The Rebellion Of Korah Is An Example Of The Rebellious False Teachers - Jude 1 V 11(C) Series

THE REBELLION OF KORAH IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE REBELLIOUS FALSE TEACHERS - Jude 1 v 11(c)

In a previous message we looked at Cain and Korah together. This time only Korah is in the spotlight and the account has been expanded.

Jude 1 v 11 Woe to them for they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay, they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

[A]. INTRODUCTION

There are three parts to this verse, different episodes, but all having one thing in common. These three were examples of being out of step with God, and rebelling against the declared will and direction of God. Jude uses these examples because they are all applicable to the problems false teachers were bringing to the churches. In verse 10, a description is given of these base men who were so self-willed, they acted like animals of instinct. Things they did not understand, they reviled. These men were intemperate, proud, and headstrong, following their own determinations, without any recourse to others, or to God. In his letter, Peter adds they count it a pleasure to act riotously in the daytime, and are stains and blemishes. They revel in their deceptions, patting themselves on the back for how clever they are. He says their eyes are full of adultery and they do not cease from sinning. They entice unstable souls, and they have trained their hearts in greed. Then Peter says they are accursed. Jude is reflecting on his description in verse 10, and begins the next part with “Woe to them”. These false teachers have a woe pronounced on them. The Lord used “woe” several times in the Gospels; and in Revelation, it is used 15 times. Between the Gospels and Revelation, it is used just twice – one by Paul when he said, “Woe be to me if I do not preach the gospel,” and this occasion by Jude.

[B]. EXPLANATION

In this last single message we looked at Cain and murder. This time we look at Korah and rebellion. The false teachers that Jude had to battle with had all those features – they were murderers and they caused the spiritual death of their followers and acted in disobedience. Korah we will see was rebellious and that caused his death as well. God hates disobedience and rebellion. That is why these false teachers of Jude’s time and in our present age are so obnoxious. They falsify the gospel. Jude has a number of descriptions for the,. Some we have done, and some to come up in the remaining verses of his letter.

Disobedience, rebellion and greedy men who defame the gospel of Christ are a disgrace in God’s eyes. The two words, murder and rebellion, are applied to Satan who is described in the following way – {{John 8 v 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.”}} and who, before sin entered the world, led the rebellion in heaven against Almighty God. These 2 sins go way back to the very foundation of sin, and with pride, make up the three, initial deadly sins.

Last time we looked at Cain. We traced from that, the evil of murder – what I did not mention last time, is that in the United States, the country with the motto, “In God We Trust”, there are 93 people shot to death (murdered) every single day in the USA; and then we examined the story of Cain to see why he would be included in this Jude verse. We looked at “the way of Cain” to understand this more. Cain was a hard worker but that did not make him acceptable to God. He gathered the best he had to present to God, but that did not make him acceptable to God. God even spoke gently to him to instruct him as to his way, but he refused to listen to that, because He ignored God. He rose up in hatred and envy, and did away with his brother. THE WAY OF CAIN is the wilful decision to go one’s own way in the matter of religion. “There is a way that seems right unto man, but the ways thereof, are the ways of death.” Cain chose his own way, the way of logic and reason, the way of the flesh. He did it all his own way, all by his own effort.

You know Christianity is the most exclusive religion in the world. Yes, people pride themselves with exclusive memberships of clubs and sporting bodies at great expense, but if you belong to Christ, you have an exclusive membership at great expense (the blood of the Lamb), in the Church of the Living God. But . . . there is a great paradox here, for while Christianity is an exclusive religion it is also the most inclusive one.