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 2and
rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3They 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?”
4When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. 5Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 6You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers 7and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
8Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! 9Isn’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? 10He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. 11It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”
12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! 13Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? 14Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”
15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”
16Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. 17Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” 18So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. 20The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21“Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”
22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”
23Then the LORD said to Moses, 24“Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”
25Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
28Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.”
31As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
Original Meaning
FIGHTING WORDS. Numbers 16 is the most dramatic chapter in a book that is by no means lacking in drama. The Lord’s sentence on the adult generation of Israelites (ch. 14) only temporarily quells notions of revolt. In chapter 16 the “hurricane” of rebellion slams back with climactic force (cf. comments on ch. 15).
The Israelites have previously talked about choosing someone to replace Moses and Aaron (14:4). Now Korah announces his candidacy. A Kohathite Levite, he is closely related to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. With Korah are Dathan, Abiram, and On from the tribe of Reuben (16:1), the oldest son of Jacob/Israel (cf. Gen. 29:32). Since the Reubenites and Kohathites both camp on the south side of the tabernacle (Num. 2:10; 3:29), the tents of the rebel leaders are close to each other.
Backed up by a formidable group of 250 reputable chieftains, Korah and his associates confront (“took [NIV ‘became insolent,’ but cf. text note] . . . and rose up . . . and came as a group against”) Moses and Aaron (16:1–3a) with the fighting words: “You have gone too far!1 The whole community is holy. . . . Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?” (16:3b). The fact that the verb “took” (Qal of lqḥ) in verse 1 has no object has disturbed interpreters for centuries. What does Korah take, along with his associates? The text does not say.2 However, each instance of the same verb in the rest of the story has one or more censers as its object (16:6, 17, 18, 39, 46, 47). The last occurrence (16:47) has Aaron’s censer as the contextually implied object, but the word for “censer” is not expressed, just as “took” has no object in verse 1. So it appears that the lack in verse 1 is an intentional literary strategy to get the reader/listener thinking about what Korah wants to take, which we find out later is the censer of Aaron that represents his high priestly function.3
Korah & Co. have armed themselves with a kind of covenant theology. As the Lord himself said, the whole nation is holy (Ex. 19:6). So how can Moses and Aaron claim higher status and presume to condemn others? The assault on their leadership is mounted by a bloc of factions, whose various political interests and dissatisfactions converge in backlash against condemnation of the adult Israelites,4 which Moses communicated to them (14:39). This time the rebels are not a disorganized mob venting riotous indignation. They are well-organized leaders who are, humanly speaking, qualified to run the nation.
Deadly challenge. Moses responds by challenging the rebels to burn incense in order to test their claim to holiness on a par with that of the Aaronic priests (16:5–7). It is supposed to work like the ritual “litmus test” for a suspected adulteress (see comments on 5:11–31) in the sense that variable results will depend on variable states of persons who come in contact with certain kinds/degrees of holiness.
The test proposed by Moses is deadly dangerous, and his warning (16:7, echoing v. 3) is no empty threat. Even though Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were authorized priests, they perished for offering incense with unauthorized fire (Lev. 10:1–2). What will happen to someone who offers incense if the Lord has not chosen him? He who plays with fire gets burned by it (cf. Num. 3:10, 38—death for encroaching on priestly service)!
Rebuking the rebel Levites with laser-like focus, Moses inversely mirrors the introduction of Korah & Co.: “Is it (too) small for you . . . ?” (16:9, lit. transl.). Is their special work for the Lord so insignificant that they should also seek the priesthood (vv. 9–10)? Moses’ punch line hits the proverbial nail on the head: “It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together” (v. 11). At issue is theocratic leadership of the community.
Refusing Moses’ summons, Dathan and Abiram send an insulting message that begins with language like that which Moses used on Korah: “Is it (too) small that you have brought us up . . . ?” (16:13, lit. transl.). As far as they are concerned, Moses is the problem blocking the way to real progress, as Lucy rails at Charlie Brown:
You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life! You’re in the shadow of your own goal posts! You are a miscue! You are three putts on the eighteenth green! You are a seven-ten split in the tenth frame. . . . You are a missed free throw, a shanked nine iron and a called third strike! Do you understand? Have I made myself clear?5
Dathan and Abiram query: “Will you gouge out the eyes of these men?” (16:14). The two probably include themselves among “these men” (cf. 1 Sam. 29:4, where “the heads of these men” [NASB] means “the heads of our own men” [NIV], including ourselves).6 Gouging out eyes would be severe punishment inflicted by an enemy (cf. Judg. 16:21; 1 Sam. 11:2; 2 Kings 25:7; Jer. 39:7; 52:11). Where do Dathan and Abiram get the idea that Moses himself might be planning to take such vindictive action?—from his announcement of the Lord’s decision that they would not see the land of Canaan (cf. 14:23)?
Moses has put up with a lot in the past, but the outrageous defamations hurled at him by Dathan and Abiram turn him into an anti-intercessor (16:15). This is the only place where the Pentateuch says that Moses was “very angry.”7
Swallowing those who fail to swallow their pride. It is surprising that Korah & Co. show up at the court of the sanctuary the next day for an incense duel with Aaron (16:18). Apparently ambition blinds them to their peril. Predictably, their invocation is provocation. Incensed, the Lord serves notice that he is about to finish off “this assembly,” that is, the entire Israelite community (16:20–21).8
Rather than getting out of the Lord’s way, Moses and Aaron desperately attempt to intercede. Their question of theodicy (justification of God)—“Will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?” (16:22)—is reminiscent of Abraham’s plea for Sodom (Gen. 18:25). In response, the Lord commands Moses to save the majority of the people by isolating the rebel leaders (Num. 16:23–24). To do this, Moses goes to the Reubenite encampment of Dathan and Abiram, who have not been willing to come to him (16:25–27; cf. vv. 12, 14).
Whereas the incense test is between Aaron and the Levites who challenge him over the priesthood, now Moses proposes a test of his own divinely mandated leadership, to which Dathan and Abiram have directed their barbs (16:12–14). This challenge consists of a conditional funeral oration: If the rebel leaders die natural deaths, Moses’ commission from the Lord will be invalidated. If, however, God will (lit.) “create a creation” (noun + Qal of brʾ ) by having the earth swallow them alive, the Israelites will know that these rebels have “treated the LORD with contempt” (16:29–30). In the Bible only God can create (brʾ ). Ironically, this present unprecedented miracle of creation will be for destruction.
The rebels have opened their mouths against the Lord and sought a higher place, but now the earth opens its mouth to gulp them down to a lower place. Loss of any innocent family members who belong to them, such as young children, is punishment on the rebels themselves, not on the innocents.9 Korah’s men (apparently Levites who have joined him in grasping for the priesthood and whose tents are in the Levite area not far away) likewise descend (16:31–33).
The seismic swallowing is all over in seconds. Beholding this horrifying spectacle, like a vision from Dante, and hearing the shrieks of the perishing just before they are muffled and silenced by the heavy crunch of earth closing back over them like slabs over graves, the Israelites run for their lives lest pits of perdition await them too (16:34).
Now that Moses and Aaron are separated from the 250 wannabe priests, who have flunked their test, these men receive their “F” = Fire (16:35), as would be expected from the demise of Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:2).10 Grasping at the supernal, their fate is infernal. As Magonet puts it, “ironically, while those who sought earthly power go down living into the earth, those who sought spiritual power, go up as a burnt offering to heaven.”11 Since the Israelite adults are already condemned to die in the desert, some of them have presumably thought they had nothing more to lose by further provoking the Lord. Think again!
Bridging Contexts
“AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.” Access to an area is limited in proportion to how special it is. If it is a Junior High School furnace room, restrictions may not be too severe, but if it is a nuclear reactor, even employees can count on a thorough security check every day when they come to work.
Some areas, such as the White House and Buckingham Palace, are special because they house special people. Entrance is strictly controlled. You are not permitted to simply stroll up to the President or Queen anytime you wish and strike up a conversation. Several years ago a mentally unbalanced man wandered into the Queen’s private quarters, to the embarrassment of her security forces. Unflustered, she chatted with him to keep him calm, but only until her guards arrived and whisked him away.
If human beings can make places special, what about the divine King? His earthly dwelling in the Israelite camp had authorized personnel (i.e., priests) who were permitted to approach him in certain ways. Others were unauthorized. The Levites enjoyed closer access than other Israelites, but the door of priestly officiation, including burning incense to the Lord, was closed to them. Without the protection of authorized sanctity, Israelites could not survive if they attempted to act as priests any more than firefighters, astronauts, and experts who work with radioactive materials can survive without adequate protection.
Usurping prerogatives of authorized personnel can also be deadly to other people. In the process of destroying themselves, Korah & Co. nearly triggered a catastrophic “meltdown” that could have wiped out their entire nation (Num. 16:20–21). The law that a person who attempted to encroach on priestly officiation should be killed (3:10, 38), that is, by the priestly guard, addressed precisely this danger by calling for lethal preemption of an act that would bring calamity on the community.12 This may sound severe, but perhaps it is a bit more comprehensible in our post-9/11 world: It would be like shooting a suicide attacker before he managed to detonate his bomb or fly into his target.
Moses not only fails to prevent Korah’s brigade of martyrs from offering incense and thereby endangering the community; he commands it (16:5–7, 16–17)! It is practically impossible to imagine that Moses would have initiated this breach of sacred protocol on his own authority. We can only assume that the command has come from the Lord. As at Kibroth Hattaavah, people get what they want and take the consequences (ch. 11). Some insist on finding things out the hard way. Unfortunately, sometimes that is the last mistake they ever make.
Why does God do things that appear contrary to love? This question is a problem because the Bible proclaims that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and his law is based on love (Matt. 22:36–40). We are dealing here with theodicy, that is, justification of God’s character.
Let’s begin with some factors that at least partly explain God’s rigorous treatment of the Israelites. (1) Because they have enjoyed special opportunities for faith by experiencing and benefiting from mighty miracles, such as the plagues on Egypt, deliverance at the Red Sea, manna, and the theophany on Mount Sinai, the Israelites of the Exodus generation have a high level of responsibility to be loyal to the Lord, who has redeemed them from slavery to be his special nation (e.g., Ex. 19:6). Thus, disloyalty is especially serious.
(2) With God’s tabernacle in their midst, the Israelites are privileged with special proximity to his holy Presence (cf. Ex. 25:8). Being that close to awesome divine power is potentially dangerous, especially to those who are not careful to observe the regulations that protect them.
(3) Many years of slavery in a pagan country have taken their toll on the spiritual and moral sensitivity of the Israelites, so they need a firm hand to teach them the difference between right and wrong and to show how to live in harmony with the Lord. The fact that God does not come down as hard on our sins in the present life does not mean that he has revised his attitude toward sin.
Tough discipline is one thing, but what about God’s destruction of human life, such as that which he accomplished by the great Flood, fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, plagues on the Egyptians, death on rebellious Israelites, and divinely sanctioned and empowered genocide against the Canaanites by the Israelites? Since divine retributive justice is more prominent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament, many people do not feel as comfortable with God in the former. However, divine justice is also present in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 5:1–11; 13:8–11), and the magnitude of retribution prophesied in the book of Revelation (e.g., Rev. 14:9–11, 19, 20; 16:1–21; 20:9–15) eclipses anything in the Old Testament. God is the same, and the question about his character is relevant to both Testaments.
The first thing to understand about God’s justice is that it is part of his love. You cannot love someone without providing justice. What use is mercy when your rights are being violated? Justice is the aspect of love that protects the boundaries of well-being around each individual. The close connection between love and justice in the Bible is supported by various passages. (1) In Hosea 10:12 and Proverbs 21:21, ḥesed (“loving-kindness”) is linked to ṣedaqah (“righteousness/rightness”). (2) In Micah 6:8 and Hosea 12:6, ḥesed is closely associated with mišpaṭ (“justice”). (3) God shows ḥesed to people by saving them from unfair disadvantages that come from enemies and other troubles. For example, in Psalm 21:7–8, God’s ḥesed for the Israelite king helps him to be successful against his enemies.
Psalm 21 uncovers a crucial concept: God helps his people by delivering them from oppression. Ultimate deliverance will take place at the final destruction of the wicked by fire (Rev. 20). The only way God can give love, including justice, to his people is by removing those who are hurting them. He cannot help everyone, not because he wants anyone to perish (Ezek. 18:32; John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9), but because many choose to reject the salvation he freely offers to all.
When the Lord destroys the wicked, it is his “strange work [act]” (Isa. 28:21) because he would rather not have to do it. Holding our breath in his hands (Dan. 5:23), he is our life-support system. To those who choose to pull the plug on their own life support, he gives time to change their minds. To those who drag their lives into the “trash,” he gives a second chance, a dialogue box that says: “This God-given and God-redeemed life has mega-value. Are you sure you want to remove it permanently?”
Contemporary Significance
THAT SINKING FEELING. Occasionally a piece of ground in Florida collapses into a massive pit called a “sinkhole.” A sinkhole develops when an underground stream dries up during a drought and fails to continue supporting the ground above it. Anything on the ground, such as pavement, vehicles, or even buildings, can slide into the hole. Needless to say, not being able to trust the earth beneath your feet is unsettling. G. MacDonald draws an analogy:
There are many people whose lives are like one of Florida’s sinkholes. It is likely that at one time or another many of us have perceived ourselves to be on the verge of a sinkhole-like cave-in. In the feelings of numbing fatigue, a taste of apparent failure, or the bitter experience of disillusionment about goals or purposes, we may have sensed something within us about to give way. We feel we are just a moment from a collapse that will threaten to sweep our entire world into a bottomless pit. Sometimes there seems to be little that can be done to prevent such a collapse. What is wrong?13
MacDonald goes on to point out that under the surface of our lives is an inner space, our private world, and “if neglected this private world will not sustain the weight of events and pressures that press upon it.”14 An underground stream dries up gradually, but a sinkhole occurs rapidly. Similarly, neglect of inner order and strength over a period of time can result in a sudden depression. A surface veneer of accomplishments and success may look impressive, but it is not sufficient to sustain its own weight if life has a hollow core.
With Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, symbolic and literal sinkholes come together. With impressive credentials, forceful personalities, and powerful political support, they are outwardly strong. But beneath the visible surface, by contrast with Moses, they lack the support of a spiritual connection to Israel’s God. They are already sunk before they literally sink.
It is easy to point at Korah & Co. with horror and disgust, affirming that we would never have a falling away as they did. Indeed, the drama of their last moments would be a tough act to follow, but the subsurface cause of their failure gives us pause because we too can neglect the private inner world where our spiritual connection to God resides. Rather than wait for that sinking feeling, when we do something irreparably stupid, it is better to replenish our subterranean aquifers from the Source that supports the ground of our being.
Confidence in leaders. One day, Confucius was asked by one of his disciples about the ingredients of good government. His answer: “Sufficient food, sufficient weapons, and the confidence of the common people.”
“But,” asked the disciple, “suppose you had no choice but to dispense with one of those three, which would you forego?”
“Weapons,” said Confucius.
His disciple persisted: “Suppose you were then forced to dispense with one of the two that are left, which would you forego?”
Replied Confucius, “Food. For from of old, hunger has been the lot of all men, but a people that no longer trusts its rulers is lost indeed.”15
The Israelites were lost indeed because they did not trust their leaders—Moses, Aaron, and above all, the Lord. Without the Lord, their time of freedom in the desert would be nothing but the long, hard, blood-stained road from Egypt to Egypt. After all the liberty and divine blessings they had enjoyed, they preferred their old, predictable life of grinding bondage under Pharaoh, who gave them a short leash and a long lash.
It is easy to mistrust a leader because no leader can satisfy the interests of every individual in a group. If my concept of an adequate leader is someone who will watch out for my specific interests, I am bound to be disappointed. But there is hope for trust if I can subsume my interests under those of the group. A good leader seeks our best good.
Moses was watching out for the well-being of Israel, all right, but he defined Israel as a unified nation under God rather than a mere collection of individuals and groups. The infant nation could only survive if this unity were maintained, so disruptive rebellion had to go. Unfortunately, discipline of divisive individuals proved to be a “Catch-22”: It was necessary to maintain unity, but when the community did not accept it, the discipline itself was divisive.
Exercising wise discipline is one of the most difficult tasks of a leader. However, rather than putting all the onus on him or her, a community should accept responsibility to understand the relevant issues and support a minister who seeks to administer redemptive discipline according to God’s principles. One pastor sought to do this in a clear case, but his congregation refused to back him because there had never been such an attempt in that church in living memory. Rather than coming together on their knees to follow biblical teaching to a higher level of corporate commitment, they were stuck in their artificial tradition, as if their mistake was somehow sanctified by repetition.
Naturally, there are always people who think they can do a better job than a given leader. It is much easier to theorize how one would do things than to deal with actual complexity and stress, which involves a constantly changing stream of cause and effect in real time.
In Angwin, California, a woodpecker was vigorously working on the base of a Ponderosa pine tree. Along came a blue jay, which arrogantly chased the woodpecker away. Then the jay commenced pecking in the very spot where the woodpecker had been boring for insects. However, because the blue jay lacked the right equipment—a jackhammer beak—he soon gave up and flew away. The lesson was clear: Don’t criticize others and try to shove them aside when they may be doing better than you could!