THE LORD'S ANOINTED ONE.
Moses is considered to be a great leader of Israel, and yet in his generation Moses seemed to be almost constantly opposed. After all, Moses led the people out of Egypt and into a wilderness, and tried to bring them into the land of Canaan. This was new and hostile territory for all of them, and they had no Bible or Commandments already established. There had to be a tremendous amount of trust in Moses.

The Bible describes Moses as the humblest man of his generation. Just a couple of chapters earlier, he had established 70 leaders who all received some of the spirit that was on him, and they all prophesied. Moses declared that he would like it if all of Israel were to prophesy. He was willing and even anxious to share leadership.

But in Numbers 16 Korah incites a rebellion with 250 other leaders, "all members of the assembly." They claim that Moses and Aaron have gone too far! They say, "Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?"

Moses' response is to throw himself down on the ground, and to invite everyone to come into the Lord's Presence the next day, each with a bowl of incense. He allowed God to be the one to determine who His anointed one(s) would be.

Of course, God clearly chose Moses and Aaron, and he destroyed Korah and all the others, then sent a plague among the Israelites who had sided with Korah.

Lessons for me: Never touch the Lord's anointed. Ever. And never claim to be His anointed without God's own confirmation.