♕ Today's Promise: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14-17
Words of Encouragement
Dear Beloved Brother,
There is no way to sugar coat this but if any of us is in rebellion there is no good outcome waiting for you. As you go through life's journey, through this time of restoration please keep asking yourself am I in obedience or rebellion?
As the children of Israel go through the wilderness heading into the promised land. They start to ache for the old life because life in the desert is hard! Some they even say it was better for them to be back in Egypt, they missed the comfort of slavery. Can you imagine that they would say such things after seeing the red sea’s part? So, when they get an opportunity to indulge in the old life in the absence of Moses they take it. The results are disastrous: the camp gets divided into 2 those who want to obey and those who want to rebel. There are many examples of rebellion in the bible but let's start with a severe case.
Korah is a good example of rebellion during the exodus, found in Numbers 16
Numbers 16
Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth--became insolent[1] and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.
They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?"
When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.
You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!"
Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites!
Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?
He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.
It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?"
Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come!
Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us?
Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of[2] these men? No, we will not come!"
Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them."
Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow--you and they and Aaron.
Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it--250 censers in all--and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also."
So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
"Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"
Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Say to the assembly, `Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"
Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."
So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea:
If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.
But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave,[3] then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.
They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
The LORD said to Moses,
"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy-- the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites."
So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said.
But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.
Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.
Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started."
So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.
But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.
Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.
The story is told of Korah rising up in rebellion against God’s anointed leaders Moses and Abraham, the consequence of his actions leads to the 250 priests being burned by fire and the families being swallowed up by the earth.
This may be a very extreme example of rebellion, so how does it relate to our “out of Egypt” marriage restoration journey. Korah had grown up in Egypt, he had personally witnessed the miracles God had performed, but possessed with jealousy, much as lucifer was at the very beginning of creation, he chose to try and assert his own authority and leadership.
Are you really in the thick of it with courtrooms, divorce proceedings, child separations that you are becoming rebellious because you are not seeing the hand of the Lord in your situation? Are you trying to resolve your situation in your own strength, do you believe that you know better than God?
Rebellion can be as simple as refusing to listen to God’s leading and making a phone call to your lawyers, in direct contravention of God's instruction.
It may only be a small simple thing, but the consequences are still the same.
This story highlights the actions of those in rebellion and the response of the Men of God, “Moses and Aaron” when the Glory of God showed up in front of the tabernacle, both Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of God, a position of full honour of who God is. Then when the plague fell, Aaron was instructed to fill his censor and go out into the crowd and “stand” between the living and the dead.
He acted in Faith and did as instructed and the plague stopped.
Do we honestly honour who God is? do we bring our censors (prayers to God)?
Do we listen?
Do we act. Aaron could quite easily have stood there and said, well if they want to rebel against God let them suffer the consequences, but no, he having been instructed to act. Did.
How are we viewing our wives at this time, with hatred, anger, vengeance in our hearts? are we acting like Korah, I’m the boss, I’m right, she should bow down to me?
Or are we acting like Moses and Aaron and actively seeking God for his forgiveness and love for his people?
Are we fed up believing that God will restore?
Are we looking for other people to resolve?
We will leave those final questions for you to answer for yourselves, seek God as to where you honestly stand on the issue of being rebellious, it is not an issue to be afraid of, but one to be aware of. It is better to acknowledge our rebellious nature and repent of it, than suffer the consequences of it.