It's both weird...and expected...that lessons of the Bible sometimes feel like they're stuck on "Repeat." I think that happens in real life with God, too. The challenge is that we can quickly forget the lessons He's already taught us. A few days (and chapters) ago, we learned a lesson about leadership and dealing with conflict (see "Leadership and Leprosy").
Today's chapters focused on a similar theme. Several hundred Levites (tribe chosen to be the priests and serve in God's House) challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron. Here's Moses' response:
Moses continued with Korah, "Listen well now, sons of Levi.
Isn't it enough
for you that the God of Israel
has selected you
out of the congregation of Israel
to bring you near him to serve
in the ministries of The Dwelling of God,
and to stand before the congregation to minister to them?
He has brought you and all your brother Levites into his inner circle,
and now you're grasping for the priesthood, too.
It's God you've ganged up against, not us.
What do you have against Aaron that you're bad-mouthing him?"
It was interesting to see a deja vu problem in this passage compared to what happened with Moses, Aaron and Miriam in the chapters we read a few days ago. We already talked about how conflict (particularly between leaders) should be handled...so I thought it would be interesting to make a few other observations today:
1. This time, Aaron's authority was challenged. In the last situation, Aaron was one of the people challenging authority and this time, he's the one being disrespected. I can almost hear Justin Timberlake singing, "What goes around, goes around, goes around, comes all the way back around..." I don't think the fact that the challenge was also directed at Aaron was a coincidence--there may have been a Biblical principle of "sowing and reaping" ("you reap what you sow") at work.
2. The consequences were steeper. This time, over 14,000 people died from two catastrophes (what sounds like an earthquake and a plague) as a result of the uprising. The consequences might have been steeper because more people were involved in planning the revolt...and perhaps they should have learned from the incident with Miriam and leprosy.
3. The "repeat" of this leadership lesson is found in other parts of Scripture. For example, Satan and the demons were once angels who challenged God's authority.
I think the best way to close this post is with a few questions (for me, too!). What lessons have you seen on "Repeat" in your life? How can you effectively remember the lessons--and potentially avoid some "Repeat" testing?
Tomorrow: Numbers 18-20
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