Korah

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by James Bleckley, The Bible History, Volume 2, The Exodus and the Wanderings in the Wilderness by Alfred Edersheim.

The 38 years in the wilderness, the Sabbath breaker, the gainsaying of Korah and his associates, murmuring of the people, the plague and how it was stayed, Aaron's rod budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit.

More than 37 years of wanderings were now to be passed in the wilderness of Paran till a new generation had risen to enter on possession of the land of promise.

Of that long period, scarcely more than one single record is left us in Scripture.

We presume that the encampment in the broom valley was in all probability determined by the existence and promise of vegetation there, which no doubt was due to the presence of watercourses.

Indeed, an examination of the names of the seventeen stations occupied by Israel during their wanderings shows that all the encampments were similarly selected in the neighborhood of water and vegetation.

Thus we have Rimmon Parez, the pomegranate breach, perhaps the place where Korah's rebellion brought such terrible punishment.

Libna, whiteness, probably from the white poplar trees growing there.

Psalm 85, to the choir master, a psalm of the sons of Korah.

Lord, you were favourable to your land.

You restored the fortunes of Jacob.

Then you get to verse number 11.

He says, "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsayming-- gainsaying of Korah.

These are spots in your feasts of charity, that when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." These aren't very nice people.

[laughs] Now what does this have to do with Enoch? Verse 14, "And Enoch also," Enoch also.

I cannot read all, uh, 35 verses, so permit me just to read verses 31 through 35, and then believe me when I tell you, um, what else happens in this passage.

All right? Beginning of verse 31 of Numbers chapter 16, it says, "And as Moses finished speaking 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 Korah with their possessions.

So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into the grave." Wow.

Thank you for that one wow.

[laughs] [laughs] Where VH1 would take us behind the scenes to learn the background story of the people who made the music we love the most.

We have learned interesting things about personalities who made great music.

Psalm 46 and Numbers 16 have a Behind the Music kind of story Number 16 explains to us how Korah and his family got all messed up.

But Psalm 46, 42, 44, 46, 87, a number of them are written by the sons of Korah.

But Michael, the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke you.

But these men revile the things which they do not understand and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed." Woe to them, for they have gone the way of Cain and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Three important observations from this passage of scripture.

And it's three because Jude likes to work in threes.

And then lastly, and I'll hurry along, the future for these guys is horrific.

He says in verse 11, woe to them, they have gone the way of Cain.

For they have gone the way of Cain and for pay they have rushed headlong into the era of Balaam and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

So he likes threes.

Jetharai.

The descendants of Kohath included Amminadab, Korah, Asir, Elkanah, like Hannah and Elkanah? Abiasaph, Asir, Tehath, Uriel, Uzziah, and Shaul.

Again, we see names that like stand out, but we've got to research, right? Remember, there's not just one person with that name in all of this time.

So we've got to research, is this or is it not the one that I know of in other places in the Bible? The descendants of Elkanah included Amasai, Ahemoth, Elkanah, named after that, Zophel, oh, that's an I, Zophai, Nahath, Eliab, Jeroham, Elkanah again, and Samuel.

I'm not sure.

But the musician was from the clan of Kohath.

His genealogy was traced back through Joel, Samuel, Elkanah, Jeroham, Eliel, Toa, Zoph, Elkanah, Mahath, Amasai, Elkanah, Joel, Azariah, Zephaniah, Tehath, Asir, Abiasaph, Korah, Ithar, Kohath, Levi, Israel." They just like went all the way up to Israel slash Jacob, right? Why stop there? Why not just say, right, Isaac, Abraham, like they could have went that far, but these are the tribes of Israel.

So that's really the top layer of this.