Tag: canaan

Parashah Korach (Korach) Numbers 16-18

Leave a comment

Korach was a Levite, a member of that family which was granted the responsibility to attend to the Sanctuary items. This was an honorable position. However, he wasn’t satisfied with that and wanted to possess the position that Aaron and his sons were given, that of the Cohen, the High Priest who was allowed to enter and service inside the Sanctuary. He organized men and formed a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, which was to be brought before God.

Korach was not alone in this rebellion. Dathan and Abiram, leaders of the tribe of Reuben, also convinced men, leaders within the entire community, to rebel against Moses’s authority.

Moses and Aaron faced these 250 men and had them bring their censors with incense before the Tent of Meeting. God would have destroyed the entire assembly (i.e., all the people) but Moses stood in the way of God’s anger (as he had done before) and convinced God to only punish the leaders and not everyone. Korach, Dathan, Abiram, with their entire families and possessions, were literally swallowed up by the ground under their feet in the full sight of the entire community. Then at the same time, fire broke out from the Tent of Meeting and engulfed the 250 rebels, fire pans and all, leaving only melted fire pans and ashes.

The people were absolutely terrified, but the next morning they got up, and continued to rebel, calling Moses and Aaron killers of Adonai’s people. In God’s righteous anger at this continual rebellious attitude, He sent a plague out that killed 14,700 people. Now the entire community was so terrified of the Tent of Meeting, which is where these events took place, that they cried anyone who even came near the Tent of Meeting would die.

God commanded that the tribal leader’s staffs, 12 in all (Aaron’s staff representing Levi) be gathered , identified and placed in the Tent of Meeting. He said that the staff of the one He chooses to be His priest would have buds the next morning, and that morning Aaron’s staff not only had buds, but blossomed and had grown ripe almonds.

Having established that God picks His priests, and that God decides who is in charge, He reaffirmed the position of the Cohen HaGadol (High Priest), the Cohanim and the Levites with regards to their positions, their payments from the tithes and offerings, and that they are not to possess lands as an inheritance because God is their inheritance.

As I often say, there is so much here to work with. What I feel led to discuss, which “popped” into my head as I was reviewing this parashah, is how God continually states that the people should do this or do that or not do these things in order that they don’t die. That sounds OK in and of itself- don’t do anything that will cause you to die. But then I thought, “Hey, wait a minute! God is saying don’t do this so you don’t die, but He is the one killing them! What’s up with that?”

The punishment God sends among the people is certainly one that would put fear and terror in anyone’s heart, yet He says at the same time He is killing thousands of people that He doesn’t want them to die. Doesn’t this seem to be a contradiction? It seems to be, but it isn’t: God is holy, and just, and He keeps His word. He is also, during these 40 years in the desert, weeding out the tares.

This rebellion occurs after the defeat of the Israelites trying to enter Canaan after God told them they would remain in the desert for 40 years. They rebelled against God by not entering the land, then they rebelled against God by trying to enter when He said not to, and now they are rebelling against God and blaming Moses for not keeping God’s promise to bring them into the land. Uh, people- you were right there, Moses was all set to bring you in, and you refused to go. It wasn’t Moses’  fault you’re not in the land, it’s yours!

Rebellion after rebellion after rebellion, carping , crying, whining, complaining: that’s all these people did, all the time. No wonder Moses was so upset, and no wonder God was so fed up with them. God did what He needed to do, and not because He was pissed off (although He was) but because He is holy, righteous and fair, and their actions demanded that He do something about it.

OK, so what am I trying to say here? God is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God, but He is also God- holy, above everyone and everything, and He is our Judge. When He gives a command, He expects us to follow it, and as such when we refuse He is obligated by His own holiness to punish us. That is why, even as He is destroying the guilty, He is warning us not to continue to force Him to do this. It is almost like we actually have some power over God: even though His heart is full of compassion, love and forgiveness, when we rebel, reject, blaspheme and turn our backs on God, we force Him to take action for the sake of His name. That is why God seems to be a destructive, punitive God in the Old Covenant, whereas the New Covenant makes Him out to be all about love and forgiveness and nicey-nicey stuff.   He is all nicey-nicey when we are obedient, and He is all about love and compassionate forgiveness when we are repentant and ask for forgiveness.

On the other hand, when we are obstinate, rebellious and blatantly reject God, then He is Judge, Jury and Executioner. And once He has made up His mind, there is no court of appeals because His decision is final.

This is one of those things that confuses people because they want to make God act the way they want Him to act, and don’t respect His authority or recognize that He is so far above us that whatever we think is right or good or fair, it has no hold on Him.

The point to take home today is this: God is loving, compassionate and just, but He is also holy, and for the sake of His name He will enforce His commandments when people are obstinately rebellious and flaunt His authority. So stay on His good side, OK?

Parashah Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13 – 15:41) Send Thou Out

1 Comment

This is where we learn why the Jewish people wandered forty years in the desert. The Lord orders Moshe to send out one prince from each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan. When the 12 men return, all except Caleb and Joshua report that it is too well fortified, the people are fierce and the Anakim, the race of giants that Jewish mythology says are the children of (fallen) angels that took human wives, are there, too.  The people grumble and moan, depressed and frightened that they will die (geeze- will they ever learn?) so they organize against Moshe and Aaron. Again.

God is really fed up with these stiff-necked people and, again, tells Moshe to get away from them for He will destroy them and make a nation out of Moses, but Moses intercedes and saves the people by reminding God of His own words- that He is forgiving and compassionate. Moses also brings a good logical argument that if God destroys the people then the other nations will think less of God’s power and might. In other words, destroying the people will not bring God honor or respect. So God sends a plague to kill the 10 spies who caused this sin.

Now the people, told that because of their stubborn and faithless actions they will have to spend 1 year wandering in the desert for every day the spies were in the land (hence the forty years), decide that they were wrong to kvetch and without first asking for the Lord’s forgiveness, and for His favor and for His protection, take it upon themselves to again disobey the Lord and ignore Him by trying to conquer the land.

Ever wonder what would have happened if they had done as they should? What if they had gone to Moses, asked him to intercede (they probably didn’t know he already saved their collective butts) and offered sacrifice to God at the Tabernacle as a congregational sin sacrifice? Would God have forgiven them and then allowed them to enter the Land?

Whatever might have happened had they done that, they didn’t, and so they go to war on their own and, well, that doesn’t work out too well for them; in fact, they suffer such a terrible defeat they are pushed all the way back to their last victory, Hormah, and are so badly beaten that they really don’t have any military left.  They don’t have another military encounter for 38 years (give or take.)

After God passes judgement, the next and last part of this parashah is a restatement of the regulations regarding sacrifices. It seems strange, doesn’t it? I mean, they just found out they will not enter this land for forty years and all that are over 20 years of age will die in the desert, but God is telling them how to present the sacrifice when they are living in the land.  I am not sure why this is here, but I agree with what the Chumash says, that this is a comforting statement, intimating that they will be entering the land, eventually.

I think this is a good lesson for us, to know we can always believe that whatever God says will be, is already history. That’s how He rolls. Here, in the midst of rebellion and defeat, God doesn’t dwell on the present but moves on to the future. He has decreed their punishment, and now it is time to get ready for the end of that punishment. You’ll be wandering for forty years- to God, that’s nothing. He isn’t thinking on that anymore, it’s done- now we plan for when you enter the land.

That’s called forgive and forget- we don’t do that. We may say we forgive and forget, but we don’t really forget what we forgave, do we? God forgets our sins, so that they are as far from Him (and us) as the East is from the West. The people sinned against the Lord, He decreed His punishment, and to Him it was done. Now He has forgotten their sin and is telling them how to enter the land. To the people it’s something that they won’t even be able to do, since the punishment is that most who are able to hear and understand will be dead before this is possible. But that doesn’t matter to God- He is telling them what they must do, so they can teach their children. It’s the children that will be entering the land, and another lesson for us is that we must teach our children what to do so when God calls on them, they will be ready.

God has decreed, and it is done. Not just what happens now, but what will happen; to the Lord, it is already completed.

That’s where we gain strength for our faith. We can see that everything the Lord declares, decrees and decides to be, is as trustworthy and dependable as if it were already completed. Essentially, we should have complete trust in God because for thousands of years we can study and know the historical proof of this statement:

Whatever God says will be, is.

That’s the lesson for today. Remember this truth, trust in it, put your faith in God to always do as He says and that whatever He says will be, will be.  And don’t expect it to be when you want- it’s all about the Lord, and it will be at His good time, when He is ready, which will always be at the exact right time. It may be immediate (as the punishment of the 10 spies was immediate), it may be forty years later, it may not even happen in your lifetime. That’s no reason not to trust Him. In fact, that is more reason TO trust Him- He will not be distracted from His promise and His plans. True, He may swerve now and then, such as not destroying the people (more than once) because of the earnest prayer of one man interceding, or He may relent on punishing (as he did for Nineveh when Jonah preached the coming judgement) if we are repentant and humble before Him. But, overall, what He says He will do, He will do. And what He says will be is a certain as if it already had happened.

Take strength in that when you feel your faith waning. Remember, always, that God is faithful to be trusted and trustworthy to be faithful. He will forgive and forget, He will be compassionate and understanding, and He will judge rightly without respect for the rich or sympathy for the poor. He will judge each as they deserve based on their heart and their actions, not based on their economic position or social status. He is fair and just, and that should be a frightening thought to all of us.

One last thought: how do you think the children, those under 20 but old enough to understand what God’s punishment meant, felt like when they heard it? Here you are, a teenager thinking you will finally get to live somewhere with a house, fields and all the food and drink you want, and you are told to wait 40 years! When you were 12 or 16, how long did 40 years seem to you? I remember that 1 year was a lifetime to me back then. The adults probably took some consolation knowing their children would be in the land, but I don’t the kiddies really appreciated it that much.

Just something to think about.