~ Cain – Balaam – Korah ~
In the Book
of Jude we find three apostate groups
(identified in the previous post) and three
apostate individuals (identified in this post).
Key Scripture ~ “Woe to
them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and
perished in the rebellion of Korah”
(Jude 11).
Cain ~ “The way of Cain.” Over time Cain became a generic symbol of
evil men. Some of Cain’s specific sins
included persecuting believers, moral skepticism, spiritual murder, general
unbelief, envying the spirituality of others, and in general acting upon
natural instincts and selfish desires.
In Hebrews 11:4 we see Cain’s sacrifice compared to Abel’s. The Beloved Disciple wrote, “This is the message that you heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another, not as
Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s
righteous” (1 John 3:11-12). (The story of Cain can be found in Genesis
4.)
Balaam ~ “The error of Balaam.” Balaam’s
mind set was to do what he wanted to do even if he knew it was contrary to
God’s desire. He also was a great
justifier of his actions. At its essence
the error of Balaam is resistance to God—not just unthinking carelessness. “They have forsaken
the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who
loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb
donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet” (2
Peter 2:15-16). (The story of Balaam is found in Numbers
22-24.)
Korah (a.k.a. Core) ~ “The rebellion of Korah.” Korah
was the leader of a rebellion against Moses and Aaron (his cousins). He was a bold, proud, and ambitious in a bad
way. He resented his exclusion from the
priesthood. Korah represents a spirit of
insubordination towards legitimate spiritual leadership. (The primary story of Korah is found in Numbers
16.)
Additional Comment ~ All three of these
individuals were religious men. Jesus
said, “I am the [only] way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me” (John 14:6b). Each of these individuals, Cain—Balaam—Korah,
thought they had a better idea, a better path for their behavior. The essence of apostasy is unwillingness to
have Jesus Christ is refusing the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life. How are you doing?
The Bottom Line ~ After presenting
three apostate groups and three apostate individuals the Book of Jude says
this: “These are spots in your love
feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.
They are clouds without water,
carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice
dead, pulled up by the roots; raging
waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten
thousands of His saints, to execute
judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly
deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things
which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (Jude
12-15).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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