But Korah was well liked and highly respected. Dathan was always ready to help older people with putting up and taking down their tent. Abiram was a roly poly little guy who loved kids. He would make animal sounds and amuse the babies. His wife, Adah, was known for visiting the sick and bringing them soup and other things they needed. (You realize, of course, I'm making all this up. But it was something like this!)

The Jews saw the ground tremble and then open. Their beloved friends and neighbors with their small children fell into the chasm screaming.

"Moses was sore at them because they wouldn't do everything he said. He always wants to be the bigshot. Look what he's done to our friends!"

And then Absalom. Look how ready the Israelites were to forsake King David! Talk about stupidity! But then Absalom was tall and handsome. The Bible says he did not have pimples or anything like that, and he had glossy black hair that fell down over his shoulders. He always had a kind word and a handshake for everyone, rich, or poor. Absalom was smooth!

Did Absalom really think he would begin to prophesy and write psalms once he was king? And why were the Jews so willing to forsake the greatest of their kings?

As Joab pointed out, David was more concerned over his faithless son Absalom than he was over the rest of the Israelites. These kinds of uproars happen and they test our relationship to the Lord.

The Lord's people are blind and as ready to follow a self-serving deceiver as they are a true servant of the Lord. It is the people of Israel, the Lord's elect, who stone the prophets.

The day will soon be here when we will be able to distinguish between those who have been faithful to the Lord, and the Korahs and Absaloms.

Before the Lord returns all that is false will be removed from the Bride. God will do it, so we do not have to destroy our joy by fretting over the deceivers in our midst.

The "synagogue of Satan" will yet worship God in the presence of the true saints and realize to their horror they have harmed those whom Christ loves.

There is coming an hour of temptation (if it is not already here). Sin will be so approachable, so accessible, that numerous believers and their pastors will fall. The availability of pornography on the Internet, for example, is an illustration of unprecedented temptation.

Who will be guarded by Christ? Those who have kept the word of His patience. The exercise of infinite patience is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the true saint. As we have stated before, the man or woman of God is made in the period of time between the onset of a desire and its fulfillment. Those who cannot wait for God are not among the true saints of the Lord.

To be continued.