Haftorah Reading: I Samuel 11:14-12:22
Torah Portion: Korach, B’Midbar/Numbers 16:1-18:32
Haftorah Reading: I Samuel 11:14-12:22
Messianic Scripture: Jude 1-25
I want to begin with a question. What do you think Korach misunderstood?
He saw a leader as someone higher than the rest of the people
The leader was the superior one
The one to whom others deferred
That’s why he said Moses and Aaron were setting themselves above the people.
That is not leadership in Torah
Numbers 12:3 says Moses was a very humble man
Numbers 6:27 says Aaron and the priests would put G-d’s name on the Israelites and G-d would bless them.
Neither priest nor prophet had personal power or authority.
They only transmitted the word of G-d to the people.
This is the fact that sealed the fate of Korach and then later Moses and Aaron. Korach was trying to put himself in a place of authority, speaking his own words, not G-d’s
Numbers 20:10 the people complained to Moses and Aaron about having no water. Moses replied, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”
There are many interpretations of what went wrong here but one thought is that they were attributing the giving of water to themselves not G-d.
Even a king was to be humble, carry a Torah scroll with him and read it daily.
A leader is not one who holds himself higher than those he or she leads.
A leader is not a matter of status but function.
A leader must have G-d’s vision and communicate it – not his own vision.
Without a G-dly leader you will have Judges 17:6 or Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
1.What can anger do to us? Let’s look at two other players in our portion, Datan and Aviram. What is different in the way these two men handled their anger and the way Moses handled his anger? What is our message here?
These two men were in rebellion against Moses and Aaron.
They were angry
They thought Moses and Aaron had the position and power
They wanted it
In Numbers 16:3 they began their assault with half-truths.
“They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the L-rd is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the L-rd’s assembly?”
Numbers 16:12-14 lists the issues they had against Moshe.
Again their statements were filled with half-truths.
Satan always works in half-truths.
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! 13 Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! 14 Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”
What lies are in these verses?
1.Brought them out of a land flowing with milk and honey
2.Brought them there to kill them
3.Moses was lording his power over them
4.Moses had not given them their inheritance.
Why did they not have their inheritance?
Because of the sin they participated in with the 10 spies.
5.Moses was treating them like slaves
In their anger they talked to others – spreading their negative feelings and rebellion.
They were so blinded by their sin they even refused to go up and meet with Moses.
What was the reaction of Moshe?
Numbers 16:4, “ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
Moses did not immediately defend himself when he first heard their complaints.
He fell on his face before speaking a word.
Their attacks continued Moses got angry (verse 15)
What did he do with his anger?
He went to the Father with it.
What do we do when we get angry?
Numbers 16:15, “Then Moses became very angry and said to the L-rd, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”
Anger is an emotion that, if not dealt with correctly, can cause us to sin.
How do you deal with anger?
Do you stop talking and never speak to the person again?
Do you get into a verbal battle with the only objective of winning and putting the other person in their place?
Neither action brings healing.
We can ask ourselves,
“Why am I angry. What did this problem touch in my life that caused me to respond as I did?”
If we believe that G-d is in complete control
We know He allows situations or people in our life to challenge us, to help us mature.
We all have areas that need G-d’s light.
People that trigger an immediate negative reaction shows us what needs G-d’s touch.
I pray that each of us will be able to grow and not get stuck in a place that blocks our opportunities to move closer to the Father.
2.What is the difference in an argument for the sake of heaven and an argument for the sake of victory? Can you think of examples of each of these?
When we are in an argument with someone we need to know what outcome we are seeking? Are we arguing for the sake of heaven
or is it an argument for power or victory?
What is the difference in an argument for the sake of heaven and an argument for the sake of victory?
An argument for the sake of heaven is an argument with the goal of finding truth.
If we argue for any other reason it is an argument for power.
If you are thinking, “I am right and you are wrong”
There’s a winner and a loser.
If the argument is for the sake of heaven or truth
it is possible for both sides to win.
When truth is found the person in the argument who was incorrect wins by learning a truth he did not previously know.
Truth is not personal but power is.
We see this play out over and over in scripture and in life.
Elijah met the priests of Ba’al on Mt. Carmel
he stood on the truth of G-d
the priests of Ba’al were defeated.
However, he was not able to hold on to that
The next day Elijah fled from Jezebel.
He ran all the way to the desert to escape her wrath.
Then he encountered G-d and his faith was restored.
He saw again that G-d is a G-d of truth and power.
His truth is what will sustain us.
In the Messianic scripture
Yeshua was tried before the Sanhedrin.
These men were only interested in keeping their power and authority
they felt Yeshua was eroding that power.
Their answer was to have Him killed.
However, they found that truth was stronger than death
Truth was even stronger than their power.
We, in our faith, are proof of that.
We see this same battle being fought today.
Power is addictive.
We see people who are not concerned with truth.
They are just looking for a message that people will believe and follow,
They want a message that will give them power.
However, truth is stronger and will overcome.
Our issue is to always make sure we are seeking truth not power.
Power is intoxicating but temporary. Truth is everlasting.
3.The book of Jude is the Messianic scripture usually associated with this Torah portion. What connection do you see in this book to the Torah portion Korach?
Jude is believed to have been a half-brother of Yeshua.
Like the other half-brothers of Yeshua (including James), he didn’t believe in Yeshua as the Messiah until after His resurrection. John 7:5
Jude talks about “Certain men” have crept in unnoticed:
This is what made them so dangerous – they were unnoticed.
Jude was concerned about false teaching infiltrating the believing community
and promoting immoral behavior and false teaching.
He encouraged believers to stand firm in their faith.
Jude said G-d’s judgment would come against these false teachers.
He used examples that everyone would remember.
He reminded them that G-d saved His people from being slaves in Egypt
but later destroyed those who rebelled.
Jude knew he was not telling them anything new.
But they needed to hear it again and apply it to their situation.
In verse 11 Jude said, “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.”
This verse connects the Torah portion to Jude.
These “certain men” might have started out well in their walk with G-d
but so did the children of Israel.
Jude was reminding them that G-d destroyed the Israelites that rebelled.
He was warning them to be aware of ungodly people in their midst.
4.This question has nothing to do with the Torah portion this week but it is an important example of how the entire Bible is connected. Matthew 27:46 says, “About three in the afternoon Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me?”) What message was Yeshua giving to his followers as He breathed His last?
Matthew 27:46 Yeshua is dying.
He said, “My G-d, My G-d, why have you forsaken me?”
We have heard pastors explain this verse by saying G-d could not look upon Yeshua on the cross because He was carrying the sins of the world. A holy G-d could not tolerate being in the presence of sin unless it was covered by a blood sacrifice.
Have any of you ever heard this explanation or any other?
Psalms 22 begins with the exact words Yeshua said on the cross in Matthew 27.
The words in Psalms 22 were said by King David.
Could these verses expand our understanding of Yeshua’s last words on the cross?
Why would He have quoted those verses during His agony?
In this Psalm we see several references to what Yeshua was going through
I believe Yeshua was using this quote from Psalms 22 to encourage His followers and give them hope. I believe he wanted them to know this was not the end. This was just a part of the process to bring hope for the world.
As you read this Psalm, near the end, you can find words of encouragement and hope.
He was mainly speaking to a Jewish audience as He was dying.
They would have quickly remembered this Psalm and the message of hope found there.
This is again a place in scripture where if you only read from the Messianic Scripture, leaving out any connection to the Hebrew scripture you get only a partial picture of what is happening. So if we were taught that G-d turned his back on His only begotten son at his darkest moment, I believe we were not given the true message.
In His agony Yeshua was still trying to comfort His Mother and followers, to give them hope, and remind them of what the future would be.