Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites–Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth–became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy […] the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”

Numbers 16:1-14

As I now recall, I think it may actually have been the reference to Korah in the New Testament book of Jude that actually spurred me on to more deeply meditate on this passage in Numbers 16. The reference in Jude is one of many Jude makes in his scathing rebuke of certain ungodly men against which he wants to warn those who are “called and beloved” (Jude 1) of God. We’ll take a look at this reference from Jude later.

For now, I want to do one thing–highlight (or at least begin to highlight) how relevant this passage seems to me to be today. Here are some points of relevancy I see (in chronological order as I read through the passage) with regard to our common human (sinful) condition:

  1. Insolence towards authority. (v1)
  2. A shallow, faulty understanding of God’s word. (v3)
  3. Discontented rebellion against God’s word; greed. (v9)
  4. Tolerance of complaining (in oneself and in others). (v11)
  5. A deep-seated sense of entitlement. (v14)

And I am sure there are other points I haven’t mentioned here!

The goal of my reflection here on this passage, spread over the following posts, will not so much be to see what practical thing we might pull out of this passage, but more to paint a picture of the rebellious Korah (along with those who followed him in rebellion) and to see the beautiful contrast that we find in Korah’s sons, his descendants. There is plenty to learn in the contrast!

 

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