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Num. 16
Korah was a descendant of Levi; one set apart as belonging to God. Yet, through an alliance with those outside this sanctified group, he stepped up to challenge God’s chosen leadership. Which was really a direct challenge of God. This is a stern warning to me as to how I handle my relationships with non-believers. As members of Christ’s body, we are also set apart as belonging to God. And our alliances with those outside the Church have a similar tendency to return our focus to things rooted in self. This, in turn, causes us to lose sight of what is truly holy and place ourselves as the gold standard instead of God.
So I need to be careful, not to isolate myself, but to stay humble before God. I don’t need to concern myself with what He gives to or does for others. Nor do I need to compare myself or my position or possession against others. And I need to be very wary so I don’t allow those who don’t pursue God to influence the focus of my life. In short, I need to remember what Moses told Korah. “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 LROD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that He has brought you near” (Num. 16:9-10a). God saved me. May that always be enough.
Ps. 52-54
God calls us to minister to those outside Christ’s Church. We need to take care, however, not to yoke ourselves with them. Evil isn’t always obvious, but all evil has one commonality. Note what David describes as evil in these Psalms. “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches” (Ps. 52:7a-b). And, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Ps. 53:1a). Also, “They have not set God before them.” (Ps. 54:3c). Thus, anyone who has not surrendered themselves to God is still stuck in their evil, as we once were. So while we demonstrate God’s love to this broken world, we must also diligently seek His shelter from those who would lead us away from Him.
Is. 6
When Isaiah saw the vision of God, he said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips” (Is. 6:5a). There are two things I note about this. First is that God purified his lips with a hot, burning coal. What thought does that give me? That the process of purification is not pain free! God didn’t use a soft cloth, a soothing balm, or even cool, refreshing water. If we expect an easy life because we belong to God, we simply aren’t paying attention.
The other notable thing is that Isaiah mentioned his unclean lips. Not his hands or heart, but his lips. This seems significant to me because God used Isaiah as His mouthpiece. I certainly don’t think God needed to scorch Isaiah’s lips to take away his iniquity. So I’m thinking this whole scene is so that we can know that God’s word, spoken through Isaiah’s mouth, is pure.