Tag Archives: rebellion

Learning to Live Within Your Anointing (Part 1) Mutiny in the Desert

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

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Some of us want more than what God says is good for us.  Why is it that we are never satisfied with what God has provided?  I am speaking primarily of the Spirit. Why is it that we covet the things others have like possessions, position, or power (authority)?

We seem to be like the monkey.

 There is a well told story that says in Africa and India the natives use a very simple technique to catch monkeys. They hollow out one end of a coconut and they put peanuts or bananas inside. The monkey puts his hand in the coconut and when he makes a fist to grab the peanuts, he’s trapped. The monkey cannot remove his hand with his fist clinched.  Because he desperately desires the treats inside the coconut, he keeps his fist clinched.  The natives will pull a string attached to the other end of the coconut and capture the monkey without harming it.   All the little monkey has to do in order to escape is to let go of the fruit.  But he never releases his grasp of the fruit and is caught.   

 

Korah’s History

 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, (Numbers 16:1)

This desert rebellion was led by a man named Korah. He was a Levite, meaning he was a privileged person among the Hebrews.  He was specially chosen from among God’s Chosen People to serve in the Priesthood.  Yet the story tells us he was still discontented with his position when he compared himself to Moses and Aaron.

Korah spread his discontent to 250 other Israelites. They brought forward a list of complaints, acting more like a mob.  They were determined to have things their own way.

Have you ever known people like this?

It is as if they cannot be happy unless they are the ones running the show.

  • They think they have just as much right to be the boss as the boss.
  • They are self-appointed.
  • They insist they have been disadvantaged somehow by not being given the opportunity to lead.

These mutineers have not demonstrated any ability to lead.  Yet, due to the mob, they insist they know what is best. All this sounds like some politicians doesn’t it?

 

Korah’s Complaint (2-3)

 “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. 3 They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You 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?” (Numbers 16:2-3)

Those wanting a change in leadership had three complaints.  These complaints all focused around Moses.

  •  #1 Moses, you are no better than anyone else.
  • #2 Everyone in Israel is chosen of the Lord, not just Moses and Aaron
  • #3 We don’t need to obey you Moses (you’re no better than us).

If you are a parent, these complaints may sound familiar.  Have you ever heard a child say, “you’re not the boss of me.”

Well, the fact of the matter is God has made (the parent) “the boss of you.” But trying to convince insolent children of this truth is a difficult task.  It may take dramatic discipline to restore the leadership.

 

Korah’s Rebellion

Webster’s Dictionary uses several synonyms to help to define rebellion.

  • Insolent – arrogantly rude.
  • Arrogate – to claim or seize without justification.
  • Arrogant – proud and overbearing.

When Moses sees and hears of the rebellion, it looks as though he is shot in the stomach. He immediately falls to the ground.  But the Lord gives Moses a simple plan to deal with these mutineers.

Everyone is invited to stand before the Lord as equals at the Tent of Meeting.  Each is to have a censer filled with incense to burn before the Lord. Each will be received or rejected by the Lord.  It never dawned on Korah that the Lord would reject him.

God instructs Moses to move everyone away from the trouble makers and their tents. Moses informs everyone plainly; This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea.  (28)

29 If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men (a natural death), then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol (unnatural death), then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD.”

 31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” 35 Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.  (Numbers 16:29-35)

 

End of discussion… end of the rebellion!  The leadership question has been answered once and for all.  When the ground opens up and swallows you, your family, and everything you own, then there is nothing left to discuss.

When we challenge the leaders God has put in place, we do so at our own peril.  To challenge leadership with wrong motives may cost you more than you are will pay.

The truth is leadership is more than just leading.  It is about anointing and how God has appointed that person.

Moses – As Good As It Gets

Korah’s group sought to walk outside their anointing, calling, and purpose.  They were ministers of the Tabernacle.  Their personal anointing didn’t extend beyond the priesthood.  Yet they challenged the established authority using numbers and influence.

By the end of the next day 14,950 Israelites died. The plague that struck the camp was the scene of the longest and bloodiest day in the wilderness.  This incident far outnumbered the 3,000 calf-worshippers that had died previously (Ex 32:28).

The truth is God had His best man on the job, Moses.  We may think we know better than God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When God appoints, He anoints.  Our job is to follow the anointing and learn to be comfortable with God’s anointed leadership.  The Leadership was not going to get any better than Moses.

Have you learned to discern who is anointed and appointed by God?  If you are still stuck in the flesh and looking for fleshly solutions to spiritual problems, you will be constantly disappointed.  Learn to discern where God’s anointing is resting.  It will change the way you operate and bring glory to the Lord.

Blessings,

Pastor

Moving From Bondage (Slaves) to Freedom (Sons) – Part 2 – What’s Inside Matters Most

31 Tuesday Jan 2012

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When God moves us from bondage to freedom, He leads us to the desert.  He gives us words and promises to hold on to while He works out all the details for our freedom.  We view these times as tests.  But a test is never just a test.  God doesn’t like tests anymore than we do.  It is about change.  God wants to move us from slaves to sons and daughters.  Lets look at the purpose of these desert testings.

 

 

 

Tests of Faith: Reveal What Is Inside Us.

 

The Testing of Our Faith Brings Out the Best or the Worst in Us — Sometimes Both.

 

The Hebrew children failed their test time after time. They grumbled, whined, and complained. They accused God of wrongdoing. They failed to follow God and love Him.

More than once they rebelled against the leadership of Moses and were ready to kill him and choose another leader. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments the congregation was worshiping the gods of Egypt and casting off every moral restraint.

When it came time to enter the land of promise, they refused to go because it appeared too difficult and dangerous.   Once again they forgot the presence, provision, and power of God. It didn’t matter that He had proved Himself over and over.

But these SAME tests brought out the best in men like Joshua and Caleb.  They had gone to spy out the same land the Lord had promised.  They personally saw the same dangers and said, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us” (Numbers 14:7-8).

It brought out the best and the worst in Moses. He kept loving God and loving the people in spite of the hard times. At one point, when God was about to destroy the people because of their rebellion, Moses said to the Lord, “But now, please forgive their sin — but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written” (Exodus 32:32).

On another occasion when the people complained about being thirsty Moses prayed that the Lord would give them water. But when they kept on complaining, Moses became so angry that he pounded on the rock with his staff in frustration, losing his temper…instead of speaking to the rock in obedience.

This act of rage kept him from entering the land of promise.  God was teaching Moses lessons of faith and obedience which were more important than entering the promised land.

So the question should be asked of us personally, “Have we passed the test and do we know the true condition of our heart?”  Passing the test is one issue.  Having the Lord cut away all the fleshly desires from our heart is another.  The quicker we allow the Lord to do His work in us, the quicker we can move along to entering into His rest!

 

 

For Some People these Tests Seem More Like Teasing than Testing.

 

This is especially true in our culture.  We want all the blessings of God and we want them now. We are truly a culture of short-cuts and convenience. Perseverance is not our forte.

But God is not playing or teasing.  We have to learn that life is more than receiving blessings — even if they are blessings God has promised to us. Learning to trust God is more important than any gift He could ever give us.

 

Someone has said, “Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”

 

The question always remains – will our testings, trials, and circumstances bring out the best or the worst in us?

 A tall young Army officer watched the clock nervously. In just a few minutes he would see the woman who had gotten his name and written to him for the past year and a half — although they had never met. Lt. Blandford had confessed to her in one of his letters that often he felt fear. Only a few days before his next battle, he had received a letter from her which said: “Of course you fear… all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.’”

Those words strengthened him for his next battle, and now he was actually going to hear the voice of the woman who had written those words. At four minutes to six a girl passed close to him, and Lt. Blandford’s heart jumped. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. She had refused his request to send him her photograph. She wrote: “If your feelings for me were real, what I look like won’t matter.”

It was one minute to six and once more his heart gave him a start. A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls from delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime come alive. He started toward her, not noticing that she was not wearing a rose. As she moved past, she gave a small provocative smile. “Going my way, soldier?” she murmured.

Then he saw another woman — one wearing a red rose. She was walking directly behind the girl in the green suit, a woman well past 40. Her graying hair was tucked under a worn hat. She was plump, and her red rose was pinned to a rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. Blandford felt exceedingly drawn to the smiling girl, but he had a great longing for the woman whose spirit had touched him so deeply. She was now standing before him, and he could see that though her face was plain and pale, it was gentle and sensible. Her gray eyes exuded warmth. Lt. Blandford greeted her warmly.

He said to himself that this may not be the love of his life, but it would be a very special friendship. “I’m Lt. Blandford,” he said. “And you’re Miss Maynell. I’m so glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?” The woman looked at him with a questioning smile and said, “I don’t know what this is all about, son, but that young lady in the green suit, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She told me that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you she’s waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test.”

 

God is testing the quality of our love and devotion. He wants to see what is inside — whether we are real or false. Whatever is inside will come out in the test. It will bring out the best in us or the worst in us, and what comes out will determine whether or not we pass the test.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

Moving From Bondage (Slaves) to Freedom (Sons) – Part 1

30 Monday Jan 2012

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Our journey into the Promised Land continues with a discussion today regarding the dilemma most people find themselves in when they choose freedom over bondage.

         Back in 1997, USA Today reported that the Department of Transportation set aside $200 million for research and testing of an Automated Highway System. The idea was that engineers could relieve traffic congestion with a new “super cruise control” built into our highways.  In cities facing heavy traffic congestion special magnets would be embedded in the road every four feet which would transfer signals between the cars and the D.O.T.’s computer system. Everything from steering, acceleration, and braking would be controlled by sensors, computer navigation systems, and cameras along the side of the road. Control would be returned to drivers as they left at specified exits.  Researchers and government officials claimed they had the capability to address any potential technological problem. But there was one problem they could not overcome.  Mike Doble, Buick technology manager says, “The only thing we can’t do yet is get people to comfortably trust the system. It’s not a technology issue.  People feel out of control while driving closely spaced, at high speeds, through major cities. The problem is not technology, the problem is trust — very few people would be willing to give up that kind of control.”

 

The Human Dilemma –

This is the human dilemma, is it not? Giving up control. Trusting something that you are not in control of, even if that something is better at control than you are.

This was the situation the people of Israel faced. God asked them to give Him control and they weren’t sure they wanted to.

Think about what had happened to them in less than six months. One day they were slaves in Egypt. They were beaten regularly and worked unmercifully from sunup to sunset. The Egyptians were killing every male child that was born.  The Hebrews were huddled in their miserable little squalor huts.

Suddenly a man named Moses appeared and said that God was going to deliver them.  The Bible records “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:24-25).

Now, almost on a daily basis, they began to see the miraculous power of God working for their deliverance. He fought for them and delivered them. The plagues which were devastating the Egyptians didn’t affect them at all.

Finally, the Lord led them to the Red Sea. But as they looked at the watery barrier before them they turned to see the Egyptian army in pursuit. They were filled with fear and began to cry out to God. Just then, then waters miraculously parted and they were again on their journey toward the promised land, while Pharaoh’s threatening army was destroyed in the retreating waters.  When they arrived on the other side, God miraculously provided them with bread and meat, as well as all their other needs.

 

What Should Have Been Enough Wasn’t Enough –

It should have been enough to convince anyone that God was with them and was able to provide. After all, his presence was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  But they were only a few miles out of Egypt before they started complaining. They grumbled to Moses, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3).  It was as though they had forgotten all that God had done for them and the amazing power he had displayed on their behalf. Moses cried out to God saying, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exodus 17:4).

 

Believe It Or Not, The Miraculous Doesn’t Improve Faith –

The Lord answered Moses saying, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”  Then the Bible says, “So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:5-7).

What an incredible accusation! How much evidence did they need to realize the Lord was with them?

So the next time someone says to you, “If there really is a God, why doesn’t He show himself? If He exists, why doesn’t he do some miracle so that everyone will see it and have to believe in him?”

You could tell them that He has already done this and it didn’t work. He demonstrated His love and showed them His mighty power. He was visibly present with them and spoke to them out of heaven, and it didn’t matter.  They still did not believe and their hearts were still full of rebellion. By the way, the same thing was true in the New Testament. God came in visible form in the person of Jesus. He told them He loved them and demonstrated that love with blessings and miracles.  He also powerfully provided food and healings.  Not only did they not believe in him, they killed him.

There is a way to increase your level of faith and learn to trust the Lord more deeply.  But it is not found in seeing more evidence of God’s movements with your eyes.

 Faith increases as we purposefully enter into the desert with the Lord and learn to trust Him.  What was true for the Hebrews is true for all of us today.

God works in a predictable pattern:

  • First, He makes a promise to us.
  • Second, He tests our faith — our ability to believe the promise.
  • Third, He watches for our obedience — our ability to walk in the light of that promise. Fourth, He grants His blessing — the fulfillment of the promise.

As we walk through this process over and over, our faith grows towards the Lord and we become more and more like Him.

This is what the Lord did with Noah. He made a promise. He tested Noah to see if he would believe what He told him, even though the flood did not come for many years. Then He watched for Noah’s obedience, and when He saw Noah’s obedience He gave him the blessing of a brand new world.

God did the same with Abraham. The promise of a son was given. Then the Lord waited to see if Abraham would believe the promise in spite of a long delay. He watched for Abraham’s obedience and finally rewarded him with the son of promise.

This is how God will work with you. He reassures you with a promise of hope for the future. But the promise is sometimes delayed and it may look like it will never happen. God is testing your faith. He watches for obedience, and when you have learned to trust him, He grants the promised blessing.

We will talk more about the testing process tomorrow.

 

Blessings,

Pastor