Korach/Korah
Numbers 16:1-18:32
1 Samuel 11:14-12:22
One of the lessons from this week’s portion may be: Be careful, you might get what you asked for!
I will try to keep this pretty simple and direct, though there are so many ‘cul de sacs’ we could wander down. Here are a couple of irresistible ones: 1) You know we sometimes cry out for the “new thing” God might do, well in Numbers 16:30, He does what He calls a “new thing” and the earth opens up and swallows a whole group of families (women and children included); literally opens up and ‘swallows’ them alive! Are we ready for God’s “new thing” in our days…be careful what you ask for! 2) In 1 Samuel haftorah portion, the people decide that maybe God’s ways of using Godly prophets to watch over them, isn’t as impressive as the nations around them being governed by kings. What is their ‘wise’ counsel to Samuel? “We demand a king, like the other nations!”. Samuel tries to warn them about how kings will plunder their wealth and families; not to mention that God sees a king over them as outside of His blessings upon the nation and an affront to His leadership. “Give us a king; like the other nations (“Give us a new thing!”)! We want to look smart and sophisticated like them; God is so ‘old school’!”. (Of course, we would never find ourselves saying anything like that) You might want to see how ‘glorious’ things got under Saul’s kingly leadership if you read further in 1 Samuel and beyond… I think they got what they asked for, sort of; just like the other nations. The thing we need to get our minds around here is the contrast between the way the ‘world system’ rules and God’s leadership. The world system: no matter how good it looks, wants to basically own you and control you; whereas God is such a kind and great leader, that when He is glorified, we are changed and become free (a very short version of deep truths).
For some reason this struck me: the “fire of God” came down at the request of Korah and his buddies as they swung their sensors, just like the real priests did. Only one problem here: the “fire of God” which is a holy thing, was meant to consume the sacrifice; not the ‘sacrificer’… Uh, oh! Be careful what you ask for! Oh, how we need the “fire of God” and for Him to do a “new thing”; but the key here is that we ask according to His terms; His ways; His righteousness; and His reputation. So today may be a great day to take a step back and check a combination of the kinds of things we may be demanding of God and His leadership over our lives. I don’t mean some kind of paranoia or fear of noticing things that aren’t okay but looking to Him for solutions; His word; and the help of Holy Spirit to set things under His care and leadership. Be careful what you ask for; but don’t be afraid to ask! by john eisner
Ps. Ananias and Sophira were chapter 5 of acts ‘recipients’ of one of God’s new things…..
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