Lord's Tabernacle

And to stand before the community and minister to them?

He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near Himself,

But now you are trying to get the priesthood too.

It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together.

Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?'

[It is ironic that often those who claim to belong to God are against God.

They want to be religious but not godly.

Those who belong to God are priests of God

And serve God through the veil which is Christ.

Only those who have been crucified with Christ to this world

Have access to the Holy of Holies; to the Kingdom Of God;

It is Christ in you alone, that has access to the Holy of Holies;

Christ alone can take you there; Only those are “priests” of God.

All other claims are simply the words of man.]

Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab.

But they said, 'We will not come!

Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land

Flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert?

And now you also want to lord it over us?

Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey

Or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.

Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!'

Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord,

'Do not accept their offering.

I have not taken so much as a donkey from them,

Nor have I wronged any of them.'

[Today, those who are looking for milk and honey will be disillusioned

In these END Times because the prosperity that they took for granted,

And that promised by false teachers and preachers, will flee away.

They will rail against God because of this,

And in so doing, they will loose the GLORY of God and His Heaven.]

Moses said to Korah,

'You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow--

You and they and Aaron.

Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all--

And present it before the Lord.

You and Aaron are to present your censers also.'

So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it,

And stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent Of Meeting.

When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them

At the entrance to the Tent Of Meeting,

The GLORY of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

'Separate yourselves from this assembly

So I can put an end to them at once.'

[Today, there will be those who claim to belong to God;

They will have their censer with “incense” in it,

But the only “incense” God will accept with be the worship of those

Who worship God in Spirit and in Truth; in and through Christ in them;

Those who love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strenght.]

But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out,

'O God, God of the spirits of all mankind,

Will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one mans sins?'

Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to the assembly,

'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'

Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram,

And the elders of Israel followed him.

He warned the assembly, 'Move back from the tents of these wicked men!

Do not touch anything belonging to them,

Or you will be swept away because of all their sins.'

So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing

With their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.

Then Moses said, 'This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me

To do all these things and that it was not my idea:

If these men die a natural death

And experience only what usually happens to men,

Then the Lord has not sent me.

But if the Lord brings about something totally new,

And the earth opens its mouth and swallows them,

With everything that belongs to them,

And they go down alive into the grave,

Then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.'

As soon as he finished saying all this,

The ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth

And swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men

And all their possessions.

They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned;

The earth closed over them,

And they perished and were gone from the community.

At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting,

'The earth is going to swallow us too!'

And fire came out from the Lord

And consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

The Lord said to Moses,

'Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest to take the censers

Out of the smoldering remains and scatter to coals some distance away,

For the censers are holy--

The censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives.

Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar,

For they were presented before the Lord and have become holy.

Let them be a sign to the Israelites.'

[One will be taken and one will be left behind. (Luke 17:35)

Those left behind will be swallowed up in God's Great Tribulation.

They will have the opportunity to reject the “mark” of the Beast

And die for Christ, but otherwise they are lost forever.

Rebellion against God has Eternal Consequences.

God will not accept incense other than that offer through Christ;

That offered in Spirit and in Truth.]

So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers

Brought by those who had been burned up,

And he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,

As the Lord directed him through Moses.

This was to remind the Israelites

That no one except a descendant of Aaron

Should come to burn incense before the Lord,

Or he would become like Korah and his followers.

[No one can offer “incense” to God unless they are authorized.

Only those with Christ in them

And who worship in Spirit and in Truth are authorized.

The day is fast approaching when God will make clear

Those whose worship He accepts.

In the Beatitudes, the parable of the Sheep and the Goats,

The parable of the Ten Virgins, The Seven Letters to the Seven Churches 

And other sayings, Christ defines whose worship is acceptable to Him.]

The next day the whole Israelite community

Grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

'You have killed the Lord's people,' they said.

[The people accuse Moses of killing Korah and those who died

But it was not Moses, it was God Almighty.

Today, we do not live before man but before God and His Christ Jesus.

God alone determines who lives and who dies Eternally.]

But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron

And turned toward the Tent Of Meeting,

Suddenly the cloud covered it and the GLORY of the Lord appeared.

Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent Of Meeting,

And the Lord said to Moses,

'Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.'

And they fell facedown.

[Today, we pray that all those who claim the Name of Christ Jesus

Receive all that Christ has for them

And that they are in right standing before God.]

Then Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer and put incense in it,

Along with fire from the altar,

And hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them.

Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.'

So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly.

The plague had already started among the people,

But Aaron offered the incense and made atonement form them.

He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.

But 14,700 people died from the plague,

In addition to those who had died because of Korah.

Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent Of Meeting,

For the plague had stopped.

[Today, we call all men into right relationship with Christ Jesus;

The only atonement that God has provided.

We lift up Christ, so that all me will be drawn to Him.

Once the Final Plague, The Great Tribulation starts;

For those who find themselves in it

The only Eternal escape will be to reject the “mark” of the Beast

And to die for Christ Jesus.]

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)

Save yourself from this corrupt generation! (Acts 2:40)

As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!