6.23.25 ~ Will You Go Up?
Good morning!
Korach's new rebellion is not new, but a continuation of the evil report against the Land, its Covenant, and its People, especially its leaders. Because the discontent resides in the generation, not in the contrived "problem," the rebellions will continue to arise in the wilderness. When will we ever learn?
This phenomenon is present in every generation. Among us are those who, no matter how soundly and thoroughly they are proven wrong, persist in wrong thinking, and therefore, wrong arguments and continue to try to influence others in the negative. They may be "saved," yet chained to old ways of thinking. It is a matter of time until they rebel against the righteous. Seeing the holy within the natural world requires spiritual, not physical vision. Faith, not logic. This week, in our Torah portion, Korach, we find rebellion, jealousy, insolence, and the need to make a choice - who's side are you on?
Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!" (Num. 16:12-14)
We have looked at textual structure before (aka chiasms); the pattern of matching concepts. 1A is mirrored in 2A, 1B mirrors 2B until you find the central idea where the two thoughts intersect (a chiasm).
1A.
1B.
C. Axis, or central idea, the essence
2B.
2A.
Any time we see repeating phrases, there is a good chance there is a chiasm within the text. Let's see the chiasm in Numbers 16:12-14:
1A. "We will not come up/lo na-aleh.
1B. you have brought us up/alah out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness
C. you would also lord it over us/al
2B. you have not brought us into/bo a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards
1A. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up/lo na-aleh!"
Look how many times they use the root ALAH, which is a hint to resurrection, like the olah offering/burnt offering.
At one level, some of the words are true. Things don't "look" how the Israelites expected. Their image of Israel was formed from their image of Egypt, from the natural, physical world...a good warning for us not to see life from merely the physical appearance. Moses would have to put out the eyes of the rebels for them not to see the barren wilderness and death all around them! Can you identify with their vision?
This is the difficulty of faith. We have faith in the Word, but even that faith is exercised from past experience; resulting in our confirmation biases. It is based on things we have personally seen and experienced; which are quite limiting. When the Lord our God promises something better, and it turns out to be as much or more trouble than before, it is hard to "see" the advantages of the destination, Israel; the Land of our inheritance. The 'new level - new devil' reality isn't all it's visually cracked up to be...Now, add to that all the fighting in the Land on this 23rd day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine and we all have to scratch our heads...why, this Land that's filled with so much conflict??
The rebels taunt Moses with an argument that is hard to refute...
Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up/lo na-aleh. We see what we see, Moses. You can't sell this lifeless real estate as a land flowing with milk and honey. You can't tell us that we're going to inherit fields and vineyards when we look around and see this day after day...
Think of the rebels' objections. They "came up/alah from Egypt, and passed through the Yam Suf/Reed Sea, in a mikvah/baptism; one type of resurrection. And now the rebels say that they are unable to attain the Land, unable to "come in/bo and cross the Jordan. What are they really accusing Moses of??
The rebels are saying that Moses is unable to complete the full transaction of resurrection, for they say "lo na-aleh," we will not go up in the future. Their physical bodies cannot be resurrected to live in Promised Land. People are still dying. Their anger is like Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5:9-14), for Korach/bald, who is leading this rebellion (Num. 16) can mean healthy baldness, or it can mean leprous baldness or baldness associated with mourning for a corpse. The question enquiring minds want to know is, which hairless reality does Korach represent :-)?
You may recall the story, but better to turn to 2 Kings 5 and read it. Naaman, at first, refused to dip 7 times in the Jordan/yarden River. It's not prestigious. It's dirty. It's more like a Mid-Western creek rather than a famous river like the Euphrates. But only in the descent of humility can Israel ascend in resurrection, flesh restored like that of a child's.
Descent in humility is required before ascent/alah in resurrection. This journey is for the humble, not the high minded. We descend before we ascend. Those who defy Godly authority have difficulty with the descending part; therefore, the ascending can look impossible. Divine authority is discerned with spiritual eyes, not merely the physical.
What we see with our eyes is not always what is! Don't be swayed from your destination by what 'appears to be' or 'what you hear'.
Korach, Dathan and Abiram all had a terrible fate. Their story can be the story of anyone in the 21st century. However, and thankfully, God's Word is trustworthy/aman and regardless of what appears in our experiential vision, things aren't always as they seem.
Live humbly. Live in resurrection power (Rom. 6; Col. 3:1-4).
Shalom,
Alan
This phenomenon is present in every generation. Among us are those who, no matter how soundly and thoroughly they are proven wrong, persist in wrong thinking, and therefore, wrong arguments and continue to try to influence others in the negative. They may be "saved," yet chained to old ways of thinking. It is a matter of time until they rebel against the righteous. Seeing the holy within the natural world requires spiritual, not physical vision. Faith, not logic. This week, in our Torah portion, Korach, we find rebellion, jealousy, insolence, and the need to make a choice - who's side are you on?
Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!" (Num. 16:12-14)
We have looked at textual structure before (aka chiasms); the pattern of matching concepts. 1A is mirrored in 2A, 1B mirrors 2B until you find the central idea where the two thoughts intersect (a chiasm).
1A.
1B.
C. Axis, or central idea, the essence
2B.
2A.
Any time we see repeating phrases, there is a good chance there is a chiasm within the text. Let's see the chiasm in Numbers 16:12-14:
1A. "We will not come up/lo na-aleh.
1B. you have brought us up/alah out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness
C. you would also lord it over us/al
2B. you have not brought us into/bo a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards
1A. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up/lo na-aleh!"
Look how many times they use the root ALAH, which is a hint to resurrection, like the olah offering/burnt offering.
At one level, some of the words are true. Things don't "look" how the Israelites expected. Their image of Israel was formed from their image of Egypt, from the natural, physical world...a good warning for us not to see life from merely the physical appearance. Moses would have to put out the eyes of the rebels for them not to see the barren wilderness and death all around them! Can you identify with their vision?
This is the difficulty of faith. We have faith in the Word, but even that faith is exercised from past experience; resulting in our confirmation biases. It is based on things we have personally seen and experienced; which are quite limiting. When the Lord our God promises something better, and it turns out to be as much or more trouble than before, it is hard to "see" the advantages of the destination, Israel; the Land of our inheritance. The 'new level - new devil' reality isn't all it's visually cracked up to be...Now, add to that all the fighting in the Land on this 23rd day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine and we all have to scratch our heads...why, this Land that's filled with so much conflict??
The rebels taunt Moses with an argument that is hard to refute...
Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up/lo na-aleh. We see what we see, Moses. You can't sell this lifeless real estate as a land flowing with milk and honey. You can't tell us that we're going to inherit fields and vineyards when we look around and see this day after day...
Think of the rebels' objections. They "came up/alah from Egypt, and passed through the Yam Suf/Reed Sea, in a mikvah/baptism; one type of resurrection. And now the rebels say that they are unable to attain the Land, unable to "come in/bo and cross the Jordan. What are they really accusing Moses of??
The rebels are saying that Moses is unable to complete the full transaction of resurrection, for they say "lo na-aleh," we will not go up in the future. Their physical bodies cannot be resurrected to live in Promised Land. People are still dying. Their anger is like Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5:9-14), for Korach/bald, who is leading this rebellion (Num. 16) can mean healthy baldness, or it can mean leprous baldness or baldness associated with mourning for a corpse. The question enquiring minds want to know is, which hairless reality does Korach represent :-)?
You may recall the story, but better to turn to 2 Kings 5 and read it. Naaman, at first, refused to dip 7 times in the Jordan/yarden River. It's not prestigious. It's dirty. It's more like a Mid-Western creek rather than a famous river like the Euphrates. But only in the descent of humility can Israel ascend in resurrection, flesh restored like that of a child's.
Descent in humility is required before ascent/alah in resurrection. This journey is for the humble, not the high minded. We descend before we ascend. Those who defy Godly authority have difficulty with the descending part; therefore, the ascending can look impossible. Divine authority is discerned with spiritual eyes, not merely the physical.
What we see with our eyes is not always what is! Don't be swayed from your destination by what 'appears to be' or 'what you hear'.
Korach, Dathan and Abiram all had a terrible fate. Their story can be the story of anyone in the 21st century. However, and thankfully, God's Word is trustworthy/aman and regardless of what appears in our experiential vision, things aren't always as they seem.
Live humbly. Live in resurrection power (Rom. 6; Col. 3:1-4).
Shalom,
Alan
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