Election is an important concept revealed in the Bible. God chooses whomever He wills for the task at hand. From a human perspective, there may be others who appear better qualified and better suited for the job. Nevertheless, God’s choice is God’s choice. Often related to election is human rejection of that choice. In the section of the Bible that we are considering we see both election and the rebellion against that election portrayed.

God originally chose Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and to bring them to the Promised Land. Moses served as an important, prophetic picture of the coming Messiah functioning in the capacity of prophet, priest and king. Yet, Moses did not see himself as qualified for the task. He said of himself, “I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10b) The important component in election is the anointing of the Lord. The Lord makes the difference, not the human talent of the person involved. The most important human “talent” required is obedience.

Rebellion against God’s election is seen in Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram, descendants of Reuben. All three saw themselves as being cheated by God’s election. Korah functioned as a helper of the priest. Dathan and Abiram were descendents of Reuben who was the firstborn of Jacob but had been passed over for leadership in Israel. Judah had been chosen in Reuben’s place. So, all three had complaints. They justified themselves by fabricating artificial reasons for their rebellion.

An interesting side note is appropriate. When challenged, “Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting”. (Numbers 16:19a) The fact that he was able to do this implies that Korah and his comrades exercised considerable political strength in the congregation. I suspect that if Korah lived in modern Israel, he would be Prime Minister.

The judgment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram came swiftly. The ground opened up and swallowed them and their families. Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 leaders that had allied themselves with Korah.

Again, God demonstrated His election for the priesthood. He commanded that each tribe bring a “rod” (evidently a small branch from a tree). Each was marked and placed in the tent of meeting. The rods were examined on the following day and Aaron’s rod had “sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.” Thus, God’s election was confirmed.

In this case, God confirmed His election promptly. This is not always the case. There were many times when my position as pastor was challenged. Even though I would have preferred that the “ground open up and those in rebellion be swallowed up”, this never happened in such a concise way. In reality though, God did repeatedly confirm his choice and His anointing. Every true “called” pastor should rest in God’s election. If he is obedient to God’s call, no individual or group in rebellion can move him. He must simply trust the Lord and remain in submission to God’s calling. The Lord will uphold him.

There are many “what might have been” incidents in the Bible. This section of the Bible records one such event. According to the record in Numbers, God commanded Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan to assess the difficulties that they would face as they entered the land. The result was a disaster resulting in the people revolting against the Lord and against Moses. However, when we consider the commentary on this event recorded in Deuteronomy 1:19-23, we find that it was the people who wanted to send spies into the land. God allowed them to do so. Upon their return, the majority report was that the land was indeed a land of “milk and honey” but the inhabitants of the land were much too formidable for Israel to conquer. The minority report, given by Caleb and Joshua, expressed the faith that since God was with Israel they were well able to take the superlative by repeating the term able, i.e., we are more than able to do it. The people obviously received the majority report.

Joshua and Caleb were able to “see” in a deeper spiritual sense than were the other spies.  They were much like the prophet Elisha in a later incident recorded in II Kings 6.  Elisha’s servant was alarmed when he saw the Syrian army circling the city. Elisha prayed that God give the servant the ability to see in a much broader sense.

“Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (II Kings 6:17)

As believers, we need to see and think in terms of God’s “horses and chariots of fire” today.

God’s plan for Israel to conquer the land was very simple. Recorded in Exodus 23:29-30, God would give them possession of the land, little by little, as they because fruitful and possessed it. They were approaching the land from the south, from the desert. God would bless them at the same time that He judged the Canaanites. They would, perhaps over generations, possess the land as they moved northward through the land. I call this the “Holy Ooze” plan. The Canaanites would hate this “holy” community and be repulsed by it and, thereby, be pushed northward out of the land.

The people rejected this “much too slow” plan. They embraced the typical human view of a brisk military campaign to take the land. Viewed from a normal human perspective, they concluded that they would not be able to overwhelm the Canaanites. They failed to take into consideration that God was in their midst and He would make the difference. Caleb and Joshua recognized this fact while the other ten spies did not. Caleb ben Jephunah and Joshua ben Nun have become the heroes of the modern settlement movement in Israel because the modern Israelis face a very similar situation today. The stated will of God is clear; however, the opposition is great.

The lesson to be derived from this section is that we must not over analyze the “faith assignment” (Romans 1:17) given to us by God. If God is the lord of our endeavors, He will cause us to prevail without regard to the opposition. We must take a step in faith and trust Him for the outcome.

One final thought recorded in this section that is worthy of our attention today. Here God again said to Moses that He had decided to wipe out Israel and “start over” with Moses and his descendants. In an earlier event recorded in Exodus 32:9-10, God declared that He was about to do the same thing. These two incidents amount to what is called “Replacement Theology” which is common in Christianity today. That doctrine declares that God has given up on Israel as a covenant partner in the plan of redemption and has now replaced Israel with the Church. Moses was given the test of Messiah. Would he be impressed with God discernment and pridefully accept God’s proposal or would he plead with God to remember His revealed plan of redemption and maintain it. Moses did the latter and gained God’s approval. Much of Christianity has done the opposite today by embracing “Replacement Theology”.