Numbers 16:1-35 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On… I. GOD'S SEPARATION OF HIS SERVANTS. 1. The demand for this may come with the first Divine call of which the soul is conscious. To one living a worldly life there comes a conviction of the folly of this, which is really a Divine call to rise and pass from it, through surrender to Christ, to the number of the redeemed. But that call is not easy to obey at first. The influences under which we have grown hold us where we are; aims to which we have been devoted, and in which we have much at stake, refuse to be lightly abandoned; old associations and pleasures throw their arms about us, like the family of Bunyan's pilgrim, detaining us when we would flee; the world's beauty blinds us to the greater beauty of the spiritual, and we fear to cast ourselves into the unknown. 2. This demand is repeated by God's constant requirement of His people. For it is the law of spiritual life to "die daily," to "crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts"; and what is that but to sever ourselves for Christ's sake from objects to which the natural man would cleave! 3. And this demand of God is supplemented by His frequent providence. He calls us to voluntary separation, He also separates us whether we will or no. Evidently spiritual life needs much loneliness. II. THIS SEPARATION IS FOR NEARNESS TO HIMSELF. 1. For apprehending God, we need separation from what is wrong. Every turning, however little, towards the world from the demand of conscience is a turning a little more away from God, till He is behind us and we lose sight of Him, and live as though He were not. Yea, sin not only turns the back on Him, it dims the eye to the spiritual so that though He stand before us we are blind to His presence. 2. Besides this, for communion with God we need separation from engrossing scenes and tasks. "How rare it is," said Fenelon, "to find a soul still enough to hear God speak!" 3. Moreover, for God's tenderest ministry we need separation from other joys. III. THIS IS THE ANSWER TO THE SPIRIT OF MURMURING. Then is the time to think how we are separated for nearness to God, and to hear the question in the text, "Seemeth it but a small thing unto you?" 1. Let it comfort us in enforced severance from what we love. When we reflect on what we are severed from, let us reflect on the rare compensation — what we are severed to. God is the sum of joy, it is heaven to serve Him and to see His face, all else is nothing compared with conscious nearness to Him, and that is our desire and prayer. 2. Let this impel us to seek Divine nearness in the time of our separation. For nearness has not always followed separation in our experience: on the contrary, the seasons of isolation we have referred to have sometimes left us farther from God than we were. May not that be due to the fact that fellowship with Him requires that we go to Him for reception? 3. And let this give us victory over the temptation to cleave to evil. For when we first hear the call to relinquish sin the demand seems too great, as though we were to leave all for nothing. And after our Christian course has begun, it seems impossible to give up many an object we suddenly find forbidden. From what, then, we are called to leave, let us turn to think of what we are called to have. "Fear not, Abram," God said to the patriarch, who had refused the spoil at the slaughter of the kings, "Fear not, Abram, I am thy exceeding great reward!" And so He says to us, adding, as we waver, Lovest thou these more than Me; are they more to you than My favour, My fellowship, Myself? (C. New.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: |
    |