Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites- Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly.  They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves!  For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”- Numbers 16:1-4 BSB

Warrior;

The Rebellion of Korah is an interesting story in the Bible.  What makes it so interesting is that it is in all three of the great faiths, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  There are very few similarities across all three faiths, and this is the one similarity that is very consistent across all three faiths.  When the Israelites were on their exodus from Egypt, they spend 40 years in the desert it was a journey that should have only taken 11 days, but it wound up taking 40.  It is posited that somewhere between 2-3.5 million people walked out of Egypt, and only 2 that walked out of the bondage of Egypt, walked into the promised land; Caleb and Joshua- not even their Leader, Moses would enter the promised land. It is written: Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 14:28-30)

Leader, God was so angry with the bitter and bickering Israelites that God punished them throughout the entire journey for their rebellion, their bickering their strife!  The book of Numbers was at one time called the book of Census’.  There are 2 book ends and both are counting of the people that left captivity and then counting of the people who entered the final destination- the Promised land. The first census was recorded in Numbers 1, where the Israelites were counted in the wilderness of Sinai, and the second census was in Numbers 26, which occurred nearly 40 years later, after they were on the brink of entering Canaan.  The first census counted 603,550 men who were able to serve in the army, while the second counted 601,730 men. By comparison America has grown by over 100 million people in the last 40 years, an increase of over 40%.  Israel had an almost zero population growth, actually they entered with less people then left Egypt.  All who entered were born on the journey, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.  Why?  Because God destroyed many of them for their strife and bitterness. God has used that experience for thousands of years, to show his disdain for strife.  We must consider how God despises disunity and considers strife a destroyer of the hearts and minds of His children. Yet, if we look around our families, our communities, our churches, our country, even our mental health- there is decay, destruction and disunity.  It is an issue of BROKEN HEARTS and BITTER ROOTS.

Conduit, It is written, “For where Jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice”. (James 3:16) The Jews new the story of Korah, it was talked about regularly.  When Jesus was in the flesh, growing in his earthly tabernacle He and His brothers knew about it.  Jesus’ brother in the flesh, Judah, mentions it his one chapter epistle. Hear the word of the Lord, “Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. (Jude 1:11) Strife is the soil in which all sins grow. It creates confusion, division and opens the door to every evil work.  This has been a weapon that the enemy has used to bring decay, destruction and disorganization to America and the world. Strife magnifies existing pain.  Israel was already discouraged: Korah and his clan weaponized that discouragement. Strife spreads contagiously, Once Korah spoke, “the whole congregation” rose up. Strife is rebellion against God’s peace. It is not just interpersonal conflict it is cosmic defiance against the Lord, His Church, His children, His bride. John Bevere wrote a book 30 years ago called, “The bait of Satan”.  It is all about the SPIRIT of OFFENSE.  You can be like the world, or you can be pleasing to God and LET GO of your offense and LET GOD be GOD.  The rebellion of Korah is remembered across all three faiths precisely because it dramatizes the destructive power of strife. It is not about JUSTICE it is about MERCY, GRACE and FORGIVENESS. Psalm 85:10 says: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” This is fulfilled in Jesus; He embodies truth and righteousness yet offers mercy and peace. Today go to the cross and lay down your pound of flesh, your RECORD OF WRONG and FORGIVE. The cross is the answer to our BITTER ROOTS. God not giving us the punishment we deserve is called Mercy. God giving us the blessing we don’t deserve is called GRACE. Get some and give some! The Cross is where it all comes together- it is the intersection where mercy withholds judgment, and grace pours out salvation. See you at the CROSS!