Num. 16:1-18:32
1 Samuel 11:14-12:22

Sometimes, when I look for the Messiah in a Parsha reading, it jumps off the page at me instantly. Other times, I have to stop and think and pray. And sometimes, even my research doesn’t help. That’s where I found myself this week. But after a break, a nap, and some prayer, I feel like God told me exactly what I was asking for, and that’s what I am going to share with you in this blog post. Now I don’t have a degree in theology. I am an English major who was raised in the church, studied the Word, and relies on the Holy Spirit. Now, I am simply taking my skills in explicating literature and applying it to the Bible. People don’t have to be professionals and hold degrees for God to use them. The disciples weren’t. Moses reminded God of his lack of credentials, but the only thing that God told Moses matters is, “I will be with you” (Ex. 3:12). So I keep on plugging along, knowing God is with me.

The Torah portion I will cover in this post is Korach (Korah), scheduled for June 20 this year, the Biblical passages cited at the top of this page. In Korach, we have the rebellion of Korah and his followers, their punishment, the validation of Aaron’s priesthood through the budding staff, and a repeat of instructions of responsibilities and privileges exclusive to the Levites and priesthood. The sages put this schedule together millennia ago, even before Jesus’ birth, so again, as always, I’m going to dive into the text and take you with me as we identify the Messiah therein.

The Rebellion of Korah

Korah, the Bible tells us was “the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi” (Num. 16:1). So Korah was of the tribe of Levi, set apart for the ministry of the tabernacle. He was of the family of Kohath, set apart to carry the “most holy things” of the tabernacle (Num. 4:4). This included all the furniture of the tabernacle and the vessels (the ark of the covenant, the golden altar, the menorah, and table of showbread, and the bronze altar). This was the closest role to the holy things anyone could perform who was not a priest. But apparently Korah was not content with that, and he gathered a group of men from all different tribal positions in Israel to think like him: Dathan, Abiram, On, and 250 other leading men of Israel. They rebelled against Moses, and Moses proposed a test, and they agreed. The 250 men would burn incense before God, and God would show whom He chose and accepted. God made it clear whom He chose when he burned up the 250 unauthorized men with fire and gave Eleazer the son of Aaron instructions concerning what to do with the firepans of the rebels.

Also, Dathan and Abiram were punished for leading the rebellion. God opened up the earth under their tents and they were buried alive with all their possessions and family members who remained joined to them. We have to keep context. If you look at the Psalms, you see 11 Psalms were written by the sons of Korah (Psalms 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, and 88). Over 7 percent of the Book of Psalms was written by the descendants of Korah. So they didn’t all die, because apparently there were some of his sons who did not join his rebellion. Unfortunately for Dathan’s and Abiram’s households, the little ones had to bear the consequences of their fathers’ rebellion. We see little ones today bearing the consequences of parental irresponsibility all the time in domestic issues, tragic accidents, and negligence. One story that made news headlines last year was a five-year-old girl whose mother told her to pose for a picture above a cruise ship porthole. She fell through the porthole, and she fortunately was recovered alive and well, but it could have easily turned for the worst. How much more irresponsible is it to defy the God Who you witnessed bring plagues upon Egypt, part the Red Sea, and speak from the top of a mountain to you, Who led you every single day in the form of either a cloud or a pillar of fire, Who miraculously fed you with manna from heaven six days a week, Who you saw punish others for rebellion multiple times already? And you would lead your wives and little ones into the same fate? In their experience, this should have been common sense. It was tragic and unfortunate, but we see this happen all the time today in matters much more mundane. I am forever scarred by some of the domestic abuse stories and stories of parental negligence that I’ve simply read over the years. They are so awful I don’t know that I ever could repeat their telling. For Dathan and Abiram, what they did should have been as obvious to them as what happens when you leave a baby in a car on a hot day or when you leave your guns unsecured and loaded.

The same sin of pride that I discussed in my last post that got a hold of Miriam got a hold of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram as well. What about On? There is an interesting Midrash that says On’s wife got him drunk the night before so that he slept in and missed it all. That’s not in the Bible, and if it is true, it could fill in the gaps the inspired text seems to leave open to speculation. I don’t have anything further on that other than it’s interesting to think about.

God was very clear that if the Kohathites went beyond their scope of designated service, they would die (Num. 4:17-20). They couldn’t even look at the holy things. The consequences for trying to do a service to God you are unauthorized to do was death. God was that serious about it, and we should be too.

How much more then, should we take this seriously concerning the greater and higher priesthood than that of Aaron, that is, the priesthood of Melchizedek of which the Messiah would be? Psalm 110 combines the office of king and priest in the Messiah:

The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
    after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4).

If God established Aaron’s priesthood forever (Num. 18:19), and it was taken that seriously by God in that day, how much more should we regard the Messiah’s eternal priesthood? There is only one Man Who was appointed this role, the Messiah, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus quoted Psalm 110 concerning Himself as well (Mt. 22:41-45, Mk. 12:35-37, Lk. 20:41-44), and if He used it to describe Himself, we should really be listening! The author of Hebrews acknowledges Jesus is the priest according to the order of Melchizedek of Psalm 110 as well, eight times (5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-17).

Paul says to the Romans, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6).

The priesthood of the Messiah is exclusive to one Man, and if any other tries to draw near to God otherwise, His wages are death, just like for those of Korah’s rebellion. Just like no one came to the Lord through any other man besides Aaron and his sons, no one comes to the Father through any other man except Messiah, the Lord of David.

Just as Korah’s rebels were burned with fire or swallowed alive by the earth for rejecting the priesthood God established, unbelievers who rejected God’s Messiah will be resurrected, then thrown, body and soul, into a lake of fire for eternity. Jesus says,

²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28).

In Revelation chapter 20, “Death and Hades” gave up their dead and they were judged, “[a]nd if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15), which is the second death (Rev. 20:14; 21:8).

Jesus is the only way to eternal life and salvation. If you put your faith in Him as the Son of God, the One Who lived to be your righteousness and died for your sins, and you confess your sins and repent, the Father will accept you.

Aaron’s Staff

In addition to the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their followers, God gave a positive sign of the election of Aaron’s priestly line.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout” (Num. 17:1-4).

Moses followed God’s instructions, and

“On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds” (Num. 17:8).

God made the impossible happen by making a dead branch, a staff, not only sprout, but produce buds, blossoms, and almonds. This was a miraculous sign that he had chosen Aaron and his sons for the Aaronic priesthood. God made life come out of dead material as a sign of His choice and approval. Now concerning the Messiah, Psalm 132 says that in Zion,

There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
    I have prepared a lamp for my anointed (vs. 17).

Just like Aaron’s staff sprouted as a sign of being chosen, the horn of the descendant of David will sprout too.

Isiaiah says “he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground” (53:2).

These verses link sprouting to the Messiah, but was there a sign that God gave like that of Aaron’s staff, of life coming from the dead? There certainly is. When Jesus gave up His Spirit,

The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Mt. 27:52-54).

In this story you have a sign of vindication when dead material produces life, that is, when the dead saints rose. You also have a presentation of the sign. Just like Aaron’s budding staff was brought out and presented to the people, the bodies of the saints were brought out and presented “to many.” Just as the Israelites finally believed God chose Aaron and made a proclamation of that admission, the centurion and those with him at Jesus’ crucifixion saw the sign and proclaimed their admission: “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Moreover, Jesus’ own body, which was deposited in a tomb, was later brought forth resurrected and He presented Himself. The Apostle Paul says,

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (1 Cor. 15:3-8).

Just like the Israelites laid twelve staffs in the holy place and only one, Aaron’s, blossomed, so too Jesus warned that many would come claiming to be the Messiah, but not to follow them (Mt. 24:5, Mk. 13:6, Lk. 21:8). Only one of these men rose out of the grave with miraculous life: Jesus. Gamaliel, when he was presented with the gospel of Jesus by the apostles, gave advice similar to the test of the staffs left before the Lord:

³³ When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹ but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:33-39).

If we understand Gamaliel’s wisdom in the context of the story of Aaron’s staff, the Church itself is also a sign of the gospel’s legitimacy. From its infancy, the Church was persecuted and by all common sense should have been stamped out, but instead it multiplied (Acts 6:7; 9:31; 12:24). Out of persecution and martyrdom, the gospel grew, produced shoots of the church throughout the known world, blossomed, and produced fruit, that of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22).

We can trust that Jesus is the legitimate High Priest above Aaron’s order because He is vindicated by multiple signs of life coming forth from death, including Himself, and He is presented to all to see. The persistence of His Church is also a sign of His life-giving power. What happens after we have that information is up to us.

Give Us a King! Not You, God

Now the Order of Melchizedek was not only that of a priesthood, but of a kingship too. The name Melchizedek means “My king is righteousness.” Jesus, the Son of David, was both from the kingly line and He was righteous. God knew He would send Messiah long before Israel even wanted a king. Jacob prophesies the Messiah coming through Judah as a king in Genesis 49:8-12. For my full explanation of that, see my post on Genesis 49, “He Lived: The Lion of the Last Days.”

Now I bring this other side of Melchizedek’s order up because the Haftarah portion covers the story of Israel wanting a king instead of God. So even though God was their King, and Samuel was their judge, they weren’t content with that. By wanting an earthly king, Israel rejected God as their King:

And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Sam. 8:7).

Samuel reminded the people of all God had done for their ancestors in Egypt and the wilderness, how they rejected God, then all He had done for them in the Promised Land, giving them the land and saving them from their enemies. Then he told Israel they were rejecting God as King like their ancestors rejected God in the wilderness. He said to the people,

And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king (1 Sam. 12:12).

God gave them what they asked for, knowing it’s not ultimately what they needed. What they needed was Him, but He would work through the system they wanted to create and give them Himself in Messiah. He knew this was going to happen. This wasn’t a plan B. Jacob prophesied this back in Genesis 49, remember? If they knew their Torah, they should have known this wasn’t right when Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin instead of Judah. When they realized their sin, they knew they deserved death, but they asked Samuel to pray for them, and they were spared.

¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” ²⁰ And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. ²² For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself (1 Sam. 12:19-22).

Moses prayed for their ancestors many times and saved their rear ends too. God used their desire for a king to bring about His Messiah anyway, through David’s line. Their first king, Saul, turned out to be no good in the end, and God chose David while Saul was still king to be the next king and create the line of kings leading to Messiah. All the earthly kings turned out to fail the people and God in one way or another, even David himself, but the Righteous King would be coming, the one of Whom the earthly dynasty was a shadow.

Melchidedek’s order was a priesthood and kingship combined, and Psalm 110 says this Messiah is both a priest and a king. The psalm mentions “your [Messiah’s] mighty scepter (Ps. 110:2).

So in the Torah portion you have the people reject the priesthood, and in the Haftarah you have the people rejecting the kingship of God. In the Torah Korah’s rebels died. In 1 Samuel the people deserved to die but pleaded for and received mercy. God ultimately worked these events to shape the coming of the Messiah, Whose priesthood is higher than Aaron’s and Whose kingship restores the kingship of the Lord (as they are one). If we try to replace God’s ordained plan by putting ourselves or others in those places, we deserve to die too.

The Kingship of the Lord is exclusive to Himself. He shares His glory with no one else (Is. 42:8). So He worked though the evil desires of Israel for an earthly king to reinstate His own Kingship again. Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of God.

I hope and pray you and all people would recognize God’s High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek and gain access to our Heavenly Father through Him by faith, that you would trust in Him as your King of Righteousness, giving Him full authority in Your life, thus receiving full forgiveness and salvation through Him. Until next time, God bless.

When Korah rebelled, the son of Kohath,
Then Moses said they should perform a test.
From every tribe they should collect a staff,
Placed in the holy place at God's behest.
The leader God did choose of all the tribes
Would have a staff blossoming, growing shoots,
Silencing those remaining with their lives,
Producing in itself unnatural fruits.
The test revealed that the staff of Aaron
Was covered with almond leaves in blossom,
And after him forever too his son
Was sworn to be the priest by the Awesome.
So test the priesthood of Melchizedek
For life and fruit from the dead. Come, and check.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 5 Jul 2026.

The Complete Jewish Study Bible. Peasbody, Hendrickson Publishers, 2016.

Zierler, Wendy. “Beyond Mrs. On?” Voices on Sefaria. Beyond Mrs. On? | Voices on Sefaria. Accessed 5 Jul 2026.

“5-year-old girl on Disney Dream lost balance, fell through cruise ship porthole, sheriff says.” Fox News. 5-year-old girl on Disney Dream lost balance, fell through cruise ship porthole, sheriff says | FOX 35 Orlando. 2 Jul. 2025.