A contingent of the people in the wilderness rebelled against Moses and Aaron.....some of the more notable of the men leading the way.....Korah the Levite being chief among them. Moses was taking too much power unto himself they believed. This stunned Moses who told them that they....the Levites....had been given a great honor in ministering to the people....but they wanted more....they wanted to determine the ordinances of the people. They were so deceived in their own minds that they actually charged Moses with taking them....out....of the land of milk and honey....Egypt!
Moses told them to come on the morrow....and the complaint would be ajudicated.....so Korah gathered as many as were on his side and showed up. God in effect told Moses to stay back....a social distancing in a way....because judgment was coming. Moses pleaded with God for mercy who allowed him to try one more time to convince those who were rebelling to change their minds.....but his pleading was in vain. The earth opened up....and fire came from the Lord....and all those rebelling against Moses and Aaron were consumed. Panic followed in the ranks of those who witnessed it.
Rather incredibly....the next day....the people charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord! They gathered together as a mob. Once again God in effect told Moses to stand back....and once again Moses pleaded with the Lord....but a plague of some sort began immediately to kill the people. Moses rushed into action....pleading with God again....and the plague ceased immediately. 14,700 people had died.
We today have rebelled against God and His commandments...as we demand an answer to....."Who gave these church people from the past the right to say what God commands and what He doesn't command?" We want a say in what the ordinances of God are! We'll determine for ourselves what a Christian is to do! We want to chose our own leaders....no matter how profane and arrogant they might be!
Plagues....and judgments....come in various forms. Rebellion and confusion and great division began to consume us in America. We chose our own leaders....both civil and in the church....who would show us new ways governing the people and worshiping God....but the judgments continue....as we continue to challenge God's simple command to repent and return to Him.
As for our side...we want to make America great again....but what does that mean. Has anyone ever even asked that question? What time period are we talking about....Reagan's? Even he used the phrase....'make America great again.' It seems to be an abstract concept related to financial and military hegemony. It has absolutely nothing to do with God....who for His own purposes....established a witness in this land....and protected us as the gospel of Jesus Christ went forth....from Christians.....not from the government.....although God used the power of America to make a somewhat safe way for the proclamation of the gospel all over the world.
If there ever was a true greatness here....apart from power....(of which Rome had that greatness at one time....Great Britain at another....and the United States more recently)....and democratic self-governing....it was in our being a conduit and a vessel for God....but that's not the greatness that we want to return to.....and that is why this effort will fail.....for God is not in it....it is rather an affront to God....even though we frivolously and arrogantly use His name all the time.
"Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion," (Jude 11)
Moses told them to come on the morrow....and the complaint would be ajudicated.....so Korah gathered as many as were on his side and showed up. God in effect told Moses to stay back....a social distancing in a way....because judgment was coming. Moses pleaded with God for mercy who allowed him to try one more time to convince those who were rebelling to change their minds.....but his pleading was in vain. The earth opened up....and fire came from the Lord....and all those rebelling against Moses and Aaron were consumed. Panic followed in the ranks of those who witnessed it.
Rather incredibly....the next day....the people charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord! They gathered together as a mob. Once again God in effect told Moses to stand back....and once again Moses pleaded with the Lord....but a plague of some sort began immediately to kill the people. Moses rushed into action....pleading with God again....and the plague ceased immediately. 14,700 people had died.
We today have rebelled against God and His commandments...as we demand an answer to....."Who gave these church people from the past the right to say what God commands and what He doesn't command?" We want a say in what the ordinances of God are! We'll determine for ourselves what a Christian is to do! We want to chose our own leaders....no matter how profane and arrogant they might be!
Plagues....and judgments....come in various forms. Rebellion and confusion and great division began to consume us in America. We chose our own leaders....both civil and in the church....who would show us new ways governing the people and worshiping God....but the judgments continue....as we continue to challenge God's simple command to repent and return to Him.
As for our side...we want to make America great again....but what does that mean. Has anyone ever even asked that question? What time period are we talking about....Reagan's? Even he used the phrase....'make America great again.' It seems to be an abstract concept related to financial and military hegemony. It has absolutely nothing to do with God....who for His own purposes....established a witness in this land....and protected us as the gospel of Jesus Christ went forth....from Christians.....not from the government.....although God used the power of America to make a somewhat safe way for the proclamation of the gospel all over the world.
If there ever was a true greatness here....apart from power....(of which Rome had that greatness at one time....Great Britain at another....and the United States more recently)....and democratic self-governing....it was in our being a conduit and a vessel for God....but that's not the greatness that we want to return to.....and that is why this effort will fail.....for God is not in it....it is rather an affront to God....even though we frivolously and arrogantly use His name all the time.
"Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion," (Jude 11)
