Who's Fault Is It Anyway?
Scripture: Numbers 16:1-2, 32-35
"One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram...2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly...32 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. 33 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. 34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried. 35 Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men..."
Observations:
It didn't take long in the wilderness for the Israelites to grow disconent after God condemned them to wander around aimlessly for the rest of their lives before someone started looking for someone to blame for their misery. As expected, Moses was singled out by an influential man named Korah who rallied his friends in an outright rebellion against Moses' leadership. Instead of taking personal responsibility as one of the leaders of Israel and using his influence along the way to point Israel towards obedience to God's direct commands, he decided to pass along his own personal responsibility to someone else. In reality, the people of Israel were in the place they were because of their own disobedience, despite Moses' leadership. Nevertheless, Korah caused an uprising among the "spiritual leaders" (the Levites) simply because he wasn't willing to own his mistakes. It was that very attitutde that blinded him to the truth and further infected those who followed him with self-serving motives. In the end, this entire fiasco cost thousands of lives and accomplished absolutely nothing positive.
Application:
It's real easy to focus on the negatives when things aren't going our way. On top of that it also easier to blame someone instead of taking responsibility for our own actions. The reality is that anyone can fault-find if they look hard enough, but not everyone has adopted personal responsibility as a character trait. People are always influenced by our actions, our attitudes, and the motives of our heart that show up in our words. Another reality is that God holds us personally responsible for all of the above when it comes to how we handle ourselves, especially when it comes to matters of His work and His people. One day each of us will be judged according to every careless word we speak (Matthew 12:37) as well as our thoughts and motives (1 Corinthians 3:15-16; Hebrews 4:12-13). One day we will all feel the full weight of how our choices, attitudes, actions, and words either helped to advance or destroy the work of God's Kingdom. In light of eternity, virtually all of our petty complaints and opinions will seem irrelevent when we view them in light of God's glory. Why not take that perspective now? It just might save everyone a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Prayer:
Father, open our eyes to the reality of the situtaiton we find ourselves in. Help us to see You as the One in control and focus on who You are and what You're doing. Show us our sins and expose our impure motives. Help us to hold our tongue from speaking against Your ordained authority. Help us to take responsiblity for our actions and live in the light of eternity. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
"One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram...2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly...32 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. 33 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. 34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried. 35 Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men..."
Observations:
It didn't take long in the wilderness for the Israelites to grow disconent after God condemned them to wander around aimlessly for the rest of their lives before someone started looking for someone to blame for their misery. As expected, Moses was singled out by an influential man named Korah who rallied his friends in an outright rebellion against Moses' leadership. Instead of taking personal responsibility as one of the leaders of Israel and using his influence along the way to point Israel towards obedience to God's direct commands, he decided to pass along his own personal responsibility to someone else. In reality, the people of Israel were in the place they were because of their own disobedience, despite Moses' leadership. Nevertheless, Korah caused an uprising among the "spiritual leaders" (the Levites) simply because he wasn't willing to own his mistakes. It was that very attitutde that blinded him to the truth and further infected those who followed him with self-serving motives. In the end, this entire fiasco cost thousands of lives and accomplished absolutely nothing positive.
Application:
It's real easy to focus on the negatives when things aren't going our way. On top of that it also easier to blame someone instead of taking responsibility for our own actions. The reality is that anyone can fault-find if they look hard enough, but not everyone has adopted personal responsibility as a character trait. People are always influenced by our actions, our attitudes, and the motives of our heart that show up in our words. Another reality is that God holds us personally responsible for all of the above when it comes to how we handle ourselves, especially when it comes to matters of His work and His people. One day each of us will be judged according to every careless word we speak (Matthew 12:37) as well as our thoughts and motives (1 Corinthians 3:15-16; Hebrews 4:12-13). One day we will all feel the full weight of how our choices, attitudes, actions, and words either helped to advance or destroy the work of God's Kingdom. In light of eternity, virtually all of our petty complaints and opinions will seem irrelevent when we view them in light of God's glory. Why not take that perspective now? It just might save everyone a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Prayer:
Father, open our eyes to the reality of the situtaiton we find ourselves in. Help us to see You as the One in control and focus on who You are and what You're doing. Show us our sins and expose our impure motives. Help us to hold our tongue from speaking against Your ordained authority. Help us to take responsiblity for our actions and live in the light of eternity. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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