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There’s a difference between an “argument to Heaven” and an “argument to man.” In the former, we are showing a person how their conduct contradicts God’s word. In the latter, we are trying to dominate the other person. We want the person to accept us as an authority, rather than pointing one to accept God’s authority.
What is the goal? To gain influence or to come closer to God. Even if our “argument to Heaven” is not executed perfectly, if the conclusion of the matter brings both parties closer to God’s will, it has accomplished a righteous goal. We see this lived out in the tragic rebellion of recorded in Torah reading קֹרַח Korach (Korah; Numbers 16–18).
There are four rebellious persons mentioned by name: Korach, Dathan, Abiran and On. Then there were 250 additional men or “princes.” We have met some of these 250 men before.
Korach coveted a status and position that did not belong to him. He separated himself from the community while at the same time claiming to be the one who was appointed by God to gather the children of Israel up. He wanted the “glory” of the priesthood but he did not want the responsibility. The words that came out of Korach’s mouth brought about death, for himself and all who followed him. We can juxtapose this with Aaron, whose position Korach coveted. Aaron’s words and actions saved many lives.
Some of the 70 men who Moses summoned and dispersed his spirit upon to help share his burden of leading the people are among these 250 rebellious men or “princes.” There were also tribal leaders in this group. These were important people. This was not a small time rebellion.
The argument against Moses and Aaron was:
“They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”” (Numbers 16:3 NASB)
Korach is using the right words, but his motives are utterly wrong. Moses has heard this argument before.
“He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?” But he said, “Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”” (Exodus 2:13–14 NASB)
Both Korach and the guilty aggressor in Egypt deflected and redirected their blame for their own sin and placed it on Moses.
“As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. “The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”” (Exodus 14:10–14 NASB)
Moses has put up the children of Israel complaining against him for decades, many times for things that God was actually doing and so he frequently would redirect the people’s attention to God as the source.
“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.
There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”” (Exodus 15:22–26 NASB)
“The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. “On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?” Moses said, “This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”” (Exodus 16:2–8 NASB)
The truth of the matter is that it is easier to blame other people for our situation, whether it’s our parents, siblings, government, etc., than to acknowledge that God allows us to suffer through things to improve us. It’s also easier for unrepentant people to blame God (or others) for their distress than themselves.
Even in the incident of the golden calf, the people were blaming Moses for their desire to replace God with an idol to lead them. Moses wasn’t even there when they build and worshiped the calf, yet they blamed him for it.
“Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.” (Numbers 11:1–3 NASB)
We don’t know what they were complaining about but I’m guessing that they were complaining about the difficulty of tearing down and setting up their camp, as we see in Numbers 10.
“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam…” (Numbers 12:1–5 NASB)
God defended Moses against Miriam and Aaron’s accusations even though God did not command Moses to marry the Ethiopian woman. Moses’s new wife was merely the most convenient excuse at the time they could used to diminish Moses and lift themselves up.
When God punished Miriam for her gossiping, Aaron appealed to Moses rather than God. Moses had to direct Aaron to God. Moses is trying to teach the people to take their cares to God rather than going to him all the time.
When the 12 spies returned from their sojourn in the Promised Land, 10 of them said a bad report, while only two had a faithful report. The people again grumbled and criticized Moses and Aaron for bringing them out of Egypt. But this time, it’s Joshua and Caleb who redirect their attention to God.
“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. “If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us — a land which flows with milk and honey. “Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”” (Numbers 14:5–9 NASB)
The people of Israel were so upset at the truth that Joshua and Caleb were saying that they were ready to stone them for telling the truth.
Korach learned the lesson after two years. This is only about two years after the Exodus. They had spent the first year building the elements of the tabernacle.
Korach is Moses and Aaron’s first cousin. He is a very close relative. Korach was not content with his position, coveting Aaron’s job. Some say that Korach had created his own tabernacle but I don’t think so. Korach wanted the real one.
Korach separated himself from the community, little by little, exalting himself and claiming that God was on his side.
Originally when God selected Israel from all the nations, He set Israel apart. But he also set apart Israel’s first born, which He later swaps with the tribe of Levi. From the entire tribe of Levi, he chooses Aaron as High Priest. God is making all these decisions along the way.
It wasn’t until the budding of Aaron’s staff that the people finally understood that Aaron did not gain his position by nepotism. God gave Aaron that position, not Moses.
Korach looked at Aaron’s life as a life of honor and status but he didn’t see that Aaron’s job was a job of great personal sacrifice.
Korach uses Moses words against him. Korach decides to flip Moses’ argument by claiming that God is with him and the people and against Moses and Aaron. Korach’s argument is that Moses and Aaron are usurping God’s authority and doing stuff on their own.
This false accusation distresses Moses and Aaron very much. Moses proposes a test: Korach and all his Levite followers were to bring their censers and burn incense before the Lord. The incense they burned in the censers were symbolic of prayers.
Don’t forget that the incident with Aaron’s two oldest son’s when they brought strange fire before the Lord and were burned up and consumed.
Korach should have thought twice before going along with this proposal, but he went along with it. God ended up consuming the 250 rebellious Levites just as he had with Aaron’s sons a year or so before.
When the ground swallowed Korach and his fellow rebels, God was simply acknowledging the fact that Korach and the other rebels had separated themselves from the people first.
The next day, a plague came upon the people when they blame Moses and Aaron for the deaths of the rebellious Levites. Aaron used the same tool that had killed the 250 men to save the lives of those who were falling victim to the plague. The same tool that can bring life or death, depending on who is wielding it.
We see here that prayers can bring life or death. Prayers are spoken, they come out of the mouth. What we say matters. What comes out of us matters.
Korach’s mouth brought about death, but the people blamed Moses and Aaron for the deaths of the 250, not Korach and the rebels.
Korach’s goal was to bring slander, dishonor and death on Moses and Aaron but it boomeranged on him instead. God wiped out the slanderers decisively.
Moses didn’t ask God before he called on Korach’s rebels to bring their censers to meet with God. Moses didn’t ask God first before calling for Korach and his rebels to die an unnatural death. Moses knew the purpose of the censer. Korach, who wanted to replace Aaron, had no idea what it was really for and wielded it with slander and falsehood.
Solomon wrote down many proverbs warning us not to keep company with those who want to be wicked, because wickedness pulls you in and away from God.
“And the sons of Israel spoke to Moyses, saying, “Behold, we have been completely destroyed; we are lost; we are totally ruined. Everyone who touches the tent of the Lord dies—are we to die totally?”” (Numbers 17:12–13 NETS)
This, I believe, is the reason for Korach’s rebellion. Korach and his cohorts wanted to replace Moses and Aaron so they will have a new path and so they won’t have to die in the wilderness. They wanted to get out of their 40 year sentence.
We never hear a word out of this generation again. There’s a 38 year gap between Numbers 17 and Numbers 20. There was no parole, no pardon for this sentence. In dying, they were going to die in the wilderness and largely in silence.
The goal of Korach’s rebellion was to pin their guilt on Moses and Aaron and undo the sentence God placed on them. They have complained 10 times too many and God was tired of it.
“So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.” (Numbers 18:1 NASB)
This is what Korach did not understand. He wanted the “glory” of the priesthood but he did not want the responsibility. We are used to bearing responsibility for ourselves or our children. Bearing responsibility for the sins of the entire community is something we can’t comprehend but God placed that on Aaron and his descendants. It’s not a role to be envied or coveted. Being sorry doesn’t undo the consequences of a mistake.
Summary: Tammy
Banner Graphic: A word cloud created at wordclouds.com, using the most important words and themes of Parashat Korach.