When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God chose Moses to be the leader of the people and to talk with Him. He also chose Aaron to be the High Priest. But some of the people, led by Korah, were unhappy with the way things were. Numbers 16:3 “They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?’” Others were also unhappy. They said to Moses in Numbers 16:13 “Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?” These men wanted to do things their way and to be in charge of the people. There was a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. This made Moses very angry and he asked God to show who was accepted by the Lord and who was not. Numbers 16:28-33 “And Moses said: ‘By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD.’ Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.” That is how God dealt with the rebellion of Korah.
What kind of heart do you have? Are you willing to submit to God and do things His way? Are you willing to submit to authority or do you want to be in charge and do things your way?
God through Samuel told King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites. 1 Samuel 15:1-3 “Samuel also said to Saul, ‘The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” Verses 7-11 “And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ‘I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.’ And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.” Samuel went to Saul and accused him of not obeying the Lord; Saul in his own mind thought he had obeyed the Lord. He had done most of what God had asked. 1 Samuel 15:20-23 “And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.’ So Samuel said: ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.’” King Saul spared King Agag and allowed the people to take the best of the plunder and of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord. In Saul’s mind, he had obeyed the Lord. But Samuel accused Saul of rebellion which he said was as bad as the sin of witchcraft. Samuel also accused Saul of stubbornness and said it was as bad as iniquity and idolatry. Because of Saul’s lack of obedience, God rejected Saul and instead selected David to be king over Israel.
What can we learn from Saul’s disobedience, rebellion and stubbornness? He destroyed the Amalekites with only a few exceptions. His exceptions were things that he thought were for the best. He listened to the people and accepted what they wanted rather than insist on complete obedience to the command of the Lord. Might we also be guilty of wanting to do things our own way instead of fully obeying the Lord? Might we also seek to please others in the things we allow? Do we make exceptions from fully obeying the Lord in areas where we rationalize that we have good reasons to make exceptions?
God wants us to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Not only do we confess with our tongues, but we do what He asks us to do. Jesus said in Mathew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Making Jesus our Lord means that we seek to do all that He asks us to do and not make exceptions and find excuses to do what we want to do.
The proud person thinks that he is right and that he knows what is best. James wrote in James 4:4-8 “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
I encourage you to submit to God and seek to do His will in all things.