𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗵/ "𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩 / 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩"

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝟭𝟲:𝟭–𝟭𝟴:𝟯𝟮

In this weeks portion we begin with the story known as 'Korah's rebellion'. Korah has gathered up a following (just over 250 men of 'renown') so that they may challenge Moses's leadership and Aarons status as the High Priest.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵; 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋?” - Numbers 16:3

This is the thing though. Korah was a Levite. The Levites have been given the special work of taking care of the Sanctuary / Tabernacle. But instead of gratitude for this special role, Korah and his followers, wanted to take the roles given to Moses / Aaron. OK let me take a pause here. I get it. I know what it feels like to 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡, so to speak. I understand the desire of my flesh to be seen as an 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡, and the way it has driven my pursuits. I mean, who hasn't at some point in there life wanted to be the one 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹, right? Gahhh, the enemy is so cunning! He makes us believe that 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 is just one more pursuit away, yet when reached, he moves the target again! He wants to keep us in a constant state of 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, only he wants it after the 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨! And in doing so, sometimes our 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 becomes skewed.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩, “𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮?” Numbers 16:8-11

Korah made the mistake of believing he was graced for a position he wasn't. His words, '𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢', as pointed out by one commentator, tell us a story. To see it let's jump to last week's portion which concluded with the command of Tzitzits.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙊𝙍𝘿, 𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙈𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙙. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥; 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” -Numbers 15:37-41

As the commentator pointed out, these tzitzits to be worn by all of Israel, reflected the 'tzit' that the High Priest, Aaron, would wear. It was a gold plate on the headpiece that was inscribed with the words '𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱'. Interestingly, it was connected via blue cords. The same blue cords that were added to the Tzitzits that all of Israel was commanded to wear. So while the High Priest was already set apart, even from the set apart people of Israel, marked as Holy to the LORD, the people of Israel were to be reminded, by their Tzitzit, to walk in obedience to His commands that they may too, 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙮. The High Priest was to show them the way! Our High Priest, Yeshua / Jesus, does the same for us!! Praise and Hallelu-YAH!

Leviticus 21:8; Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 1:16 all remind us 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝘆! It is a call, that He has graced us to answer! Korah, by his own words as shared above, believed that all the congregation had already achieved that end. He foolishly missed the 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 which had entered his heart, which proved he had not yet reached the goal we are all called to strive for. A simple call from our Father, "𝘉𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦."

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺. - Numbers 16:31-33

Korah, his followers and all their possessions, were destroyed. Pride had blinded them to their real and desperate need for repentance. They believed being chosen and set-apart was the only requirement. They failed to take the lesson of the Tzitzits to heart, thus causing them to misunderstand Gods grace. Shew. Let it not be said of us, friends!

As I have stepped into this new season (I officially retired, yay!!), I am having to unlearn and relearn so many things. I am having to learn the need to embrace the stillness, to practice mindfulness and gratitude with a greater awareness of His Presence, and the presence of those around me. But I also have to unlearn the patterns of 'doing it all', all the time. It isn't easy for me to slow down. I have mistakenly believed for so long if I could just hurry up and do one more thing, there would be one less thing to do later. I was so wrong. The truth is, there will always be something else to do, but there isn't always another moment to just be truly present. To fully engage with those around us, to take notice of all the beauty and goodness that He surrounds us with each day. I pray, that I get better at it. I pray that much like the tzitzits that remind us of the holiness He has called us to, they also remind us of the importance of a moment, and the need for His grace to meet us in it. That we may choose, rightfully so, to pursue Presence over position! Every single time. To Him belongs the glory, forever and ever! #Torah #awakeningfire #crossroads #ancientpath #theVoice #narrowway #beHoly