THE MISAPPLICATION AND ABUSE OF “KORAH'S REBELLION”

In Jude verse 11 there is a reference to a man named Korah who rebelled against the God-instituted authority given to Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16) under the old covenant where a specific structure of leadership was at the order of the day.  There have been many instances in church history where ambitious leaders have abused and misapplied 'Korah's rebellion' and similar texts in order to maintain their own dominance over the Lord's people and keep discerning believers who question their dubious authoritarian structures under their thumb.   On a sliding scale of abuse they range from outright evil men who dominate, intimidate, and manipulate the flock to semi-ignorant souls who are only marginally aware that they are being ruled by their own lust for power.  Yet they all twist the Scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16) and are either deliberately cunning or blissfully unaware that Jude's real point in verse 11 was that we should not rebel against the apostolic authority of the God-ordained engineers of the New Testament who without exception taught the pre-eminence and headship of Christ, not their own.  Compare 1 John 4:6 and 2 Corinthians 11:2-3.  In the new covenant we stand directly under the headship of Christ through His Word and we should not pay absolute allegiance to any man other than Jesus Himself!  If you doubt this you need to sober up and consider again what Paul as a called apostle was really saying in 2 Corinthians 11 verses 2 and 3.  In the new covenant authority is never ever lodged in the person himself (the Roman Catholic error), but always representatively exercised with a view to exalting the pre-eminence of Christ and His authority.  The terrifying irony is that those who abuse and misapply the teaching about Korah's rebellion are themselves guilty of such a rebellion and sadly multitudes of ignorant believers unwittingly submit to this error and remain under a veil of religion that obscures the face of their true Master, Jesus Christ.