March 11- Green With Envy

March 11, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Numbers 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47;
Psalm 54:1-7; Proverbs 11:5-6

Numbers 15:17-16:40

Have you ever been in a situation where someone is jealous of what you are doing or what you look like or what you have?  It is very hard to have someone be jealous of you. Even harder is to be the person who is jealous. Jealousy is a cancer that can overwhelm and sicken the soul.  Remember the story of Cinderella?  In the fairytale there are two evil stepsisters and an atrocious stepmother who are jealous of Cinderella's beauty.  They make her life a living hell because they are jealous. In the end they are left single, while Cinderella snags the prince.

Today a man named Korah is making Moses' life a living hell because Korah is jealous of Moses' leadership position.  As this story unfolds, Korah will pay a high price for his jealousy of Moses. 

I wonder if perhaps the rebellion that Korah incites is in part prompted by the severe punishment of the Israelite who was stoned to death for gathering fire wood on the Sabbath (Num. 15: 32-36).  The nation of Israel, at this point in the story, has some problems being faithful to God. We saw from the story of the 12 spies that only Caleb and Joshua exhibited faith.  This is an indication that we have a pretty faithless group of people who have decided to turn toward the wilderness, rather than possess the Promised Land as God had commanded.  They are wandering in the wilderness because they do not trust God. This behavior is a clue to the rebellion in their hearts.  Do you ever wander in the wilderness of sin? My guess is that this rebellious group was not too keen on the death penalty being given to one of their own who broke one of the Ten Commandments. This is just speculation on my part.

In today's story, Korah gets two other men to join him in leading a 250-man rebellion against Moses.  Korah's argument is that the whole nation of Israel is God's chosen people group, therefore, Moses has no business being the primary leader of the group.  At this, Moses falls face down in humility.  When he gets up, he tells Korah that they must let the Lord decide who He (the Lord) has chosen for leadership.  Moses clarifies that Korah, who is a Levite, is not happy in his position/job.  Korah wants to be a priest and not just a Levite.  Remember that the Levites take care of the Tabernacle and are responsible for breaking down and then rebuilding the Tabernacle (tent) whenever they move through the wilderness. Korah and his men are complaining about Aaron's position as the High Priest.  Korah would like more authority and power. Moses claims that Korah is really rebelling against God, not against Moses and Aaron.

Moses has the 250 rebels bring their incense burners to the Tabernacle so that the Lord can chose who is to lead and confirm who are to be the priests.  By the time these 250 men come to the Tabernacle, Korah has managed to get the whole community against Moses and Aaron.  God informs Moses that He (God) is about to cremate the whole group.  Moses and Aaron fall on their faces and once again pray for these murmuring people. God relents and warns that everyone needs to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathin, and Abiram.

Once everyone is cleared out, God opens the ground and swallows up the tents, the men and their families, their possessions, and everyone around who was following the rebels into a live grave (Numbers 16:31).  They go down into a giant sinkhole. Afterward, the earth closes up and they have vanished.  Let's just say that Korah's jealousy consumed him, literally.  Fire blazes forth and burns up the 250 men who were offering incense, too. Everyone else flees, screaming.

Nothing like a little drama to make a story interesting.  And so, the rebellion was crushed...God-style.

Do you ever feel your life being eaten alive and consumed by jealousy?  Do you feel you deserve a more important job in God's kingdom?  Consider Korah the next time you feel the green monster of envy inside of you.

Mark 15:1-47

From here on out Jesus is openly saying that he is the King of the Jews.  He is prepared to be rejected and there is no chance that the crowds will try to make him a military leader able to crush the Romans and secure Israel's independence from Roman rule.

Instead of Israel being independent from Rome, quite the opposite is true. We see the Jews and the Romans cooperating to crucify Christ.  Jesus is mocked and beaten by the Jewish religious leaders. He is betrayed to death by the Jewish crowd. And then Pilate has Jesus beaten with a lead-tipped whip. He allows Christ to be mocked as King of the Jews with a crown of thorns placed on his head and a purple robe draped on his shoulders by the Roman soldiers. 

Jesus is hung on the cross at nine in the morning and by three o'clock in the afternoon he has died.  Those hours on the cross included relentless mocking and derision at the hands of the religious leaders and even the criminals hanging next to him on the cross. He suffered and was abandoned by God as he took the world's sins upon himself.  Facing death and separation from his Father, Jesus Christ cries out in agony and voluntarily gives up his spirit.

One of the Sanhedrin, a man named Joseph of Arimathea, goes to Pilate and asks permission to take down Jesus' body.  Permission is granted and Joseph places Jesus in his own tomb.  It is noted that faithful women, who loved Jesus, stay with him in his suffering, death and burial, while the male disciples have fled.

With our theme of jealousy today, it is interesting to contemplate the jealousy that the religious leaders felt towards Jesus.  They were jealous of his authority, his confidence, his miracles, his compassion, his perfection, and his message.  Scripture tells us that Pontius Pilate offers Barabbas to the crowd to be crucified, rather than Jesus, because he realizes that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of jealousy (Mark 15:10). At this point in the story their jealousy has led to Christ's death.  They appear to have won...

Christ died for all sins, including jealousy.  Have you thanked him today?  He covers us with the blood shed at his death.  He died in my place for my jealousy, rebellion, and pride. 

Psalm 54:1-7

This is a psalm written when David was hiding from an enemy.  You can cry out to God when you are scared.

Proverbs 11:5-6

This proverb mentions that the godliness of good people rescues them.  Faith in God does rescue us from the Enemy of all mankind.

What did you notice as your read today?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton