In Num. 12 and 16 of Numbers we see the rebellion against God’s deputy authority, how Moses reacted to it, and how God deals with rebellion.
In the book of Numbers it seems that there was rebellion after rebellion, from the murmuring of the people of Israel against Moses and against God concerning their basic needs or their lusts, to their rebellion against God’s delegated authority and challenging God’s authority among the people.
The common people rebelled, the leaders rebelled, and even Miriam and Moses rebelled; rebellion was everywhere among God’s people, and God’s people were rebellious to their core.
This is the same with us; we are born rebels, and even as we are saved and come into the church life, there’s the spirit of rebellion in us; we can be saved from rebellion, but we need to cooperate with the Lord for this.
We need to be delivered from the principle of rebellion and the spirit of rebellion which is in all of us. Even though we are saints in the Lord, yet we are still fallen, we have the rebellious element in us; however, this element doesn’t have to explode or erupt but rather, we can be protected, and this element can be dealt with so that we can be saved from it.
We need an inward revelation of God’s authority, a fundamental revelation of His authority.
Reading and getting doctrinal knowledge is good, but it is not a revelation. We may grow up in authoritarian societies and we may think we know what authority is, but this kind of submission is a reflex in a natural way according to ethics; we need a revelation of God’s authority.
We need to meet God with His authority and to be confronted by His authority in a definite way. It’s not that we rebel and then He judges us; this doesn’t have to happen to us – we can simply come to Him as God and open to Him, and He will show us and touch us with His authority.
This can be likened to touching a powerful electric shock, which can break us and wound us – yet in a positive way; meeting God’s authority in this way is a great mercy.
We worship the Lord for the day that this happens to us, for it protects us for our whole life. So we need to be enlightened, and we need to be protected by the Lord until this happens by staying under the covering of the delegated authorities the Lord placed us under.
We simply need to stay under the delegated authority that the Lord put us under – stay under the covering, and learn to have a spirit of submission.
Being saved from Rebelling against God’s Deputy Authority by speaking Reviling Words
In Num. 12 we see that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, who was the deputy authority of God (see Num. 12:1-15). They reviled Moses because he married a Cushite woman; God didn’t seem to have a problem with this, but the spirit of rebellion in them had a problem.
The spirit of rebellion delights in either real or perceived failures of a deputy authority. It’s like Ham, when he saw the condition of Noah his father and talked about it; this is reviling and rebelling, but the other two brothers walked backwards and covered their father.
What will we do when there’s a real or a perceived mistake in one who is God’s deputy authority? Will we go online and talk? Will we tweet about it or post it on facebook? Will we participate by liking and sharing?
Or will we be like Noah’s other two sons who covered the situation and didn’t look or talk about it; they got the blessing, but Ham got the curse.
Jehovah hears the words of rebellion; He reads the text, the tweets, the emails, the forum postings, whether they are anonymous or in our name…
God chose Moses, the younger brother of Aaron and Miriam, but these two were not afraid to speak against him; by speaking against him, they spoke against God. God had appointed Moses to be His deputy authority, His representative authority on earth; the authority that Moses represented was the authority of God (Exo. 3:10-18; 7:1).
According to God’s governmental administration, Miriam and Aaron should have submitted themselves to Moses, but they rebelled (Num. 12:1-2).
Neither Aaron nor Miriam knew authority; instead, they fostered, nourished, and strengthened a rebellious heart, and the worlds of their rebellion ascended upward and were heard by God.
This kind of speaking is a reviling; one of the strongest manifestations of rebellion is words, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
In Matt. 12:34-37 the Lord pointed out that the good man out of his good treasure brings forth good things, but the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil things; every idle word that man shall speak, they will render an account concerning it in the day of judgement.
Our idle words, our wasted and empty words, will be judged by God; how much more will our reviling words be judged!
Especially these days with social media and all kinds of ways to express yourselves, whether in darkness or in light, whether identifying yourself or hiding…all the reviling words are recorded and listened to by God.
Maybe no one knows the identity of the reviling one, but God knows, and one day we will appear before the Son of Man, and if we have not responded to God’s mercy in giving us time to repent of every word, everything we’ve said, everything we’ve agreed with, and everything we participated in, He will have to discipline us.
While we still have breath, we need to repent of any reviling words and be healed from the spirit of rebellion.
When Miriam and Aaron offended Moses, they actually offended God in Moses; therefore, God became angry. Once a person touches delegated authority, he touches God in that delegated authority.
To offend delegated authority is to offend God (Num. 12:4-10); therefore, Miriam’s becoming leprous was God’s governmental dealing. It seems that in this rebellion Miriam took the lead, and this is why she was punished by God; most likely she instigated this.
Moreover, because rebellion is particularly unseemly for a female, God punished Miriam to warn and alarm all the females among the children of Israel that they would not follow her.
Lord Jesus, save us from rebelling against God’s deputy authority by speaking reviling words or by having an attitude of rebellion. Cleanse and purify our heart, Lord, and may the words coming out of our mouth may be good words coming out of the good treasure of our heart. Oh Lord, we repent for every reviling word we said against Your deputy authority. Grant us Your mercy, Lord, that we may be rescued and delivered from any rebellion. Lord, cleanse us from any defilement and apply the water for impurity to our being!
Being Saved from Ambition for Position which Leads to Rebellion, and referring anything to God as the Highest Authority
In Num. 16 we see a corporate rebellion of the people of Israel against God and His deputy authority; the rebellion in this chapter was a widespread, universal rebellion among God’s people.
Num. 16:3, 8, and 10 show that the root of this rebellion was ambition, the struggle for power and for a higher position.
Ambition and struggle for power and a higher position has damaged God’s people throughout the centuries; it has been like a “gopher” undermining God’s plan and damaging His people.
Ambition for power and the struggle for power are in our blood – not only for brothers but also for sisters.
Even when the Lord was on earth, as He was going toward the cross in Jerusalem and was telling His disciples what was about to happen to Him (Matt. 20:17-19), they were struggling for power and were ambitious for a position.
The mother of James and John wanted her sons to be on the Lord’s left and right in the kingdom, and the other disciples were indignant with these two – there was a power struggle among the disciples.
Later we see Ananias and Sapphira who lied to God, being ambitious to be seen more spiritual when they were not (Acts 5:1-4), and John mentions Diotrephes who was struggling for power (3 John 9-11).
We may not realize this, but ambition for position is hidden inside of us, waiting for an opportunity to show its ugly head. The church life will eventually be a test to our real situation; sooner or later we will be tested and exposed.
When this corporate rebellion took place against Moses, he was humble in falling on his face (Num. 16:4) but he didn’t give up his God-given position as God’s deputy authority (vv. 5-11, 16-18).
Moses didn’t deal with the rebellion directly, imposing his authority; neither did he defy the leading ones who rebelled, but he fell on his face before God. a proper representative of God, when faced with rebellion, humbles himself before God, and he properly represents God by bringing all these things to God.
When someone has the ambition for position and he rebels, he opens up the gates of Hades and death, and they enter into the realm of death (just as the rebelling leaders were swallowed up alive by Hades).
Moses didn’t fight back; rather, he brought the rebels and the ones against whom they rebelled to God.
The Lord Jesus, similarly, did not revile in return when He was reviled (1 Pet. 2:23); He didn’t threaten those who persecuted Him but rather, He kept committing all to God who judges rightly.
As God’s deputy authority, Moses referred this case to God as the highest authority, for His speaking, exposing, and judging (Num. 16:6-35).
The one behind all rebellion is Satan, the enemy; the war is with him, so we should not let the enemy play with our natural affection for anyone.
We need to stand with God’s authority and with those who represent God’s authority, with the church, and let God speak, expose, and judge even as He wills.
What we have to do is prostrate ourselves before the Lord and bring all these to Him, for Him to take care of the situation.
The leading ones should not think that those who rebel due to ambition for position do this against them personally – they rebel against God, throwing off God’s rule, so God will have to come in to exercise His righteous judgement in His way and in His time for His name’s sake.
In a struggle for power, the only One who can judge and expose the real situation is God Himself. The murmuring of the people against Moses and Aaron proves that their rebellious nature had not been subdued.
Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and expose our ambition for position and our struggle for power and for a higher position. May this be exposed in us and may Your light eradicate it from our being. Oh Lord, save us and heal us from the rebellion in our being. May we have a clear vision of God’s authority and may we stand with the deputy authority that He has ordained in the church life. Come into our situation, Lord, to judge and expose the real situation, so that our rebellious nature would be dealt with!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Să fim mântuiți de ambiție și de răzvrătirea împotriva autorității delegate a lui Dumnezeu.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, life-study of Numbers, msgs. 19, 23-24 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 8, Authority, Rebellion, the Vindication of Delegated Authority, and a Proper Representative of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426)
# Dig away, dig away, dig away, / All self seeking in my heart dig away! / Dig away, dig away, dig away, / All self seeking in my heart dig away! / All my hopes have to go / That His life may flow… Hallelujah! / Dig away, dig away, dig away, / All self seeking in my heart dig away! (Hymns #1214)
# Pray to labor with the Lord; / Self-ambition and self-will / We must ever cast away / All His purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #786)
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