This is another sin that claimed the third largest number of souls, in the Church in the wilderness. It claimed an entire household!
Read Numbers 16:1-3, 28-33 from your Bible
That was how Dathan, Korah, Abiram and 250 others, and all their families perished! Rebellion destroyed an estimated one thousand people in one day, don’t give in to it.
Rebellion is a deliberate reaction against order, targeted at leadership at all levels in the Church of God. Any church or establishment you find yourself in and you have doubts about the leadership, it is not a place where you can be blessed. So check out of the place, before you are checked out.
Rebellion is risky. Don’t expect to survive if you reject God’s order. To wish leadership evil is mental disorder, as heaven is a city of order. Leadership is required for human society to survive, whether in the secular world or in the Church. But if we accept order in the secular, rejecting it in the Church will be playing with fire. Thinking ill against any leadership set over you, is tearing down your own heritage. If you have leadership over you at work, then stop playing with fire by rejecting God’s order in the Church or in the family.
Rebellion is a costly poison don’t take it. Peace never reigns in any home where divine order is not accepted. The reason my wife enjoys all the goodies from me, is because she has never raised an eyebrow against anything I say God told me. You may say, “That is stupid!” Well, it is better to be stupid and be successful, than to be wise and end up a failure (that is if your wisdom is really wisdom).
Leadership offers direction; it doesn’t receive direction from the led. That is why leadership must strive at all levels to hear from God, before offering direction to the people. Then anyone who rebels against such direction, will pay dearly for it. That was why Dathan, Korah and Abiram died such a strange death. Exodus 22:28 says, “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.” This is particularly when you know you will be destroying your own position by doing so.
The Church is going to know such terrific promotions that hell will not be able to sit and fold its hands. Hell will, therefore, be seeking for who can be pulled down along with it. That was what happened to Absalom, who set out determinedly to unseat his father, David.
Read 2 Samuel 15:1-6 from your Bible
Rebellion is demonic. Do you know that Absalom rejoiced when Ahithophel (David’s former adviser) gave him counsel on how to kill his father? (2 Samuel 17:1-4) But the whole of 2 Samuel 15-19 tells of the collapse of a rebel. Absalom was the most loved of David’s sons. Though he was destined for the throne he lost his destiny to rebellion. Privileged and talented people are the most susceptible to rebellion.
The Bible says the conspiracy was strong and the people increased continually with Absalom (2 Samuel 15:12) May you never join such demonic increase in any setup you are in; it never pays. Every breakaway ministry ends up withering. You cannot disconnect from the root and expect to survive. Ministries can grow from ministries, but it is demonic to get it done through rebellion. The Bible tells us in Luke 22:3 that before the rebellion of Judas, Satan entered him. That is why we are warned not to give place to the devil in Ephesians 4:27.
Absalom died the death of a scapegoat. It was obvious that he would have been the next king after his father, being David’s first son. It was there in God’s agenda, but he couldn’t afford to wait for the appointed time. He must have said, “The way I’m seeing this ‘young man’ (David) he doesn’t want to die yet. When will it be my turn? No! Let’s kill him now.” Nobody needs to die for you to rise! There are many stars in the sky, and all of them shine. If you are a star, another shining star cannot make you obscure. May you enjoy your covenant position in God and await His timings for your lifting, so that you will not crash like Absalom.
Have you ever heard or seen a head-on collision between two birds in the sky? No! The sky is too broad for that to happen. There is a time and a season for every purpose under the sun. In the physical, can you go up at the same time you’re pulling someone else down? Where will you eventually find yourself if you don’t stop pulling him down? On the floor of course! You will even get to the floor before the person, causing him to fall upon you! But when you’re lifting others up, you will be going up as well. That is exactly what happens when you are pulling any system down: you go down with it. But when you are lifting it up, you go up. Make your choice.
Rebellion is a dangerous trap. It traps people without their knowing it. It’s very subtle; it creeps in on people. Satan set that subtle trap for Eve, and she fell for it.
Rebellion is dangerous. I have never seen a rebel that made a name in the kingdom. Your name is erased the moment you enter into rebellion. That was what happened to Ahithophel when he left his ministry to David and joined his rebellious son, Absalom. The Lord turned his counsel to foolishness, and Ahithophel ended up hanging himself (2 Samuel 17:23). Rebellion took him away and wiped off his name as well. He was the brain tank of Israel, but was destroyed when he joined Absalom’s rebellion. Rebellion terminated his hitherto glorious destiny.
Rebellion always ends one in shame and reproach by the judgement of God that says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) This is because 1 Samuel 15:23 tells us: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”
A witch is not just someone who flies about in the night, looking for blood to suck. God is saying here that no man or woman that is rebellious is permitted to live. The first rebellion recorded in the Bible was that of Satan in heaven (Isaiah 14:12-19) and that is why till now he is the influence behind every rebellion.
When you react against leadership, you disqualify yourself from becoming a leader. Rebellion always tells someone, “You can do it better.” Miriam and Aaron ganged up against Moses in Numbers 12, and God reacted against them
Read Numbers 12:1-2, 9-10 from your Bible
Rebellion always looks around for who to take. Don’t be available to be taken. Watch your statements, let them not be calculated against persons and authority. Stop making insinuations, and shut your door against the devil. Don’t let him come inside and disrupt your life.
Read 2 Timothy 3:1-4 from your Bible
It says: “Lovers of their own selves”—that’s Absalom
“Covetous”—He coveted his father’s throne. “Boasters”—He said, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!”
‘Proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents”—He sat at the gate of his father, drawing Israel after himself. “Unthankful, unholy, without natural affection…”— He would go to his father and do obeisance, but it was all hypocrisy. It was mechanical, no natural affection.
All these culminated in the trap of rebellion, which became his undoing. Listen friend, there’s going to be such a release of the spirit of rebellion this end-time, that people who don’t know it’s naked name, will easily become its victims. The moment you begin to react against order, you are a rebel. It usually doesn’t begin on a large scale; it creeps in unnoticed. Your boss gives you an instruction for instance, and then you carry it out reluctantly. You are already registering in the school of rebellion.
Something happened in a church in one of our cities in 1992. Some fellows in the church rose up against their pastor. One man in particular was the ringleader. He was raging and ranting, pointing accusing fingers at the pastor. The pastor warned, “Let’s be careful, so that what happened to Ananias and Sapphira will not happen here.” But the man stood up and continued to talk. Right there and then in church, he slumped and died! His wife was there, and saw how it all happened, so no one would say somebody killed him. He died in rebellion.
Friend, before sin sinks you, sink it! The end of rebellion is death. Absalom died. Dathan, Korah, Abiram and their entire household died. Ahithophel and Judas died as well. If by any chance you are already caught in the trap of rebellion, withdraw from it now, and free your life. You don’t need to curse a rebel; he’s cursed already.
In the last days, there will be releases of the spirits of rebellion. They will gather in too many creeping forms. There are rebellious wives, and I perceive rebellious husbands as well, who don’t believe in order. When you don’t believe in order, you are a rebel. You may call it reaction, but God calls it rebellion. And He says it is like the sin of witchcraft. So, if you are in rebellion, you’re a witch. You will not be caught!
Rebellion, as we saw in 1 Samuel 15:23, is equated with witchcraft. And we know that Exodus 22:18 says that no witch is permitted to live. She must die. This is not talking about second death, but judgmental death. The end of rebellion is death.
Read James 1:14-15 from your Bible
That is why I said, before sin finishes you, you should finish it, because when sin finishes, it results in death. So don’t wait. Rebellion is dangerous; none of its victims ever survives. Instructions are to be obeyed, not to be discussed. The obedient makes the greatest mark in the Kingdom. So, go for obedience, and leave rebellion alone, as your opinion is your greatest trap into rebellion.
It is also important to note that rebellion is an issue of the heart. Though it occasionally finds expression through the mouth, it’s actually an issue of the heart. You don’t need to be rebellious for any reason at all. So take your time and walk in wisdom. When the devil whispers rebellion in your heart, tell him, “Shut up, I know better!”
Now, I commend you, therefore, to God, for a rebellion-free life; a life that jumps at obedience, and is open enough for God to instruct and direct. May God give you understanding, so that you will celebrate every instruction that comes as another step up the ladder for you, and celebrate it from your heart. Don’t try to look at any instruction objectively; look at it obediently, with all the excitement you can stir up in you. Then you will be on your way to the top. Then will you begin to walk in the newness of life.
Shalom!
#pstnath