Korach - קורח : "Korah"
Torah : Numbers 16:1-18:32
Haftarah : 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22
Gospel : Luke 18:35-19:28

Thought for the Week:

Though our spirit--our inner man--delights in the expressed will and wisdom of God that is His own instruction, our flesh fights against it tooth and nail. Our fleshly minds work overtime to try to find reasons to excuse ourselves from keeping the commandments. Our wicked hearts resent the authority of God. Yet in Messiah we have a new identity. We don't need to submit to our flesh. We need not join Korah and perish in his rebellion. In Messiah the flesh has been crucified with Messiah. It is within our grasp to live in Messiah.

Commentary:

"[The Levites] shall be joined with you and attend to the guarding of the Tent of Meeting..." (Numbers 18:4, Literal Translation)

It was the Levites' job to guard the Temple from intruders. But more than simply protecting the Temple's assets, the Levitical guards were to protect the Children of Israel from inadvertent trespassing. As Korah's followers discovered in Numbers 16, a step too far in the wrong direction could be fatal. The Levitical guard was meant to insure that the common man did not make that misstep.

In the Mishnah, we are told of h...