Year 7, Day 131: Numbers 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Here we have a really neat chapter.  Of course, by really neat I mean a chapter that sees tens of thousands of people die in spectacular supernatural fashion.  The chapter is neat, but we should not forget that the chapter is also very real and contains very real consequences.  We should learn the lesson, but not relish in the death of the rebellious.

Naturally, it begins in rebellion.  Moses has continued to deal with rebellion after rebellion since they left Egypt.  There was the rebellion about food.  Then there was the rebellion of the Golden Calf.  Then there was the rebellion against the Promised Land.  Human beings often seem to live and promote rebellion.

This rebellion begins where almost all rebellions begin: the truth.  Do you hear what Korah says?  Korah says that the whole nation is holy.  He’s right!  God has separated the Hebrew people from the world.  They are all holy.  Korah absolutely begins in truth.

However, this truth of Korah quickly turns into a lie.  While all the people are holy, the reality is that God does not all call us to do the same task!  While all the Hebrew people are holy, they are not all called to be priests.  Only the sons of Aaron, a small subgroup of the Levites, were called to be priests.  The rest of the Levites had a different purpose.  The rest of the tribes had an even more different purpose.  While all the people are holy, they are not called to the same task.

This is the problem with human beings.  We take the truth and stretch it out to mean what we want it to mean.  Rather than being content with what God is asking of us, we make the truth out to imply what we desire.  That is exactly what Korah is doing here.  He is stretching beyond his means.  He wants the definition of holy to mean that he gets to offer sacrifices as a priest.  God has a different calling for Korah and those who weren’t sons of Levi.

Look at how Moses deals with this rebellion.  Moses could have challenged Korah personally.  He could have made it personal.  He doesn’t, however.  Moses allows God to deal with the situation.  Moses allows God to step into the role of judge.  From my perspective, that is mature spiritual leadership right there.

Unfortunately, the people don’t respect Moses’ maturity.  The rebellion spreads.  Even more people join the rejection of Moses.  God not only kills Korah and his immediately followers, a plague breaks out among the community.  God takes control.

However, look once more at what Moses does.  He tells Aaron to go and save the people.  Instead of relishing the judgment, Moses looks to save the rebellious people!  Again, that is spiritual maturity.  The spiritual leader is always doing damage control because human beings tend to be rather rebellious.

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