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      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Korach, which means "Bald". This title comes from the beginning of the reading portion in Numbers 16: "Now Korah (qorah/qarah - bald/to be bald, to make bald, make oneself bald because of anyone's death) the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up (qum - rise up, stood up, arise, raise, to raise oneself, to stand, to establish) before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown." (Num. 16:1-2). Korah, spoken of in these verses, was the great-grandson of Levi and was one of the Levites who served in the tabernacle.

     These last few weeks we have seen the element of "rising, lifting up, exalting" being an important theme in the Sabbath readings. The Hebrew words nasa and ala were used to express this. We see this "rising, lifting up" theme again this week, but in a rebellious act against God: "They (those named above) gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, 'You take too much (rab/rabab - many, great, captain, greatly increase, officer, prince, much, a master, magnitude/be or become much, become great, increase, multiplied) upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt (nasa - to lift up, bear up, to sustain, forgive, exalt, to increase) yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (v. 3).

     This is called "Korah's Rebellion", although Korah made sure to enlist the support of 250 of the leaders (nasi/nasa - prince, captain, chief, ruler, one lifted up, exalted one, vapor or mist which ascends) of Israel. This rebellion, however, was founded in a lie. The rebels accused Moses and Aaron of having taken the role of leadership upon themselves, exalting themselves above the other Israelites. We know that the LORD called a reluctant Moses to this office of leadership, and He appointed Aaron also (Ex. 3:9-11, Ex. 4:10-17). Neither Moses nor Aaron appointed themselves, nor considered their roles to be something to be desired. We also know that privately, Moses cried to the LORD as he felt overwhelmed by the position to which the LORD had appointed him (Num. 11:11-14). During a previous painful rebellion against Moses' leadership from within his own family, the scriptures noted: "Now the man Moses was very (meod - exceedingly, greatly, very, utterly) humble (anav/ana - very meek, humble, poor, lowly/be bowed down, humble, to stoop, humble oneself, looking down, chasten self, submit oneself), more than all men who were on the face of the earth." (Num. 12:3).

     It is also interesting that the first thing that Moses did on hearing the false accusation that he had lifted himself was to physically lower himself: "So when Moses heard it, he fell (napal - fall down, cast down, lay, overthrow, prostrate oneself before, perish, slay, throw down) on his face..." (v. 4). He then told Korah that it will be the LORD who will choose who is to come near to Him (v. 5-7, see also Ezek. 44:15-16, Num. 17:5). Moses also said, "...you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for I have not done them of my own will...these men have rejected the LORD." (v. 28, 30). It is fitting that the LORD chose to deal with those who "rose up" before Moses by sending them downward: "Now it came to pass, as he (Moses) finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them (Korah, Dathan and Abiram and families), and the earth opened its (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down (yarad - go downwards, descend, fell, sink down, be prostrate, lay prostrated, bring down) alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished among the assembly...And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense." (v. 31-33, 35).

     The Levites had been chosen by God to serve in the tabernacle, but Korah coveted a "higher" position, even the positions of Moses and Aaron, who were themselves Levites. As Moses pointed out, these rebellious Levites were not rejecting Moses but the LORD. 

     In another reading portion from this Sabbath, we see the same thing again. The appointed priest, judge and prophet of Israel, Samuel, had been rejected by the people of Israel who wanted a king instead like the nations around them. This choice made perfect sense to the people of Israel. Samuel was old, his sons were corrupt, and there was an enemy king, Nahash (nahas - serpent, dragon, snake, viper, image of a serpent, practice divination, soothsayer, use sorcery) of the Ammonites threatening them. However, in all of their thinking, they forgot that it was through the anointed and appointed office of Samuel as priest, judge, and prophet of Israel that caused the LORD to save them from the attacking Philistines just shortly before this incident. How short people's memories are! Not only that, but the LORD then kept the Philistines from harming Israel for the rest of Samuel's life. Israel also had peace with the Amorites (see 1 Sam. 7:7-14). This is exactly how the LORD miraculously works through His appointed servants in leadership on behalf of His people and their nation. The LORD assured Samuel that it was not he, Samuel, who had been rejected by the people, but they had rejected the LORD from reigning over them in favor of a king. (1 Sam. 8:6-9). 

     After Samuel had anointed Saul as their first king as the LORD had instructed him to do, Samuel began to teach Israel of the wickedness they had truly done by this, and what would befall them as a result of removing the LORD from reigning over them: "It is the LORD who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt...your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place." (1 Sam. 12:6, 8). Samuel told the people how the LORD had later heard their cries, even though they had sinned in the worship of false gods. They were being oppressed by enemies and the LORD sent deliverers to rescue them: "And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you dwelt in safety. And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD God was your king." (v. 11-12). Because they had been wicked and chosen a king from among themselves rather than the LORD, Samuel said that he would call on the LORD to send thunder and rain upon the wheat crop that was then ready to be harvested, which would damage the crop (v.16-17). The people feared the LORD and Samuel when this sign came to pass, and Samuel said to them, "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider the great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." (v. 24-25).

     The LORD had exalted this small nation of people to be the only nation on earth to be supernaturally ruled and prospered directly by Him, but they preferred the rule of a man. The LORD had covered them and heard their cries for help and answered them, but they exchanged that covering for a king who was a man like them.

     There are many nations around the world facing wars, terrors, oppression, famine, drought, economic instability, and violence and crime, including my own nation. All of these conditions are prophesied in scripture and will grow torturously worse (Mt. 24, Lk. 21:5-36). These nations, like Israel in scripture above, prefer to rely upon their kings, presidents, prime ministers, dictators, tyrants, legislatures and courts to provide answers and deliverance. They refuse to turn to the LORD or to call upon His anointed and appointed spiritual leadership whom He has set in every nation on earth. My own nation's founding documents acknowledge the all-powerful and merciful hand of God in the establishing of my country, but this same nation has done all that they can to eliminate God from the hearts and minds of its people, and my nation as a result is in deep trouble. However, this Sabbath reading portion Korach, or "Bald", is a timely reminder that we have a miraculous resource available to us which we can no longer neglect. I will be praying that all leadership in my nation begin to reach out to the truly anointed and appointed spiritual leaders that the LORD has provided for such a time as this.

      Paul wrote this regarding all in authority over us: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:1-4). Are we praying for those in authority over us? The Lord will move through our prayers for them, to save souls and to provide a blessing for our lives.

     This is an age of lawlessness. Even the Church of believers in Christ often fail to acknowledge the role that anointed and appointed spiritual leadership provides in our lives, and instead, challenge and criticize that leadership at every opportunity. Jesus wept as He prophetically observed the terror that would be coming upon Jerusalem. Jesus wanted to gather them under His protective wings, but they refused (Mt. 23:37-39). The Lord moves miraculously through our anointed and appointed spiritual leaders to guide His people safely through danger. By weakening or removing the covering of the spiritual leadership that Jesus has provided and appointed to those who believe in Him, we become spiritually "bald" like Korah. We think to pull down our spiritual leaders in an effort to "lift up" ourselves into a higher position, but it is the Lord who determines who may come near to Him. Instead, the quickest way to "fall lower" is to disregard those appointed by Him, thereby disregarding Him who is head of all things to the church (Eph. 1:19-23). We believers have also begun to rely upon the political leadership of men as the Israelites did, rather than the rulership of the LORD. Our times are too dangerous for this choice.

     If you would like to know more about the importance of the LORD's appointed covering, you can pray with me: "Dear Father, forgive me for relying upon man instead of You. Forgive me for weakening Your covering over me, my family and my nation because of the rebellion in my heart. By Your Spirit, help me to seek Your face at every turn of events, and to believe Your Word which was given for my benefit. Help me to lift the arms of Your anointed servants, rather than pulling their arms down. I pray also for the heart of my nation, Lord, that we may turn back to You, our only true God, whose arms are always outstretched towards us. Have mercy and forgive our stubbornness, revive us, renew us, visit us, save us. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.