Torah Portion (June 20)

Just sharing the summary from my notes on the Shabbat message yesterday. :) This is, of course, tainted with my thoughts.  Not exactly as how it was shared, but with a bit of my insights in it. :)

Torah portion: Korah (Numbers 16:1-18:32)

Important questions to keep in mind:

1. Why was Korah punished severely?
2. Why did we not hear from Moses — Father, forgive them, just as Yeshua/Jesus did?
3. What did Korah do that was so serious?
4. What is the job description of Korah? What is his role?
5. What is Reuben’s family line’s involvement, why was he mentioned?

Korah is a close relative of Moses, one of the renowned people of Israel. What we can gather from the Torah portion is he’s definitely not stupid. His job description is to serve in the Tent of Meeting -- probably he was personally carrying the holy items on his shoulders. We can speculate about why Reuben is involved. Clearly, we can see that this is a play of power. Along with Korah, Dathan and Abiram are 250 “princes” of Israel. If we are putting ourselves in the situation, we can try to imagine where the “we deserve more” attitude. Maybe it’s because Reuben is the first born, ideally should have the birthright… but why the Levites are assigned as priests? What is rather interesting, is the one leading the rebellion is also a Levite — Korah.

Korah’s strategy
1. Brainwashing others — “the whole congregation is HOLY” — making the followers feel good so they would be encouraged to follow him. But are we really holy? (Scripture reference: Be holy as I am Holy - 1 Pet 1:16, referring to a future state of holiness or becoming holy. If we are holy, and have achieved the goal, then what need do we have of God? What need do we have of His ways?)
2. Proclaiming in the name of Israel vs. Moses’ in the name of the LORD
3. The message: we are all holy, Moses, why are you exalting yourself above us, we have the right to priesthood, too! We can do your job! This implies that God didn’t do a good job in choosing the leader, but they are.
His defense: Moses, you brought us out of Egypt, promises us milk and honey, where is it? I don't see it! We know the truth, do you think we're blind? (Reference in Scripture, “do you want us to gouge our eyes out?” a metaphor for "do you think we're blind?")
4. His ultimate goal based on his behavior: to take over and rule over Israel

What this is like in the current age: Religion/Cults
1. Its intent is to rule over others
2. It uses knowledge of the divine, because knowledge is power
3. It tells you what you should do or not do
4. It says almost the truth but not the truth

Moses’ reaction: very (meod, מאוד) angry in English, in Hebrew is Charah (read as kharah, חרה), meaning in pain because of deep sorrow, or burning anger coming from deep sorrow to the point of grieving. At all times, he turned to God (in Tagalog, making sumbong). Understanding Moses' character, we can speculate that he is angry because of how they rebelled against God, and even desired to manipulate him, and God. In a leader's perspective, Charah might the best word to describe his feelings.

Korah’s sin: Rebellion. This is serious matter, like in 1 Sam 15:23, where rebellion is likened to witchcraft. We may not see rebellion as a bad sin, but in the eyes of the Lord, it is like witchcraft, as the intent of witchcraft is to steal from God's glory to make us like gods. What to imagine — if this happened in the current setting, imagine how influential Korah is. He was able to convince 250 influential men to rebel. When they were consumed as a punishment from the Lord, ALL Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron that they have killed the people of the Lord. How the little lies affected an entire community that has seen the glory of the Lord many times over -- parting the Red Sea, manna, the plagues.

Interesting trivia: the sons of Korah, however, did not participate in the rebellion. From this lineage came forth Samuel the prophet, and the sons of Korah who wrote a very beautiful psalm: Ps 42.