THE REBELLION OF KORAH - THE ATTESTATION OF PRIESTHOOD
[p. 158] THE REBELLION OF KORAH — THE ATTESTATION OF PRIESTHOOD
Numbers 16: 42 to end; Numbers 17; Numbers 18: 1 - 7
I have read a long passage, but if you do not take in the whole, you will hardly apprehend the subject before us.
My object is to show how we get here in a typical way doctrine that is presented to us in the New Testament. In the New Testament we get the anti-type; but for instruction in the detail we have to go back to the type in the Old Testament. What we find in these early books of the Old Testament is to us of the deepest importance. Indeed, I do not think that any one can clearly understand the truth of Christianity if he does not apprehend the detail of the Old Testament. You will not understand the doctrine by the Old Testament; but you will get it very much more clearly before you by the help of what is presented in type. The importance of this is, that it binds the whole word of God together — the Old Testament and the New. It shows us in the most unmistakable way one Spirit pervading the word. There is one subject and one Author. You may get doctrine, or type, or anti-type, but all present one thing; and there could not be greater evidence than this of the truth of the word of God.
You must remember that dozens of generations passed off the scene between the time that these early books, and the books of the New Testament were written.
I was speaking last week of the perverseness of the flesh, and how the wilderness serves to bring out its tendencies. We learn in a painful way what we really are. God takes occasion of the wilderness to allow everything in our hearts to come out.
[p. 159] He knew it from the outset. It has not taken Him by surprise, but it often takes us by surprise. I think many Christians are surprised to find what the depths of the flesh are. And when I say “the flesh” I speak about myself. I have nothing but the flesh. Whatever may be the light that God has given me about Himself, whatever His purpose concerning me, I have nothing but the flesh, and the flesh is myself. God may take account of me according to His purpose, and I am privileged to take account of myself according to that purpose; but when I speak of the flesh I speak of myself. I can boast in nothing save that I know God.
I go a point further. There is no difference in principle between the flesh in any two Christians. The tendencies of the flesh are the same in both, simply because they are the tendencies of the flesh.
In the earlier part of the book I spoke of what came to light in Israel in two ways. The first was the flesh in its reminiscences of Egypt — that is, the lusts of the flesh, for the flesh always bears in mind the things of Egypt. It is a great mercy for young people to be brought up in comparative purity and apart from evil, for they have less reminiscences of Egypt. Of course, they have a link with Egypt, but not the same reminiscences. I do not say that there is more lust in a person who has been brought up in the world, but there are more reminiscences of evil. The apostle says “I would have you simple concerning evil”; and my wish for my own children is that they should be simple concerning evil, that they may not later on have the reminiscences of it.
The other thing which came out in Israel was unbelief. They would not enter into the purpose of God. The children of Israel were unwilling to go on to the land of promise; the principle of the flesh was unbelief. The apostle interprets this in Hebrews 3, “They did not hearken to the word”.
You can see in them these two principles, of which we are all conscious. Is there any one who is not conscious of them? Surely every Christian is, conscious that he carries about the reminiscences of Egypt; and is alive to the presence of unbelief — spiritual dullness, and unwillingness to enter into the purpose of God concerning us, are proof of it. Flesh takes ever one direction: it goes back to Egypt and it does not go forward to the land because it is unbelieving.
The great answer to the tendencies of the flesh, when you become conscious of them (and it is a great thing to be conscious of them — when people are first converted they are but little so, it comes afterwards), is found in the light of God’s testimony. When the tendencies of the flesh are recognised, and it is seen that the flesh does not help me, for it does not go forward, then my refuge is in the light into which God has been pleased to bring me in regard to Himself. I could not exaggerate the importance of divine light. It is so blessed to be brought into the light in which God has been pleased to reveal Himself. God has brought us “out of darkness into his marvellous light”. That is the real effect of the word of God — the testimony presented to us has become a living power in the soul, and that is the antidote to the tendencies of the flesh, which is ever looking back to Egypt and disinclined to go on to the purpose of God.
Well, that is where we are. It is no use disguising the truth as to flesh. These two tendencies are the same in every one of us, as surely as that you have the flesh in you.
But I want to speak now on another element of the flesh, and a more deadly one, and that is its will. That comes out in the climax of evil in this book, namely, in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and [p. 161] Abiram. This was the culminating outbreak, and I want to speak about its character. Some people might think the worst feature of the flesh was its lust or its unbelief, but I am inclined to think the worst feature is its will. It is more positive.
You see how it worked in the case of the children of Israel; they rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron; and I will show you how it works in us. What Korah and his company really rebelled against was the anointing — the priesthood of Aaron; and they assumed that the Levites could do the priestly work without the anointing. It was in principle a deadly rebellion of the flesh against the Spirit; as I understand it, rebellion against the Spirit really means rebellion against Christ as Apostle and as Priest. We have to recognise that tendency in every one of us. There is a spirit in every Christian that rebels against Christ. “The flesh lusts against the Spirit”, and in that sense it rebels against the place and authority of Christ both as Mediator and Priest.
I just mention the detail, and then I will show you by what it was met, that is, the antidote. The evil, as I have said, took the form of rebellion both against Aaron and against Moses. Moses prefigures to us the authority and mediatorship of Christ; Aaron, the priesthood of Christ. Every one ought to be able to discern between these two functions: Christ’s place as Apostle and His priesthood.
The truth comes out in the type that authority does not in itself carry you into the purpose of God. You have to learn that it is the Priest only who can conduct you into that.
The outbreak before us is spoken of in the New Testament as “the gainsaying of Kore”. It is rebellion against the Spirit of God, and hence against Christ’s authority and priesthood. What can you know about the priesthood of Christ, or of the [p. 162] authority of the Lord, except by the Holy Ghost? Otherwise all must be set up on a Jewish pattern. If you rebel against the Spirit, and attempt to bring the flesh into the ordering of divine things, you rebel against the authority and priesthood of Christ. It is the most serious thing now to attempt to bring the flesh into the service of God, to revive an order of things which God has repudiated; but it is what has been done in Christendom. It came in very early in the professing church; and in the present day you will see it in its most distinct form in popery. It is without doubt morally “the gain-saying of Kore”. Christ’s authority and priesthood have been practically set aside, and the authority and priesthood of man brought in.
It began in the will of the flesh ignoring the Spirit of God. That is what Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in principle did. The apostle Jude speaks of perishing in the gainsaying of Kore. This refers to apostasy from Christianity which brings in judgment. It takes the form, I do not doubt, of the Levites — those who assume to be servants — what are called the clergy — claiming the priesthood. They really claim the place of Christ. That is “the gainsaying of Kore”, and is the spirit of a clergy, the setting up of a priesthood according to man’s own idea. You may say that this is strong language; but that is the spirit and principle of it. I am amazed to see any Christian who has been brought into the light going back to that which really ignores and resists the priesthood of Christ and His authority!
The flesh takes two forms in religious things. I do not speak now of the children of Israel, or of “the clergy” but of ourselves. Flesh, that is, human will, goes in two directions. It will take the direction of rationalism or of ritualism. That is the way in which the flesh works and intrudes into [p. 163] the things of God. Flesh always is and must be an intrusion in the things of God. It works in them in a reasoning or in a superstitious way. You may remember the warning of the Lord to His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees — the one is in principle ritualism, and the other rationalism. You may be assured of this, that we all have a tendency to the one or the other; and both are expressions of the will of the flesh. If I were to speak about myself I should say that superstition has little hold on me; my mind is not cast in that way. I may not have sufficient of the imaginative element. If the flesh works in me it works more in the other direction — rationalism — reasoning, in the tendency to question. Broad church is just as deadly in principle as high church. In both we see the intrusion of the flesh into the things of God; both practically ignore the presence of the Spirit; and both have part in the rebellion against the authority of Christ as Apostle and as Priest.
It is well to be clear about these things. They exist around us; and it is important to see that things that are thought and spoken of highly in the world are but the workings of the flesh; and there is no sphere in which the working of the flesh is so deadly as in the things of God. The flesh may be unbelieving, or hankering after the things of Egypt; but when it begins to be active in the things of God it is deadly. It is an offence against Christ both as Apostle and as Priest.
I do not want to say any more about that, for I have other things to speak of.
I have referred to the outbreak, now I want to present the blessed answer to it. You can read verses 44 - 50 and then look at a verse or two at the close of Hebrews 7: 21, etc. There you have the answer to this outbreak of the flesh and resistance [p. 164] to the authority of Christ. When you have discovered the tendency, the answer to it is in learning the grace of Christ as High Priest.
Just let me refer again to the narrative. Moses and law were powerless for conducting the people into the purpose of God. Authority is good and important enough in its place, but it cannot conduct us into the purpose of God. Nothing can lead a soul into the realisation of God’s purpose but priesthood. The principle in it is that it stands between the living and the dead. Now what we get in regard to Christ as Priest is this: “He is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them”.
This is what Aaron did in regard of the children of Israel. He made intercession for them and the plague was stayed. I will endeavour to shew you the importance of the priest in regard to our entering into the purpose of God. Such as you are, you would be completely swamped by the things of the world if it were not for the priesthood and intercession of Christ. It is His grace that draws us out of them to Himself. The apostle speaks both in Romans and Hebrews 7 of the intercession of Christ. Not exactly of His help or sympathy, but that “He ever liveth to make intercession”. Where would Peter have been after his denial of the Lord without the intercession of Christ? He would have been driven to despair but for that intercession. The Lord had said, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not”. And no one of us would enter into the purpose and calling of God, while we are down here, were it not that the intercession of Christ saves us from being engulfed by the things around us.
I quite admit the work of God in the Christian, and should insist upon it as much as any one; but [p. 165] as one becomes more deeply conscious of the activity and restlessness of the flesh — of its character and terrible tendencies — one is more assured that no one would ever enter into the purpose of God were it not for the intercession of Christ.
God comes in in His discipline to break down the flesh in Christians, but that is no doubt the fruit and result of the intercession of Christ. God will break down our wills because He sees that in no other way can the evil be met. But we see what the watchful care of Christ is for His people that they should enter — not into Canaan but — into God’s purpose for them.
You get a picture of it in the beautiful scene, so often mentioned, in Matthew 14, where Peter, emboldened by Christ’s word, leaves the boat to go to Jesus; and he is about to be swamped by the waves, he is afraid and begins to sink, when the Lord puts forth His hand and draws him to Himself. He draws the Christian, as I understand it, into the light of God’s purpose concerning him.
But I pass on, for what follows is of such great importance. In the next chapter (17) we get the attestation of the Priest. This teaches us very clearly that there is no real priesthood according to the flesh. The assumption of priesthood on the part of man in the flesh is deadly evil. The attestation of priesthood is the power of resurrection. You remember the narrative of chapter 17, how the rods, representative of the twelve tribes, were laid up before the Lord, the name of a tribe being inscribed on each rod — “And it came to pass on the morrow, Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds”, verse 8, 9, 10.
Now if you look at the end of Hebrews 7 (verse 23, etc.), you will find that we have the order of Christ’s [p. 166] priesthood brought out — after the power of an endless life. It is a very important point that I touched on in Numbers 17. I used the word “attestation”. The attestation is resurrection. The witness is that there can be no priesthood according to God after the flesh. As a matter of fact the priesthood of Aaron and his sons was after the flesh; but in the divine idea priesthood must be in One beyond death — and thus it is that Christ “continueth ever”. When Christ was on earth He could not be a Priest. He could not be so according to the law. The condition of His being a Priest is resurrection. In Him we have the anti-type of the rod of Aaron. It was but a dry rod — no leaves — but it brought forth buds and blossoms, and yielded almonds. A dry rod yielded fruits of life. Thus there is no priesthood but in resurrection. It is all after that order. The qualification of Christ to be Priest is that “He continueth ever”. You could hardly have said that of Him in the order after which He was on earth; it was true in one sense, but He did not continue after that order. He passed through death, and is now in the condition in which He continueth ever. So His priesthood is intransmissible.
There is only one true Priest, for there is only One who is attested by resurrection. Christ is the only One to whom witness has been borne by life out of death.
Where is Christendom in the face of that? Where are Popery or High Churchism! There is no place for them. There is but one Priest, and He continueth ever and His priesthood is intransmissible. If a man said to me that he was a priest, I should reply, You must give me the proof of resurrection. It is the only real attestation. That is what comes out here in type and figure. It was the voice of God to the rebellious, and was unanswerable.
[p. 167] I will now pass on to the next chapter, which opens up some very important points as regards ourselves.
In chapter 18 the Lord does not speak to Moses, the chapter begins: “The Lord spake unto Aaron”. Chapter 17 was spoken to Moses. Now we have Aaron addressed. “Thou and thy sons shall minister before the tabernacle of witness”. The point now is with regard to the tabernacle of witness. You will notice that the priests, the house of Aaron, are distinguished from the Levites, and the Levites again from the common people. The house of Aaron was to keep the charge of the sanctuary and of the altar. Even the Levites were not to come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary nor the altar. In other words the ministers, as such, were not to assume the privileges of Christians as priests.
I am coming now to the anti-type. A Christian may be viewed in the light of a priest or of a Levite or of a common person; but it is as priest only — that is, as risen with Christ — that he is identified with the sanctuary and the altar, the service of God. Thus there are three positions which may he true of every Christian. He is a priest, identified with Christ on resurrection ground; having boldness to enter, into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, and joined with Christ in priestly service. But in addition to that he may be a Levite; may have grace to minister to the priests. I am ministering now, and in that sense I am the servant of the priests. My object is that, kneeling at your feet, so to speak, I may serve you, as the apostle says, “ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake”. When I return to my ordinary circumstances, to my simply individual path, I shall be a common person, that is, an ordinary Christian, and this is true even of one with the most distinguished gift.
The chapter teaches us to distinguish these [p. 168] things. It is only as priest, that is, in association with Christ, as risen with Him, that you are identified with the sanctuary, the place of the service of God. You are compelled to distinguish yourself as priest from what you are as Levite. When we come together in assembly on the first day of the week, we come together simply as Christians calling on the Lord; but when we are in assembly in the power of the Holy Ghost, the idea of Aaron and his sons is realised. We are there not simply as individuals, but in the bond of perfectness.
“In him we stand, a heavenly band,
Where He Himself is gone”. (12:2)
It is a heavenly company typified by Aaron and his sons. All are priests. You are for the moment apart from the Levite and from the common person; and yet you have to fulfil the function of the Levite and of the common person, each in its own place.
If as a common person I get by the Spirit of God any real apprehension of the sacrifice of Christ, or appreciation in my soul, by the Spirit of God, of Christ, this contributes to me as priest. So, too, if as Levite I receive any joy or encouragement in service, this is to pay its tithe to the priest, and as the priest is contributed to himself he contributes to every other priest. The point in the chapter is that all, both the people and Levites, were contributory to the priests, who had charge of the sanctuary and the altar. There were three different classes in Israel; in Christianity they all are represented in the one person.
The priest, as priest, had no lot nor inheritance among the people. Jehovah was their inheritance.
It is a wonderful conception to my mind. I see the grandeur of the High Priest. Christ is the great High Priest in resurrection, and the power of life out of death is manifested in Him. Then there is [p. 169] the company identified with Him and with the sanctuary, as Aaron and his sons. Then there is the service of the Levites, who minister to the priests; and then there are the common people, who by means of the priests and Levites are sustained in their relations with God.
You see what is brought out from the terrible rebellion of Korah. The necessity is seen of the distinctness of the priesthood. We should never enter into God’s purpose for us except for Christ’s intervention: “He ever liveth to make intercession for us”.
There is no priesthood now after the flesh according to God. Such as you get is an ignoring of the Spirit of God, and is rebellion against the priesthood of Christ. The Spirit of God can hardly have done us a greater service than to open our eyes to the fearful and deadly character of what is around us. The ground on which the true priests minister to God is that they are risen with Christ, in that sense are outside of the flesh. They enter the holiest through the way which Christ has made for them, through the veil — that is to say, His flesh. He has consecrated the way for them, and they are associated in the divine light and presence with the One whose priesthood is attested by resurrection; because He continueth ever, He hath an unchangeable priesthood.
I fear that some may not perhaps have understood or been able to follow what I have attempted to bring before you; but I think that if you ponder the chapters, things that may have for the moment appeared difficult will really bring light and help, by the Spirit of God, into your soul.