King David said in Psa. 16:6 “I have a goodly heritage.” Many people in the world have come from a line of ancestors who were rebellious, ungodly, blasphemous and the like. Should the descendants of the ungodly forever live under the stigma of shame brought on by the rebellious? When God punishes ancestors in His wrath does that put an infinite generational curse on their descendants? We are not left to guess or speculate on this. The Bible clearly shows that some of the greatest heroes in the Bible have been descendants of the most outrageously sinful men and women.
Korah was Moses’ second cousin. He rebelled against Moses and Aaron, gathering two hundred and fifty men of renown among the Israelites and challenged Moses and Aaron’s leadership accusing them of being arrogant (See Num. 16:3). They then ungratefully proceeded to accuse Moses and Aaron of bringing them out of a land flowing with milk and honey to die in the wilderness. Note that God had promised Israel to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey from Egypt, a land of slavery and cruelty. Now Korah and his group were referring to the land of slavery that God had taken them out of as Paradise. God was so angry with their rebellious ways and their ungrateful, accusatory nature that He made the earth open up and swallow Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their followers up and the earth closed back up afterwards (Num. 16:30-33).
Yet God is merciful even to the heritage of evil men. The family trees given in 1 Chron. 6 tell us that from the line of rebellious Korah came Israel’s judge, the prophet Samuel, who played an essential part in Israel’s staying close to God in the days before King Saul. The latter depended on Samuel for guidance while Samuel was alive. It was Samuel who anointed Saul as king and later David.
We often read Psa. 88 which was written by Heman (not the TV cartoon character), not knowing who he was. According to 1 Chron. 6:33-47, Heman was the grandson of Samuel and a descendant of rebellious Korah. The inscription at the top of the psalm as well lets us know that he was one of the descendants of Korah. Heman was one of the three most important men in King David’s time when it came to music and the Psalms apart from King David himself. We see his importance in 1 Chron. 15:16,17 when it is said of King David:
“ And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
So the Levites appointedHemanthe son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.”
So from the line of rebellious Korah we get the prophet Samuel and the very important musician Heman. God can change things around. Never feel it is your destiny to follow the ungodliness of your ancestors. Did not Jesus Himself inherit human nature in the line of Rebekah the deceiver and her deceiving son Jacob? Did He not come from the line of Judah and david the adulterers? Or from Rahab the prostitute? God can turn things around for you too? Today is your day of victory if you learn to trust and follow Him!
For Part 2 in this series see:
http://relijournal.com/religion/more-victory-regardless-of-heritage-part-two-of-two/
Thank you for this one. Very good article.