Numbers chapter 16
As we read the word of God, not only should we engrave the words of blessings but we should also engrave God’s words of discipline (warning) into our hearts.
As we read the disciplining (warning) words of God, we must read it with reverence and with a trembling heart. But when we read God’s words of blessings, we must thoroughly receive it with a thankful and joyful heart.
In Numbers 16, you will read about how the Israelites received punishment from God as a result of their disobedience and rebellious behavior. The people of Israel were dwelling in the wilderness where it offered nothing. It was a desolated abandoned place of land.
The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire led their way. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On had become insolent. They had gathered together to form a party and rebelled against God. They began to vent out their anger against the messengers of God who were Moses and Aaron. They were complaining about the things around them. They were complaining of the endless wilderness. They were questioning the promised land.
The land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey seemed very far and unrealistic. The Israelites did not know they were the blessed people. It is the same to us as well, it does not matter how much trials, pain, and hurts we must experience, we are the blessed people of God. We must always communicate with God through our prayer. We are also blessed with His gifts and one of the blessed gift is the “Holy Fire”.
Unlike our situation, the Israelites did not have any income. They did not have land to farm on. They did not have wells to drink from. The land in which they wandered was abandoned land. The Israelites had to totally depend on Moses and Aaron.
They had left Egypt and as they wondered in the wilderness, they had admired the blessed land of Canaan. But before entering the blessed land, they were placed in strict training so that they could become God’s true people.
It is the same for us. Just as the Israelites were trained in the wilderness for 40 years without extra food, clothes and shelter, we are also now in training as we still hold on to the promise of entering the land of Canaan. The wilderness is equivalent to a boot camp.
Before we believed onto Jesus, we lived our lives as we had desired according to the world. But once we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we now understand that it is not a one day thing. Becoming a Christian is not about celebrating a day out the year such as Christmas.
The Lord’s church in Korea is like a boot camp. If you come and attend our church (the Lord’s church) you will have your spiritual eyes opened. A true church must have the power to overcome the gates of hell!
The Israelites were placed in the wilderness to be trained just as any normal Christian is put to training. When the Israelites lived in Egypt, they did not have any spiritual concerns. Their only concern was to be physically comfortable.
When the Israelites lived as slaves, they did not know the meaning of responsibility. Their only desire was to obtain comfort and be nonchalant.
It is the same for the worldly people today. Before we believed in Jesus, that was our desire. Our only concern was to have a more comfortable life. Our concerns were on how to make more money, get the promotion, get more education, buy more expensive cars, buy more houses, and etc. These were our standards for defining a successful good life. THIS IS BUT THE LIFE OF A SLAVE.
But once we are God’s chosen people and no longer a slave, we have responsibilities to attend. Even after witnessing the 10 plagues of Egypt and deciding to follow God, they still died in their wilderness due to their disobedience and rebellious behavior. We must obey 100% of God’s word. If we disobey God’s word, we will die while we are in our wilderness.
The Israelites must have been very distressed. They thought only if they could enter the land of Canaan within their life time. But God tells us that we must persevere and endure our trials and tribulations. God encourages us with His words. We are in a process of becoming a soldier who will conquer the land of Canaan. He changes us.
The Lord’s church is the boot camp. You must be properly trained so that you can become God’s army.
Viewing or watching from a television or video screen will not be sufficient for the training one has to go through. The television or videos will not show all the difficulties or the procedures during the training. The only time you are able to watch the soldiers who are on TV are the ones who have already graduated their training.
If you come to the Lord’s church, all your childish human nature will be exposed. All your unclean words and thoughts will be exposed. We must be honest and sincere. If we are not honest and sincere, God cannot use us. If your weaknesses are exposed before God, you must accept it and agree instantly to correct it. But, if you continue to give excuses and defend yourself, God will not use you.
Your personality and character must become properly trained and equipped. Otherwise, when you receive any spiritual gifts, it may lead to your degeneration and corruption. A person will then eventually use the gifts to destroy the church. We must be pure in heart and motive.
Even though you persistently insist you are in the right, what are you going to do if the Lord said you are not? You must have an attitude to receive all the training and discipline in the wilderness by God.
When you read Numbers 16, the training and the way they were dealt with were all exposed. We must have our weaknesses exposed as we go through the training and we must correct our exposed problems. When our weakness and problems are exposed, we must repent.
Some people falsely prophesy by using their gift of prophesy, and then when it does not come to pass, they just ignore or pretend that it never was said. These people must repent fiercely!!
When the sins of your past are exposed, you must fiercely repent! Some people falsely prophesy and insist that it is their mission to give the messagae. But if the mission is given by God, it will not lie.
Their “mission” will ruin someone’s life. In Numbers, it describes how the Israelites disobey and sinned against God.
When we are in our wilderness and going through the difficult training, we must remember the word of God. We must ask God to help us of our disobedience and cowardice. Through this difficult training, the Israelites entered into the land of Canaan.
True shepherd must teach (educate) people not to lie. Just as parents teach their kids not to lie.
Before Parents emphasize God’s words into their children, they must first be obedient and pure in their action and heart. Until the day we enter the kingdom of God, family is very important. Family itself is God’s army. God’s army fights against sin. If the father is the one in training, this means the wife and children are also in training. The head of the family must clearly perform reasonable judgment. He must avoid unnecessary disciplining.
You must pray and pray. You must endure all your stresses. We are in training to learn endurance. If parents are not properly disciplined, then their children will have to be the spiritual vigilants.
Somebody must cling on to God and pray. Only through the prayers of people will God give a miracle. There was a true story. A mother of two children died due to abusive beatings of her husband. She died miserably. When the mother arrived at the gate of Heaven with the angels, she saw her two children’s spirits praying as they were crying. That was what was happening in the spiritual realm but with physical eyes, her young children were sorrowfully praying to God in front of their mom’s dead body. Two angels who were with the mother’s soul had permission from God to take the mother’s soul back to her dead body. God sent her back to earth. It was because of her two children’s earnest prayer. This testimony tells us that when we earnestly pray to God, the spiritual realm will move and miracles will happen.
Marrying just to satisfy our sexual desire is no different from animals. Christians must pray with firm determination. They must pray with the responsibility for their families. Whether it is a husband or a wife, they must earnestly pray to have good influences on their children. This is proper parenting.
Now back to Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On are beginning to go against Moses. The leaders are also getting angry at Moses because they are the only ones able to command. They are discontent for having to follow Moses and Aaron.
They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord’s people?” (Numbers 16:3)
What they are saying sounds logical and sound good on the surface but it is all humanism. Democratically, they conjure an assembly and lead the matter based on the decision of a majority. On the surface, it all seems reasonable but it is not right before the eyes of the Lord.
Why did God speak only through Moses and Aaron? The chief priest must possess words that will save souls! From their words and preaching, the love of souls must come out as well. Their heart must be filled with the love of souls. Only then will their people who are under their authority persevere and endure the wilderness. The pastors must have the ability to discern how earnestly a person has received his words and/or if the person was blessed by the words spoken. They must have the ability to clarify and discern.
When you receive power with a calling by God, many people will become jealous of you. The 250 people rebelled against Moses and Aaron. They said, “Why then did you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
From the world's point of view, the high and low positions are clearly defined in the work places. People who are in a high position have the power and authority. But since people work for money and if a person desires to quit, he/she can quit at anytime. But when it comes to Christianity, we must persevere whether we are in a high or low position. Nevertheless, there are absolute spiritual authority and differences.
Did Moses lead people according to his plan? Was it all for Moses’ own business or interest? He was leading according to the will and plan of God. It was God’s power that was leading Moses.
There are times when we do have to discuss things in order to get God’s work done. But, nevertheless, the power of God is life and it will lead us. We must have God in us to lead us in all matters.
Moses fell on down his face before God. Satan was behind Korah, Dathan and Abiram. There were additional people who were aligned with them. But what made it worst was that Moses’ sister Miriam rebelled against him as well. But, regardless, God was behind Moses and Aaron.
Moses just fell down on his face before God. Moses fell down on his face before the people. When Satan intensively attacks, you must fall down on your face before God. Since God knew before hand that the people did not have the ability to do as Moses did, God has entrusted the position to Moses.
As we come closer and closer to God, our ugly and frightening sin will be exposed. As I get closer to God, I am so fearful because so many of my sins are exposed. I feel like I am going to die. The sin that is in me is so filthy and frightening. All my sin is exposed.
We must fall on our faces down before God as Moses and Aaron had. If you are called to be a servant of God (pastor), you must become more soft and gentle. You must always give up what you want for others, and no matter how people curse or speak all types of foul language against you, you must just digest it within you and be immune to it. Your personality or character must be trained and disciplined. Just because you possess some type of power does not qualify you as a servant of God (pastor or some types of leadership).
If your personality and character is not properly trained and equipped, drop your calling. People who are called to be pastor or leaders, they will have to be humbled enough to expose their sins to God and fix it. They must have reverent fear. They must be a people of prayer. They must pray many times a day. They must pray more than their flock. They will have more things that will cause them to be disciplined by God. They will be judged greater. Since God has chosen and called some to be placed in a leadership, they at the same time do not have the option to say no.
If you have a ministry in the Holy Spirit, the forces of demons will not let you be at peace. They will attack your family and children. We sometimes question, “Why aren’t things ever going right even though I am serving the Lord faithfully? I have done so many things to be blessed, why is God not answering me so quickly?”
Before you receive your break through or blessings, you will first experience what something that may appear unjust or unfair. Be sensitive to the opportunities, if you miss the opportunities that God has given you, you will have to deal with the consequences.
When the assembly of Korah had gethered with more people, they were not afraid of anything. As Korah was standing at his tent with his assembly and opposed Moses and Aaron, God instantly destroyed them. Because of Korah’s rebellious behavior, his wives, children and little ones died unreasonably with him.
Even after God killed 250 by opening up the earth and closing it, the Israelites still harassed Moses and Aaron. They do not think about how they were rebelling and disobeying God.
Korah insisted on humanism, equality, and rationalization. On the surface, they had a good argument. But when it comes to the work of God’s kingdom, we are not to use humanism but seek meekness and love. We must be loyalty to God. There is only one way to prevent the destruction of others. IT IS THROUGH PRAYER.
Since Moses did not show the Glory of the Lord at Meribah during the striking of the rock for water, his mission had ended. He could no longer enter the land of Canaan.
If you read Numbers 16, those who came against Moses were punished with plagues. The Israelites complaints and resentments had caused their plagues.
But with meekness, Moses fell down on his face before God and prayed so that plague would stop. Our life is full of injustice but in order for us to have resolution whether the situation is fair or not, we must obey God’s word.
It is difficult for us to just march forward and obey. We are in training of everything. But when our training sessions are completed, God will then entrust us with conquering the war in Canaan. I pray that you will complete well in your training and I also pray that you will conquer the land of milk and honey of Canaan. I bless you to bear fruits in Jesus name. Amen.
Beloved Pastor and Spiritual Mentor, Pastor Kim, Yong Do
Author of Baptize by Blazing Fire, South Korea
www.spiritlessons.com, www.baptizingfire.com
Translated by Yoojin Kim & Steve Kim (No personal relation to Pastor Kim, Yong Do, but our spiritual mentor)
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