C: In this lesson, we'll be studying about rebellion. It is the last lesson in our series on Moses, and it will change our hearts forever.

1. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Numbers 12:1-10
1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.
2 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out.
5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward,
6 he said, "Listen to my words: "When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam--leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy;

C: Miriam and Moses were Moses' brother and sister. They had known him for 80 years! They remembered when he had failed. And they saw he had married a Cushite woman (an Egyptian), not from Israel (v.1). What Moses did was wrong according to what God had said earlier in Exodus 34:16 they were commanded not to marry foreigners. But even though Moses had messed up, Aaron and Miriam had no right to rebel. They wanted to lead instead of him (v.2). God was upset with them (vv.8-9). He left them, and he made Miriam have leprosy to teach her a lesson. Moses prayed for her, and soon God healed her (vv.14-15).

Exodus 34:16
And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

C: What happened in Moses' family can also happen to us. Instead of respecting and loving each other, and our leaders, we start to get critical. At home, we don't have regular devotionals. Instead, we fight. We notice each others' faults. We become negative and nagging. We no longer enjoy time together. Instead, we see all of the faults of the others.

Q: Think about it. With your disciples and other friends in the church, and with your discipler, have you developed a negative relationship? Are you always thinking about their faults. Let's avoid the critical spirit that can come with familiarity. Let's make sure that we do not become rebellious because of the sins of others.

2. Bad Attitudes Are Contagious

Numbers 16:1-7
1 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth--became insolent
2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.
3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?"
4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.
6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers
7 and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!"

Q: How many people opposed Moses? [Several hundred leaders of the community (vv.1-3).] They complained that Moses was too far from the people, and that everyone in the community was holy and good (v.3). How did Moses react? [He fell to the ground, praying (v.4).] C: After praying, Moses challenged everyone. He promised that God would show them whom he had chosen (v.7).

C: The bad attitudes probably started with just a few people. But they spoke about it to each other, and a few "close" friends. Soon the news was all over the city. Many older people were opposing Moses, too. We can see here that bad attitudes are contagious. They are like the cold. If you spend time with someone who has bad attitudes, soon you'll get them, too.

Q: Think for a moment. Are you hanging around with bad attitude people? Or are the people you are with spiritual and godly?

C: If bad attitudes are contagious, then so is joy. Think of some encouraging people that you could spend more time with, even in this group.

3. God Will Deal With the Sinners

Numbers 16:23-35
23 Then the LORD said to Moses,
24 "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."
27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
28 Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea:
29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.
30 But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.
33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

C: In v.23, God told Moses to move away from the tents of Korah and the others. Moses obeyed. Then Moses explained that God would prove himself to them by doing something amazing, like opening up the ground to swallow up the wicked men of Korah (vv.28-30). Then suddenly the ground opened, and Korah and his men were swallowed up. The 250 men offering the incense to God were burned up by fire.

C: One thing is certain. God will deal with every sinner in this world, including us. So let's be pure and godly. You do not have to take revenge on evil people. God will do that.

Hebrews 10:30
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."

We must be joyful, and trust that God will make people repent (or punish them) in his own good time.

4. Do Not Be Impressed By the World

Numbers 22:1-6
1 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.
2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,
3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.
4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
5 sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.
6 Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed."

C: The Israelites were expanding and threatening other nations. These people were scared (v.3). The Moabites were telling their friends that "this horde is going to lick up everything around us" (v.4). For this reason, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for Balaam the prophet. He wanted Balaam to curse God's people instead of blessing them. Then God gave Balaam some advice.

Numbers 22:12-20
12 But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed."
13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's princes, "Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."
14 So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."
15 Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first.
16 They came to Balaam and said: "This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me,
17 because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me."
18 But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
19 Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me."
20 That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you."

Q: What did God tell Balaam? [Do not go with them (v.12).]

C: So Balaam did not go to the king at first (v.14). But the king kept trying, sending more princes to personally invite Balaam (vv.15-17).] So he decided again not to go (v.18). Then God told him, "OK, you can go (v.20)." But God was testing Balaam, to see if he was impressed by these new, wealthy, impressive guys.

Q: Does the world's stuff impress you? Does it tempt you to change your mind and compromise sometimes? Or are you totally focused on God's word as the guide for your life?

5. Do Not Be Harsh

Numbers 22:21-33
21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.
24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides.
25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.
26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.
27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.
28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"
29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."
30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
32 The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.
33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

C: Balaam went to meet Balak by donkey (v.21). But God was very angry (v.22), and he sent his angel to oppose Balaam (v.22). Balaam could not see the angel, but even the donkey could see it, and the donkey stopped moving ahead. If the donkey had continued, he would have been killed (v.33). Yet Balaam harshly beat his donkey. Without finding out the facts, he was harsh in his leadership of this poor animal.

C: We must decide never to be harsh as we lead others. We must listen to them before rebuking them. We must not get angry if they hurt us a little (like the donkey that was squashing Balaam's foot in verse 25).

Q: Are you patient with the people around you? Or do you get quickly annoyed and unkind?

Conclusion

Rebellion has always been a temptation for man. Let's never, ever get rebellious, critical hearts like the people we studied. Our political system may be full of rebellion, but there is no room for it in the kingdom of God.