Bible Reading: Psalm 35, Jude 1:7-12
“Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core” – Jude 1:11(KJV)
Jude, in his epistle, was describing the characteristics of certain individuals that have crept into the body of Christ. He named three characters in the bible which we shall be looking at.
CAIN: (GENESIS 4:1-15)
Cain represent jealousy and envy. He committed the first recorded murder in bible history. The first man to shed the blood of his fellow man driven by envy and jealousy. He was the first living soul to be placed under a curse outside Adam and Eve. Through his selfishness he offered an offering that was unacceptable to God as opposed to that of Abel his brother. Instead of repenting of his wrong and seek to correct his ways, he became jealous of his brother and murdered him out of jealousy. Jude’s description of men like Cain is that of apostates. There are many such people now in the body of Christ. These are men who are not actually born again, but by association and participation have become members of the church, bearing the name ‘Christian’ when they are not. They are difficult to discover until their character betrays them. Out of envy they criticize other brethren as they hardly see anything good in others accept in themselves. They spread jealousy in the body of Christ.
BALAAM (NUMBERS 22-24)
Balaam represents greed and ungodly pursuit for riches. They are in the church for what they can get out of it. They see the ministry as good investment opportunity. They practically exchange their anointing for wealth. They fight their way to the church Board of trustees. They sponsor men of God for the returns they expect, and when this is not forthcoming they get agitated. They are the ones that sell their prayers for money. They prophesy for money. We saw quite a lot of these money prophets all over in the pre-election era. They claim God spoke to them and conferred elected position on people. They saw many governors in a state where only one governor will emerge. They are false prophets who use the name of the Lord in vain. These group of men have crept into the church in the pretense of being called by God. These men are subtle, evil and mischievous with heart for perversion. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke about them in Revelation 2:14(KJV) “……..because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication”.
CORE OR KORAH (NUMBERS 16:1-END)
Korah represents rebellion which, most time is induced by over assumption of self – pride. This group of men are those who, when given a chance to speak from the altar, assume themselves more anointed than the man God called. They question the authority of the man of God over the flock. They usually instigate a rebellion that frustrates the ministers of God. They are in every congregation. They can even go the extent of using their connection in government to generate policy to undermine the calling of the man of God. They use their influence in the congregation to question the authority of God’s servant. They instigate disobedience in the church by peddling false rumours which people are likely to believe because of the position they hold.
These are the classes of persons a man of God should watch out for in the congregation and handle prayerfully.
Prayer: Father purge me of any of these characteristics.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo