God Judges Korah February 4 2007 Respect of

God Judges Korah February 4, 2007

Respect of a Priest n n n Respecting priests has been a Commandment that God had given to his people all the way back in the Old Testament. God even chose only one tribe of people out of which His priests come from…What tribe was that? Who was a very famous priest in the Old Testament?

New Testament n n n In the NT, Jesus picks 12 disciples and many more apostles to teach His flock after He ascended into heaven. So, this shows that priests are chosen by God and He expects us to respect them because they are His chosen servants. So what happens to people who disrespect and disobey the men of God?

n n n The people of Israel wandered Sinai for 40 years after Moses brought them out of Egypt. Why did they roam for 40 years? Another rebellion was caused by three men named Korah, Dathan, and Abirim.

Their rebellion n These three men gathered about 250 people in their rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They believed that everyone was holy and that Moses and Aaron should not put themselves up higher as a leader or a priest. Now, we know that God is the one who chose people right?

The test n n Korah thought that everyone can raise incense to the Lord. So, Moses told him that in the morning each would raise incense to the Lord and let Him choose who was worthy to raise incense to Him. The 3 men thought that Moses brought them out of Egypt to suffer and starve, and that he did not deserve to be their leader.

In the Morning… n n The next day, Moses and Korah and the people came out to the tabernacle door. God told Moses to move back because He was going to consume them. However, Moses pleaded with God not to consume the entire congregation just because of Korah’s sin. God listened to them and told them to tell the people to stay away from the tents of Korah and his followers.

The consequences n n n When they backed away, God split the earth and consumed Korah, Dathan, and Abirim in their tents and their families. Then, God sent down fire from Heaven to consume the 250 men that were raising incense in the tabernacle. However, the censors in their hands were not consumed! God told Moses to tell Eleazar the priest to hammer the censors into layers and put them on the altar as a reminder to the people.

n n This is a great example of what happens to people who try to be priests when God Himself has not called them to do so. Anyone who is ordained a priest must be invited into the service with the guidance of God.

Lessons to Learn n What can we learn from Korah’s mistake? He was being very self-righteous and was very jealous of Aaron and Moses. That is why he was trying so hard to prove them wrong. He was not satisfied with being a servant of the tabernacle, he let his greed and envy blind him.

Conclusion n Being a priest is something that is designed by God and not by man. Even when the Pope is trying to ordain bishops, he consults God, they have a liturgy, and they pray continuously for God to chose the one. We must respect them and honor them because they are the ones who help us toward our spiritual paths here on Earth.

Memory Verse “No outsider, who is not a descendent of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord. ” -Numbers 16: 40