In the Book of Jude
in verse 11 we read these
words, "Woe to them! For they have
gone in the way of Cain, have run
greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit, and perished in the rebellion of
Korah."
We need to establish
who the woe is pronounced upon before we look into the three men named in verse 11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4 for an
explanation.
"(3) Beloved,
while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I
found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the
faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
(4) For
certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny
the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."
Matthew 7:15:
"Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves."
The Way of Cain
What then is the way of Cain? Let's have a look at Genesis 4:3-5:
"(3) And in process of time it
came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the
Lord.
(4)
And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering.
(5)
But He did not respect Cain and his
offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."
Cain brought an offering from a sin
cursed ground. Genesis 3:17, "...Cursed
is the ground for your sake [Adam]; in
toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."
Cain thought his offering was good
enough for God. Note, he believed in God; he was not an atheist, or a pagan. He
was comfortable in approaching God with his offering. However, he did not
understand, or appreciate, that his sins needed to be atoned for in order for
God to accept him. His brother Abel understood this and he brought an offering
from his flock. He realised that the death of a substitute victim was necessary
to atone for his sins; and to make him acceptable before God. "...the Lord respected Abel and his
offering."
Cain's anger resulted in him murdering
his brother Abel; because Abel's offering was accepted by God. Even though God
pointed out to Cain that if he brought an offering like Abel's his new offering
would be accepted. However, Cain was filled with murderous rage against Abel
and slew him.
The lesson to learn here is that if we
try to come to God by our own works we will not be accepted by Him. Our
acceptance has to be based on the sacrifice of a substitute - in our case Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. When Cain was clearly shown the way of acceptance before
God - he refused it!
The Error of Balaam
Now let's have a look at the error of Balaam. "They...have run greedily in the error of
Balaam for profit" Who was Balaam? The Book of Numbers gives us the answer.
The children of Israel were about to enter the land
of Canaan; the land God had promised to them. Balak the king of Moab and his
people were terrified of them. Balak sends a message to Balaam the son of Beor
to come and curse the Israelites so that Moab would have victory against them.
Obviously Balaam was renowned for what he could do. If he blessed a person they
would be blessed. If he cursed a person they would be cursed. He was not
however of the children of Israel and was therefore not a prophet of the true
and living God. He was a diviner.
Numbers
22:7-8, 12 :
"(7) So
the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee in
their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.
(8) And
he said to them, 'Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the
Lord speaks to me.' So the princes
of Moab stayed with Balaam...
(12) And
God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the
people, for they are
blessed."
Balaam is given explicit instructions concerning
the children of Israel. He tells the elders of Moab and Midian that he is not
allowed to curse the children of Israel. They go back to Balak with the
information.
Numbers
22:15-17 :
"(15) Then
Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honourable than they.
16) And
they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor:
'Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me;
(17) for I
will certainly honour you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me.
Therefore please come, curse this people for me.' "
Balaam tells
the princes that he cannot go with them, but tells them to stay with him
over night and he will see if the Lord says anymore
to him about the matter. Balaam had already received his instructions. He was
not concentrating on what the Lord had told him to do; instead he was thinking
about Balak's reward and great honour. The upshot of this is that the Lord
tests him by telling him to go with the men.
Numbers
22:20 :
" And
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men come to call you,
rise and go with them; but only
the word which I speak to you--that you shall do."
Numbers
23:11 :
"Then
Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my
enemies, and look, you have blessed them
bountifully!" Balaam's thoughts of riches and great honour were
turned to dust. Instead of cursing Israel for reward he blesses Israel for and
gets no reward.
The
Rebellion of Korah
We now come to the rebellion of Korah. IF we look in Exodus chapter 6 we find that Korah was a cousin of Moses
and Aaron. Moses is the man God chose to lead the children of Israel out of
Egypt. Aaron his older brother was chosen by God to be God's
high priest among the children of Israel. Korah's rebellion is directly related
to Aaron's high priesthood.
Numbers
16:1-3 :
"(1)
Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and
Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;
(2) and
they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and
fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of
renown.
3) They
gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves,
for all the congregation is
holy, every one of them, and the Lord
is among them. Why then do you
exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?"
Korah and those with him were jealous of Moses and
Aaron, particularly Aaron's role as
high priest.
Numbers
16:4-7:
"(4) So
when Moses heard it, he fell on
his face;
(5) and he
spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause
to come near to Him.
(6) Do this:
Take censers, Korah and all your company;
(7) put fire
in them and put incense in them before the Lord
tomorrow, and it shall be that
the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves,
you sons of Levi!"
The next morning Korah and his company appeared
before the Lord. Now let's look at what Moses tells the children of Israel.
Numbers
16:30-35:
"(30) But
if the Lord creates a new thing,
and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to
them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these
men have rejected the Lord."
(31) Now
it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split
apart under them,
(32) and the
earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the
men with Korah, with all their
goods.
(33) So they
and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over
them, and they perished from among the assembly.
(34) Then
all Israel who were around them
fled at their cry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up also!"
(35) And a
fire came out from the Lord and
consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense."
Korah and his followers decided that Moses and
Aaron were nobody special. Surely Korah and the others had just as much right
to do the priests' work; as they also were of God's chosen people. Such
presumption ended in their deaths! In reality they were rebelling against God's
choice of who He wanted in His service. They did not like the power and influence
that Moses and Aaron wielded on behalf of God. Their deaths would have been a
terrifying, dreadful, soul subduing sight!
Galatians
6:7-8 :
"(7) Do
not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap.
(8) For
he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to
the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
Let's look again at Jude 1:11 and the following couple of verses.
Jude 1:11-13
:
"(11) Woe to them! For they have gone in the way
of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in
the rebellion of Korah.
(12) These
are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water,
carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled
up by the roots;
(13) raging
waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is
reserved the blackness of darkness forever."
I sincerely hope that you are not in the same frame
of mind as those revealed in verse 11.
Many people are aware of the Lake of Fire, the second, permanent, eternal
death. Here is another graphic description of the final end of the damned, "...for whom is reserved the blackness
of darkness forever. Have you ever been in total darkness? It is very
scary! You cannot see anything as there is no light at all. How would it feel
to be in this state for eternity? Do you want to be in a position of having
this woe pronounced on you?
Surely no thinking person would want to choose the
Lake of Fire and the Blackness of Darkness forever!
Why has God chosen to reveal the end state of the
damned? It's because He is not willing that any should perish. 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance." Salvation is only found in Jesus Christ
the Son of God. Go to Him now for salvation full and free! It does not matter
what language you speak for He knows them all! Eternal life is His to give to
you!
Jon Peasey
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted
for clarity. Words in bold type
emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or
elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate
directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]
[If
you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the
comments section below.]
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