Identifying Spiritual Leaders – Korach

Torah Portion: Korach (Num. 16:1 – Num. 18:32)

I finished talking with a group after giving them a short introduction to the subject of my recently published book, The Third Temple. Several of the people approached me after the talk and thanked me for coming. One gentleman in particular thanked me for coming and then started to share a bit about his spiritual journey. He told me that he grew up in a certain denomination of the church but left it a few years ago when the leadership of the church made poor decisions which had more to do with politics than spirituality. The man continued to explain that he didn’t just leave the church at that time but he lost his faith in God and was no longer interested in spiritual things.

To be honest, I wasn’t totally following the man at first and I wasn’t sure why he was telling me his story until the very end. He concluded by telling me that his visit to Israel and the experiences that he had along the way during his 8-10 day visit had restored his faith in God. When he finished talking with me and walked away I realized that this man was just looking for a faith that is real. We all want to know and believe that God is real and that the Bible is historically true, not just a fairytale.

There are many obstacles in life that can cloud and obscure the truth of who God is and what the Bible really says. Unfortunately, spiritual leaders can sometimes be the source of this confusion. Spiritual leaders have the opportunity to either lead us to a deeper understanding of who God is or they can cause us to doubt and question who God is. How do we know that we can really trust the spiritual leaders in our communities? This week’s Torah Portion provides practical teaching on this subject of identifying and trusting spiritual leaders.  

Korach (Korah)

In the opening verses of Numbers chapter sixteen we are quickly acquainted with a man named Korach (or commonly known as Korah). Korach is best known for the great rebellion that he and his followers carried out against Moses and Aaron. The main accusation of Korach and his rebel band of approximately 250 men was that Moses and Aaron were self-appointed leaders:

They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” – Num. 16:3

Rather than accepting the leadership of Moses and Aaron, Korach and his band of men questioned their position among the people and cast doubt regarding whether or not the LORD had really appointed them over the people. 

Moses and Aaron sought the LORD and told Korach and his followers to assemble themselves before the LORD on the next day. As the story continues, Moses spoke these words to the people on the following day:

Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD.” As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korach with their possessions. Num. 16:28-32

The LORD listened to the words of Moses and confirmed that Korach and his followers had indeed spurned the LORD as they were swallowed up by the earth. Moses and Aaron were vindicated before the whole nation of Israel. 

One would think that after such a dramatic display of God’s power which confirmed the words of Moses that there would be no doubt in the people’s minds regarding the validity of Moses and Aaron as the leaders of the people, however, it didn’t take long for the people to blame them for the incident involving Korach and his followers:

But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’s people.” – Num. 16:41

The LORD wasted no time in responding to the people after this second challenge to the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The anger of the LORD burned against the people and a plague broke out killing 14,700 of them (Num. 16:48-49).

God’s Mark Of Spiritual Leadership

After these two incidents of the Israelites challenging the leadership and authority of Moses and Aaron, the LORD decided to be proactive and sought to put an end to the people’s complaining:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” – Num. 17:1-5

The LORD instructed Moses to have each tribe write the name of their leader on a rod. Then he was to collect the rods and place them before the testimony in the tent of meeting. The rod which sprouted would confirm whom the LORD had chosen. 

It is interesting to point out that the LORD commanded that Aaron’s name, and not the name of Moses, be written on the rod of Levi. The text does not tell us why, however, we know that the LORD had listened to Moses’ words in the rebellion of Korach when the ground split open and swallowed up the people. The LORD had already confirmed that Moses was His appointed leader through that event together with many other miracles since the days in Egypt. Aaron was the high priest and in that position he was head of the tribe of Levi as the Levites were to assist the priests in the service of the Tabernacle. It seems that the LORD was emphasizing the appointment of Aaron as high priest together with his brother Moses as the leader of the people through the budding rod.

Both Moses and the people obeyed the LORD in regard to the twelve rods and we read the results in the following verses:

Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. But the LORD said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.” Thus Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. – Num. 17:8-11

The LORD had caused Aaron’s rod to sprout, produce blossoms, and to bear ripe almonds. The almond tree is known to be an early bloomer, however, to go from a dried stick of a tree to sprouting, blossoming, and bearing ripe fruit over night is an absolute miracle. The LORD had validated Aaron’s leadership before all of the people through the sign of the fruit on the rod which bore Aaron’s name.

Wherever there is a community of people with leadership there will always be challenges to that leadership. Spiritual leadership contains an added dimension as the designated spiritual leader is to be in right standing with God. How are we to determine whether or not a person is truly walking with God and is the right leader for that time?

A leader’s words, actions, and lifestyle can greatly affect the people under his or her care. We should always be respectful of spiritual leadership but, at the same time, we must have discernment and have the courage to challenge wrong actions and misguided teaching. Ultimately, a leader must have the stamp of God upon his or her life which is manifested by spiritual fruit. God provided a literal and physical picture of that fruit through the rod of Aaron, however, we are not always granted this kind of miracle. The New Testament provides some good indicators to help us recognize spiritual leadership and to distinguish between true and false leaders. 

The Responsibility Of Spiritual Leadership

At one point during the journeys of the Apostle Paul, he arrived at Miletus and called for the elders of the church at Ephesus to come to him. After they arrived, Paul shared with them words of testimony and instruction while specifically warning them to guard against false teachers:

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. – Acts 20:28-30

Part of the responsibility of spiritual leaders is to protect the people under their care from others who teach perverse things with twisted motives. It is not always easy to discern these types of people and this is why Paul warned the elders to be on guard against them.

Yeshua also warned His followers regarding corrupt spiritual leaders and cautioned them to beware of their deceitful schemes. According to Yeshua the ultimate litmus test for distinguishing good spiritual leaders from bad ones is according to the fruit which they bring forth:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. – Matthew 7:15-20

Just as a tree is known by the fruit that it bears, so a person who claims to be a spiritual leader or prophet will be known by the spiritual fruit in his or her life. 

Spiritual Fruit Inspectors

We should never blindly follow human spiritual leaders. Without being overly judgmental, we all are given the responsibility to test and inspect the spiritual fruit of those who are in spiritual leadership. In a similar manner in which the LORD confirmed the leadership of Aaron over the tribe of Levi and over the nation of Israel as the high priest by revealing the good fruit of the almond tree, so we are called to look for the good fruit of the spiritual leaders which are in our midst. If a spiritual leader fails to produce good fruit, they are in essence disqualifying themselves from their position.

We truly must be wise and discerning in this area of identifying good spiritual leaders from those who are fraudulent. Yeshua continued in the above verses from Matthew chapter seven to explain the reality of the many people who masquerade as being sent from God:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23

How can spiritual leaders perform miracles, prophesy in the name of Yeshua, and even cast out demons yet not be true spiritual leaders of God? People can be fraudulent in every sector of life, unfortunately, including the ministry of God. We must develop a discerning spiritual guard so as to protect ourselves, our families, and friends from fraudulent spiritual leadership.

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

Most of us have experienced both good and bad spiritual leaders during the years of our spiritual journeys. The Scriptures provide general indicators that should be exhibited with some sense of consistency regarding spiritual leaders (1 Timothy 3). We are also given an overview of the fruit of the Spirit in one’s life in Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Yeshua the Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. – Galatians 5:22-24

The fruit of the Spirit must be manifested in a spiritual leader’s life to a high degree. No one is perfect but we must be able to discern a spiritually mature leader from someone whose life is exhibiting contradictory fruit from that of the Holy Spirit.

The Community Test

Finally, it is extremely valuable and wise to have spiritual leadership which is confirmed by the congregational community in which we find ourselves. We cannot expect God to make dry sticks sprout, blossom, and bear fruit overnight for each and every leader in our communities, however, we can do the work as a community of recognizing the spiritual fruit in others and either confirm or expose spiritual leaders along the journey of life. Our job as spiritual fruit inspectors never ends until the Messiah comes again! 

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Num. 16:1 – Num. 18:32

Haftara: 1 Samuel 11:14-22

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