Jimmie
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NUMBERS 16:1-18:32… Parashat: Korach (The Rebel Levite)
This study is about a Levite named “Korach” and a few of his friends: Dathan and Abiram. They got together with 250 other chief leaders, and they “Rose up in the face of Moshe”. This, for sure, was NOT a friendly gathering; Pride and arrogance had filled the hearts of these men, and now they questioned Moshe’s authority.
We can’t seem to understand why, after Moshe led them through the wilderness, went up Mt. Sinai, received the commandments, and interceded for the whole people on various occasions so that God would not destroy them, that they now want to question Moshe’s leadership and calling.
“Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and YHVH is among them; wherefore then lift ye yourselves above the assembly of YHVH?” (16:3)
Now, here’s a question: was Korah right by saying that “all the congregation is holy, and that YHVH was with them?” Yes, he was absolutely right!
“You shall be unto me a holy nation and a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5). There was nothing wrong with that statement, because it is a TRUE statement. Today, every born-again believer is a “priest”; we have access to the Throne of Grace, just like the priests of old went before the people in the Tabernacle and later on, in the Holy Temple to make intercession before YHVH. God's presence is with every born-again believer. We are all HOLY because we have been "called out" to serve God.
Through Yeshua, we have intercession before a Holy God. What was WRONG was that they questioned Aaron and Moshe’s authority by saying, “Wherefore lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of YHVH?”
The truth is that they did NOT lift themselves up over the “Congregation of Israel”; it was ADONAI who lifted THEM UP! It was YHVH who ordained them as leaders to lead the flock of Israel. In the church/synagogue setting, there has to be a pastor or rabbi, assistant pastor and associate rabbi or rabbis, then we have the Sunday School teachers, Torah teachers, youth workers, children’s ministry, music and worship leaders and assistants, secretaries, finance officers, etc.… All have been put into these places by God's calling according to their spiritual gifts.
We all have MUCH VALUE in ministry; for that reason, we are given the spiritual gifts to make the Body of Messiah work and run like a well-oiled machine. YET, when rebels come and want to disrupt the congregation, disaster can happen, and that is what the enemy “HaSatan” wants; yet before that happened, YHVH had to step in and deal with the situation at hand. In all, we have 250 plus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram that are causing the rebellion. A rebellion that could have spread to a few million Israelites had to be stopped.
YHVH has them bring their censers and put incense and fire in them and bring them before the Tabernacle. YHVH will settle the matter once and for all. Remember that the censers, incense, and fire symbolize our prayers that ascend to Adonai. Moshe, in a way, is saying, “LORD, YOU show this crowd who you want to lead, and be high priest!”
Adonai answered in a very frightening way. But before that, Moshe pointed out to Korah that he was already appointed to serve in the tabernacle, intercede before the people, yet Korah was not satisfied; he wanted even MORE, to be priest, and perhaps even “High Priest”.
Korah’s defiance led to a rebellion, and the rebellion led to destruction. Not only the destruction of Korah, but also of those who followed him. In Hebrew, the words “Korach,” which symbolizes “Rebellion,” and “Sh’dad,” which means “destruction,” are related, because they both have the same numeric value in Hebrew gematria: “308”. Korah’s rebellion led to destruction. There are 7 steps to a rebellion, which are 1) Self-exaltation, 2) jealousy, 3) conspiring with others to join in, 4) deceitful words, 5) accusations, 6) creating division, 7) death. Reminds us of Hitler and Stalin. They ended up destroying their nations.
As we read on, the “earth opened up” and swallowed up Korah and his household. They went down into Sheol alive! Before that, they told Moses "We will not go up" (When Moses called them to come near). This was a self-prophecy upon them, because they ended up down in Sheol and they did "Not go back up" (to the surface). HOWEVER, God did not punish the righteous members of Korah’s family. Remember that the “Sons of Korah” wrote some of the Psalms. (42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88)
A little about the sons of Korach; they were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaf (Exodus 6:24). Their names mean "Captive or prisoner" (Assir), "God has purchased" (Elkanah), and "My father has chosen" (Abiasaf). This conveys an interesting message to all believers. "We were prisoners, captives in the courts of Satan, until Yeshua bought us our freedom through his shed blood. We are all "chosen" (ahead of time) by our Heavenly Father.
Perhaps these sons of Korach wrote these Psalms and were passed down through their generations until they were added to the Book of Psalms, or these sons' descendants wrote them. (There is a difference of about 400 years from the time of Korach to King David) The "descendants of Korach" became singers and musicians in the Temple. The Prophet Samuel was a descendant of Korach. We are glad that these three sons resisted their Dad and refused to take part in this rebellion.
Then we see that Adonai wipes out all the 250 rebels, cleans the slate! No more rebels; may that be a lesson for those who would want to challenge Adonai or his appointed ones.
We must be reminded of what 1 Peter 2:13-15 says: “”Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man”, “or unto governors” “So is the will of God” God has appointed them to lead us.
We also see in this study that God further shows the congregation who He has chosen to be High Priest, through the 12 staffs of the 12 tribal leaders. All staffs were placed before the Tent of Meeting, and only the Staff of Aaron budded and bloomed, and even produced almonds. What does this tell us about Messiah Yeshua?
The Hebrew word for "Almond" is "Shaked." There is a similar word which is spelled almost the same, which is "Shoked," which means "to watch or guard." An interesting fact about the Almond Tree is that it is the first tree to revive after winter and bud. So, here is how the Staff of Aaron reminds us of Yeshua:
Almonds budded on a dead stick; Yeshua rose from the dead, and is the first fruits of the resurrection. He keeps watch and guards us through His Living Word (the Tablets of the Law represent His Word), which were inside the Ark of the Covenant together with the Manna (Yeshua, the Bread of Life)
To end this, we can say that we ALL have a place in ministry; we are all vessels of VALUE. Yet all vessels have a maker, and that maker is YHVH, and he always chooses a certain vessel or vessels to lead others; we must all come under that leadership, lift up that leadership, uphold those hands of leadership through support and prayer. Who knows, maybe Adonai will choose YOU as an appointed leader!
Have a blessed Week;
This study is about a Levite named “Korach” and a few of his friends: Dathan and Abiram. They got together with 250 other chief leaders, and they “Rose up in the face of Moshe”. This, for sure, was NOT a friendly gathering; Pride and arrogance had filled the hearts of these men, and now they questioned Moshe’s authority.
We can’t seem to understand why, after Moshe led them through the wilderness, went up Mt. Sinai, received the commandments, and interceded for the whole people on various occasions so that God would not destroy them, that they now want to question Moshe’s leadership and calling.
“Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and YHVH is among them; wherefore then lift ye yourselves above the assembly of YHVH?” (16:3)
Now, here’s a question: was Korah right by saying that “all the congregation is holy, and that YHVH was with them?” Yes, he was absolutely right!
“You shall be unto me a holy nation and a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5). There was nothing wrong with that statement, because it is a TRUE statement. Today, every born-again believer is a “priest”; we have access to the Throne of Grace, just like the priests of old went before the people in the Tabernacle and later on, in the Holy Temple to make intercession before YHVH. God's presence is with every born-again believer. We are all HOLY because we have been "called out" to serve God.
Through Yeshua, we have intercession before a Holy God. What was WRONG was that they questioned Aaron and Moshe’s authority by saying, “Wherefore lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of YHVH?”
The truth is that they did NOT lift themselves up over the “Congregation of Israel”; it was ADONAI who lifted THEM UP! It was YHVH who ordained them as leaders to lead the flock of Israel. In the church/synagogue setting, there has to be a pastor or rabbi, assistant pastor and associate rabbi or rabbis, then we have the Sunday School teachers, Torah teachers, youth workers, children’s ministry, music and worship leaders and assistants, secretaries, finance officers, etc.… All have been put into these places by God's calling according to their spiritual gifts.
We all have MUCH VALUE in ministry; for that reason, we are given the spiritual gifts to make the Body of Messiah work and run like a well-oiled machine. YET, when rebels come and want to disrupt the congregation, disaster can happen, and that is what the enemy “HaSatan” wants; yet before that happened, YHVH had to step in and deal with the situation at hand. In all, we have 250 plus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram that are causing the rebellion. A rebellion that could have spread to a few million Israelites had to be stopped.
YHVH has them bring their censers and put incense and fire in them and bring them before the Tabernacle. YHVH will settle the matter once and for all. Remember that the censers, incense, and fire symbolize our prayers that ascend to Adonai. Moshe, in a way, is saying, “LORD, YOU show this crowd who you want to lead, and be high priest!”
Adonai answered in a very frightening way. But before that, Moshe pointed out to Korah that he was already appointed to serve in the tabernacle, intercede before the people, yet Korah was not satisfied; he wanted even MORE, to be priest, and perhaps even “High Priest”.
Korah’s defiance led to a rebellion, and the rebellion led to destruction. Not only the destruction of Korah, but also of those who followed him. In Hebrew, the words “Korach,” which symbolizes “Rebellion,” and “Sh’dad,” which means “destruction,” are related, because they both have the same numeric value in Hebrew gematria: “308”. Korah’s rebellion led to destruction. There are 7 steps to a rebellion, which are 1) Self-exaltation, 2) jealousy, 3) conspiring with others to join in, 4) deceitful words, 5) accusations, 6) creating division, 7) death. Reminds us of Hitler and Stalin. They ended up destroying their nations.
As we read on, the “earth opened up” and swallowed up Korah and his household. They went down into Sheol alive! Before that, they told Moses "We will not go up" (When Moses called them to come near). This was a self-prophecy upon them, because they ended up down in Sheol and they did "Not go back up" (to the surface). HOWEVER, God did not punish the righteous members of Korah’s family. Remember that the “Sons of Korah” wrote some of the Psalms. (42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88)
A little about the sons of Korach; they were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaf (Exodus 6:24). Their names mean "Captive or prisoner" (Assir), "God has purchased" (Elkanah), and "My father has chosen" (Abiasaf). This conveys an interesting message to all believers. "We were prisoners, captives in the courts of Satan, until Yeshua bought us our freedom through his shed blood. We are all "chosen" (ahead of time) by our Heavenly Father.
Perhaps these sons of Korach wrote these Psalms and were passed down through their generations until they were added to the Book of Psalms, or these sons' descendants wrote them. (There is a difference of about 400 years from the time of Korach to King David) The "descendants of Korach" became singers and musicians in the Temple. The Prophet Samuel was a descendant of Korach. We are glad that these three sons resisted their Dad and refused to take part in this rebellion.
Then we see that Adonai wipes out all the 250 rebels, cleans the slate! No more rebels; may that be a lesson for those who would want to challenge Adonai or his appointed ones.
We must be reminded of what 1 Peter 2:13-15 says: “”Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man”, “or unto governors” “So is the will of God” God has appointed them to lead us.
We also see in this study that God further shows the congregation who He has chosen to be High Priest, through the 12 staffs of the 12 tribal leaders. All staffs were placed before the Tent of Meeting, and only the Staff of Aaron budded and bloomed, and even produced almonds. What does this tell us about Messiah Yeshua?
The Hebrew word for "Almond" is "Shaked." There is a similar word which is spelled almost the same, which is "Shoked," which means "to watch or guard." An interesting fact about the Almond Tree is that it is the first tree to revive after winter and bud. So, here is how the Staff of Aaron reminds us of Yeshua:
Almonds budded on a dead stick; Yeshua rose from the dead, and is the first fruits of the resurrection. He keeps watch and guards us through His Living Word (the Tablets of the Law represent His Word), which were inside the Ark of the Covenant together with the Manna (Yeshua, the Bread of Life)
To end this, we can say that we ALL have a place in ministry; we are all vessels of VALUE. Yet all vessels have a maker, and that maker is YHVH, and he always chooses a certain vessel or vessels to lead others; we must all come under that leadership, lift up that leadership, uphold those hands of leadership through support and prayer. Who knows, maybe Adonai will choose YOU as an appointed leader!
Have a blessed Week;
