Evil things happen. But we can be sure God never neglects to punish evil. He may not inform us of his plans\u2014although sometimes he does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Way back in time, when Moses was leading the Israelites out\nof Egypt to the land God had promised them, a rebellion developed among the\npeople. The ring leader was Korah, a descendant of Levi, whose tribe the Lord had\nchosen to tend the work of the tabernacle. The rebellion didn\u2019t end well. Let\u2019s\nfollow the story, beginning in Numbers 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKorah\u2026and certain Reubenites\u2014Dathan and Abiram\u2026became\ninsolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men,\nwell-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.\nThey came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, \u2018You have gone\ntoo far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with\nthem. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord\u2019s assembly?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moses went to the Lord\u2014always a good idea\u2014and he let the\nfrustrated leader know he was about to do something. \u201cSay to the assembly, \u2018Move\nback from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to\nthem, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.\u2019 So they moved away\nfrom the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and\nwere standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to\ntheir tents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen Moses said, \u2018This is how you will know that the Lord\nhas sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t you love that! This adventure was not Moses\u2019 plan. He\nappeared content with the life he\u2019d chosen, tending sheep, though at times he\nmust have wondered if he\u2019d missed God\u2019s best. And then that burning-bush\nincident disrupted his comfy, ordinary life. Back to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moses said, \u201cIf these men die a natural death and experience\nonly what usually happens to men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the\nLord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and\nswallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive\ninto the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with\ncontempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under\nthem split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their\nhouseholds and all Korah\u2019s men and all their possessions. They went down alive\ninto the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and\nthey perished and were gone from the community\u2026And fire came out from the Lord\nand consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That wasn\u2019t the end of it. The Lord sent a plague, striking\n14,700 people. Rebellion is a dangerous thing\u2014a contamination that grows. And it\nnever ends well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfathomable evil has thrown our nation\u2014our world\u2014into chaos. Is there anything we can do to stem this evil tide? <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Unfathomable evil has thrown our nation\u2014our world\u2014into chaos. Is there anything we can do to stem this evil tide? I don\u2019t have an answer. But I know this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n God has a plan. He may not inform us, but we can be sure he will act when he\u2019s ready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our responsibility is to pursue the Lord with all our heart, stay sensitive to his leading, and make an impact where we are. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Our responsibility is to pursue him with all our heart, stay sensitive to his leading, and make an impact where we are\u2014whether it\u2019s tending sheep on the hillside or leading a massive throng to a new beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And keep in mind that God can act in catastrophic ways. Anyone\nwho senses a little rebellion rising in his spirit should watch his step. That small\ncrack in the earth could open and swallow him alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you recall a time when God interrupted your life, sending\nyou in a different direction, or acted in an astonishing way to bring about his\npurpose? Tell me about it! And please share this with your friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Evil things happen. But we can be sure God never neglects to punish evil. He may not inform us of his plans\u2014although sometimes he does. Way back in time, when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the land God had promised them, a rebellion developed among the people. The ring leader was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,389,390,113,391],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dianne-barker","tag-god-never-neglects-to-punish-evil","tag-korah","tag-moses","tag-rebellion"],"yoast_head":"\n