Spiritual Leadership for Israel
Book of Numbers Chapters 16 and 17
We must understand there is a great danger in going outside of God's plan of salvation!
In fact there is no plan of true salvation outside the "Grace" of God!
There is also great danger in taking a role in the leadership of the Church without being called of God to do so!
What is one of the biggest problems in America? Our leaders have no fear of God, and this is one of the signs of the last days.
As for the Church, God has given us all we need to know how to worship Him and serve Him properly!
To all who know they are called of God, they should do their absolute best to walk in obedience to the Word of God and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit living within you, the Word of God cannot be clearly understood.
The Bible is a Spiritual Book when it is taken from the right source, the "Received Text".
The seeking of power and authority other than the power of God will be the downfall of this world!
Just look at this man Putin who feels like he has the power to rule any nation he so chooses.
There is only one power God allows any government and it is the power to serve the people and that according to the Word of God.
Certainly not to be lord over God's creation. This is the thing that the Devil seeks!
The was an Israelite named Korah who grew disgusted with the leadership of Moses, but remember Moses was God's chosen leader.
Because of the unbelief of the Israelite people, Moses had just turned the nation of Israel around and led them away from the Promised Land by the orders of Jehovah.
Num 14:21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
Num 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
Korah and his allies were now ready to act and filled with anger, they sought to take the leadership away from Moses.
In reality, this was an insurrection against Jehovah God!
It was God who instructed Moses to move away from the Promised Land and no human being would have been able to take control of this young Israelite nation to lead them to the Promised Land.
If not careful we could see some typology here. No one but Jesus can lead us to the true Promised Land, the New Heaven, and the New Jerusalem.
Korah was the ringleader of this rebellion. He too was a Levite in fact, he was a cousin to Moses.
Korah led a group of 250 men who were not just men, but leaders well known to the tribes of Israel.
Num 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
Some were even Levites.
When they should have been encouraging all the tribes of Israel to be obedient to God, they began a total rebellion to God's chosen men.
By the way this is happening today to those chosen men who preach the truth of the Word of God.
Much of the world just does not want to hear what God has to say!
Korah and this group of rebellious men felt that Moses and Aaron had assumed too much authority and they were ready to take over the reins of Israel and lead them into the Promised Land, where God would have destroyed them.
It is God that makes these kinds of decisions not man.
Heb 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Heb 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Heb 5:3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
Heb 5:4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
It is not man who decides what is holy and what is not holy. This too is decided by God Himself!
Num 16:5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
God does not like to see these things!
Num 16:20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Num 16:21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
God was so angry with this group of men that He sent them straight to Hell without first dying.
Moses received His instructions again:
*****Num 16:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Num 16:25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
Num 16:27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
**Num 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
We should be careful if we decide to challenge the Word of God for this is the same as challenging God Himself!
Evidently these rebellious men had joined their tents together so they could meet and discuss the intent to go against Moses and Aaron.
A tent is also called a tabernacle.
We can see that rebellious talk will bring a large crowd.
Moses had challenged these unruly men according to the Word of God to a trial by fire.
Moses just said that God would speak for Himself.
Num 16:16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
Num 16:17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
We will also notice that this trial by fire would take place at the entrance to the Tabernacle of Testimony.
This would be the place where God would choose the men to be His leaders.
What does God always do before He brings final judgment? He gives a warning.
This is a biblical truth even though He does not have to do this.
Remember these rebels were official representatives of the nation of Israel.
It was also these same men who had agreed to the believe those ten spies rather than Joshua and Caleb.
Jehovah was ready to lead this nation into Canaan Land, but they had said no.
It was too late now, just as it will be too late for all those reject the truth of God once God has removed His Church at the rapture.
Will God take judgment upon a group of people for the sin of one man? No never.
Remember God looks into the heart!
God said:
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Not only were these who were innocent to depart, they were not to take anything from them, which would include words of rebellion.
The only ones left were these wicked men and their families and those who did not walk away from this rebellion some 250 people.
There were four ringleaders of this rebellion. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On.
We see that prayer still worked for the Lord listen to the words of Moses, but "judgment" was still coming to those who were guilty.
Judgment will always come to those who reject the Word of God!
As this group of rebels faced Moses and Aaron the hand of God fell upon these rebels.
The Lord did something new in this "judgment" that had not been seen before and I do not believe it has been seen since.
God opened up the earth and sent these rebels straight to Hell.
*****Num 16:29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
Num 16:30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Num 16:31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Num 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Moses said, if these rebels die a natural death, then he Moses was not chosen of God to lead them, Moses said he could be considered an imposter.
What is the truth?
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
When we start doing what we think is right instead of doing what HGod says is right then we have chose our own path to destruction.
Remember we have no righteousness within us. We are accounted holy only because we have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We do not know how to do right unless we are doing what the Word of God says!
No doubt that the Lord had told Moses what He would do.
These rebels went straight to hell to be tried by the fires of Hell and they are still there today realizing they should never have questioned God's man Moses.
Joh 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
We need to pray for our Pastors and Church leaders who are called of God, and it will show by the way they preach Jesus Christ!
It was Moses who had selected Aaron by the Word of God and there would be a separate test for Aaron.
*****Num 17:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 17:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
Num 17:3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
Num 17:4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
Num 17:5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
Num 17:6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
Num 17:7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
Num 17:8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
If we cannot see these things as they have happened, we must at least see that God does not like a bunch of complainers and most all of us complain far too much.
We must understand that nothing happens that God is not aware of and that He could stop if He chose to do so!
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All the things of this world are moving along according to the plan of God!
We should understand that a "rod" used by the Israelites could have been from any tree and they were sometimes formed as that of the staff of a shepherd.
This rod used here seems to be the rod of the tribe of Levi and may not be the same rod Aaron used earlier.
Aaron's name was written on the rod of "Levi" and eleven more rods were gathered from the other tribes and their names were written upon their rods.
These rods would be from dried wood none of them being green.
The rod used in this manner was as an emblem of authority.
We should understand that God has it in His power to appoint His Pastors and other men of God.
God's method of choosing is far different from the way we would choose.
This person would serve under God.
This person would serve under the Lord Jesus Christ.
This person would be filled with the Holy Spirit because they had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and are obedient to Him.
All others are false!
If this person does not promote the truth of God, then they are not God's man and God has the power to deal with them.
God holds this power over all His chosen servants!
Today, everyone called of God are chosen to be a type of Jesus Christ so it should be easy to see who are true to the Word of God and who are not.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only perfect priest which means those chosen today are not perfect because they are only men and their importance comes by preaching the truth of God, which in the original manuscripts is also perfect!
When we attack the Priesthood, we take the chance of attacking the men God has specifically called into the ministry.
When we attack our Pastor, we are attacking God, we are attacking the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that Korah and his cohorts attacked Aaron and God sent them straight to Hell where they would be judged by the eternal fires of Hell.
It was God who established the position of High Priest and God would defend His choice.
Heb 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Heb 5:2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Heb 5:3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
Heb 5:4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
Every priest, or pastor, or whatever their title must serve as being like the Lord Jesus Christ!
If they don’t preach Jesus, or the Blood, or the Virgin Birth, and all the truths of Him written in both Testaments then they are false and not called of God.
All Aaron had was the first five books of the Bible and then he only had the part that Moses had written up to that point which was the moral law and the Book of Leviticus.
Even today some people murmur against any Pastor when the ten commandments are mentioned.
The world rejects most all the Book of Leviticus because of what it teaches about being gay and abortion.
Moses obtained twelve staffs, one from each tribal leader as was Aaron.
The purpose of this is stated: the staff that belonged to the man God had chosen would sprout and this man would be the one God had chosen.
A simple enough test but it required a miracle.
It was the rod of Aaron that sprouted, and Aaron was the High Priest and the line to the priesthood would continue from the line of the tribe of Levi.
All the grumbling and murmuring must come to an end.
This priesthood is not accountable to man but accountable to God and this has never changed.
Complaining and murmuring are not of pleasant to the ears of God and if we are to please Him.
True faith says we trust everything God does so there is no place for murmuring and complaining!
Murmuring and complaining are of the Devil!
If our Pastor is declaring the Word of God from a legitimate translation then those words came from God and that Pastor is just the messenger God has chosen.
God wants His children to know, respect, and honor His chosen messengers!
Aaron's rod sprouted, budded, and blossomed and produced almonds.
None of the others did so.
The tribal leaders knew from that point forward the Levites were priests, and the High Priest would be a Levite.
The point of God's ministers is to produce fruit, just as the rod of Aaron produced fruit.
Bearing fruit is the purpose of the Word of God.
Bearing fruit is the purpose of God's chosen men.
Bearing fruit is the purpose of the Church.
The "Lost" cannot know the truth without the truth being told them!
Bearing fruit means to stop walking in the ways of the world and walk in the "Fruit of the Spirit"!
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
The fruit of the Spirit is being welcomed into the family of God and a home reserved in God's New Heaven.
It takes Spiritual Leadership from God's chosen men to reach the Lost with the Truth!
Amen
