Pastor Wrinkles: Hey Jude Pt. 16

“Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” Jude 1:11 NIV

If you have missed our discussion on the book of Jude up to this point check it out under the “devotions” category, sub-category “Hey Jude”.

We’ve been talking about traits of people who “secretly slip in” to harm the church. Jude 1:11  says that they are destroying themselves in Korah’s rebellion. That is:

apollymi antilogia Kore- OR “They are destroyed and rendered useless by the opposition or rebellion of Korah”

The allusion here is to a story in the Pentateuch where a man named Korah rose up against Aaron and Moses because he felt that the priesthood should be open to anyone who felt a leaning towards the position of power. The problem of course was that God had declared Aaron’s family alone should hold the priesthood in perpetuity.

Korah gathered a good-sized following and confronted God and the rightly appointed leaders of Israel. A show down ensued and naturally God won. The earth opened up and swallowed Korah, all his followers and their families. Sadly that did not put an end to the rebellion. The Bible tells us, “The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said. But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started.” So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.  He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.” Nu. 16:41-49 NIV

Rebellion is like black mold; Once it is entrenched it is really hard to get rid of. Sometimes it just takes one man to rebel against God’s rightly delegated authority and before you know it a whole church is rendered useless as a kingdom building tool.

Be wary of those who are given to opposing God’s appointed leaders.