{"id":2312,"date":"2013-06-02T11:20:44","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T11:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matsati.com\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2013-06-02T11:20:44","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T11:20:44","slug":"bits-of-torah-truths-parashat-korach-reckless-abandon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/bits-of-torah-truths-parashat-korach-reckless-abandon\/","title":{"rendered":"Bits of Torah Truths, Parashat Korach, Reckless Abandon"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weeks reading is from Parashat Korach (Bamidbar \/ Numbers 16:1-18:32<\/em>), Korach, Datan, and Aviram rose up and assembled themselves against Moshe and against Aaron and questioned whether their role as priests was really the will of God.\u00a0 Two hundred and fifty men went to offer incense by fire before the Lord.\u00a0 As a result, the 250 men died by fire that proceeded from the Lord because of their sin.\u00a0 After these things, the Children of Israel complained against Moshe and Aaron and a plague broke out in their midst.\u00a0 Moshe told Aaron to take a censor filled with burning incense and stand in the gap between the dead and the living.\u00a0 The peoples response over the death of Korach, Datan, and Aviram is recorded in Bamidbar \/ Numbers 16:41<\/em>.\u00a0 The text this week reminds us that rebellion and having a rebellious spirit before the Lord is certain death.\u00a0 All forms of rebellion result in sin before the Lord especially those of the thoughts of our hearts.\u00a0 Let\u2019s discuss this a little further.<\/p>\n

\u05db\u05ea\u05d1\u05d9 \u05d4\u05e7\u05d5\u05d3\u05e9 \/ The Holy Scriptures<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d1\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e4\u05e8\u05e7 \u05d9\u05d3<\/span><\/strong>
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\u00a0Bamidbar \/ Numbers 16:3-7<\/em><\/strong>
\n16:3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, \u2018You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?\u2019\u00a0 16:4 When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; 16:5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, \u2018Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.\u00a0 16:6 \u2018Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, 16:7 and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!\u2019 (NASB)<\/em><\/p>\n

At the beginning of Parashat Korach we read in Bamidbar \/ Numbers 16:1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, 16:2 and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. (NASB)<\/em>\u00a0 The Scriptures say there were 250 leaders chosen in the assembly of people to represent the people before God.\u00a0 Moshe then tells Korah and these men what they should do …take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, 16:7 and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered where these 250 men got their censers?\u00a0 Where did they get their incense?\u00a0 And where did they get their fire?\u00a0 Did they enter into the Tabernacle to obtain these things?\u00a0 According to the Torah, the only ones who were qualified, anointed, and consecrated for service in atonement before the Lord was Aaron and his sons.\u00a0 Consequently, there would have only been a few censers manufactured during the construction of the tabernacle.\u00a0 In addition to this, the incense that is burned before the Lord is only for use in the tabernacle according to Shemot \/ Exodus 30:37 \u2018The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord.\u00a0 30:38 \u2018Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.\u2019 (NASB)<\/em>\u00a0 Similarly, the fire that is used when burning incense is to be taken from the altar according to Vayikra \/ Leviticus 16:12 \u201cHe shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. (NASB)<\/em>\u00a0 (see also Revelation 8:5<\/em>)\u00a0 Note that if these men were in fact to take part in the service before the Lord, there would not have been a need for 250 censers since only one could perform his service at a given time.\u00a0 As best that can be determined, these 250 men made their own censors, they made their own incense, and they made their own fire, and went before the Lord expecting Him to accept their version of the Torah command.\u00a0 They went with \u201creckless abandon\u201d doing and saying these things without regards for the consequences of disobeying God\u2019s clear command.\u00a0 Do you think that this happens today?\u00a0 The hearts desire of Korach and the people was to serve in the Tabernacle like Moshe and Aaron.\u00a0 King David said in Tehillim \/ Psalms 20:4 May He grant you your heart\u2019s desire And fulfill all your counsel! (NASB)<\/em>\u00a0 Many of the books of the prophets in the Scriptures speak out against those Israelites who brought forth sacrifices but did not act (in their lives and in their hearts) in accord with the precepts of the Torah.\u00a0 The Prophets say that sacrifices were of little worth without a truly repentant heart and a determination to turn from sin and return to God striving after righteousness. (Hosea 14:1-2, Joel 2:13, Micah 6:6-8<\/em>).\u00a0 Korach and the people failed to understand that a truly repentant person seeks the Lord God Almighty for change from the inside-out producing a new lifestyle and by the power of the Holy Spirit a modified way of thinking so that we begin to think and act in a righteous manner.\u00a0 If our outward lives and our inward thoughts are righteous, our heart will not have desires rooted in sin like Korach and his men.\u00a0 It is only by the help of Christ and the indwelling Spirit that we can hope to live righteously before the Lord Today.\u00a0 The story of Korah should remind us that our call to service\u00a0 before the Lord is not with \u201creckless abandon\u201d but with humbleness of heart and a deep respect for His great name.\u00a0 BTT_Parashat Korach-2013<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weeks reading is from Parashat Korach (Bamidbar \/ Numbers 16:1-18:32), Korach, Datan, and Aviram rose up and assembled themselves against Moshe and against Aaron and questioned whether their role as priests was really the will of God.\u00a0 Two hundred and fifty men went to offer incense by fire before the Lord.\u00a0 As a result, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-bits-of-torah-truth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matsati.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}