Korach
"Bald"
Numbers 16:1-18:32
1 Samuel 11:14-12:22
Psalm 5
Romans 14:7-12
Korach means bald. Kerach is ice, hail, or frost. This reminds us of the first attack of Amalek, which is to cool off (keri) one’s passion for the Word and the journey. Amalek identifies the people on the outskirts who have begun to cool off. Like those whom the Amalekites attacked were “in the rear” of the Camp, they feel displaced, perhaps unfairly. Tradition tells us that those stragglers were not physically weak, but spiritually weak, and the Cloud had ejected them from their places within the safety of the Camp. This is a good object lesson. Even though they had experienced a great deliverance from Egypt, they let themselves become bogged down by the challenges of the daily journey. When we lose the big picture, it’s easy to cool off spiritually.
In Korach, Korah and his rebels had cooled off even after such a great experience at Sinai. Because the Israelites couldn’t stand to hear more than the Ten Words, they had to trust Moses when he gave them additional instructions. That, however, was the playing field of suspicion on the part of the rebels. It was another authority “snake test” of “Did God really say…?
The seeds of rebellion were sown in cold logic. One of the causes of tzara’at, or leprosy, could erupt in a “bald” spot on the skin. It could make a sore, a wound, karachat. What made Korach sore was that he had been passed over as the prince of the Kohathites. He had a logical point, too. With Moses as “king,” and Aaron as high priest (sons of the first son of Kohath, Amram), the logical next-in-line to lead the clan of Kohathites was Korach, the first son of the second son of Kohath, Yitzhar. Instead, Moses appoints Elitzaphan, the second son of the youngest son of Kohath, Uziel.
It was not logical to skip to Elitzaphan to appoint a leader of the clan, but it was according to the Divine instructions. Korach feels like many of us: qualified, competent, deserving, yet passed over in favor of someone less deserving. It’s life, right? Yet, Korah, urged on by the bald sores of jealousy, and perhaps by covetousness over the perks the sons of Amram enjoyed as kohanim, gathers some of the Reuvenites, Dathan, and Aviram. The rebels of Reuven (Dathan and Aviram) in the adjacent camp joined Korach, also applying “sore,” cold logic. Reuven was the firstborn, not Judah, nor the Levites.
The problem with human logic is that it is not always the same as the Holy One’s. This is an example of someone questioning the Divine origin of the Torah. Korach is saying, "Sure, Moses, that what YOU say the Holy One said, but WE didn't hear it. Are we just to take YOUR word for it"? Yes. We are to take Moses' word for it. The Torah is not always humanly logical, but it is always authoritative.
The verb karach is to make bald, or a baldness, usually (by mourners) for the dead, wound, make sores, or whiteness in face of horse.
In English, we have the word “piebald.” This is a horse with a large area of white hair covering the face. In National Velvet, the horse was called “The Pie” because he was piebald. The coloring of this type of horse is reflected in the Pale Horse, the “Death” horse and his plagues.
In Revelation, the Pale Horse matches the “Dappled Horse” in Zechariah 6:3,6). In Creation Gospel Workbook Two, we made the linguistic connection between the marks of the dappled horse (Death) and the color of tzara’at in the Pale Horse. Barod, which is hail, is more specific than kerach, which can be used for other types of icy precipitation. Barod, hail, is the type of mark on the Death Horse.
Rebellion against leadership is one of the causes of tzara’at. Rather than strike Korach with tzara’at, Moses requests a different sign, one that would send the message that the judgment could only be Divine. One might mistake tzara’at for a natural affliction. Moses asks that Korach and his co-conspirators be swallowed alive by the earth.
The Midrash tells a story of how Korach presented himself dressed completely in techelet (blue dye), implying that ALL Israel was holy; therefore, Moses and Aaron had no logical basis for assuming their leadership. There was no need to add tzitzit (commandments) to what was already completely holy. It's like someone saying, "I don't need to keep all those extra commandments. The commandments are written on my heart. I am a holy priest of the Most High." Ummm, what? If they are on the heart, then what else would a person do but the commandments?
This is a common error and rebellion. According to human logic, the principles of authority, succession, leadership, and judgment were Divinely appointed through the Torah, Prophets, and Writings millennia ago. Assignments were established through direct prophecy, signs, and miracles. Nevertheless, in each generation, human logic rises up from wounds and erupts into “baldness” of the head, revealing the death beneath the mark of the wound. Don't want the "mark" of the beast? Then don't challenge the Word!
By commandeering positions of authority, a person merely beats a dead horse. The issue was settled long ago. Our democratic reasoning merely kills others and postpones the inevitable day...
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I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ People will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. In the LORD all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will boast. (Is 45:23-25)
A section from Paul’s letter to the Romans (Ch 14) seems to reference a midrash from this Torah portion. By asking that the ”erect” or unashamed rebels go alive down to Sheol, Moses invoked a phenomenon of judgment at death. ALL human beings will have to acknowledge the True Judge verbally and by kneeling. In the Midrash, the rebels acknowledged their false testimony concerning the Divine Torah and said, “Moshe is true, and so is His Torah,” shouting it so that all nearby could hear the sound of their confession while they still had a body with lips and tongue to confess. This why it is believed that they were sucked down into the Pit alive, so that the living could hear their testimony to the truth of the Word. This is something the living never hear because the soul must confess it when it crosses over after death.
“After death, the reshaim [wicked] must acknowledge the truth.” (The Midrash Says to Bamidbar, Korach, p. 225)
Paul repeats this principle:
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For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. For it is written: “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, TO ME EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE WILL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. (Ro 14:7-12)
The midrash goes on to say, ”By denying some of Moshe’s statements while Moshe was still alive, Korach and his followers put the Divine origin of the entire Torah in doubt. Others might follow his example by challenging tother parts of the Torah, and eventually the veracity of the entire Torah would be questionable.” (p. 222)
Philippians 2:1-16 and John’s Revelation draw a parallel using the same Scripture reference from Isaiah 45. The name of Yeshua will be acknowledged as one and the same as the testimony of Moshe: Yeshua is the Divine Word:
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So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Re 12:17)
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When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” (Re 6:9-10)
Each human being will be judged, and the preparation for that judgment begins at death when the person can no longer "hide" from the truth of the One who created him or her. The Word is true. Yes, God DID really say.
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But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the LORD.” And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” (Nu 16:30-34)
The loud cry of the Korachite rebellion is believed to have been that admission of Adonai's sovereign Word. He is true. Moses was true. Yeshua is true. The loud cry of the souls under the altar echo this acknowledgment of holiness and truth, and they inquire as to the day of judgment. They are ready. This witness is repeated in Revelation when the Serpent spews a flood of wickedness after the woman Israel, but the earth helps her and swallow them up. One has to wonder how loud that cry will be!
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And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood (Re 6:7)
Sackcloth is a sign of mourning, just as the ancient custom of a balding the forehead was a sign of morning. The breaking of the sixth seal corresponds to an ancient belief about earthquakes. Tradition says that the Pit was created between sunset and nightfall before Shabbat through an earthquake. This would have been between the 6th and 7th days of Creation. Likewise, the Korachites will be judged with earthquakes just as the 250 were judged with fire. Keep reading, and you'll read about the censers of fire in Revelation.
Anyone who tries to cross into Shabbat in wickedness will be consumed, sucked back into the lower realm of the Abyss like Pharaoh or burned like the rebels.
Resisting the Word given through Moshe and Yeshua is like trying to beat a Pale, marked, dead horse. He’s coming anyway.
