When I was in my early
twenties my pastor gave me a verse he felt I needed to take to heart. ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1
Timothy 6:6). Are you content with the
talents and abilities God has given you, or are you jealous of those who seem
to be more gifted? Are you content with
the roles and responsibilities that you have been given, or are you all
striving to climb higher up some ladder?
Are you content with the family God has placed you in, or are you
envious of those who seem to live with easier people? Are you grateful for the many blessings God
has poured out on you, or are you always wanting more?
This morning we are
looking at a people who are disappointed with God. They complain against Moses and Aaron, but
their complaint is really against God.
Yet despite the judgement they earn, there is grace in this story too.
We must not be pushing for prominence (1-4)
In this chapter, two
groups of people rise up against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. They were Korah, who was a Levite, but not a
priest, and Dathan, Abiram and On who were from the tribe of Reuben. Along with them came two hundred and fifty
community leaders. They complained
against Moses and Aaron, ‘You have gone
too far! For all in this congregation
are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the
assembly of the LORD?’ When Moses heard
it he fell on his face (3-4).
To fall on your face was
a sign of submission before God. We have
already been told that Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth
(12:3). Their accusation was false.
A look at the location of
the people around the tabernacle helps us understand more about these two
groups. Korah is a Kohathite, who
ministered as Levites on the southside of the tabernacle. The tribe of Reuben was situated near them,
also on the southside.
There is something
significant about being on the southside.
The east was considered the most important place. After that prominence went clockwise. Both these groups are given prominent
positions just below the top tier of their society. They don’t really want a levelling of society,
they are simply jealous of anyone who is given a more important position than
them.
We follow a very
different sort of man then these men.
Jesus did not push for prominence. Jesus
was pleased to wash His disciples’ feet.
We are called to follow His example, and gladly consider others more
significant than ourselves. Rather than
pushing for places of greater prominence we are to be looking out for those
that no one seems to notice and be willing to associate with those the world
looks down on.
We must realise that
contentment honours God (5-11)
Moses looks at that
privileged south-sider, Korah, and asks, ‘is it too small a thing for you that
the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you
near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to minster to
them, and that he has brought you near him … and you would seek the priesthood
also?’ (9-10). Korah mightn’t have been
among the priests, but he had been given the wonderful privilege of ministering
in the tabernacle and to God’s people.
I took these verses and
wrote something like this in the front of my Bible: ‘is it too small a thing
that God has made husband to Caroline, father to Anya, Ronan and Sian, that you
are called to pastor of Limerick Baptist Church, and yet you would seek to be made
more of?’
You might not be content
with the way that God has made you and the roles He has given you. You might want to be in an easier
family. You might want the brains, looks
or talents of someone else. But maybe
God wants to ask, ‘is it too small a thing that I have embraced you in My love,
forgiven your guilt and removed your shame, that I call you “beloved”, that I
promise never to leave you or forsake you, that I hold you in the palm of my
hand, that I have commissioned you as an ambassador of Christ? Do you demand that people make more of you
when I have made so much of you?’
We must not let
bitterness distort our perspective (12-15)
Dathan and Abiram echo
Moses words. ‘Is it a small thing that
you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey flowing with
milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must make yourself a
prince over us? Moreover, you have not
brought us into the land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an
inheritance of fields and vineyards.
Will you put out the eyes of these men?
We will not come up’ (12-14). ‘Will
you put out the eyes of these men?’ seems to be an idiom saying something like,
‘you are pulling the wool over their eyes.’
But it wasn’t Moses who
brought them out of Egypt, it was God.
Egypt was not a land flowing with milk and honey, it was slavery. They hadn’t inherited vineyards and fields
because they had refused to trust God and enter the Canaan. They claim Moses was harsh and took advantage
of them, which was simply not true. In
bitterness we lose our sense of perspective.
They are suffering
because of their own sin, but I wonder if some of their bitterness is also
rooted in the fact that they live in the shadow of the sins of their fathers.
You see one of the
hardest things in life is that the sins of others affect us. The alcoholic doesn’t just ruin his life, he damages
the lives of all who love him. Children
brought up in homes with anger or neglect suffer the pain that their parents
have visited on them. Dathan, Abiram and
On had actually lost out because of the sin of their ancestor Reuben.
In Genesis we see that
Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn, yet the tribe that had come from him was not
given the most prominent position. Why
was that? It was because Reuben had
slept with his father’s concubine, and so he lost his rights as firstborn. Maybe, as members of the tribe of Reuben,
Dathan and Abiram resented the privilege that had been taken from them.
Our wicked actions can
have terrible consequences for those we love.
There are bridges that we burn that can’t be rebuilt. There are words that can never be unsaid. Yet thank God that He can restore the years
that the locusts ate (Joel 2:25). Thank
God that He can make beauty out of the ashes that we have inherited (Isaiah
61:3). When we come to Christ He can use
the trauma we have inherited and use it for the ultimate good of making us more
like Jesus.
Conclusion—Judgement
does not have to be the last word
The root problem with
Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On was that they despised the Lord (30). They would not see that God is gracious and
compassionate. They would not
acknowledge how He had rescued them from slavery on love. They would not trust Him. The and their and their families were
swallowed up by the ground.
The next day the people
grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, ‘you have killed the people
of the Lord’ (41). It wasn’t Moses and
Aaron who had made the ground open up.
God sent a plague that killed thousands, and was only stopped by the
sacrifice made by Aaron. God has sent us
a High Priest greater than Aaron, who has offered His life as the perfect
sacrifice so that the judgement is turned away from those who love Him.
Yet judgement does not need
to be the last word in this story. In
the census in twenty-six we see that the line of Dathan and Abiram was totally
cut off, but some of the descendants of Korah were spared (26:11). How was that?
It must be that some of Korah’s family repented and distanced themselves
from his rebellion (Duguid). They
changed sides and sided with Moses and Aaron.
You may come from a family that has shown no real interest in
Christianity for generations, but you can change sides. In fact, it gets better. Turn to the title of Psalm 42 and you will
see that the descendants of Korah become musicians and worship leaders who
wrote at least eleven of the Psalms. God
still had great plans for the descendants of that wicked man Korah! He has plans for all those who love Him! Let us be content with how He has made and
what He has called us to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment