Numbers 16:1, commentary and pictures

The verse names the ringleaders who banded together against Moses and Aaron, Korah the Levite of Kohath and Izhar, with Dathan and Abiram and On of Reuben through Eliab and Peleth, who took and gathered men with them in deliberate conspiracy. Korah, though already connected with the tabernacle service, was dissatisfied and sought the priesthood, while the Reubenites claimed chief civil rule belonged to them as descendants of Jacob's eldest son and joined him to share priestly honor and force a change in God's established order. Their movement was driven by jealousy, envy, pride and selfish ambition for position, charging Moses and Aaron with exalting themselves while claiming the whole congregation was equally holy and favored. To rise thus against God's appointed leaders was to rebel against Jehovah Himself and against Christ the invisible Leader, repeating Lucifer's complaint against God's government under Satan's working of envy, distrust and self-exaltation. The history is faithfully chronicled for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, especially warning God's people near the close of time against imitating it by opposing those entrusted with His work and rallying the disaffected in discord.

Leaders and Their Gathering

The verse names the ringleaders as Korah the Levite, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, who took men and gathered them with them into rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Korah led the faction, while Dathan, Abiram and On as Reubenites joined him, and together they drew a company to challenge the authority of Moses and Aaron on the claim that all the congregation was entitled to share it.

Korah was already connected with the service of the tabernacle, being a Kohathite Levite and cousin of Moses assigned to its service, but he was dissatisfied with his position and sought the priesthood. God had established Moses as chief governor and had given the priesthood to Aaron and his sons, the appointment of Aaron's family stirring jealousy because the priestly role had formerly belonged to the firstborn in each family, and Korah determined to compel Moses to change that order so he himself might be raised to its dignity. To make his purpose more sure he drew Dathan and Abiram into his rebellion.

Dathan and Abiram and their Reubenite associates reasoned that as descendants of Jacob's eldest son the chief civil authority belonged to them and that Moses had usurped it. With Korah they were resolved to obtain the office of the priesthood, seeking to share its honors with him, while Korah and other Levites already entrusted with service at the tabernacle sought greater influence.

With them were two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown and of strong influence, and still others beyond the named leaders, for the rebellion extended to far more than two men. These men of renown were also determined to have a share in the priesthood and the government, and with such supporters the leaders felt sure of making a radical change in the order of things, thinking they could transform the government of Israel and greatly improve it over its present administration. Unlike earlier spontaneous popular uprisings, this was a deliberate, planned conspiracy to overthrow God-appointed authority.

Before acting openly they worked secretly and in darkness, Korah being rebellious at heart and secretly working against Moses in the congregation even after Miriam had been made an example as a warning to rebels. They drew people to their side by presenting matters in a distorted light, taking a budget of falsehoods and enmity and evil-surmisings to gain sympathy by false representations, complaining and influencing the people to stand with them, alienating sympathies and winning confidence until the people believed them. In this way they succeeded in alienating the two hundred and fifty princes and involving the congregation in jealousy, suspicion and hatred against Moses.

God's judgment destroyed the leaders and princes, and those who took part with them died before the Lord by plague. Yet the survivors still accused Moses of killing the Lord's people, showing how profoundly a spirit of rebellion deceives the mind. Nearly forty years later at Kadesh, when water failed, the thirsting multitude murmured against Moses and Aaron and wished they had died when their brethren died before the Lord, forgetting His long supply of water from the rock. Afterward Israel recognized the wrong of accusing Moses and Aaron, confessed that they had rebelled against the Lord, and acknowledged that Korah and his company had sinned against the Lord and justly suffered His judgment.

Motives and False Charges

The rebellion named in Numbers 16:1 began as jealousy over Moses' position as ruler, which grew into envy and discontent and then broke out into open rebellion. It was driven by pride and selfish ambition for position and honor, by desire for self-exaltation, and by resentment at being second. At its secret root was unwillingness to submit to the Lord's directions and restrictions and to receive reproof, a restlessness under restraint. Had the murmurers been left free to do as they pleased, there would have been fewer complaints against their leader.

They talked about Moses' place as ruler until they imagined it a very enviable position that any of them could fill as well as he. They charged Moses and Aaron with exalting themselves above the congregation by taking priesthood and government to their house alone, claimed Moses had no special authority to lead, and argued that the whole congregation was holy, no more and no less holy than its leaders, and equally favored with God's peculiar presence and protection. They were resolved to obtain the priesthood and a share in the government, determined to compel a change in the order God had established. With strong and influential men on their side they felt sure of making a radical change, thinking they could transform the government of Israel and greatly improve its administration over the present order, a selfish and conceited effort to improve on God's plans and reject His order.

They stubbornly judged their own opinions superior to Moses', believed he was doing Israel great injury, and deceived themselves into thinking themselves righteous. In that delusion they regarded those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. Their course shows that work driven by self will not endure, while only work done in God lasts, so that disaffection and opposition cannot destroy a work that is of God.

Rebellion Against God Himself

To rise against Moses and Aaron in Numbers 16:1 was to rebel against Jehovah Himself and to reject God as leader by rejecting the men of His appointment. The Lord had laid special responsibilities upon Moses and Aaron, selecting them for the priesthood and conferring upon them the dignity and authority of leading the congregation of Israel. Moses was God's appointed visible leader, bound to Israel through seasons of peril and bearing their discontent, jealousies, and murmurings without retaliation and without seeking release from his trying place. Their murmuring and taking of men was therefore blasphemy against God, yet they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan.

They believed they were opposing only a human leader and serving God, but by treating Moses as merely a human leader and failing to trust and obey God they rejected Christ, the invisible true leader whose presence went before Israel and conducted all their travels and from whom Moses received his directions through the Angel, who was Christ. In rejecting Moses they rejected Christ and insulted and did despite to the Spirit of God. Their work was wrought by satanic agencies though called the Holy Spirit, for Christ came to put down rebellion, not to aid Satan in working it up, and being separated from God and no longer under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit they acted out the attributes of Satan in oppression of fellow men, an influence contrary to truth and justice and righteousness.

Satan worked upon their minds to infuse envy and discontent, to arouse the desire for self-exaltation, and to excite distrust and rebellion. What began with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram repeated on a narrower stage the same spirit that led Lucifer to complain against the government of God and seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven. Their rebellion arose from Satan's deception and was a willing choice, made after they placed themselves under Satan's influence.

Their course was genuine rebellion and apostasy, extended far beyond two men to include Korah, Dathan, and Abiram with two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown, and genuine rebellion of this kind is hardly ever curable. By rejecting light and evidence they forfeited all right to claim that their power and voice should be respected as the voice of God. To be left as they were is to be left by God to fall into the ditch, to walk not in the light of the Lord but in the sparks of their own kindling, and to lie down in darkness, and whoever joins himself with such rebellion and follows leaders who walk against God's leading imperils his soul. Their guilt before God was confirmed by the later sign of Aaron's rod showing that God had chosen Aaron's house, especially vindicating Aaron's priesthood against their challenge, and the rebels and those who joined them justly suffered His judgment.

Warning Written for Admonition

The history with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history because it was written for instruction and admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, as a warning not to follow the example of unbelief shown when Korah, Dathan and Abiram rose up before Moses with two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. It is to be carefully studied with prayerful reflection and genuine repentance rather than repeating their unwise course, as instruction timely for protecting God's people from error. That study tests leaders by their fruits instead of being easily led astray, teaching the church to distinguish the false from the genuine and to distinguish the voice of the true Shepherd from that of a stranger. The rebellion was worked by satanic agencies though called the Holy Spirit, for Christ came to put down rebellion not to aid Satan in working it up, and those in it work secretly and in darkness instead of coming as Christ told them to the ones they have any matter against, taking a budget of falsehoods and enmity and evil-surmisings and satanic representations to gain sympathy by false representations as Satan did to the fellow angels under him, with a leader as the life and soul of the rebellion he has instigated who has apostatized from the truth as a secessionist. The verse means that even honored workers can fall into self-exaltation, jealousy, and ambition for credit and honor, thinking themselves equal to God's appointed leader and a very essential part of the whole and feeling the leader should not have all the honor, which warns against cherishing self-originated feelings of superiority and second-place resentment and teaches dependence on God rather than self, with meekness and humility rather than claiming recognition.

It stands especially as a warning to God's people near the close of time, when Satan leads persons to imitate the example of Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On and the company they took in rebellion against Moses and Aaron and therefore against Jehovah, by raising insurrection among the people of God. Those who rise in opposition to plain testimony become self-deceived, thinking those on whom God laid the burden of the work exalt themselves and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for, and they oppose the plain testimony God would have borne in rebuking wrongs among God's people. Resistance to reproof can be driven by self-indulgence, including hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff and tobacco, so that when conviction conflicts with appetite many choose self-indulgence, believe the testimony false, and war against the testimonies. When the rebellious unfurl their banner all the disaffected rally around it, and the spiritually defective, the lame, the halt, and the blind unite to scatter and sow discord in a faction that spreads discord. Their guilt before God was confirmed by the later sign of Aaron's rod showing God had chosen Aaron's house, and the rebels and those who joined them justly suffered His judgment.

The verse shows what fearful deception comes upon the human mind and how hard it is to convince souls imbued with a spirit not of God. Korah, Dathan and Abiram were stubborn in their own opinions, decided their judgment was better than that of Moses, claimed Moses had no special authority to lead Israel, and charged Moses with doing great injury to Israel. Even after God in marked judgment destroyed the leaders and the princes and swallowed up the wrongdoers, those united with them remained set in their opinions, fled in horror yet still sympathized with the wrongdoer, and the next morning accused Moses of killing the people of the Lord. Such disaffection develops among God's people when ministers and workers fail to deal faithfully with wrongdoers, guard the interests of God's cause, and lift truth from stigma and reproach, and the history warns those who claim to believe the truth not to judge from human feeling, not to charge the reprover with an unkind spirit, and not to stand between the offender and God when the disagreeable duty of correcting the erring is done, but to hold their peace and let the arrows of the Almighty fall where He directs to pierce souls that have little sense of sin. Care is needed in what positions are taken because this is God's work and account must be rendered to Him for the manner in which His message is treated, though afterward the Israelites recognized that they had wrongly accused Moses and Aaron, confessed that they had rebelled against the Lord, and acknowledged that Korah and his company had sinned against the Lord and justly suffered His judgment.

The experience of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, whose pride and ambition led them toward rebellion against God's order, will be repeated and stands as a pattern that can recur throughout history even to the close of time. It is repeated when criticism and faultfinding lead people to distrust and oppose those God is teaching and guiding, through a spirit of self-esteem, false accusation, and resistance to the discipline of God's Word, which can undermine others' faith and bring grave consequences. In that repetition people create confusion, misinterpret and misapply God's warnings, and twist Scripture to try to support their own theories. Their rebellion and the blindness and deception of those who followed them warn against following leaders who betray sacred trust.

Lessons for Church Life

The record of Korah and his companions shows why those entrusted with the Lord's work must act decisively against evil, and it stands as a warning that persistent resistance to divine guidance and refusal to change bring dishonor and judgment. To go on year after year doing according to one's own mind and judgment while refusing to hear the voice of the Lord is to stand on that same dangerous ground.

It warns against accusing and condemning those entrusted with sacred responsibilities, turning aside counsel to suit self, lessening confidence in testimonies, reproaching laborers who bore the burden of bringing out truth, and drawing away from the people and agents being led. That work wins confidence only to betray it, gaining sympathizers and then sowing doubt against those who should be trusted. It means speaking hasty, unadvised words, fostering self-esteem, feeling misused, bearing false witness against brethren, leavening minds with distrust, weakening faith in divine instrumentalities, questioning and doubting those being taught, guided and led, planting a seed of doubt hard to uproot, showing no confidence in fellow ministers, and opening the way for distrust, envy and evil-surmising, so that all who yield to complaint, doubt and distrust share the same experience. The same spirit draws others into disaffection against divine order and leads into darkness.

It is the pattern for setting self against light, resisting appointed messengers and the message they bring, refusing to investigate evidence candidly, calling light darkness and darkness light, rejecting truth as error, resisting those seeking to do the divine will, and despising reproof. So determined resistance to evidence, prideful resistance to light, contempt for the word and insult to the Spirit were seen again in opposition at Rochester, where leaders united against those bearing light, and at Minneapolis. In that application, rejecting the truths of the third angel's message repeats their rebellion.

Those who refuse testimonies and labor to make them of none effect are deceived while deceiving others, strengthening the hands and minds of many who quote them and are led by them. To be found among such gainsayers now is to strengthen the gainsayer, unsettle minds and faith, sow impressions of unbelief that cannot be removed even if faith is recovered, do the very work of Satan as was done at Minneapolis, and answer in this time of peril whether faith will be found on the earth at Christ's coming. In the day of final accounts they must meet not only their own actions but the result of that influence upon other minds, which stands charged against them in the books of heaven.

Assailing fellow workers, presenting them in a ridiculous light, charging them unjustly with guilt of many sins, undermining confidence in brethren and sisters once trusted until the people think them no longer worthy of love and fellowship, creates sentiments that cut off influence, makes false impressions, causes dissension, creates false sympathy, leads others into the same error and endangers souls, and such a work arising in the very midst of the people is an offense to God. It must not be met with silence but met openly, by calling accusers to bring proof on every point, carefully investigating every charge, undeceiving the people so they are not left in uncertainty believing a lie that may be or may not be, and removing the filthy garments of unsubstantiated reproach from the servant.

The party exemplifies separating from the community, drawing away from the church, accusing fellow believers, using others' errors to advance self and personal ideas, putting self-interest first, setting up personal opinions, and striving for first place for personal advantage without regard for the work. The same traits appear when managers seek to control others, when workers oppress one another and one institution seeks to control all others, when men with weighty responsibilities have no living connection with God and act out oppression contrary to truth, justice and righteousness, doing despite to the Holy Spirit despite repeated warnings cast aside. It clings as a corrupt influence in mild religious garb while at war with the work and despising visions, threatens to sever all connection with brethren and seeks to force consent to its terms by fear, develops criticism, finds mistakes and talks to make it appear mistakes exist where guidance is present, until thoughts and attitudes are in every way converted to work in Christ's lines.