Numbers 16

Korah’s Rebellion

16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”

And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses.

But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.

(ESV)

Numbers 16 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Numbers 16 is part of a much bigger picture of Moses’ leadership of Israel. This rollercoaster of leading the Israelites toward the Promised Land had many twists and turns. If we go all the way back to the beginning of Exodus, we find that the relationship between Moses and Israel was dramatic, complicated, and tumultuous.

• Exodus 4 – At first, the Israelites rallied behind Moses.
• Exodus 5 – In the next chapter, Pharaoh ramped up their labor, and the people lost faith in Moses.
• Exodus 12 – Passover comes, and they are seemingly freed from Egypt. Moses is celebrated.
• Exodus 14 – But, of course, that quickly dissipated after Pharoah’s army began to pursue them and it seemed they were trapped between the army and the Red Sea. Moses is once again the target of their criticism.
• Exodus 14 – With God’s help, Moses parts the Red Sea for Israel and closes it on the Egyptians. Moses was their hero!
• Exodus 16 – But once again, it was short-lived as they began wandering and become hungry. It was all Moses’ fault… again.
• Exodus 17 – Manna fell from the sky and Moses was back in their good graces… until they got thirsty and actually threatened to stone Moses.
• Exodus 18 – The complaining Israelites were again wearing Moses out with their whining and disputes.
• Exodus 32 – Then Moses famously went to Mount Sinai with God. The people had zero confidence in him at this point and decided a golden calf would be better.
• Numbers 11 – The old miracle manna got boring and Moses finally cried out to God: “I am not able to carry all these people alone! If you will treat me like this, kill me at once.” God, in His grace, gave Moses elders to assist him.
• Numbers 12 – The plummet continued as Miriam and Aaron (his own brother and sister) publicly opposed Moses because of his interracial marriage.
• Numbers 14 – The twelve spies’ presented their “Promised Land Report” which drew threats from the people to demote Moses and Aaron and stone Joshua and Caleb.

What a nightmare! Can you imagine this kind of leadership journey? This history sets the table for Korah and his minions to rise up against Moses. After all of the ups and downs, Korah believes that the time has come for mutiny.

Who Was Korah?

Korah was not a lay-worshipper. He was a fellow Levite and a first cousin to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. He was of equal rank with Aaron within the tribe of Levi, though, Aaron was called by God as the first High Priest and Korah would have been a gatekeeper for the tabernacle.

The point is, Korah was not just another Israelite. He was charismatic, persuasive, and well-liked. This is why he was so influential. These 250 men who followed him were not just Israelites, but “esteemed men” or “men of renown.” So ultimately what is their beef with Moses and Aaron?

They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the LORD, and the LORD is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the LORD’s community?” [4] When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed.

Numbers 16:3-4 GNB

Moses’ Response

Korah gathers a crowd and challenges Moses’ authority. This was a position, ironically, that Moses neither wanted nor chose, but I love Moses’ response. He first goes directly into prayer.

He doesn’t engage with these accusations and he doesn’t fire back at Korah pointing out his character flaws. In fact, he doesn’t even answer him right away. This is an easy text to over-spiritualize, but in reality, how many of us are tempted to immediately fire back out of anger instead of disengaging and going into prayer?

Korah is a Levite but he believes he should be able to be a priest and offer sacrifices. Dathan, Abiram, and On also take issue with Moses’ leadership and they join the rebellion. Moses’ response redirects Korah to the true authority. In actuality, they had a problem with God and the authority structure He had designed. So, since the problem was directed at God, Moses would set up a test where God would be the judge.

Each year on the Day of Atonement the high priest took a censer of coals from the blazing altar where animals were sacrificed, and together with these burning coals on a small, shovel-like censer, the high priest took two handfuls of sweet incense beaten into fine granules. He passed through the holy place beyond the veil into the holy of holies. There he put the incense upon the flaming coals before God.

Moses has given the Korah and his wannabe priests a priestly duty and the rest of the congregation will wait and see if God accepts their sacrifice. Ultimately, Moses establishes a test but it will be God who fights the battle.

Rebellion against human authority often means there’s rebellion against spiritual authority as well. Korah and Moses do not see authority the same way. Korah sees it as personal gain while Moses sees it as service to God. How do you see authority? Is it just a prestigious title? Is it another accomplishment under your belt? Or, is it an opportunity to serve?

The Test

We read in verse 19 that all the congregation has been assembled against them (which I’m assuming means Moses and Aaron) at the doorway of Korah’s tent. I’m interpreting that as new people who have been persuaded by Korah to come check this out or possibly join him. So now, the entire congregation is there surrounding the tent.

God tells Aaron and Moses to step back from the community of people because He’s going to destroy them. This triggers these two leaders to intercede for the lives of the people who have been swept up by the rebellion.

But Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, you are the source of all life. When one of us sins, do you become angry with the whole community?” [23] The LORD said to Moses, [24] “Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

Numbers 16:22-24 GNB

It is here we get a glimpse of the love that Moses and Aaron have for their flock, but also for the grace of God, who, after hearing their prayer, tells the two men to get the congregation away from Korah and his 250 followers. After Moses draws back the people, he makes this profound speech stating that if these men are against God, He will certainly swallow them up. No sooner than he finishes this speech, the earth opens, and Korah and his rebels are swallowed up.

What can we learn from this? As Christians, when we come under attack and we must seek God. It’s hard. It requires discernment, trust, perseverance, and patience. For those of us with natural abilities, it’s difficult to harness that desire to fix it ourselves. It’s difficult to allow the Korah’s of the world to spout off half-truths in our face. It’s even more difficult when we know their motives are impure and when they are ultimately slandering the God whom we love.

However, the message is clear. Let the Lord fight the battle. It may be that the Lord prompts you to personally confront, and that’s great because we have a model for that in Scripture (Matthew 18). However, it may be that the Lord prompts you to put forth a test like Moses did, or, to simply disengage and move on. If God has a promise for you or your ministry, He will be the One to eliminate the hindrance to fulfilling that promise. The key to the success of Moses and Aaron as leaders was their willingness to serve the people (even in the harsh times) and their obedience to prayer.