Parashat Korach – We are All Holy!!!
Shalom Chaverim and greetings from our Lord Yeshua
Parashat Korach is another challenging portion that encourages to evaluate not only our standing with HaShem but also our approach (korban) and understanding our purpose. The tribes have been categorized for a goal and purpose, and this is not about how spiritual they are or Holy they are, but it is about ROLES and the activities involved with these ROLES.
The primary goal of COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY is TRANSMISSION and activity is the vehicle where Physical and Spiritual growth is inculcated into members by way of training, discipline, alacrity, self- awareness, Service etc…. is practised and played out – all for a preparation for the Olam Haba ( World to come). All of us confuse our IDENTITY, ROLE, and PURPOSE in the kingdom of God, they are all separate and no way connected with each other. However the fundamental basis of all these is that we need to pursue holiness and Righteousness and subsequently we should be able understand our Identity and role that needs to be played by us. Therefore finding our purpose in OUR lives and not in this world.
In Romans 15:14-20 Paul says “ 14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, acting as a priest ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation
Rav Shaul
clearly speaks about his ROLE as a Priest who is enabling the nations
(Gentiles) to be a Korban by ministering to them the Gospel of God and their
Korban is well received having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit – Now we have
studied this Korban perspective when we have done the Besorah and Gospel of the
Kingdom – so I will not go through that today - yet he says in 1 Cor 3:17
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of
God is holy, which temple ye are.
I would think therefore in the Kingdom of God we all have different and varying roles that God has chosen for us, small or big, each having merits beyond our visible eyes – we cannot go beyond our role and boundaries – God doesn’t seem to take good to that. Let’s look into the structure of the Encampment of Israel In the Desert – diagrammatically this gives us an idea of how they functionally lived and moved during their traversing for 40 years. More importantly the camp was divided essentially from the role perspective, starting from inside out.
Introducing Korach - a cousin of Moses and Aharon the grandchild of two brothers Amram and Izhar both sons of Levi – apparently the cause of Korah's revolt was the nomination of Elizaphan, son of Uzziel the youngest brother, as prince over the Kohathites. Korah arguing thus: "Kohath had four sons. The two sons of Amram, Kohath's eldest son, took for themselves the kingdom and the priesthood. Now, as I am the son of Kohath's second son, I should be made prince over the Kohathites; however Moses gave that office to Elizaphan, the son of Kohath's youngest son" this was for Korach but what about Dathan and Aviram from the Tribe of Reuven – the eldest Son. This is turning out to be the full blown war within the Tribes – Korach feels rejected for power for the Prince of the Tribe and priesthood whereas Dathan and Aviram feel rejected for the kingdom because they were the sons of Reuven – the Eldest Tribe. War for Kingdom, and Priesthood, sounds interesting!!
Look at Korach’s complaint to Moses
וַיִּֽקָּהֲל֞וּ
עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵהֶם֮ רַב־לָכֶם֒ כִּ֤י
כָל־הָֽעֵדָה֙ כֻּלָּ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם יְהוָ֑ה וּמַדּ֥וּעַ
תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ עַל־קְהַ֥ל יְהוָֽה׃
They combined
against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all
the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do
you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?” they were under the misconception that since
all of them were considered Holy, the different jobs and roles were equally
open to all. So accusing Moses and Aharon of controlling and manipulating the whole
assembly for their own benefits and Power.
Little did their
realize and understand that it was HaShem who was doing and guiding Moses in
all matters, even appointments and Service and Roles for different people – it
was the choice of God and not man. See the response of Moses to them:
וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר אֶל־קֹ֜רַח וְאֶֽל־כָּל־עֲדָתוֹ֮ לֵאמֹר֒
בֹּ֠קֶר וְיֹדַ֨ע יְהוָ֧ה אֶת־אֲשֶׁר־ל֛וֹ וְאֶת־הַקָּד֖וֹשׁ וְהִקְרִ֣יב אֵלָ֑יו
וְאֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַר־בּ֖וֹ
יַקְרִ֥יב אֵלָֽיו׃
Then he spoke
to Korah and all his company, saying, “Come morning, the LORD will make
known who is His and who is holy, and will grant him access to Himself; He will
grant access to the one He has chosen.
הַמְעַ֣ט מִכֶּ֗ם כִּֽי־הִבְדִּיל֩ אֱלֹהֵ֨י
יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵעֲדַ֣ת יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְהַקְרִ֥יב אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָ֑יו לַעֲבֹ֗ד
אֶת־עֲבֹדַת֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן יְהוָ֔ה וְלַעֲמֹ֛ד לִפְנֵ֥י הָעֵדָ֖ה לְשָׁרְתָֽם׃
Is it not enough for you
that the God of Israel has set you apart from the community of Israel and given
you access to Him, to perform the duties of the LORD’s Tabernacle and to
minister to the community and serve them?
וַיַּקְרֵב֙ אֹֽתְךָ֔ וְאֶת־כָּל־אַחֶ֥יךָ
בְנֵי־לֵוִ֖י אִתָּ֑ךְ וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֖ם גַּם־כְּהֻנָּֽה׃
Now that He has advanced you
and all your fellow Levites with you, do you seek the priesthood too?
לָכֵ֗ן אַתָּה֙ וְכָל־עֲדָ֣תְךָ֔ הַנֹּעָדִ֖ים
עַל־יְהוָ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן מַה־ה֔וּא כִּ֥י תלונו [תַלִּ֖ינוּ] עָלָֽיו׃
Truly, it is against the
LORD that you and all your company have banded together. For who is Aaron that
you should rail against him?”
Very interesting what the issue actually is – what do we understand with the response of Moses, can anyone approach the lord in any state they are in proper, improper, pure or impure, Holy or common. When does God actually give us audience to his presence – what do we mean by being in his presence?
In Psalms 65:5 David HaMelech says: Happy is the man whom God chooses to draw near to Him, the question is, can anyone draw near to God if he or she chooses? Is it advisable to try and do so, Nadav and Abihu tried and lost their lives with strange fire, Korach is trying somewhat the same thing and he is about to lose his life also, why does God not want everyone to come close to Him? That is the question and we are going to try and answer this Hopefully as clear as possible. Let’s take a look at the camp which they lived and moved around in formation as below. There were 3 Distinct Areas 1. Tabernacle 2. Levitical area 3. Sons of Israel, beyond the 3rd camp were considered those of the gentiles (goyim) each of them had their roles to be adhered to. It is too much details if we go into the Avodah starting form the inside out for each and every person – but this much is sure – it is impossible for a normal Israelite to do the things of a Levite, and the Levites could not do the things of the Kohathites, Merarites and the Gershomites, and in turn they could not do the things of Moses and Aharon – even Moses could not do the Avodah Aharon was tasked out to do, so what is happening here – why are the roles so defined.
Now chaverim lets look at the book written by Rav Shaul to the Hebrews,
in the 10th Chapter it is written in verse 10 “By that will we
are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all,
and every Priest standeth daily ministering and offering the KORBANOT which can
never take away sins”
This is because they were giving the Korban sacrifice but were not in the process of Korban Chai ( Living Sacrifice) which was accomplished by Yeshua Himself and ONLY HIM no one else. When he OFFERED HIMSELF as a Korban he a perfected the process and opened the floodgates into the INNER Holy of Holies. NOW take a note – this is written to the JEWISH people to put the Approach present of themselves into perspective – this is what the whole Book of Hebrews written to them is about. The essence of the Old Covenant was left unperfected until Yeshua came and accomplished it. Now again where does the GENTILES Fit into the scheme of things – Ah this is a complex thing to answer. Truly even Rav Shaul says and the Elders in Jerusalem agree that they do not burden the Gentiles who are coming into the faith by the Torah (and rightly so) because a gentile knows nothing of KORBANOT and approach present, and if the Jewish people themselves could not live up and accomplish it perfectly even though it was specifically given to them, how can the gentiles be expected to keep it. So a wise decision was made to keep the gentiles away form the heavy rules and regulations.
Yeshua accomplished the task for his people and offered himself as per the Torah given by HaShem to Moses, because of which now they have been ENABLED to access the Holy of Holies IF THEY ACCEPT YESHUA. The gentiles who come into the faith have got a clear shortcut through Yeshua because he is able to bring along not only his brethren but also the Goyim. Refer back to what Paul says in Romans 15:14-20 How he has taken up the ROLE and mantle of a PRIEST to bring in the APPROACH PRESENT ( KORBANOT) of the Gentile who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit and ENABLED to make the journey into the Holy of Holies by the TORAH of YESHUA which is at a much higher level than the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu. The Jewish were given the task bringing light to the world and be a kingdom of priests to the nations 1 Peter Chapter 2 . This is the principle of Arvut (ערבות) Romans Chapter 5 deals with the concept of ARVUT – The entire Christian fundamentals are based on this.
Korach was envying Aharon Cohen HaGadol – and wanted to be like him and do the ROLE of the High priest – but God never chose him for the task at all, we must be very clear about our purpose in Our Lives and accomplish what Hashem has set out for each one of to do with diligence and sincerity, never trying to be something which we are not, never coveting spiritual gifts and offices, propagating and manipulating people, pursuing Lust for Power and dominion, fame, ascribing a great name to oneself, rather in quietness of spirit and sincerity and truth accept what God has ordained for each one of us and offer ourselves as a KORABN CHAI (Living Sacrifice) which is our acceptable duty unto God.
So, is being or becoming Holy Enough – the answer is Yes, God is good with that, the greater multitude must be Holy and sanctified and live righteous lives , it does not mean all of them would be allowed to enter into the Throne room of God – it is still the sovereign permission of the Father himself to allow a sanctified soul into His presence, but those who are chosen of God, to be Holy, serve in ministry, called to bring approach presents, preaching the gospel of Yeshua like Rav Shaul enabling the nations to bring themselves as a Korban Chai (living approach present)
Korach never understood His purpose in HIS life, never could find his identity in HaShem and therefore did not accept his ROLE – therefore his covetousness and greed brought destruction to him, and the others who followed him to their own demise. A rebellious soul God hates, greed and covetousness God will not stand and will hide his face from such persons. Therefore we must be Self aware and vigilant in all our doings as we have learnt earlier (Zehirut), because Korach and the others failed in this they never had (Zerizut) alacrity and were not prepared for AVODAH even though God selected them, sanctified them for the job – yet they wanted more.
The nation of Israel has a role in the world to come, A nation of priests for God and some from the nations will also be taken into that ministry – NOT ALL only some of those who are grafted into ISRAEL through Yeshua (Jew and Gentile) one in Yeshua – this is the ISRAEL OF GOD Galatians 6:16. Therefore Rav Shaul says in Romans 11:15-26 and therefore he starts the next chapter 12:1 by teaching the nations how to bring themselves as a Korban Chai (Living sacrifice) unto God
Our IDENTITY IS IN MASHIACH YESHUA
Our PURPOSE IS TO BECOME A HOLY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS NATION UNTO GOD AND DRAW NEAR TO HIM IN TRUE KAVANNAH
Our ROLE is to PREACH THE GOSPEL OF YESHUA TEACHING THEM TO BRING THEMSELVES AS A KORBAN CHAI UNTO THE ETERNAL FATHER
HaShem bless you and Have a Shavua Tov
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