Tag: Korah’s rebellion

God’s Chosen Leaders

Numbers 15-17

So things are not going well for the Israelites. In yesterday’s reading, we see that distrust in God led to the destruction of many and the curse of roaming around the desert – which would eventually lead to the death of everyone over 20 years old when they grumbled against the Lord. In today’s reading, God first curses the people by demanding offerings brought in fractions.  Frankly, I would have found this worse than being stuck in the desert. 2/10, ⅓, 3/10, ¼ , WOW! This would definitely be a sacrifice of praise for me! 

Now you would think that having seen God’s miracles and blessings, people would accept Moses as their human leader and do what was required of them. But in Numbers 16, a man named Korah, a Levite,  decides he’s had enough. I don’t know if he blames Moses for the things that have gone wrong on this journey or he just liked picking fights with those in leadership. But long story short, God decides He’s not even going to mess around and swallows Korah, along with his cronies who sided with him and all their households and all that they owned. 

In Numbers 17 God uses the familiar rod (the same rod He turned into a snake, sent a few plagues and split the Red Sea)  to prove that Moses and Aaron are the leaders He anointed. God had Moses collect a rod from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and write the name of each tribe on the rods, Aaron representing the Levites. He would then cause one to bloom and the one that blooms was the rightful leader.  I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you which one bloomed… to the point of producing almonds! I would think that seeing the ground opening up and swallowing a lot of people who had been complaining against Moses and Aaron would have been enough for me to keep my thoughts to myself. However, apparently, there was still some complaining but after the budding of the rod, no one questioned Aaron’s position after that,  Yeah…I kind of think that’s weird too!

Today’s reading ends with, “Behold, we parish, we are dying, we are all dying! Everyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?” Cheery. Even cheerier… WE are all dying. The people of Israel (at that moment) finally realized they were one mistake away from death. They needed a savior. WE need a savior.  I am so grateful this is not the end of the story.

-Maria Knowlton

Reflection Questions

  1. What was Korah’s (and those who aligned with him) sin, or sins?
  2. How did Moses handle this rebellion?
  3. How do you tell who God has chosen as Christian leaders?
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Rebel to Righteousness

Numbers 16 38 ESV

Numbers 16

There was a man named Korah who led a rebellion against Moses’ leadership (Numbers 16:2-3). Moses instructed them to put fire and incense in censors before the Lord to let God decide what man would be in charge. Of course, God stayed faithful to Moses and made it clear that Korah and his men were sinning.
God, to punish the rebels’ sin and rid Israel of false leadership, caused the earth to open up and swallow Korah, his household, and his rebellion. Next, God redeemed the sinful situation into a holy one by turning the censors the men used to sin with into a covering for the altar that was holy.
This is a large part of what makes the Christian faith different than other beliefs. In order to be justified, or have right standing, with the gods of many religions, one must work their way into the god or goddesses’ approval; they need to pray enough, give enough, fast enough, and do enough good all with the hope of making the cut. Our God doesn’t work like that. Instead of accepting the good or holy, he seeks the sinful and makes them holy (Mark 2:17), having exchanged our sin with Jesus’ perfection (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is a fundamental difference, that he takes the sinful and makes him holy, instead of expecting the sinful to clean himself up and work his way into his favor which is impossible for man (Rom. 3:10-12). We serve a wonderful God who can turn rebels to righteous before God.

The God of Second Chances – Numbers 17

The story of the rod of Aaron.
The rod was like a stick and these twelve men carved their names on them, out of the twelve one of them sprouted. The one that sprouted was Aaron’s rod and he became the priest. God worked this miracle to prove to the children of Israel that they had been wrong in questioning whom the priesthood rightfully belonged to. God mercifully gave Israel another evidence of his will, to correct their judgment. The miracle was sufficient to silence the complaints of the Israelites. After they realized what they had done, they were terrified and said: “Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!” God asked Moses to place the rod in front of the alter so that it served as a reminder that they were wrong in questioning God’s authority.
How many times has God given us a second chance? If you haven’t noticed, every morning is an opportunity to serve Him, love Him, give yourself to Him, reconcile with Him, reconcile with your brother, love those around you, enjoy nature, be kind, serve others. My point is, God is merciful and loving, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercies for thousands..”(Exodus 34:6-7). In His great love, he gives us second chances. However, there will come a day when we will have no more second opportunities.
Andy Cisneros
Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+16-17&version=NLT
Tomorrow’s reading will be Numbers 18-20 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan