Numbers 16:2, commentary and pictures

The verse describes Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rising up before Moses with certain of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. Those two hundred and fifty were not weak or uninformed followers, but prominent, respected rulers and leaders of influence who had been entrusted with sacred responsibilities. Their rising came from pride and ambition for position and honor, with envy, jealousy, discontent, and desire for self-exaltation. To rise up against Moses and Aaron in this way was rebellion against the Lord Himself, who had chosen and authorized them. Their renown and standing did not make their cause right or shield them from judgment, and the account stands as a fearful example and admonition for later generations.

Rebels and Their Standing

The rising was by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, standing up openly before Moses. It was open rebellion against divinely appointed leadership, a fearful example of how the rebellious will be punished, and their renown and position did not make their cause right or shield them from judgment. They had been entrusted with work for God but became proud and rebellious, and their uprising was grave sin and a warning to the congregation. They took a firm stand to undermine Moses and Aaron by setting matters before the people in a perverted light with false representations that Moses and Aaron were altogether wrong, and the people believed them and honestly thought they were right until the result testified who was right and who was wrong. They joined the effort to overturn the order God had established and to seek greater authority, including the priesthood.

The two hundred and fifty were not weak or uninformed people, but prominent, respected rulers and leaders in Israel, men generally of good judgment and influence whose counsel had often been sought in difficult matters. They were men God had entrusted with sacred responsibilities and work for God, widely respected in the congregation, and wicked men found many sympathizers among such leaders. Their standing did not make their opposition right, for they became leaders in jealousy, suspicion, and hatred that brought God's displeasure, being affected by a wrong influence so that though they offered incense they became envious, jealous, and rebellious. Again and again Israel was afflicted with such rebellious murmurers who were not persons of feeble influence but men of renown, rulers who turned against God's providential leadings and fiercely set to work to tear down what they had once zealously built up. It is unsafe to lean upon some favorite minister and trust in an arm of flesh, for God's arm alone can uphold all who lean upon it. Their status did not keep them from being swayed and joining resistance to Moses and Aaron.

Korah was a Kohathite Levite and cousin of Moses, connected with the service of the tabernacle, but he was not satisfied with his position and was determined to be exalted to the priesthood which God had given to Aaron and his sons. God had established Moses as chief governor, yet Korah determined to compel a change in that order so he would be raised to the dignity of the priesthood. Dathan and Abiram were descendants of Reuben who reasoned that chief authority belonged to them as the line of Jacob's eldest son, charging Moses with usurping it and claiming civil authority through that descent while also seeking a share in priestly honors. To be more sure of accomplishing his purpose Korah drew Dathan and Abiram into rebellion with him, and with them was resolved to obtain the priesthood. The two hundred and fifty joined them because they also were determined to have a share in the priesthood and the government and to compel a change in God's order.

The uprising was a deliberate, planned, organized conspiracy and open revolt against appointed leaders, not merely a sudden popular disturbance by an excited crowd. Korah was rebellious at heart and worked secretly against Moses before it openly developed, though the punishment of Miriam stood as a warning against such rebellion. Korah and his associates publicly accused Moses and Aaron of claiming authority that they said the congregation was entitled to share. It involved influential, prominent men from Israel's assembly who sought to overthrow that authority, and the account was recorded as a warning for later generations, with rebellion and apostasy to be named plainly.

Having such strong and influential princes on their side gave the conspirators confidence that they could make a radical change and greatly improve the administration. They began by working upon men God had entrusted with sacred responsibilities and succeeded in alienating the two hundred and fifty princes famous in the congregation, men of renown. With these strong and influential men on their side the rebels felt sure of transforming the government of Israel and greatly improving its present administration. Their number and standing strengthened the hands of evildoers and helped spread disaffection through the congregation.

Motives and Methods

The rising came from pride and ambition for position and honor, with envy, jealousy, discontent, distrust, and desire for self-exaltation and to be first. Those who rose had been entrusted with work but failed in duty, and they talked about the position of Moses as ruler until they imagined it a very enviable place that any of them could fill as well as he. Their jealousy grew into envy and then into open revolt for a share in the priesthood and the government, with a desire for credit and honor and the feeling that they were equal to Moses and an essential part of the whole who should not leave him all the honor.

Its secret cause was unwillingness to submit to the directions and restrictions of the Lord and unwillingness to receive reproof. The princes and people were restless under restraint, and had they been left free to do as they pleased there would have been fewer complaints against their leader. In that discontent they deceived themselves into believing Moses and Aaron had raised and exalted themselves above the people and placed themselves in the offices they occupied. They charged that all the people were holy and no more unholy than they, that all were equally favored with God's peculiar presence and protection, so the priesthood and government should not be conferred on that house alone but it was sufficient to be on a level with their brethren.

They took a firm stand and labored to undermine Moses and Aaron and to make God's messages through His servants of none effect. They set matters before the people in a perverted light with false representations that Moses and Aaron were all wrong, strengthening the hands and minds of other opposers who quote them and spread their influence to a vast number. The people believed them and honestly thought the rebels were right. Rebellion is known by working secretly and in darkness, refusing to go directly to the one against whom anything is held, and instead carrying falsehoods, enmity, evil-surmisings, and satanic misrepresentations to gain sympathy, as Satan did with the angels under him.

The experience came from yielding to feeling misused, listening to the reasonings of the enemy and passing them on, bearing false witness and leavening minds with distrust and weakening faith in God's instrumentalities. Questioning and doubting those whom God is teaching, guiding, and leading plants a seed of doubt hard to uproot and gives Satan advantage to create distrust, envy, and evil-surmising. That danger is especially great when ministers manifest no confidence in their ministering brethren, leaving men fitful in feeling, impulsive, rash, reckless, and unsafe in positions of trust.

Rebellion Against God Himself

Rising up against Moses and Aaron was rebellion against the Lord Himself, who had placed special responsibilities upon them by selecting them and conferring dignity and authority to lead, and by choosing Aaron for the priesthood, which the rebels wrongly challenged. Moses was God's appointed visible leader, joined to Israel through seasons of peril and bearing their discontent, jealousies and murmurings without retaliation and without seeking release from his trying position. Behind Moses the Son of God, though invisible to the congregation, was the true leader of Israel, His presence going before them and conducting all their travels while Moses received his directions from Christ as the Angel, so those who thought they opposed only a human leader were rejecting Christ.

Satan worked upon their minds to infuse that spirit, working out 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. Though members of the priesthood connected with the sacred work had seen God's glory from the mount, they welcomed Satan as a guest and consented to place themselves in his power, and were found fighting against the Lord while thinking they were serving the host by opening to them a door of freedom.

They were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. By rejecting God's chosen instrument they insulted the Spirit of God, which was blasphemy against God. God sustained Aaron in the holy office of high priest by a terrible manifestation of divine judgment in the destruction of Korah and his company, and the later miracle of Aaron's rod confirmed God's choice of Aaron and serves as a lasting warning against renewed murmuring.

Judgment and Aftermath

The two hundred and fifty were prominent, well-known princes of the assembly, men of renown and standing, respected rulers of good judgment and influence whose counsel had often been sought in difficult matters. Their rank and reputation did not make their cause right or make their work God's work, and did not protect them from judgment. They had been entrusted with sacred responsibilities and work for God but became proud and rebellious, seeking a share in the priesthood and the government and using their influence in an ambitious rebellion against the order God had established. They became leaders in the jealousy, suspicion, and hatred that brought God's displeasure, their influence helped lead others into wrongdoing, and their uprising was grave sin.

They offered incense, but were affected by a wrong influence and became envious, jealous, and rebellious. They were not the first in the rebellion, so they did not perish with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram when the earth opened. They first saw the end of those leaders and had an opportunity to repent of their crime. Because they were not reconciled to the destruction of those wicked men, the wrath of God came upon them also, and fire from the cloud of glory consumed them. They died before the Lord by plague as a judgment. They were the brethren of the later congregation.

Even after God's judgments destroyed its leaders and princes, the rebellion continued, for their disaffection was deep and was not cured even when God stretched forth His hand and swallowed up the wrongdoers while the people fled to their tents in horror. The morning after the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their confederates, the survivors stubbornly remained deceived, trusting their own judgment over Moses and believing he was harming Israel, and came to Moses and Aaron with the false charge, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. Thousands more were killed for their sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness. Those who claim to believe the truth are therefore not to judge from human feelings as Israel did, not to sympathize with the wrongdoer, and not to stand between the offender and God when His servants do the disagreeable duty of correcting the erring, but to hold their peace and let the arrows of the Almighty fall just where He directs to pierce souls with little sense of sin.

Nearly forty years later at Kadesh, when thirsty with no water, the congregation forgot the power of God that had supplied water from the rock for years, became impatient and rebellious, imitated the unbelief and murmuring of their fathers, and wished they had died with those rebels rather than trust their Almighty Leader. Their number and standing had strengthened the hands of evildoers, for they took a firm stand and worked to undermine Moses and Aaron and to make God's messages through His servants of none effect by setting matters before the people in a perverted light with false representations that Moses and Aaron were all wrong. They strengthened the hands and minds of other opposers who quote them and spread their influence to a vast number, so the people believed them and honestly thought they were right. The result testified who was right and who was wrong. Their work is charged against them in the books of heaven, and in the day of final accounts they must meet not only their own course but the result of their influence upon other minds.

The chapter warns that work mixed with self and self-exaltation will not endure, while work done in God will stand. Work rooted in self will not stand, but work done in God will endure.

Warning for Later Generations

The rising of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram with two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, stands as a fearful example of how the Lord will punish the rebellious, faithfully chronicled and recorded for instruction and admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. It teaches neither to tempt Christ nor to murmur, lest any be destroyed as those rebels were, and it is to be read carefully and prayerfully and studied to teach dependence on God and to put away self-exaltation. The two hundred and fifty were members of the priesthood connected with the sacred work who had seen the glory of God from the mount, yet they welcomed Satan as a guest, fell under his subtle power, were deluded by his devices, were found fighting against the Lord, and mixed the cup of gall for Moses while thinking they served the host by opening a door of freedom. Their root was self-exaltation and desire for credit and honor, as when Aaron and Miriam, honored with part in the work as mouthpiece and helpers, thought themselves equal to Moses and essential to the whole and felt Moses should not have all the honor, and that same spirit worked in Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Satan came to Israel again and again and always found some soul ready to entertain him, continually inciting to rebellion, and he is even more active today, attacking first one and then another and succeeding when men are unguarded, so their history was recorded for those upon whom the end of the world is come to warn against dishonoring God as they dishonored Him.

People in the present can act just as unwisely and need genuine repentance. The secret cause was unwillingness to submit to the directions and restrictions of the Lord, with princes and people restless under restraint and unwilling to receive reproof, so that had they been left free to do as they pleased there would have been fewer complaints against their leader, and the same spirit of resistance to restraint and reproof meets God's servants all through the history of the church. The same kind of rebellion and divided allegiance can recur when persuasive leaders draw followers into opposition to God, leaving them deceived and deceiving others, so those who know the truth must choose the Lord's side and stand firmly for it. Genuine rebellion of this kind is hardly ever curable and must be called rebellion and apostasy by their right names. The experience of ancient Israel with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history, showing the revolt was extended and organized and included more than two men, being led by two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown, so the church today will distinguish the false from the genuine, know leaders by their fruits, and not be led astray by a few men claiming to undeceive the whole church.

The chapter calls for decisive action in an emergency, for evil workers should be separated from the Lord's work, and those who fail to act may forfeit God's approval. Such disaffection and resistance against God's work cannot destroy a work that is of God. Accusations against those appointed by God to do His work, assailing them and holding them up in a ridiculous light, unjustly charge God's servants, cut off influence by creating hostile sentiment and false impressions, cause dissension, create false sympathy, lead others into the same error and endanger their souls, and are an offense to God. Such charges must not be met with silence that leaves the people to think trusted brethren are no longer worthy of love and fellowship, but must be answered, met openly, supported with proof, and carefully investigated on every point with nothing left uncertain, so the people are undeceived and not left to believe a lie and every unsubstantiated reproach is lifted and the filthy garments put on God's servant are removed. Claiming the leading of the Holy Spirit while doing this work is Satan clothing himself in heavenly garments of purity while working out his own attributes.

The history warns those who claim to believe the truth not to judge from human feelings as Israel did, not to sympathize with the wrongdoer, and not to stand between the offender and God when His servants do the disagreeable duty of correcting the erring, but to hold their peace and let the arrows of the Almighty fall just where He directs to pierce souls with little sense of sin. Their disaffection was deep and was not cured even when God stretched forth His hand and swallowed up the wrongdoers while the people fled in horror, for the morning after the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their confederates the people still came with the false charge, Ye have killed the people of the Lord, and thousands more were killed for sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness. The rebellion is acted over in firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge heaven-sent light, in pride that must be humbled and confessed, in prejudice filling mind and heart, in backsliding God desires to heal, in contempt for the word of the Lord, in blindness of eyes and perversion of judgment by Satan, in unsanctified independence insulting the Spirit of God, and in mockery and disgust at God's word with lightness, trifling, jesting and joking and refusal to seek God and have His Spirit and power manifested. It is not the human messenger who is despised but the messengers and the message God sends, and despising them is despising God while He stands by, sustains, and commands His messenger to stand at the post of duty. Unless every soul repents and is converted there will be no clear light to discern the preciousness of truth, but walking in darkness in the sparks of their own kindling, lying down in sorrow, and having the candlestick removed out of its place.

The same rebellious course appears when ancient Israel was again and again afflicted with rebellious murmurers who were not persons of feeble influence but men of renown, rulers in Israel, who turned against the providential leadings of God and fiercely set to work to tear down what they had once zealously built up, and the same thing is repeated many times since. It appears in siding with corrupt and rebellious leaders who wear a mild, devoted, religious appearance while corruption and rebellion are within, gather sympathizers who cling to them, draw followers into darkness, and make war against the work of the third angel and against the visions, despising them. It appears in managers acting in self-importance and self-sufficiency as though they could take over and control other institutions, with one institution desiring to control all others, revealing separation from God, resistance to warnings, oppression of fellow men, and attributes of Satan beginning to oppress when the heart is no longer under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit and men entrusted with weighty responsibilities have no living connection with God. It is therefore unsafe for any church to lean upon some favorite minister and to trust in an arm of flesh, for God's arm alone is able to uphold all who lean upon it.

The rising applies to insisting on one's own mind and judgment and refusing the Lord's voice despite year-after-year warnings, pressing dishonoring terms through threats to sever connection, so that persisting in self-will puts one on their ground and brethren of firm rectitude must not yield from fear, since separation is better than consent. It applies to setting oneself against the light, refusing to examine evidence honestly, resisting evidence of being wrong, rejecting light, calling truth error, and following one's own judgment into darkness, as did the Rochester group and others who set themselves against the light, and to using others' errors to accuse them and build up one's own party. It applies to reproaching burden-bearers after receiving prepared truth such as the Sabbath at no cost, to distorting Scripture and warnings to defend theories and create confusion, and to criticizing appointed management and talking to make mistakes appear where the Lord is guiding because the work is contrary to lifelong experience, which reveals the need for conversion. It applies to rising against plain testimony God would have borne in rebuking wrongs, including hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco, where irritation at the loss of idols leads to wavering between conviction and self-indulgence until appetite prevails, sense of sacred things is perverted, self is not denied, a wall of separation rises between them and those cleansing themselves, straight testimonies stand in the way and cause uneasiness, relief is sought in warring against them and calling them untrue, and when rebellion unfurls its banner all the disaffected rally to scatter and sow discord. Those who permit themselves thus to rise in opposition become self-deceived, thinking those upon whom God laid the burden have exalted themselves and that counsels and reproofs are uncalled for, saying the people are all right and the reproving testimonies make the trouble, while Satan leads persons near the close of time to imitate that insurrection.

To be found among them at such a time means strengthening the gainsayer, unsettling minds and faith in the testimonies, sowing unbelief that cannot be removed even if faith is later recovered, laboring to do the very work Satan is doing, and standing opposite the faith the Son of man will look for when He comes. Their conduct, as of those entrusted with work who failed in duty and became proud and rebellious in desire to be first, warns against using influence for selfish ends and stirring dissension. Leading people to reject God's messages and to accuse leaders of deceiving them brings disastrous results and reflects a self-righteous spirit.