Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, May 28, 2017
First it starts with the rejection of spiritual authority on the part of a few and then it spreads to a total rejection of the Lord and Bible doctrine on the part of the whole.
Why did the Holy Spirit choose to record this genealogy for us?
Moses is the son of Levi, and the son of Kohath according to Exo 16, "And Moses and Korah were first cousins," -- all of this illustrating that there was no superiority between the Tribes.
Korah is a first cousin to Moses and we all know how it is when you grow up with people, you become very familiar with - this was part of the problem between Korah toward Moses.
As far as Korah was concerned is that he grew up with Moses and he's just as qualified to do the same job.
"took action" = they gained many Jews over to their conspiracy that they were creating at first, secretly against Moses then later on openly.
His associates were Dathan and Abiram, --- "On" ended up backing out.....so there were mainly three of them.
They formed the association or the "inner circle" for the conspiracy.
These are the type of people who can easily be swayed in a conspiracy; bitter people, failures and losers.
Prin-Whenever people fail in life or they are failures they are easy targets for conspiracies and revolt and deception.
"Men of renown" means that these were men with good personalities or men of distinction or as one translation says.....men of note.
They did establish compatibility with those who had become dissatisfied.
Just like today, many believers do not want freedom and liberty and privacy and grace, (why?) --- it's too much pressure.
Most believers today want a set of rules and do's and don'ts to follow rather than the responsibility of being free and responsible for what they do with their freedom.
1. They said to Moses "you have gone far enough" = which means we've had with you.
2. "for all the congregation are holy," = we are just as good as you and can do the job you can.
In a conspiracy there are always those who are jealous, covetous, envious and lustful of what the victim of their conspiracy has.
3. "and the Lord is in our midst;" = we don't need you, the Lord is with us also.
If God wanted Moses removed, He didn't need a conspiracy to do it, He would have done it Himself.
When God does something, it is always a right thing in a right way.
4. "why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" = you make yourself higher than others, you're unapproachable.
He is deceiving people and using them for personal gain.
He's getting as many individuals involved in this as he can, so that the conspiracy will have some credibility and believability.
a. Some have and left this assembly and go absolutely nowhere else and say to God ----- "Take your spiritual gift that You have given me and keep it Yourself, Gal 4:16.
1CO 16:22 If anyone does not personally love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha or under a curse until the Lord comes back.
The conspirators try to recruit so many other frustrated believers to give the conspiracy some credibility and believability.
b. To get people involved you also bully people into supporting something that is evil without them even knowing it.
c. You put them in a position of supporting the conspiracy, which is very difficult for them to get out of, unless, they make some drastic decisions --- like separation.
d. You cause them to get involved with the evil behind the conspiracy, which can be used AGAINST THEM in the future to keep them committed to the conspiracy, as well.
What Korah has also done is promise the 250 princes personal promotion when he gets promoted.
They should have known that the Lord will handle any problems with those in positions of authority, not them.
"Why did God strike Uzzah dead for touching the Ark of the Covenant?"
God’s anger burned against Uzzah and He struck him down and he died.
Because accuracy is the order of the day.
God loves when we follow His commands even when don't understand why the Lord says what He does.
God had given Moses and Aaron specific instructions about the movement of the Ark of the Covenant, Num 4:15.
This was a means of preserving the sense of God’s holiness and the fear of drawing near to Him without appropriate preparation.
Notice how David took men with him to collect the ark, rather than allowing Abinadab and his sons to bring it to him.
It was to be borne upon men's shoulders, and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath, Exo 25:12-14; Num 7:9.
Failing to follow God’s precise instructions would be seen as not revering God’s words when He spoke them through Moses whom God had appointed to be in charge.
Having an independent attitude that might border on rebellion, i.e., seeing and acting on things from a worldly, rather than a spiritual, perspective is disobedience.
The ark had stayed for a period of time at Abinadab’s house. 2Sa 6:3, where his sons, Uzzah and Ahio, may well have become accustomed to its presence.
There’s an old saying, “familiarity breeds contempt,” that could apply in this case.
PRO 20:25 It is a snare for a man to devour that which is holy, and say rashly, "It is holy!"
It means to become familiar with the character and nature of God and the things of God.