Insolence

    Insolence is a strong word that brings strong feelings with it.  An insolent person is an arrogant, rude person that acts out boldly in their aggressive behavior.  Nothing good ever comes from insolence.

    The Hebrew nation struggled as they accepted their consequence from God. When people are not working toward a goal, they seem to flounder.  They are more susceptible to a negative mentality.     

    Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were three men that went out of their way to discredit Moses and Aaron.  They formed a group of about 250 men that believed that their leaders were responsible for all their bad circumstances.  They decided they were going to take over.  

    Moses gave it over to God.  He was humble, but he was not sorry for how he had led.  The Levites had gone too far this time.  They were set apart to be holy spiritual leaders, not the political leaders.  No one person should ever be in charge of everything.  It is too much power for one person.  No matter how good a person is they would be corrupted.  

    Moses was a good leader, so he and Aaron separated themselves from the people to allow God to do His work.  They understood that God was the one who had appointed the people to where they were.  The insolent people were trying to take God's role.  Moses and Aaron knew the consequences would be devastating.  The people had to figure this out for themselves.

    God opened the ground and swallowed the three insolent leaders.  Then, He burned the the people that caused the most damage and worked up the community.  God's punishment did not have the desired affect of bringing the people back to Him.  The people blamed Moses and Aaron even more for their pain and suffering.  

    God became really angry at this point and wanted to kill everyone whom complained.  Aaron rushed to make an atonement offering, but not in time to prevent the plague that hit hard.  When it was over 14,700 people had died.  We can't blame others for life events.  Thing just happen and sometimes because of how we react to life events.

    Insolence has consequences.  It spreads like cancer, so it has to be removed.  You may not like your leaders.  You may not like how they lead.  However, God puts people where He wants them to serve His purpose.  Don't try to play God.  Pray for your leaders.

Numbers 16