Mills, John Milton: Trivial Treasures 03 ~ Numbers 16;31

Numbers chapter sixteen. You'll remember we are considering trivia treasures. Last week I told you about Jabez. This week I want to tell you about the sons of Korah. I'll have to read at least four scriptures to you, but I'm not going to read them all to you at one time. So let's start with Numbers chapter sixteen and see what unfolds before us in contrast to Jabez. Numbers chapter sixteen, look at verse thirty one: And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. Let us speak to God again in prayer. Now, Father, thou dost tell us of horrible experiences in thy word. Thou dost tell us of glorious ones as well. We could wish that all of them were pleasant, but thou hast put the bad beside the good, and you would have us to consider all these things, because all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, and we desire to benefit by the experience of this man of whom we've read tonight. Illumine us, we pray. Thou knowest our sins. We know them a little, thou dost know them a lot, our God. And thou dost know our weakness, but we know thy strength, and we rejoice in this. And you know the hearts of the people of God, so prepare them, and let the good word fall into good ground and bring forth fruit abundantly. Bless us this night, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. The contrast is this. In First Chronicles four, there was a man named Jabez, and all we know about him, because of the chapter in which we find him, the names that surround him, is that he was of the tribe of Judah. And then we learned that Jabez was more honorable than his brethren, but then we do not know who his father was. We do not know who his children were. He appears before us briefly, and then, without any genealogy, he disappears. A man that was more honorable, and we would like to know who his children were, but God does not tell us. In the portion that I've read to you tonight, we have a man named Korah, who was less honorable than his brethren, and listen carefully, according to Numbers chapter sixteen, we know of his antecedent, but in a moment of time he died, all the men, all that pertained unto him, this man who was less honorable than his brethren, in contrast to Jabez, who was more honorable, his name is wiped out, he has no descent. But that's why we have to turn to Numbers chapter twenty six. Numbers twenty six, and look at the latter part of verse nine. It speaks about Korah, the company of Korah, when they strove against the Lord, verse ten: and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died. What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Notwithstanding, the son of Korah died not. Isn't that remarkable? A little piece of trivia here in Numbers chapter twenty six. and Korah, who was less honorable than his brethren, according to Numbers sixteen and all that it tells us, all the men and all that appertained unto Korah were swallowed up by the earth. They went down alive into the pit. That's the end of Korah and all that pertains to him. But you have to read on to chapter twenty six, and it says, nevertheless, the sons of Korah died not. Now I've told some, and if I've told you, you are not in this. But if I've never told you, if I haven't sent you on a pursuit to find out, it says the sons of Korah died not. Now, that means there could have been two, because Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eleazar. Joel had two sons. Samuel, Joel was one and Abijah the other, but Gideon had seventy sons. And so it says the sons of Korah died not. There could have been two and there could have been seventy. Does any brother know the number of sons that Korah had and what their names were? I'll give you a new American Standard Bible that I have in my car, unless I've told you before. But if I told you, you're excluded. Never in all my life have I ever heard anybody speak on the sons of Korah and tell me who they were, how many they were, if they had names. It mentions that Gideon had seventy sons. It doesn't tell us their names. And here it says that Korah had sons, and notwithstanding, the sons of Korah died not. Well, what I want to know is, how many sons were there, and what were their names? And, believe it or not, that answer is also found in the Bible. So turn back to Exodus chapter 6. Exodus six. And in chapter six, look at verse, and by the way, nobody gets that Bible. In Exodus chapter six, look at verse twenty four. Exodus six twenty four: And the sons of Korah, Asher and Elkanah, and Abiathad. Now you know, isn't that elementary? So the sons of Korah died not. How many were there? Three. What were their names? Asser, Elkanah, Abiathad. You say, well, that is an interesting piece of trivia, yet, but it's building up even more, and I have to read one other scripture to you, and then I'll try to talk to you a little bit about it. Turn to First Chronicles chapter six, Because, alas, God does not put all of this information together, but he spreads it out. I've shown you four different chapters, and now three different chapters, and I come to the fourth. And in First Chronicles chapter six, it says at verse thirty one, and these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark had rest. Look up for the sake of time at verse thirty three, And these are they that waited and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites, Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, the son of Elkanah, the son of Jehoram, Je- Jehoram, the son of Eli'el, the son of Toa, the son of Zath, the son of Elkanah, the son of Nahath, the son of Amasi, the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zaphaniah, the son of Kehat, the son of Asher, the son of Abiathar, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. Now, isn't that thrilling? You say, I don't understand. Well, the marvel is this, that if you had read in Numbers sixteen that Korah and all his sons had been swallowed up, all that appertained to him, and then you were reading in First Chronicles six, you would have said, but here is Korah and his genealogy, but it only mentions one son. I told you he had three, Asa, Elkanah, and Abiasat, and the descent is through the son Abiasat. I'll tell you something else. At times it is spelled AB, and at other times EB. The Abiasat is an abbreviated form of Abai. It's the same son. So of the three sons, we have the descent of Abiasat, and what is so thrilling now is that the latest one that is mentioned of the descendants of Korah is Heman the singer. There are nineteen generations between Heman and the start of the father of, of them all, Korah, Nineteen generations, and in these generations, some remarkable things take place. If you look for the sons of Korah, you could find one, but if you look at those names, you say, why, the three names of the sons of Korah appear there, Asar, Elkanah, Abiasaph. Of course they do. If you've done any work on genealogy, you'll look and you'll see some names appearing in one generation, and then in the next, and then in the next, and at times a grandson will be named after his grandfather. It's the same way here. And so, here is Korah, and he had sons, and his descendants named their sons after the sons of Korah. That is what is remarkable. But now, here are some other things that I have to bring to your attention. Just why Korah had the judgment of God visited upon him. And when you read that, and then you read that which Heman the Kohathite is engaged in, then your heart leaps because God has given us here a revelation of grace. I'll simplify it for you. You have Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. Levi had a son named Kohath. Kohath had four sons who were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. You only have to remember two. Now try to think with me. Kohath had two sons, one named Amram and one named Izhar. One more step, and you may let your mind rest a moment. Amram had two sons, Moses and Aaron, and his brother Izhar had a son named Korah, and that's all you need to know. And so if you have Amram and Izhar being brothers, then their sons, Amram's sons, Moses and Aaron, and Izhar's son Korah were first cut. Now, you're beginning to understand. Here is Korah, who is looking at Aaron and Moses, and he sees them exalted, presiding over all the functions of Israel, carrying on the priesthood, and he is able to speak against them and find two hundred fifty others, and prominent names are Dathan and Abiram, and they come and they rise up against Moses and Aaron, and they say, you take too much upon yourself. The whole congregation is holy. Who are you that exhausts yourself among the children of Israel? Now think, the reason is this, that here is Korah, and here are Moses and Aaron, his first cousins. You see, here is Amram and Izhar, brothers. Here is Uncle Amram and his sons. Who do they think they are? And not only that, but we have the same grand-grandfather. Kohath is our grandfather as much as theirs, and our great-grandfather is Levi. We are Levites as much as they are. Just who do they think they are exhorting themselves among the children of Israel? And so this is when Moses and Aaron take the matter before God. And God, because whom he has appointed as leader, is to be accepted. And you know the story. Because of that, Korah and all the men that pertain to him are swallowed up, except, we're told later, Asher, Elkanah, and Abiathar. We're told that his sons perish not, but we're not told their names. But we are told it in Exodus six twenty four. And so, just as Dathan and Abiram, in their being devoured by fire, became a sign, a sign of the judgment of God, so the three sons of Korah, notwithstanding, they perish not, they became a sign of the grace of God. Side by side, in the same birth of scripture, the wrath of God and the grace of God. And God wants us to know that, and he wants us to remember their names and to understand that in the church, as well as in Old Testament times, there are those whom he has gifted there are those that he has placed in positions of authority, and he says, this is my doing. Why I could have no objections against that in New Testament church principles is because it says in First Corinthians chapter twelve that the Spirit of God gave these gifts. It says God hath set in the church as it pleased him. And so, in like manner, Moses and Aaron were not they that exalted themselves, but it was God who called Moses and Aaron. And think of this, think of the humility of Moses. I would think if anyone were going to be jealous, it would have been Moses, because Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eleazar, and he could look at Aaron and his sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, and he could say, look, I'm the one that came down and delivered the children of Israel. Why is it that my brother's sons are going to be priests and my sons are going to be nothing? Why? But Moses never said that. Moses was quite prepared to be the prophet of God, and it seems as if in his heart he wanted his brother to be the priest of God. And so there was no jealousy on Moses' part, his brother, but there was jealousy on Korah's part, who was Moses and Aaron's first cousin, and it almost caused his children to be destroyed. But God, in his grace, snatched them as a brand from the burning, and he preserved them. And why I told you about nineteen generations, you find that the sons of Korah were not wiped out, and you find that the name of the descendants of Korah were not wiped out. And here is a man who is less noble than his brethren, and I can give you his genealogy all the way down for nineteen generations, up to the chapter that I read to you. And here is Jabez, who is more noble than his brethren, and I live in vain to tell you one of his children. Isn't that a remarkable thing? Why is that? Why would not God tell me of this noble man's descendant, but instead he tells me of this ignoble man's descendant? And another thing, I would certainly think that if you have men of God, their children are going to be godly. But what you will find is that many times you have sinful men of God, and their children are godly. Again, something that is incomprehensible. Here are the sons of Korah, Asa, Elkanah, Abiathat, and they are preserved, and from them come forth some of the finest members of the nation of Israel. Now, I want to let you read just this much. I'll read it to you again and take it in. It speaks about Heman, who is the one who is in charge of song. Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, the son of Elkanah. You say, I remember that. Elkanah and Hannah. I remember Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, and Hannah prayed to God, and she had a son named Samuel. This is that Samuel. And some never knew that Samuel was of the tribe of Levi, because it says Elkanah the Ephraimite. You say, why, he was of the tribe of Ephraim. No, he wasn't. He was of the tribe of Levi. And that is why you find Samuel intruding, it would almost seem. Now remember, Samuel is not of the priestly tribe. He is of the tribe of Levi, and the Levites, unless they are directly descended from Aaron, have to take care of the service of the tabernacle. When the tabernacle was erected and when the tabernacle was taken down, then the sons of Levi had to carry the tabernacle. They were responsible for it. But Aaron and his sons were responsible for the priesthood. Levi and his sons had the service of the tabernacle. But here is Samuel, and you find Samuel offering sacrifices. And so it may be, and I will tell you more about it later, that God made a special exception in the case of Samuel and allowed him to do what was not permitted for the Levites to do. They're warned in Numbers three and four that if they even look, if they venture beyond the authority that God has given them, if they intrude into the priesthood, God will destroy them. And here is Samuel, who is not a priest, but who is a Levite. Here is he who is functioning in all of this area. And so Samuel is a prophet, and Samuel is functioning as a priest, and he is the one who makes kings in Israel. God brings all of this before us. Now, here is what I want you to understand. You have Korah, a wicked man, and yet his sons are preserved. Asher, Elkanah, Abiasat. Here you have Samuel, a good man, and his sons are mentioned, Joel and Abijah, but Joel and his brother Abijah are described this way. Samuel, when he's getting old, makes his sons Joel and Abijah judges in Israel, and God says they took lucre, they took bribes, they perverted justice in Israel. These are the sons of Samuel. Now, how can that be? This man of God, Samuel, and yet his sons are corrupt. And one of those sons is Joel. And from Joel, this man who will take bribes and pervert justice for a price, from his loin comes Heman, the singer and the seer of the God of Israel. Isn't that remarkable? I can understand if from a good man were to come a good son, and from an evil man were to come an evil son, but you find it so often, a good man and evil son, an evil man and a good son. And so that is hope for us. If you look at a good man, do not take it for granted that his sons are going to be good. If you look at an evil man, do not prejudge those sons and say they are going to be evil like their father. It may be just the reverse. Again and again you find that in scripture. But here is why I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the sons of Korah, for the simple reason that their names are mentioned so frequently in the Bible. Their names, the sons of Korah, but not who those sons were. The sons of Korah are mentioned again and again in the scripture, but it never tells us who they are. And if you were to ask me, well then, please tell me about the three sons of Korah, Asser, Elkanah, and Abiathar. All right, I will tell you about them. I know that when their father perished, they easily could have perished with him, but they did not perish. They lived, and they had children, and one especially, Abiathar. We have his descendants traced up to Heman. Tell me more about these three sons. I cannot. God tells us no more. He told you their names, and then it is not they, but as it says in Psalm forty five, not the fathers, but the children. Here are the fathers, here is the Baasath. What did he do? I do not know. I simply know that he is a sign of grace, a picture of the grace of God when he could have been destroyed, but he was preserved, just as others are a sign of the wrath of God. That's all I can tell you. But later on, I can tell you, I can tell you his son and his and his for the nineteen generations until we come to Heman, and I can tell you that from Korah sprang this illustrious family, names of which we know nothing concerning some, but if he told us of only two, Samuel and then Heman, that would be enough. If you ever brought forth a child who amounted to as much as Samuel did, your name would be immortalized. But for you to bring forth a son, Samuel, and then Heman, that is remarkable. And then they had sons as well. But I must tell you not about the three, because I can tell you nothing about them other than things that branch out from what I've already told you. But I can tell you about the sons, of course, because the sons of Korah, remember, the sons of Korah are their grandsons to the nineteenth generation, because it says David, the son of Obed, the son of, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, and then it says the son of God. It simply mentions son. We would say grandson and great-grandson and great-great-grandson, but in the Bible it simply says the son of. And so when it speaks of the sons of Korah, it tells us in the first instance who they were, the three I told you, but then after that, when it says the sons of Korah, it means grandsons, great-grandsons. And so now, when we come to Heman, the son of Korah, he is nineteen generations removed, but still he is the son of Korah. And so for that reason, if I'm talking to you about Samuel, I'm talking to you about the sons of Korah. If I talk to you about Heman, I'm talking to you about the sons of Korah. And sad to say, if I talk to you about Joel, I talk to you about the sons of Korah. But I will only tell you mostly the good things about the sons of Korah, which will give us hope. You may not amount to much, but it may be that seventeen generations down the line, when you are dead and in the presence of God, it may be that someone that sprang from your loins may turn out to be a Samuel. Now that is a consolation. Bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and if you look upon your sons as Samuel did, Joel and Abijah, and they are corrupt judges in Israel, do not lose faith, because it may be that the next generation shall turn out to be a good generation. That is hope. And it may be that you have to wait seventeen generations to come to one that is of great reputation and almost did not come into existence until Hannah prayed to God and made a vow to God, and finally God said, all right, I'll give you Samuel because you said you'll give him back to me, and she gave him back to God. You have to wait, and so there are things that occur in your lifetime that are so devastating. Think of you fathers who have children who have broken your hearts that are corrupt like Joel and Abijah, but it may be that they shall have children that shall amount to something in the Church of Jesus Christ, or you may have to wait and never hear about them, not grandchildren, but in the distant future. It never is told us for certain what shall happen in the scripture for those that shall descend from wicked children, and we have to balance the Bible that way. We have to see bringing out vengeance upon the children of the third and fourth generation, but at the same time, God can bring out his grace as well. So when you look at one and you say, they are doomed, it may be that God in his grace will snatch them as he did the three sons of Korah, and let them amount to something. Let the line go on instead of being blotted out, and that is the hope, and that is the encouragement. All right, here are some of the things I want to tell you about the sons of Korah. They had the gift of prophecy. I say the gift of prophecy because even though it was not inherited as the kingship was. For instance, you had David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoan, every king who had a son, because he was the king's son, he was a king. But when you have a prophet, you may have a prophet taken out of nowhere, and then he dies in obscurity. But in this case, here are Levites that are in the service of God, and you find two prophets. I know not how many more there were, but I know that Samuel was a prophet, and I know that his grandson Heman was a prophet. Think of that now. When you've read of Heman in the Bible, did you ever realize that you were talking about the grandson of Samuel? You say no. Did you ever realize when you read of Samuel in the Bible, you were reading about a direct descendant of that wicked man Korah? You say no. But when you read of the sons of Korah, you're reading about Samuel. You're reading about Heman. And these men are prophets. A prophet is also called a seer, and this is what is so thrilling when you read about Heman the seer, it says he was the seer who spoke the words of God. Now think of this. Here is Heman, but now that his duties are removed from bearing the burdens of the tabernacle, and soon the temple will be built in the days of Solomon, it says that he is not one who attends to the temple and the tabernacle and its furniture, but instead he attends to the festivities and the rituals that are associated with the tabernacle and the temple, because David received this revelation from God that new things were to be added. And what happened? There were to be musicians, there were to be singers, and of these singers you have Heman, and he was also an instrumentalist, and so were his children. It said that Heman had abundance of children, and that was a blessing to them. Some will read, perhaps in the future, it said they had few sons. Another father had many sons. Well, Heman was blessed with children, and now here is Heman, but instead of carrying the furniture and attending to the tabernacle, the others who were not so gifted as he did that, and Heman was one who could sing. And now this is what is so thrilling. Here is Heman, and he is working side by side. If I had time, I could turn you to the scriptures, but it won't be necessary. But when the temple is dedicated in the time of Solomon, you find Heman there and those associated with him, and he is singing, and he is playing trumpets, and he is celebrating the services of God. And it says that when the burnt offerings are offered by the priest, Heman and those that descend from him are singing and playing instruments of music. They are praising God. Now, think of this. Here is his father, nineteen generations removed, and Aaron is the priest, and Korah says, I'm as good as you are, you take too much upon yourself. And God says, oh no, he doesn't, and he destroys Korah. And nineteen generations later, here is the descendant of Aaron, and here is the descendant of Korah, and they're working side by side, and Heman says, I know my place, and I know my gift from God, and I rejoice that you have given me this privilege. And Aaron's descendants are carrying on in the priesthood, and Korah's sons are carrying on in the service of the tabernacle, but this time in the singing and in praises and in glorifying God. And so here they have their functions, and God is glorified as much now by the sons of Korah as he is by the sons of Aaron. And will you remember that Aaron's sons, Nad- Nadab and Abihu, were destroyed because they presumed to offer strange fire unto God? And so Aaron could not say, all of my offspring are good, but God raised up Eleazar and Ithamar, and then the descent came through Eleazar. And so here is the descendant of Eleazar now, and here is the descendant of Abiathar working side by side, and there is no more jealousy. And that is what is good. If I have gift to speak, let me speak. If you have gift to sing, then let you sing. Whatever your gift is from God, be content with it, and let me not try to sing unless I can sing, and please do not try to preach unless God has gifted you, and let me not be jealous of you, and let you not be jealous of me. But let us be as the sons of Korah, not as Korah, and let us be as the descendants of Aaron, working side by side with the sons of Korah, knowing our gift from God and being perfectly willing to function in that place of higher or lower position carrying out the ritual that brings forth glory to God. Both did. You say, is God glorified when animal sacrifices, when the burnt offering is offered upon the altar? Why, of course he is. Is God glorified when the heart bursts forth with inspired song and trumpets and cymbals and lyres and harps are played? Why, God tells us he is. We have to praise him upon a ten-stringed instrument. And so I understand that I can glorify God as a Levite as well as a descendant of Aaron, and God will reward me for taking that place, that lower place, and letting the priest function as a priest, and the priest letting me function as a Levite. We have to work together. The body is not one member, but many members, and because of that, we will be immortalized. Be jealous, and you will be destroyed, but accept your position, and God will immortalize you. Now, here is what I want you to understand about the sons of Korah. You find the sons of Korah mentioned no less than eleven times. These are the Psalms forty two, forty four, forty five, forty six, forty seven, forty eight, forty nine, eighty four, eighty five, eighty seven, and eighty eight. These are all psalms of the son of Korah. That's what it means when it says Heman the singer, but Heman the seer of the word of God. A seer is one who is a prophet, and all of these psalms by the sons of Korah are inspired, and there is one psalm that has the name Heman at the head of it. I want to tell you another little piece of trivia. I was talking to a brother one day who wanted to know about the titles of the psalms, and I said, give me any psalm that you want, and he picked out one psalm of the one hundred and fifty. He could have only picked out two that were difficult, two out of one hundred and fifty, and he picks out one of the two. But Psalm eighty eight is one of the two, because usually the author of the psalm is at the beginning of the psalm, and then what's to be done with that psalm is at the end of it. But there are two psalms, Psalm forty five and Psalm eighty eight. These are they that have the names both at the beginning and the end of the psalm. And so here was the exception. That is a piece of trivia that is most interesting. Perhaps I'll tell you more about it later, but both of them are by the sons of Korah. And someone would say, there is a contradiction in the Bible. It says at Psalm eighty eight that it is by the sons of Korah, and it says also that it's by Heman. Therefore, there is a contradiction. Heman was a son of Korah. It gives you a specific name of a son of Korah, and God has placed it there before. If you think these things through, you say, why, of course. And of all the sons of Korah, only one, if this is that Heman, only one son of Korah is given by name at the song. And let me tell you this about Psalm eighty four. Remember now, in Numbers sixteen, Korah himself said, we are as good as you are. All the nation of Israel is holy. You take too much upon yourself. Korah wanted to be exalted to the priesthood, and Moses told him that. He said, is it not enough that God has given you the service of the tabernacle? Do you desire the priesthood as well? And so God destroyed Korah for that unholy ambition. Korah wanted to function as a priest, but now in Psalm eighty four, a psalm of the sons of Korah, it says this: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tent of righteousness, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Here is one who is a doorkeeper in the house of God, and he says, I'm delighted to be that doorkeeper in the house of God. Here is one who never can go into the Holy of Holies, who cannot offer sacrifices upon the altar, but he's quite content as Aaron and his descendants offer sacrifices to sing and play instruments and glorify God. And so as God is glorified by the offering of that sacrifices, so more intelligently and audibly, God is glorified by the sounds of musical instruments and by inspired words. And if we had time, we could look at those psalms. And if you want to learn about the disposition and the character of the sons of Korah, then look at those psalms, and you'll find that there was sorrow, that there was deep experience, and that there was sadness, and at the same time there was hope and there was rejoicing, and they were privileged to write one of the fourteen traditional Messianic songs. And so these are the sons of Kor. And so now, when you read about the sons of Kor, you are able to intelligently have something conveyed to your mind. Three sons, Asir, Elkanah, Abiathar, and they had descendants that did great things for the house of God. Time is gone. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you that only you can bring a good thing out of a bad thing. We thank you for your grace. We would not presume, our Lord, but we would take hope. We pray that every father shall have children that are good, that not good fathers have children like Joel and Abijah, but our God, that good fathers have good children. And yet our hope is this, Father, that if we have bad children, they can have good children. So teach us from these sons of Korah, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.