Did you know there were talking animals in the Bible? In the story of Balaam (Numbers 22-25 and 31:16), we read a fascinating account. On his way to curse the Israelites, this prophet for profit, was stopped by an unmovable donkey. Balaam was so mad that he started to beat the poor animal.

Today we will look at the person Jude mentions named Korah. Korah was from the same family line as Moses and Aaron. One day, Korah decided that he would be a better leader for God’s people than Moses and Aaron. He incited 250 others against them. Moses was heartbroken at this, and God was angry. God destroyed Korah and those who rebelled against Moses by causing the earth to open and swallow them up. 

There are several people mentioned in Jude verse 11 who we can read about in the Old Testament. First we have Cain. You can read his story in Genesis 4. Cain was born to Adam and Eve, along with his brother Abel. Cain offered “some” of his harvest to the Lord, while Abel gave God the “first fruits.” Because of their heart posture, God received Abel’s offering and not Cain's. This made Cain jealous and angry, and he killed his own brother. 

Jesus gave us freedom from sin, and the power to obey God. When we live this way, we show our love for Jesus. This relationship between obedience and love is vital. If you have only ever obeyed (your parents, your boss, your teachers) out of fear, or you have only obeyed (while they were watching) for approval, that is living out of instinct.  Obedience must come from love.

We want to be people who live and function under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Inspiration and instinct, however, can be difficult to distinguish between. Someone who has learned to survive on instinct can be really good at saying the right thing at the right time; they seem inspired. There is really only one way to tell for sure whether an individual is acting off of instinct or inspiration: look at their lives.