Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Do You Know Your Role? | Torah | Numbers 16-19

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

Do you feel like you have confidence in your government? Are you quick to complain about those in power? In today’s episode, Keith talks about a rebellion in Numbers 16-19 and shares the consequences of grumbling about leaders. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Numbers 16-19

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Let's start with a question. In your opinion, what's the most un-American Bible verse? What Bible verse goes against the grain of American culture? Is it John 146 that says the only way to God is through Jesus? That goes against the American pluralistic culture that says all truth is relative and that there are many paths to God.

Or what about Matthew 7-1 that says do not judge? We hate people who judge us even as we find ourselves judging others. Those verses are both good candidates for the most un-American Bible verse, but let me throw out another option. It's Hebrews 1317. It says this, have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. That verse is pretty clear in what it teaches. God has given us spiritual leaders and we need to submit to their authority. Most of us, we're not good at submitting to authority.

We're not good at being followers. Whether that's in the church or government or really anywhere, we don't like to submit to leaders. America was founded by overthrowing a king. We are a democratic nation where every person gets a vote and every person, at least in theory, is equal before the law. But it's not just our national story that makes it hard for us to trust. authority. It's also that our leaders have often failed this. Sometimes they fail us by getting things wrong. They claim to know more than they do. John F. Kennedy recruited what he called were the

best and brightest people to be in his presidential administration. These were purported to be the smartest people in America. They were in charge of running the Vietnam War and they messed it up really badly. As a result, thousands of people died. Sometimes our leaders fail us because, because they have wrong motives. If you've listened to the podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, or are just familiar with the church out in the Seattle area, you know that the pastors and other leaders, but specifically Mark Driscoll, became more about accumulating power than serving Jesus. So following our leaders is hard because of the culture we live in and that we know that our leaders are flawed. But there's another big reason that we aren't good followers and we don't

want to submit to leaders. And that's what we're going to talk about today in number 16. This problem isn't with our leaders. It's with us. Sometimes we don't follow our leaders because sin has made us discontent and rebellious. Hey, quick reminder that the fourth book of the Old Testament is called Numbers in our English Bible. And it's called that because of the genealogies inside this book. But in the Hebrew Bible, the title of the book is in the wilderness, because this is the number. This book is telling the story of Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness between Mount Sinai and the edge of the promised land. So number 16 starts by telling us about three men, Korah, Dathan, and Aebarum. Here's verse two.

They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly. 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? Do you hear their jealousy? Cora is the main guy who is leading this rebellion against Moses and Aaron. He's a Levite and he and his family have a specific role to play in carrying the tent of meeting and the elements of worship. What's more is that he's a cousin of Moses and Aaron.

But Cora didn't like the role assigned to him. He didn't want to be a Levite. He wanted to be a priest, maybe even the high priest. So he starts gathering others in the community to challenge Moses and Aaron. You can imagine the speech he's using to recruit them. I'm sure he's telling them that Moses and Aaron have given themselves too much power, that Moses and Aaron have made mistakes, that they can't be trusted, that they're being selfish. In other words, Cor is challenging their competency and their character.

And his little rebellion against the leadership, it starts to work. Cora recruits 250 leaders of the community to join him. Here's verse four. When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground. I mean, Moses knew this was serious. He knew that while Cora thought he was rebelling against humans, Moses and Aaron, he was really rebelling against God. Moses and Aaron were not self-appointed.

God had put them in their positions. So Moses says to Cora, listen, you Levites. Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from all the community of Israel to be near him so that you can serve in the Lord's tabernacle and stand before the Lord to minister to them? In other words, he's saying to Cora, look, you Levites, you've got an important role to play. Moses goes on. Cora, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites.

Are you now demanding the priesthood as well? The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against. For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him? So Moses tells Cora and his followers that God has given them a role within the body and that they need to be content with that role. When they demand to have a different role or a bigger role or a more visible role, they're revolting not against human beings but against God. They're saying that God is unfair.

that God can't be trusted, that God doesn't know what he's doing, that God made a mistake. God has given all of us different skills, gifts, abilities, experiences, education, even roles. So when we're discontent with who we are, we are rebelling against the God who made us. We're rebelling against the God who loves us. So Moses tells this group to come back the next day and that God would choose between them. One thing I appreciate about Moses is that he didn't. defend himself. He didn't get into an argument about his qualifications or his calling. Moses just entrusts himself to God. Okay, so we're going to read more out of number 16. We'll pick it up in

verse 28. This is the following day when God is going to choose between those who are rebelling against Moses and Aaron and Moses and Aaron. Moses is speaking and he says this. This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done. For I, have not done them on my own. If these men, in other words, Cora and those who are rebelling along with him, if these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord. He had hardly finished speaking these words when the ground

suddenly split open beneath them. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them and everything they owned. So they went down alive into the grave along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them and they all vanished from among the people of Israel. Whoa. God takes sin seriously, doesn't he? God brought judgment against the rebellion of these men. There are some sins that we think are bad, and there are other sins that we dismiss and say they aren't that big of a deal, but all sin is a big deal before a holy God.

Now, if you were in Israel and you watched all this go down, what do you think your response would be? Maybe you think that you'd get really serious about your sin, that you'd repent of your sin. Maybe revival would break out in Israel, and people would turn their heart toward God. but I'm not so sure we'd get the wake-up call that we think we'd get. Here's verse 41.

But the very next morning, the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, you've killed the Lord's people. See, the other Israelites, they watch the earth open up and swallow those who are rebelling against Moses and Aaron, and the very next day they continue down the same path. They commit the same sins. In response, God is going to judge the entire nation the way he did Cora in his band. But Aaron the high priest intercedes for the people and God relents and spares them. There are some really good takeaways for us from this passage.

So let's run through a few. First, remember that God has given you your gifts, your abilities. Some are leaders like Moses. Some are priests like Aaron. Some are Levites like Cora. Maybe you have the gift of leadership or service or giving or help or mercy. Whatever the gifts God has given you, be content with who God has made you. Second, all complaining and grumbling against our leaders is really against God.

God is the one who has appointed our leaders. It doesn't mean that you can't ask leaders questions. Of course you can. It doesn't mean that leaders don't get things wrong. Of course they do. But it does mean that complaining and grumbling against leaders is really serious in God's eyes. Three, sin spreads.

It started with three men, Cora and his two buddies, but it spread to the 250 and then it spread throughout Israel. All our sins spreads, but especially grumbling and complaining. It will ruin your family, your school, your workplace. It'll ruin anything. There's always something you can grumble and complain about. So be on guard. Don't let it start because once it does,

start it will for sure spread. Fourth, God is holy. God is holy. That means that all sin is serious before God. Five, God is patient. Moses told the people to come back the next day and God would choose between them. In the time in between he said that and when they stood before God for this test, they could have repented. The reason that Moses said to come back tomorrow is that he knows that God is patient and he wanted to give the people time to think through their actions, to think through what they were doing. He wanted to give them time to repent. God always gives us time to repent, but eventually that time runs out. Sixth, Jesus intercedes for sinners. God was going to judge all the Israelites because of their sins of complaining and grumbling, but Aaron as the high priest

interceded for the people and God relented. Jesus is our high priest. He has interceded on our behalf. He has taken the punishment that we deserved. Put your hope and your faith in Jesus. He is the one who forgives and heals and restores. Hey, thanks for listening. If you want to go deeper, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talk newsletter. You'll get a short email once a week. It'll challenge you to grow in your faith, give you interesting background on today's passage, and a lot, lot more. Just click the link in the show notes to sign up. It'll help you deepen your journey with Jesus.