Thoughts on Numbers 16
They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”….
Numbers 16:3 NKJV
The saying that a man’s foe wil be those of his household repeatedly came into play in the life of Moses (described as the meekest man on earth), as we carefully consider the chapter before us today.
After the incident in Numbers 12 where Aaron and Miriam raised their voices to lay a charge against Moses, the Lord’s anointed, one would have reasoned that the whole congregation understood whose side God was and who was justified in His sight, bringing to our minds what is written in Rom 8:33 Unfortunately, the memory of the earlier incident seemed not to have lasted long enough as Korah, of the descendants of the Kohathites incited some 250 other leaders to rebel against Moses. Not minding that Korah’s clan is already privileged with the onerous responsibility of being in charge of the *Most Holy Things of the Tabernacle* ( Num 4:4) the role seemed not gratifying enough for him. Korah’s lack of contentment made him restless and he just needed to recruit fellows like him, who were disgruntled into his ship as they set sail for a show down with Moses.
As always, God, the righteous judge gave His verdict with an unprecedented punishment for their rebellion.
Brethren, let’s search our hearts and never allow discontentment lead us to error which has but one end, a certain destruction. Let us not allow discontentment set us on a collision course with the One who appoints and anoints whom He will to lead (No man takes this honour unto himself) We must remember that being presumptuous about our capabilities can never be a safety net when weighed on God’s measuring scale. Let’s cast our minds back to the story of king Uzziah who presumptiously decided to take on the role of a priest by entering the
Temple to burn incense offering in 2 Chron 26. The significance of burning incense not withstanding, God judged him instanta! Being king seemed not enough for him, and even though he had prospered so much and had achieved what kings before him could not achieve in Judah, he craved the priesthood too. Error!
What is that thing that looks to you as though you must have before you can be satisfied? Beloved, please thread with caution!
Scriptures says “I do not exert myself in things greater than me…..” . This can be our mantra also. Even as a leader, always remember that at the center of
every Rebellion is disobedience. The tendency is to focus on the big things while neglecting our “little acts of disobedience” which we wrongly think do not matter.
1Samuel 16: 23 tells us that rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft. No need to remind us what fate befalls one who is regarded as a witch. If by the judgement of man, witchcraft is evil, how much more by God’s judgement. We must therefore guard our hearts with all diligence praying that the Holy spirit will grant us strength in our inner man to resist any temptation to rebel against constituted authority, whether in the Church or even secularly as captured in Rom 13:2(NLT)
So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished…
