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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. To all my fellow pastors, I've got a question for you. Does your city know that your church exists? Listen, I get it. You're preaching, you're leading, you're discipling, you're doing ministry. We are in the same boat. And let's be honest, social media and marketing, not your strong suit. Not mine either. And that's probably the last thing on your mind. And that's why we chose to partner with Church Candy Marketing for our church Plant the garden. We out here, y'all. They help churches get more actual guests walking through the doors on Sunday without your eye having to stress over ads or algorithms or trying to crack the social media code. Right now, Church Candy is helping nearly 400 churches reach their communities with simple invite ads. And it works. It's super effective. I can tell you from firsthand experience. So if you're tired of being your city's best kept secret, how about you do this? Go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a free consultation book a discovery call. Their team will break it all down and show you how to start seeing new faces at your church this Sunday. I'm in the trenches with you trying to grow the church. And how about we just start a whole campaign? No more empty churches. So let's partner with Church Candy and get our churches full. The glory of Jesus. Let's go. We are continuing our trek through the wilderness. We've got numbers. Chapter 16, 17, 18, and 19. Today we got four chapters of the Bible. If you have not done the reading, go do the reading now. Stop the audio, Stop the video. Go do the reading. This is not designed to substitute your Bible reading. It's designed to supplement your daily Bible reading. If you have done the reading, you know the drill. We are going to give you some context clues. We're going to highlight some nerdy nuggets, and we're always going to leave off with a timeless truth. Because we don't just want the Bible to live in its context, we want to read it in its context, but then we want to apply it to our lives. So numbers, chapter 16. So remember I said the concentric circles, okay? We're going to start to see the fall or Testing as we get into the center of the, of the circle. So all of the tribes are going to rebel against God's plan to go up and take the land. They're then going to presume to try to do it anyway. They're going to get smacked down by the Amalekites and the Canaanites, and then we're going to get another rebellion. Okay, so numbers, chapter 16 kind of starts off with these words. Korah, good old 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 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250Israelite men, well known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council that came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. And they said, you have gone too far. The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly? All right, so this is actually Moses's cousin, all right, who is a part of the tribe of Levi, but not a priest. So let's give some hashtag context. All right, so Korah is from a clan within the tribe of Levi, So he's a Levite. So I need you to distinguish this. Not all Levites are priests, okay? You have to be a Levite in order to be a priest, but you could. Just because you're a Levite doesn't automatically mean that you're a priest. In order to be a priest, you need to be from Moses and Aaron's family, okay? You need to come. That's why it's Aaron's sons that are priests. Okay, so we have a cousin here who's a Levite, but not a part of the direct family line. Okay? So he's a Kohathite, Okay? A Kohathite is a Levite, but different, different clan, different strand of the family, different branch of the family. And they've got a pretty dope job, these Kohathites, okay, They're like the setup and tear down crew. They're like maintenance and security, okay? Somebody's got to guard this freaking tabernacle, sitting, chilling in the middle of of the camp, you know, think, you know, some teenagers drunk a little too much Shabbat wine may think to themselves, let's go touch the holy of holies, you know, and so you got to have somebody kind of guarding the tabernacle, you know, it's a tear down, you know, Right now, the church that I'm a part of, we are set up and tear down, baby. Our tear. Our setup and tear down crew, they're. They are the most loyal team. I mean, they are at our trailers early in the morning on Sundays, unloading trailers, setting up seats, and doing everything that's necessary for church to happen. So, you know, we're believing God for a building, but until then, we're going to have a setup and tear down crew, and David is going to be the person who transitions this tent into a building. Because I know why David's tired of set up tear down. David understands every church planners, you know, every single church planner's burden. All right? Set up tear down. And so every time the cloud moves, the Kohathites, they. They are Levites, which means they have been set apart by God to touch the holy things, but they are not priests. Okay? So they're set apart to touch the holy things, to set it up, tear down, move it, carry it, guard it, you know, all the things, but they just, they're not priests. And Korah gets a bright idea. He's like, God's anointed all of us. God's grace is on all of us. God's hand is on all of us. And it becomes very, very clear that this is ridiculous. Now, we got a lot of people in 2024 who think like Korah, to be totally honest. And we'll get into that in our timeless truth. But before that, let's highlight some nerdy nuggets from our reading today. The There's a couple of things that we're supposed to see. First thing is that Korah is a Levite. So this is infighting between, like, relatives. Ok? There. It's not us versus them. It's like, korah, bro, you are a Levite. Like, why are Levites fighting Levites? So that's number one, first similarity. You got to realize that this is like a sibling rivalry. Number two, there's jealousy. The root of this rebellion is jealousy. And what does that jealousy center around? The jealousy centers around God's favor or his approval or his selection of someone else instead of me. And what is it that God is approving of or giving favor towards a sacrifice? Because the priests are. Are able to offer sacrifices, but the Kohathites are not able to offer sacrifices. This sounds a lot like the Cain and Abel story. Two people who are supposed to act like family are not acting like family. There's a jealous party. They are jealous of the favor and the relationship that God has with Somebody else. And the selection that God has made of Abel as opposed to Cain. And that selection or that favor is centered around sacrifice. This is a Cain and Abel story. There is infighting, division that the threat doesn't come from outside, but it comes from inside. This is an implosion, not an explosion. This is a Cain and Abel story. And let's remember in yesterday's reading when we looked at a group of people who are supposed to judge whether or not the land looks good, and we've got figs and we've got inhabitants in the land, AKA a garden, we're supposed to think about Adam and Eve. So now this story is just moving the plot line forward. Yesterday we're supposed to see Adam and Eve, and today we're supposed to see Cain and Abel. That the story is being told in such a way that it's giving commentary on the canon Abel story. And so we learn more about the canon Abel story as we learn about the story in numbers, but we also learn a ton about the story in numbers as we meditate on the Cain and Abel story. This is the symbiotic relationship that the Bible has with itself. That as you study a part, you understand the whole, and as you stand the whole, you understand that part. And as you understand this part, you understand this part. And when you understand this part, you understand this part. And it is an interconnected web. And for some people, that may seem overwhelming, but for other people, you may realize that that means that you can study this literature for the rest of your life and never get to the end of it. That this stuff is designed to continue to unlock riddles and to give more layers of meaning and give more nuance. So when it comes to our reading for today. Okay, let's get back on track. Bible nerds. I have an announcement. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos releases May of 2025 in pre orders are officially open. When I began to learn Genesis in its proper context, I learned that the creation account is not primarily about God creating something out of nothing, but rather God bringing divine order to the chaos of the cosmos. That one nugget was a game changer for me because I've been preaching to all the kids in my youth group that peace was a solution for their anxiety. But really God's solution to chaos is never peaceful, but rather order. Peace isn't something that you stumble into. It's something that you intentionally step into and that starts with aligning your life with God's order. I think that this book is a game changer. It's nerdy, it's practical. It provides a very contextual understanding of the book of Genesis. And if you grab a copy, you'll learn why there's a huge dragon on the COVID Head to the link in the show notes to pre order or head to crushingchaos.com to to see the really dope trailer that we made for this book. I think it's time for you to crush the chaos in your life, and that starts with grabbing a copy of this book. Now back to the podcast numbers, chapter 16 and 19. There's a couple of things that we need to see. Everything in Korah's rebellion is echoing the story of Cain and Abel. Why? There's jealousy. Jealousy of the party who's been selected by God and favored by God. The jealousy is centered around the topic of sacrifice, same as Cain and Abel. The Earth then opens up to swallow up the rebels, which is very reminiscent of Cain and Abel. Remember that the Earth swallowed up Abel's blood and then cried out. The earth is almost like a character in the story with Cain and Abel, and the earth is gonna be a character here as well. Okay, little bit more context. Once the. Once Korah kind of comes at Moses, he says, all right, you want to be a priest? Let's do some priestly things. Let's see what happens. Let's put incense in your. In your little burner, and let's all go offer some incense. Now, we're immediately supposed to think about Nadab and Abihu who offered unauthorized incense. Okay? I don't know if they were trying to usurp their dad. Don't know if they were drunk. Don't know if they used something that was. Was not holy enough. We don't know the exact details, but what we do know is, is that they were offering incense, and it was some unauthorized fire, and God burned them as a whole offering. Okay, God just consumed them. Do gone. You belong to God now. And so Moses, like, okay, hey, man, only way to prove to you that you're not supposed to be a high priest is to let you try to be a high priest, and let's see what happens the next day. This is exactly what they do. They offer incense. God starts to burn them, and then the earth opens up and swallows them. And, man, I'm almost tempted to get into a timeless truth because there's so many people who they're like, I want to preach. And my response to them is, if you're called, you should. If not, you should leave this alone. I want a pastor. If you're called. You should. If you're not, you should probably leave this alone. It's kind of like a holy thing. I know you can go online and get ordained, but, man, I just wouldn't mess with stuff that God's called. Holy. Yeah, I. I want to be an evangelist. I want to travel. Okay. I mean, if you're called to it, then it's gonna happen. But if you're not, I wouldn't force my way into this because the earth may swallow you up. And there's people who. The earth isn't literally swallowing them up, but they're anxious and they're broken, and they're not. They're not successful, and their kids hate it, and their wife hates it, and the. The church doesn't grow. Like, there's. There's all. Nothing positive to come out of it. But, you know, they are adamant. God called me. All right, cool. Hey, man, I'm giving away our secrets a little. But as most black people would say, if you love it, if you like it, I love it. Which essentially means a black person telling you they hate it. They hate that idea. Okay. But it's like, hey, if you like it, I love it. You know, the spirit of Korra hasn't gone anywhere. Spirit of core is still alive and kicking today. People who see anointed people do something and they're like, oh, yeah, I can sing. I want to be a worship leader because I can sing, and I wish I had money for every time I told someone. Worship leading is not really about singing. Like, there's a big difference between the talent show, you know, you being able to hold some notes, and you being able to lead people into the presence of God. These people. Worship leading requires that you know how to sing. But singing and worship leading are as far away from each other as, you know, preaching in Dave Chappelle's comedy special. These things. Yeah, sure, they both involve a microphone and some public speaking, but they are very, very, very, very, very different. And the spirit of Korah says, I don't want to be on the tear down, tear down setup team. I don't want to just guard the tabernacle. You get so close to the anointing and the. The selection of God that you start believing that it's like it's on you as well. So the next day, what happens? They offer incense, and Korah is burned up, and the earth is swallowed up and consumes him. Let's get into some dirty nuggets. These passages highlight Moses and Aaron's dedication as intercessors Moses consistently prays to the people, okay, the earth is opened up. God is consuming people with fire. And here's exactly what Moses does in Numbers, chapter 16, verse 22. But Moses and Aaron fell face down and cried out, oh God, the God who gives breath to all living things. Will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins? Their immediate response to cry out to God. The people get mad because Korah and all those who led this rebellion with him are. The earth has swallowed them up. And so a plague starts to break out. And look at the immediate response of Moses and Aaron in verse 42 of chapter 16. 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. This is God asking Moses to move so he can kill him. And they fell face down. Verse 46. Then Moses said to Aaron, take your censer and put incense in it a along with burning coals from the altar, and hurried 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. He 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. And in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped. So Aaron literally puts himself in the line of fire. He runs into the plague with the incense, with the. With the censer to stop the plague. Moses and Aaron aren't perfect as we're going to see in the net tomorrow. They're not perfect, but man, they don't see this as an opportunity to platform themselves. They actually see this as an opportunity to mourn and to intercede and to pray. They are not happy that God would swallow up the earth, swallow up people with the earth in order to vindicate them. These two human beings have been vindicated by God, and there's no place for gloating. They are not walking around, you know, no, they're praying. And they. They want God to relent on his judgment. So one of the big takeaways from this is don't think of yourself more highly than you ought. Do not have delusions of grandeur. There's so many times where I meet people, and I'm all about believing in yourself. I'm all about confidence. But then there are people who I literally think to myself, I'm hearing what you're telling me you want to do, and you have a delusion of grandeur. Like you. You. You want to be something in someone that God forbid I break the news to you and tell you I don't think that's what God's called you to actually do. And we're living in a time where it. It's almost impossible to say to someone. I don't think God's called you to do that. You know, some people dream too little, and then some people just dream other people's dreams. They. They are not dreaming the dreams that they should be dreaming. They're dreaming other people's dreams. They want to live another person's life, and they're jealous of other people. And that stuff will always lead to you having a toxic relationship with others and a toxic relationship with yourself. So what's our time of truth today? Our time is truth comes out of Numbers, chapter 16, verse 3. It says this. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, you have gone too far. The whole community is holy. Now, is that partially true? Yeah, it is partially true. God has said that the entire community of Israel is to be a holy nation. A royal priesthood. Yep. But that's not the context in which God meant it. The contrary. The context in which he meant it is that the whole community is holy. But there's still hierarchy. Holiness of everyone being holy does not eliminate the fact that there's still hierarchy. There's clearly a hierarchy that Korah does not want to honor or respect every one of them. The Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourself above the Lord's assembly? That is Korah's complaint against Moses and Aaron. And this is where I would leave everybody, because there's a. This spirit. I call this the curse of egalitarianism. Is the egalitarian curse the thing where the enemy convinces you that everybody's the same, we're all the same. And it's okay if you believe that. You just have to then admit that you don't have a biblical worldview, because that. That is. You didn't get that from the Bible. Okay? There's a lot of things you can get from the Bible that ain't one of the things that you're gonna get from reading the Bible. And I know people today who are like, nah, I don't believe in calling a pastor a pastor. I call pastors by their first name. There are people who operate that way. And I a. I always tell them, do you call rabbis by their first name? Do you call Muslim imams by their first name? No. So Christianity is the only religion that people. That. That's even a thing. Okay. Do you call Catholic priests by their first name? No, you call them Father Greg or Father Father Elijah, whatever their names are. Okay. You put a title in front of their name. Why? Because it's a way to communicate. Yeah. We're not the same. It's an easy way to communicate. Yeah. I'm not on a first name basis with you. Korah thinks he's on a first name basis with Moses. That's what he thinks. He's like, we're all holy. The whole community is holy. Right. We're all the same. We're all years. Not the difference between me and you and God is like, yeah, you guys are all holy, but there's still something very different between you and Moses. I know a bunch of people today who are like, you know, they do this house church thing, and they're like, we don't believe in pastors, and we don't believe in leaders, and we don't believe in a hierarchy, and we don't believe in elders, and we don't believe in deacons, and we don't believe in organized religion. And I'm like, then you don't believe in something Jesus created. What do you mean you don't believe in organized religion? Let's read Ephesians, chapter 4, 11 and 12. So Christ Himself gave. What did he give? Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. To what? Equip his people. So there's a difference between those five governing gifts and the people. Okay? This is a hierarchy to equip his people for works of service so the body of Christ may be built up. So if you don't believe in organized religion, that means what? You don't believe in the titles that Jesus gave to the church because he gave this stuff to the church. He's the one that said, you know what? Church needs apostles. Church needs prophets. Church needs evangelists. The church needs pastors. Church needs teachers. It's not. The church didn't make that up. Jesus made that up. Organized religion is like God's idea. That's not like a bunch of people didn't come up with that idea. Elders, deacons, that stuff's good. That's. That stuff's, like, amazing. So our timeless truth for the day is please don't get caught in this egalitarian trap that just says, yeah, I'm not going to reverence, I'm not going to respect, I'm not going to honor. I'm not going to acknowledge the fact that. That God's hand is on certain people, that God selects certain people to be his mouthpiece on earth, like God does that. And that doesn't mean that that person is more valuable or that God loves them more, but it does mean that they've been set apart for a particular assignment. And I shouldn't covet that, because unless God's grace to me and called me for that as well, that will kill me. And I know a lot of people who are not graced to pastor, they're not called to pastor, they're not graced to preach, they're not called to preach, they're not graced to lead worship, they're not called to lead worship, but they try to do it anyway. And it ends up killing them. It kills them. It kills their families. It doesn't. It's not a good fit. They don't have grace for it. It just. It leads to death instead of leading to life. That's my timeless truth for the day. If that is a punch to your pride, then so be it. But I think we all have to wake up to the sobering truth that because we live in a democratic system, egalitarian things feel biblical to us because they feel right. And we have to ask the question, is this an issue of my conscience? Do I just think this of my conscience, or do I think it because it's actually biblical? All right, tomorrow we're going to continue our trek through the wilderness. We're going to see where Moses and Aaron are actually going to fail. And so it's good that they've been interceding for the people because they've built up a storehouse of grace that they are about to need. And tomorrow we're going to explore that. Hey, if you're on a streak, don't break it. Keep going. If you're not on a streak, all you got to do is get two days in a row and you will be on a streak. I love you guys. I'm so proud of you. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram at the Bible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library, of course, sources@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.