| | | | The Way of Korah - Jude 1:11 Continuing in our walk through the book of Jude, in verse 11 we're presented with three examples from the Old Testament that describe the error of false teachers; Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Today we're going to look at the error of Korah...
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Jude 1:11
The account of Korah is found in Numbers 16. Korah was a leader of the Israelites, a Levite, a man of esteem. But Korah had one great fault: He felt that he should be the leader of the people instead of Moses. So Korah gathered 250 of the leaders that followed him, and confronted Moses:
"You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" Numbers 16:3
In other words, "Moses, who do you think you are?" Truth be told, Moses didn't think that much of himself (Num 12:3), but he knew that God had called him to lead the nation. The Lord confirmed this, as He instructed the people to back away from the tents of those men, the earth opened up and swallowed all of their family's and belongings, and then the Lord sent fire from heaven and burned up the 250 leaders. Wow. Don't mess with Moses!
But the point that Jude is making is this: The root sin of false teachers is that of Korah; They desire to take the position of authority over God's people. Like Korah, they feign a desire to care about the congregation, but their real motive is power. Like Korah, they'll seek to gather a following, and then usurp the leadership of the church. But like Korah and his followers, they will be held accountable for their actions. If you think about it, it's the same sin as Lucifer, who thought that he deserved to be in the place of God (Isaiah 14).
Again, there is a personal application; God has appointed leaders in His church, and it's a dangerous thing to come against God's anointed. Like Moses, leaders aren't perfect, but they are God's leaders. Those who would seek to usurp God's anointed leaders are playing with fire!
Leaders should be held accountable by their congregations; if a leader is sinning, there should be a confrontation, and an accounting (1 Timothy 5:19-20). But unless a leader is doing something illegal, unethical, or unbiblical, then we should honor and respect their authority, as unto the Lord (Hebrews 13:17).
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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