Saints,
It was a long, long time ago.
But the ever existent Holy Spirit even then was filling men and women with supernatural courage. To live and move beyond what any of them might think normal.
Here’s just one story of unsung overcomers of the world that triumphed victorious over all its siren song…
There was still over 1400 years before Jesus would leave the hallowed confines of heaven to enter a human woman to become a human Himself.
They had seen in such a compressed space miracles of spectacular nature…
Nuweiba Beach in Eqypt
As they ventured just ahead of the enemy, they marched through the desert and slowly gathered at Nuweiba Beach on the western shore of Yam Suph, the sea of reeds.
A whole city of people of probably 2,000,000, which is almost the size of Houston, TX., and all their animals congregated there. You can see from the aerials and satellite photos that the beach is large enough to hold all those living creatures. It’s the only place in that part of the world on a body of water that could do so.
It’s about seven miles across the Red Sea at that point into Arabia. The Egyptian stone column that was placed by Solomon on the eastern shore years later was removed by the Saudi’s to hide the fact God’s people made it to the other side. But the other one on the Egyptian side is still there…just moved to the other side of the modern day road that now carries tourists to and from the beach.
The 7 mile land bridge
The Gulf of Aqaba, or Red Sea, is a cavernous body of water that extends over 5,000 feet in depth…except in one place. And that’s right at Nuweiba Beach, where a plateau land bridge rises up and forms a gentle 7 degree slope all the way across to the other side. Just right for old folks, children, and terrified animals afraid of water heaped up at least 200+ stories tall which is twice the height of the One World Tower in New York City.
And the sea bed on the plateau land bridge is a smooth, sandy rock-free bottom. Imagine that. Good for chariot wheels and a chase. Modern day divers have found the remains of those wheels, some in the coral encrusted outlines of the chariot remains, and a few wheels themselves. They’re captured on video for all to see.
God knew from the foundation of the earth what He had prepared to do to show His powerful glory. The angel of God, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, that appeared to Moses from the burning bush now went behind them as the pillar of cloud moved with them.
When the waters parted at God’s word and the children of Israel entered the canyon of water, the opening was probably at least a mile wide…about 17 football fields in width.
When a person reached the half way mark at 3.5 miles, he could try and look up at the top of water…but it was at least 1,000 feet high. Ever wonder how a young child would have felt if he was able to run up to the wall of water and thrust his hand into it?
Estimates are it took all night for the millions of souls and animals to make it across.
Korah and his sons saw this first hand. They were there. They walked through. How could they forget the mighty hand of the Ancient of Days as the prophet Daniel also described his vision of Him?
Korah was Moses’ cousin. His father Izhar and Moses’ father Amran were brothers and son’s of Levi himself, leader of one the 12 tribes. Korah knew Moses. He was family. He was a fellow leader. Both were Levites, and called of God.
Korah had 3 sons: Assir, the eldest, then Elkanah, and finally Abiasaph. They also walked through the sea on dry land. They and their families.
Rock at Horeb – 6 stories tall
The crossing seems to have taken place in the spring, most likely in April. (See the movie clip of the Red Sea parting here.)
Korah also saw the billions of gallons of water, another sea flowing from the split rock at Horeb. One can clearly see this rock on Google Earth and the smooth worn desert rocks from the supernatural flow. It was enough to care for the daily needs of millions…like the size of the city of Houston.
Korah saw the flaming mountain, the lightening, thunder…the dread horror of millions as they trembled at Mt. Sinai. The 10 Commandments. The perversion of the golden calf….He saw it all. He was without excuse.
He knew Moses was God’s anointed. Pride is a powerful weapon in the hand of our adversary if we allow him access to our hearts.
Over that next year, God would teach them about the tabernacle, the other laws to rid themselves of the Egyptian influence, the Passover, and His anger with their grumbling and disputing.
By the next spring, they cowered at the “giants” in the land. Only Joshua and Caleb of their generation would be allowed to enter the promised land…but 40 years from then. We can imagine all were extremely disappointed when they couldn’t enter then and there. Expectations were running high. And they were dashed.
Leprosy like Miriam’s
Within 2 months, Miriam led herself and her brother Aaron in a family revolt of sorts against their brother Moses for marrying the Ethiopian women, showing their racism. God strikes her with leprosy, marking her with a white disease in contrast to the black skin of her new sister-in-law.
You think Korah would have gotten the message by now. But it seems only his sons did.
By the end of that year only 4-5 more months after Miriam’s sin, and about 18 months after the Red Sea crossing, Korah instigates a major rebellion. Was he encouraged by the lead of Miriam and Aaron? Most likely.
Why did Korah rebel then against Moses and Aaron? Korah wants to be equal, or superior, to Moses. Evil always wants it’s preeminence over holiness.
Korah was a man of privilege and influence, a Levite and leader of God’s chosen people. But he wanted more…and more. He wanted to be head of the Kohathite clan instead of his cousin Elzaphan, since he was the firstborn of Kohath’s (his grandfather) second son, whereas Elzaphan was not even a firstborn son.
Not only that, at that slight, Korah instigated a brazen attempt whether the office of the High Priest should not have been given to him – rather than to Aaron (Num. 16:10). For sure, Korah had offered sacrifice for the tribe of Levi before the Sin of the Golden Calf, and in relation to their family tree, the choice of the firstborn of Levi ultimately came down to a decision between Aaron, Korah, and Mishael.
Moses rebukes Korah & the rebels
His resentment caused him to seek counsel with Dathan and Abiram, two arrogant agitators from the tribe of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn son, that had a long history of hostility toward Moses.
So, Korah is joined in the plot by Dathan and Abiram, and also 250 other leaders. We can be pretty sure that their families were caught up in the whole spectacle. But what were the loyal followers of God thinking about the repercussions about to unfold in their families? And what of their own lives now? Moses rebukes them.
God is furious. He tells His holy men to get away for He’s going to instantly consume the rebels. But Moses and Aaron refuse, fall on their faces, and plead for mercy with God not to kill all these people, the good with the evil.
God relents, and commands Moses to tell all the faithful to get away from the tents of the leaders. The rebels are not convinced, and they defiantly stand firm with “their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.”
Except…
…the sons of Korah.
Assir, the eldest, along with Elkanah and Abiasaph must have bravely stepped away along with their families. Perhaps the younger brothers quickly followed suit, along with their wives, children, animals, and belongings.
This courageous act took a bit to complete.
What taunting did they endure by their own father? What terror was in their hearts with what God would do? They knew His power. Did they plead, even begging and beseeching, openly with their father, their mother, and the others to repent? They must have believed Moses’ warning that if they stayed with the rebels they’d “be swept away in all their sin.”
Suddenly…out of nowhere, the ground begins to rumble.
Then, the ground roars with rocks splitting, and the earth tearing, opening up wide under the feet of the rebels and their families. And all their possessions. Fire from heaven rains down and consumes alive the 250 rebel leaders, in the putrid sickening smell of burning human flesh. You don’t play with fire…God’s fire.
Screaming. Yelling.
Terrified cries of help as they slide into the chasm and head downward into the center of the earth. Men are burning alive and screaming for help. Some of the rebel leaders are incinerated into thin air.
But there is no help. God is done with them. This is the part of the passage, where He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, that we don’t want to acknowledge.
God’s fire descends from heaven
Men and woman are grasping in vain at the sides of the ground now formed like a mountain side cliff. Their bloodied fingers stop clawing and slip quickly and they fall into oblivion.
Cries and screams begin to fade as the earth once again closes up to reveal no trace whatsoever of the crass, cold-hearted humans that stood just a minute before. Some charred remains of the rebel metal incense burners lie unrecognizable on the ground. Others have descended into the pit along with the people.
In central Florida where I live, we often see huge sink holes open up unexpectedly. One near Tampa swallowed a man alive while he was sleeping. The terror is written all over the faces of the witnesses.
The lives of Korah’s sons and their families are forever changed. They probably have fallen to the ground in terror. Their father and mother are gone. Forever.
At times, it’s the parents who must avoid their disobedient adult children who have a form of Godliness but have denied His power, and have been turned over to Satan so he may destroy their flesh. In order for God to save their spirit.
How long mu
st it have been for these dear saints and the children to recover to any sort of normalcy? What must have imprinted on their minds for the rest of their lives? Would they ever talk about it except in hushed tones?
The memory would always be alive…and the drama of the sons of Korah stepping over to the side of gracious salvation.
The mercy of the Lord was evident because the Word proclaims this…
Numbers 26:11 The sons of Korah, however, did not die.
What courage the three sons displayed. Abiasaph, the youngest, we know named his son after his oldest brother Assir. Did the oldest brother, Assir, make the first move away from his father Korah giving the others courage to follow? Might this be a reason Abiasaph gave that name to his own son?
How hard was it for them to pull away from all they knew in that few minutes of decision making? Devotion to God often calls for peace with Him when our families tear at the holiness our Lord Jesus demands of us. The most intimate love for God is imitation of Him and His ways.
In the mercy of Yahweh, the sons of Korah as Levites will attend to the thresholds of the tents. They play a key role and they know their place. God always uses those of us who remain faithful…to Him.
Someday in tougher times ahead we might be called upon to do the same. And what will we then choose? Ordinarily, we’re to never be disobedient to our adult parents, for this is a sign of the end times rebellion. As we see here in this story with Korah’s sons, there are the rare but crucial times to disobey your adult parents when they require you to rebel against God’s holy ways.
Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
One final thing.
God anoints the sons of Korah as special musicians to help the children of God to “muse” on Him! Over 10 Psalms penned by them are a part of His final record. And we’re the recipients of this wonderful grace, for which of us hasn’t been touched by these inspired words?
Psalm 42:1 For the choir director. A Maskil (contemplative poem) of the sons of Korah.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.
Like you, I’m so glad they stepped over to God’s side. May we do likewise.
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See here the video The Exodus Revealed that describes the evidence for the migration.
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
orld, Indonesia, with 247,000,000.
