Today, Tuesday November 9
“The Rebellion of Korah”
Jude 1:8-11 “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”
It is always a dangerous thing to reject the authority of God! Jude gives us three men in the Old Testament as an example of what happens when we decide to reject the authority of God over our lives. Jude called the apostates dreamers. You are living in a dream world, a world that is not real if you think you can live without God! One of the first temptations of Satan was to deceive Eve into thinking she really didn’t need to pay attention to the authority of God and obey His Word.
Satan told her if she ate the forbidden fruit that she would be “like God”. In other words, she would no longer be under God’s authority and she could decide what is right and wrong or good and evil. Satan is using the same strategy today on us. He wants us to think if we can get out from under authority we will be free to live and do what is best for ourselves and really enjoy the pleasures of sin! Nothing is further from the truth!
Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). God’s truth, found in His Word, teaches us that if we submit to God and submit to the authorities that He has placed in our lives, like our parents, our teachers, our bosses, our civil leaders and our spiritual leaders, that is when we will find true freedom. We will experience real freedom to live life without getting broken!
The book of Judges ends with these words: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) And the result was confusion, debauchery, violence, cruelty and civil anarchy. When we choose to do “what is right in our own eyes”, we then become slaves to our passions and greed and we will experience confusion, fear, insecurity and brokenness!
The story of Korah is found in Numbers 16, and it too centers on rebellion against authority. Korah and his followers resented the leadership of Moses and dared God to do anything about their rebellion. In speaking against Moses, they were speaking against the Lord who had given Moses his authority. This is a warning to us today, for it is so easy to speak against spiritual or governmental leaders in a careless way (Titus 3:1-2). God judged Korah and his followers and established clearly the authority of His servant, Moses.
In conclusion of this passage, Cain rebelled against God's authority in salvation, for he refused to bring a blood sacrifice as God had commanded. Balaam rebelled against God's authority in separation, for he prostituted his gifts for money and led Israel to mix with the other nations. Korah rebelled against God's authority in service, denying that Moses was God's appointed servant and attempting to usurp his authority.
It is interesting to note the verbs that Jude used in this verse. The apostates "traveled on the road" of Cain, "gave themselves over to" the error of Balaam, and "perished" in the rebellion of Korah. Please never forget the tragedy and danger of rejecting God’s divine authority!
True freedom always comes from submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ every day in our lives!
God bless!
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