Numbers 16

Numbers 16

It is interesting that Korah’s rebellion comes right after the rebellion of the nation of Israel. At this point, God had already told the Israelites that they would no longer be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Therefore, nothing they did would change His mind or change the situation. But as for Korah, he decided to lead another revolt against Moses, as well as Aaron. He and his group of followers already served in the tabernacle as part of the tribe of Levi. Now they desired more, wanting to be a part of the priesthood that God had given to Aaron. This is a classic example of greed. They were not only greedy for power in the nation, but they were also not satisfied with what they had been given. They had been specifically chosen by God to carry out some of the duties at the tabernacle, but they were not satisfied so they sought after more prestige. We must be careful to never question the tasks that God has given us or think that they are too small. We all serve a purpose, and God has given us all certain gifts and opportunities in order to serve Him according to His will and for His glory. Instead of being discontent with what we have been given, we should be more focused on using those gifts for His glory (not ours).

Another group from within Korah’s group also brought up the fact that Moses had led them out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness. In one sense this was a false claim, for that was never God’s intentions or Moses’ plans. Moses was only following God’s commands. But when the people rebelled, and God took that privilege away from the Israelites, Moses enforced that command as well. So in a sense, they were going to be left to die in the wilderness, but it was not because Moses had planned on this all along; it was because they rebelled.

The men still wanted to prove that they were more worthy of leading Israel or being the leaders of the priesthood than Moses and Aaron. So Moses asked them to come out the next morning and let God settle it. His glory would shine upon the ones whom He had chosen. God was furious with Korah and his followers and desired once again to just end it all, killing off every Israelite as He had wanted to before. But once again, Moses pleaded that He reconsider so that the other Israelites would not be punished for Korah’s sin. Although they would one day die without seeing the land, Moses asked that this not be that day. God then asked Moses to get everyone away from Korah and his 250 men, and He killed them all on the spot by causing the ground to swallow them alive. He once again made Himself known to the people of Israel and showed them that He had indeed chosen Moses to lead them.

Even after this powerful display of God’s power, for some reason, the people still rebelled. They still could not see or refused to see that God had chosen Moses to lead them, and that He still wanted to be their God. But when they rebelled this third time (all pretty close together), God began to send a plague on them to destroy them all. Now while He did not end up killing off all of Israel, He did kill 14,700 Israelites that day. This should have served as another sign of God’s power, but it still did not bring them back to God. Once again, before we jump on the Israelites for being so blind to the truth, go back and think of how you have rejected God. There are many times in life when we forget what God has done for us, we forget His power, we feel like we can run our lives better than He can, or that we do not need His help in life. During those times, we are living just like the Israelites. Instead of condemning the Israelites, we need to learn from their mistakes, lest we fall into the same sinful pattern.

Matt