Lechem Panim #20 "Korah's Rebellion" (Numbers 16) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings. It is good to be with you today. We have been talking about the Tabernacle and (in recent weeks) the Holy of Holies; and have now begun talking about the Ark of the Covenant, which held three very important things that God wanted to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant and remembered by the Israelites. And last week we talked about the first of these; a pot of the manna that God had provided for them after they had begun complaining in the wilderness. And the second artifact was the wig of Moses. Now some of you may not have known that Moses wore a wig, but he did. Scripture reveals to us that sometimes he had Aaron (hair on) and sometimes he didn’t. Okay, sorry; I went a little bit too far there. Actually today we will begin laying the backstory for the REAL second artifact that was to be kept in the ark of the covenant; one that was (like the pot of manna) also connected with the rebellion and complaining of God’s people; and that was Aaron’s staff. Go ahead and turn with me, if you would, to…

Numbers 16:1-14 (ESV) Korah's Rebellion— 1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the 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?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show who is his,[a] and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 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 stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

A Society of Discontent-- You know, I find it a hard reality that we live in a society that is in so many ways defined by discontent. Whether its in the department store, flipping through a magazine, the ad section of a newspaper, during our time on social media, or even just turning on our TV, we are bombarded with a hundred voices every day that seek to breed in us a spirit of discontent; discontent with what material possessions we have, what the status of our appearance is, or even the nature and quality of the people we have formed relationships with. You might have version 2.0, which you were all excited about when it first came out, as it boasted a whole new list of features that your friend’s model didn’t have. But then your friend goes and buys version 3.0 and suddenly your version 2.0 doesn’t look very good. And every time you use it, you wonder what your friend is doing with their 3.0 that you can’t do with your 2.0.

Buy-Back Programs-- One of the things I love to do is watch the official announcement for major new items of technology. And those spokespersons who come out to “reveal” their latest and greatest products are (in my opinion) the grandmasters of making whatever piece of technology they touted to you as being the best thing since sliced bread (that you bought last year) look out-of-fashion the next. In fact, the spirit of discontentment that they have successfully produced is so pervasive, that retailers now offer special programs for you to buy into that will allow you to exchange your perfectly good device every year in order to make sure that you can alway have the latest one. Essentially, you are paying even more money in order to make sure that you are always on top with very best.

High Cost-- And I am amazed by watching some of these technology events at the lavish cost of many of these new devices. One that came out last year was a phone, the base model of which was $999, which was greater than the price of my first car; the car I drove in high-school, all through my four years in college, and during much of my time in seminary. And now this phone has already (one year later) been replaced by a newer and “better” model at the same price point, which I will point out does not include the cost of service for the phone or the insurance you need to buy to cover it should you break the thing. And I just want to ask this morning a question. And I don’t think we ever get the right answers until we first learn to ask the right questions. And the question just may be this, “Is this the way that we were designed to live; and is it the way of living that will bring us life and fulfillment? Is my always grumbling for what I do not have my way of showing a disdain for the blessings that God has given me? And will that disdain invite the wrath of God?” At what point did it become okay (in a world that is dominated by poverty and real need) for us to abide in discontent over the latest and greatest of unnecessary things? Maybe this morning it is time for us to take a fresh look at what discontentment really looks like, what it causes in our relationship with God, and how we can find true contentment. 

Korah’s Grasping-- And sometimes visual examples help. And here we are given one in a man who seems to be the embodiment of discontent; and that was a man by the name of Korah. Now we would probably never know about Korah if he hadn’t tried to grasp for more than he had and should have had. And in his attempt to grasp for the next branch, we see that it caused him to lose his footing on the tree he already had. And he fell. And his fall caused the fall of many others; which our sin always does. Our sin always affects those around us, and few more than the sin of greed and discontent.

Korah’s Already Exalted Position-- Now what did Korah have? Well, first, he was a Levite who had been given the task of helping in the Tabernacle with the daily tasks. And that in and of itself was a very exalted and sacred calling. And yet, just a short time after Israel’s rebellion against God in failing to trust in Him and follow His leadership into the promised land, being afraid of the majority of the reports of the spies who came back (and not listening to the encouraging words of Joshua and Caleb), they again grumble and rebel against the leadership of Moses and Aaron (which was really a rebellion against God). And God punishes their failure to believe by telling them that that generation (except for Joshua and Caleb) will not enter into the promised land (Numbers 14:30); and so they have to wander for 40 years in the wilderness, which is the context of our passage this morning. But after that rebellion, you would think that they would have learned their lesson, but instead we find that only a few chapters later Korah decides to lead his own miniature rebellion against Moses and Aaron. And you have to really feel for Moses and Aaron at this point. I mean they have gone through a lot with these people.

Another Bush-- The story is told of how once [George W. Bush, in an airport lobby, noticed a man in a long flowing white robe with a long flowing white beard and flowing white hair. The man had a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under the other arm. George W. approached the man and inquired, “Aren’t you Moses.” The man ignored George W. and stared at the ceiling. George W. positioned himself more directly in the man’s view and asked again, “Aren’t you Moses.” The man continued to peruse the ceiling. George W. tugged at the man’s sleeve and asked once again, “Aren’t you Moses.” The man finally responded in an irritated voice, “Yes I am.” George W. asked him why he was so uppity and the man replied, “The last time I spoke to a Bush I had to spend forty years {listening to a bunch of rebellious complainers} in the desert.”]

Milk & Honey-- Moses and Aaron have gone through it all at this point. If they had lived in our day and age, these particular Israelites would be akin to the modern [Pessimist: Someone who can look at the land of milk and honey and see only calories and cholesterol.] As we talked about last week, non-stop complaining, which was bad enough, except their complaining also let them into rebellion. After everything Moses have gone through, then this happens. It says: 16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the 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?” (Numbers 16:1-3 ESV)

Where Korah is Coming From-- Now in order for us to understand where Korah is coming from in his thinking, we have to understand where he has come from geographically: Egypt. Because Egypt had a very elaborate priesthood. The priests of Egypt boasted enormous wealth and influence over the people. And Korah, who thinks Moses, Aaron, and his sons were trying to establish a similar kind of priesthood, wants to seize that level of wealth and influence. Yet this kind of priesthood was going to be very different. While in Egyptian paganism (and really all paganism), where you try manipulate God into serving your needs and making your name great, God is establishing a different kind of religion; a religion that is focused not on man and what he brings to the table (or altar) but on God and what He brings to the table. And we see that what He offers to us is Himself; and in Him is the light of men; the light of freedom; the light of fulfillment; the light of being freed from the desire for things that are just going to pass away and the freedom of knowing the only One who can satisfy and who does satisfy.

And so for us, in our culture of greed, if we are going to avoid the greed of Korah and the death that that kind of living produces, we must embrace a life that is not me-focused, but God focused. 

How often to do we try to use God for our own ends rather than seeking to serve Him and His interests? How often (for instance, in our prayer lives) do we break out of our own need-centered prayer and actually pray (in depth) about the work God is doing in the world and how we can better join with Him in that work. That is something God is challenging me with. Our faith is never meant to stop with what we can get from God; it must also be about joining with Christ in the work He is doing in the world. And we will find that as we walk with Him like that, He will be our life, our sustainer, and the greatest source of our fulfillment, both now and in eternity. Yet we can miss Him if we are not careful. And so I would like to challenge you this week to keep your eyes on the things that have lasting value; not on the latest and greatest thing, but on Christ Himself and the fullness that He brings. Embrace Him and His life today. Amen.