THANKS ALL for your suggestions thus far. I am still not sure if I will do it but here is what I have thrown together for the talk so far.. What do you think?? Any refinements you guys and gals would add?
Abiram! What does this name bring to your mind? Rebellion? Divine Judgement? Improper pride? Or maybe something else..
Lets read numbers 16:1-3 And Ko′rah the son of Iz′har, the son of Ko′hath, the son of Le′vi, proceeded to get up, together with Da′than and A·bi′ram the sons of E·li′ab, and On the son of Pe′leth, the sons of Reu′ben. 2 And they proceeded to rise up before Moses, they and two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, chieftains of the assembly, summoned ones of the meeting, men of fame. 3 So they congregated themselves against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “That is enough of YOU, because the whole assembly are all of them holy and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should YOU lift yourselves up above the congregation of Jehovah?”
Abiram here was challenging Moses authority. Why did he do that? Was it pride? A quest for power of his own? Jealosy? Regardless the end result of Korah, Dathan,and Abirams actions are found here
And it came about that as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them began to be split apart. 32 And the earth proceeded to open its mouth and to swallow up them and their households and all humankind that belonged to Ko′rah and all the goods. 33 So down they went, and all who belonged to them, alive into She′ol, and the earth went covering them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation. 34 And all the Israelites who were round about them fled at the screaming of them, for they began to say: “We are afraid that the earth may swallow us up!” 35 And a fire came out from Jehovah and proceeded to consume the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.
What a strong punishment for their actions. Many organizations today claim to be Gods true religion or the only way to life. Many even use this very bible account in numbers to strike fear into their members so that they never question what they are told. The mormons for example use these scriptures to prove that you should never question their leadership and should obey without question or complaint. However the leaders of these human organizations are missing one thing that Moses had.. PROOF. Proof that God is actually using them.
Moses had PROOF God was using him to lead the people. Korah must have had a short memory to have forgotten this when he thought God would back him up.
What Proof did Moses have? Please turn with me to Exodus 14: 19-21. Just like in the first century christians with evidence like speaking in tounges, healing the sick and lame, resurections and so on, There was abundant proof that God was backing Moses. Think of the ten plagues of egypt, the water into blood, the frogs, the gnats, the gadflies, the pestilence, the boils, the hail, the locusts, the darkness, and the firstborns being killed. Also the manna provision, moses face being so bright they had to cover him, and also this one found at Exodus 13:20-22. All these things should have shown Abiram and the others that God was using Moses at that time and that he was a true God inspired leader. Also Moses was not asking the people to do anything contrary to what they knew was right.
Is is automatic that someone should always obey someone God is using? Please turn to Exodus 32: 1-4
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods [ a ] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, [ b ] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
We know that Jehovah also used Aaron along with moses, and he was the high priest. We see here he commamded the people to tear off their gold. Would you have done that? Would you obey that order? Well you would have done well if you did not. Would you have reasoned that he is the high preist appointed by Jehovah so we have to do whatever he says? That would be faulty reasoning.
Today as Christians, we follow Jesus. We should be loyal to humans only if they are following the pattern Jesus laid out for humans to follow and who are loyal to him. And as Galatians 1:8,9 bring out, do not divert from the ORIGINAL good news that Christ taught. People today must be alert to see the difference or they risk being blinded and decieved by men who are not really Gods true servants, but an imitation.
