Bible Talks

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WE NOW come to a very solemn chapter in the history of Israel in the wilderness — the rebellion of Korah and its fearful judgment. Korah was a Levite, a grandson of Kohath, to whose family were assigned the very high and special privilege of caring for the sacred vessels of the holy place. He with Dathan and Abiram, of the tribe of Reuben, headed the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, but Korah was the prime mover.
We remember in the previous chapter God had given His people a riband of blue to wear; “a sign that ye might remember, and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.” v. 40. Having persuaded 250 princes of the people to join them, Korah, Dathan and Abiram gathered themselves against Moses and Aaron and said to 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?”
Here we see the flesh, intruding into the holy things of God, turning the grace of God into the worst evil and bringing down His sure and awful judgment. God had said, Be ye holy, and Korah and his men come and say as it were, We are holy. In this they include all the congregation, but this last is only to hide their own pride and self-will. Not satisfied with their God-given place Korah and his company aspire to the priesthood. They say they are as well fitted for the office as Aaron. They thought they might do without Moses and Aaron, now that God had allowed all to wear the riband of blue.
But this charge against Moses and Aaron was really against God. It was He who had separated both to Himself and given each his place in Israel. This was not a question of holiness merely, but one of God’s sovereign choice.
Korah would call the “flesh” holy. He would seek to bring it into the sanctuary and give it a place in the presence of God. Now this is what we find repeated in the church, even from its earliest beginnings, the flesh allowed a place in the things of God, a place which belongs only to Christ. The great sin of Christendom is opposition to the priesthood of Christ, man pretending to be the channel or means of communication between God and sinners. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all.” 1 Tim. 2:5,65For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:5‑6).
Dathan and Abiram were of the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s first born, who having failed was rejected. Perhaps these men were jealous of Moses and Aaron, sons of Levi, whom God had exalted. Their complaint was different from that of the Levites; they said Moses aimed at being a prince over them. How false was this charge! God had said Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. How often had the people utterly failed and had it not been for the intercession of Moses they would have perished under the judgment of God long ago. In Moses and Aaron we have types of Christ, our great High Priest and Mediator, who has entered into heaven by His own blood, “having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)). To set Him aside is to set aside the ground of all blessing. This is apostasy and will bring down the fearful judgment of God upon Christendom.
ML-11/11/1973