Rebellious Heart

Numbers 16:1-7, Hebrews 13:7-15

Questions: are you hard to reconcile with? If someone Injures you is it hard for them to work it out?

The rebellion action heats up today as the people of God rebel against their leaders, and against their Lord. Think about that, rebels and revolutionaries are often heroes, but what do you make of a man who rebels against his own maker or a world that rejects their own savior? Does that sound familiar? It is the world that we were born into so I guess we get used to it. but do we really take this to heart and be concerned with the outcome that has been caused by a rebellious attitude?

The propensity to rebel thrives in every human heart. It’s as old as the Garden of Eden when God had given 99.9% of the garden to Adam and Eve and they “rebelled”

The book of Proverbs says” foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child” (22:15) it’s part of our human nature, there’s a desire to go our own way. It’s in the heart of every kid, each little baby who comes into this world. They lay in the nursery all innocent and you call them your little angel, but little do we know until we call the terrible 2 or the dreadful 3, it’s not something they learned, but it came with them. And there are NO refunds.

Last week we took a break from our series Are we ready for promised land living to acknowledge our fathers? But we return back to our series to look at the final chapter in our book Lord Change My Attitude before it's too late. This last attitude is where we see the final straw that lands many of the children of Isreal wondering and dying in the desert. How the murmuring, complaining, critical, and doubting reached their climax when the one tribe was chosen to be responsible to perform subordinate services associated with public worship which included being musicians, gatekeepers, guardians, Temple officials, judges, and craftsmen. A Levite Korah gathers a posse of 250 men to rebel against Moses and Aaron.

This rebellion like so many begins with envy, but it will end with much worse, the leader of the rebellion Korah, served in the Tabernacle, and if you watch the names carefully, cousin of Moses. Levites were the tribe of the priesthood. Those who were closest to God and were blessed to perform so many acts of worship for all the Children of Israel. Wow, what an amazing opportunity to be assigned by God. Remember that as we get into this story. Numbers 16 starting at verse number 1 the bible says Numbers 16:1–3 (NKJV)

Now Korah 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 before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

There is so much meat in this first 3 verses and I hope that we can get through it and more. I don’t plan to complete this attitude toad but this is consindere part 1. Lets us consider a few things before exegete this passage. First

Rebellion exist in every Human Heart”

1 Samuel 15.23, Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

God said rebellion is the sin of witchcraft ( The best way to describe witchcraft is to have intercourse with the devil, and intercourse means having a daily conversation or dealings with).

It's best to say that witchcraft is spending your days with the devil and not God

to break this word down, Rebellion is an attitude displayed to contradict authority. Satan convinced Adam to contradict the authority and truth of God and it resulted in a lot of suffering before the birth of Jesus Christ.

They “ Rose up, “They assembled together” Note don’t be the person who assembles the rebellious crowd together because with that comes huge accountability before the almighty God. The statement by Korah were half-truths that all the people in the camp were not holy, starting with him and his rebellion against God, not Moses. so the insurrection begins with a challenge, brought against the two men that God appointed to lead the people Moses and Aaron.

Korah wants to know why his two cousins get to do all the big stuff and watch his words. Why do you set yourselves above? is if Moses appointed himself to be the boss. Remember Moses didn’t want the job. God chose Moses and Aaron. Now this is key in God’s kingdom authority is appointed by God. I stand here as an example of how 10 months ago I was not even considering a preacher position, this was truly from God and not me.

What about leadership today? Paul lists those in Titus and first Timothy, Paul reference the Old Testament when he said there are things in the house that I set apart to be holy. This gives back to the Levite, and making the comparison Jesus had no blemish, so we could be set apart for the glory of God

Let's just look at a few examples of Rebellious Acts in the Bible

• Lucifer said in his heart “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Statan’s and Korah’s desire are the same. Isaiah 14:12-14. • Saul impatiently offered burnt offerings when he should have waited for Samuel to do so in 1 Samuel 13. Not only that, He also failed to kill every living thing as was commanded. He stated that he listened to the people rather than God 1 Samuel 15.

The women Jezebel was a member of the church in Thyatira, who calls herself a prophetess, committed sexual immorality. God gave her time to repent and she did not. Revelation 2:20-21

• God told Moses to speak to the rock but he struck it twice. Genesis 20:10-12. • Jonah tried to escape the call of the Lord to go preach to Nineveh to repent. Jonah 1:1-3 just like Moses call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! • Judas “plotted” with the chief priest and religious rulers to take them to Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14-16

And how many in here tried their parents growing up? If you notice from the examples, these stories were directed to individual acts. Herein Numbers 16, We see how this becomes a large group directed at the church leaders and really at God.

Now, Korah must’ve been a pretty talented leader himself to rally 250 other leaders, meaning he knew how to rally up that rebellious side in order to get them to join him. congregation is an assembly of persons, especially a body assembled for religious worship or habitually attending a particular church. The word occurs more than 350 times in the King James Version of the English Bible, but only one of these references is in the New Testament (Acts 13:43). This is a good question to ask here. Are we easily influenced? keep in mind, this group was not faithful to God watch their words, there is not one mention of God‘s will or God’s direction or even asking God. talking to God was Moses' immediate reaction Numbers.16.4-5

Numbers 16:4–5 (NKJV)

So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.

Now this is very interesting to how God worked with the staff that Moses took in front of Pharoah to perform “Miraculouse Miracles”. IN Exodus Chapter 7:8-13 and we pickup at verse 12 So each one threw down his staff and it became a serpent, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn[a] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said would happen.

Moses talks to God before saying a word, and when he does talk, he says, what the Lord decides, which is a good lesson. If you let God fight your battles, you won’t have to. Moses knew this all too well after his rebellious dealings with Pharaoh and when he asked who do I say sent me? Moses instructs Korah’s men to show up the next day with Sensors, Fire, and Incense. Now these are important to the story a sensor is a Middle incense holder. The pre-sensors were made of gold, and carried the sacred incense and fire from the altar just as the Lord instructed, the smoke of the incense, was a picture of the prayers of God‘s people the Levites were not given sensors. They were serving God on their own terms, but they really wanted to be priests themselves. Moses tells them they have gone too far.

“Rebellious attitude is sometimes rooted in not seeing ourselves clearly.

Often people desire a position, but they don’t respect the process. They want the opportunity, but they don’t realize the work and energy that’s gone into getting to that place.

Don’t covet the results without recognizing the requirements

Closing

What happens to those that I listed above who rebelled?

Lucifer - was cast out of heaven

Because of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelling, their wives, their sons, and their little children perished.

Saul was removed from being king. Saul's acts of disobedience caused the Lord to take away his kingship. Which changed the dynamics of his entire lineage, causing his sons not to sit on the throne. .Isaiah 13:16.

Jezebel will indeed be cast into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation and I will kill her children (those who follow her teaching) with death. Revelation 2:22-23

Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Numbers.27.14

Jonah was swallowed by the big fish. Jonah 1:15-17.

Judas Iscariot hung himself because he rebelled against Jesus. Luke 22.

what does this mean?

Rebellion affects more than just you

Those who rebel are delivered into the hands of their enemies. Nehemiah 9:26 • The rebellious dwell in a dry land. Psalms 68:6. • If you rebel against the Lord’s commandments, the hand of the Lord will be against you. 1 Samuel 12:14-15. • Rebellion can cut short your life and your ministry. • The Holy Spirit will turn against you. Isaiah63:10.

This story which is referenced throughout the old testament shows what can and will happen to churches (Congregations) that allow attitudes we have been talking about for the past few months to creep into your assembly can lead to a rebellious attitude. This is the climax to a lingering murmuring or complaining. This is due to the long-growing issue that keeps people in the wilderness.

some have said this behavior is considered a coping mechanism when You believe You are being backed into a corner or You don’t agree with the direction of something and refuse to cooperate. Did you get the common denominator? so on your handout are some questions that I want you to think about in regard to the future of this church.

Are you the person that questions every little decision?

Are you hard to reconcile with?

If someone injures you, is it hard for them to work it out with you?

Is it easy to lead you or hard for you to follow?

Are you an easy person to influence?

Do you have a flexible spirit? What is your level of pride?

each one of these questions you should ask yourself because determining what your response is will have major consequences down the road. The church we are wanting to remove the complaining, envy, covetousness, critical and doubtful attitudes from our spirits so this church can grow and illuminate this community.

when you answer these questions with a yes response. they believe it necessary to make a church act right. Some people act as those I’m not weak and I won’t let people run over me. Don’t confuse strength of character with stubbornness.

To be a rebel is to be an enemy to yourself because you will miss out on the benefits of obedience.