The Lord spoke directly to Moses in the midst of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram over the authority of Moses and Aaron, giving direction concerning the coming judgment that would settle the dispute. He directed Moses to tell the congregation to get up and move away from the tents of the rebels, so they would not be consumed with them in their sins. The One speaking was Christ Himself, seeking to save the people from destruction and answering the intercession of Moses and Aaron with a command that would spare the congregation. His words brought both threatened judgment on rebellion and lingering mercy, giving time and opportunity for the deceived to repent and be saved before judgment fell. For murmuring against His chosen instruments was rejection of God Himself, repeating Satan's rebellion in heaven, and the account stands as a fearful example and warning against unbelief, self-exaltation, and resistance to God's appointed leaders.
Setting and Command
The Lord spoke directly to Moses in the midst of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram over the authority of Moses and Aaron, giving direction concerning threatened judgment and setting in motion the settling of the dispute. The One speaking to Moses was Jesus, the Angel who went before the Hebrews, seeking to save them from destruction. He spoke to Moses in his God-given position to direct, place, sustain, and vindicate him, and to uphold Aaron in the holy office of high priest against the rebels.
The rebellion extended beyond the three named men and was led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. The Lord directed Moses to tell the congregation to get up and move away from about the tabernacle and tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, so they would not share in the judgment coming on the rebels. Those who had chosen these men in place of Moses were in danger because they shared in their rebellion, and leaving the tents was a warning that could save their lives.
Moses obeyed by rising up and going to Dathan and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him, warning the congregation to depart from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in all their sins. In this God gave Israel evidence of its sin and of Moses' innocence, distinguishing the rebellion's instigators from those they had misled and pitying the deceived while calling the congregation to separate to escape judgment. After this word the earth swallowed the rebellious leaders and plague destroyed those who joined them, fourteen thousand and seven hundred dying before the Lord.
The survivors still charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, showing how stubborn rebellion can deceive the mind even after marked judgment and harden against correction. The people later recognized their rebellion against Moses and Aaron as sin, accepted that the Lord had declared they would die in the wilderness, and acknowledged that Korah and his followers had justly suffered the Lord's wrath. Aaron's rod budding, blossoming, and yielding almonds in one night was given as sufficient evidence to correct perverted judgment, silence complaints, positively distinguish Aaron from the rest, settle the priesthood upon him beyond question, and preserve a standing testimony to remind the people, prevent further murmuring, and keep them from death. Nearly forty years later the thirsty congregation at Kadesh in the desert of Zin, murmuring against Moses and Aaron because there was no water, wished they had died with those brethren.
Mercy Before Judgment
God had just declared He would consume the congregation in a moment, but He answered the intercession of Moses and Aaron by giving Moses a command to save the people from being consumed with the rebels, telling him to speak to the congregation to get up and move away from about the tabernacle and tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses obeyed by rising up and going to Dathan and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him, warning the congregation to depart from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in all their sins.
The Lord’s words to Moses thus lead both into judgment on the rebellion and into an opportunity for the congregation to repent, for His long-suffering mercy still left forgiveness possible for those who would turn to Him in repentance and humility. At that moment forgiveness was still lingering, and judgment could still have been stayed if the rebels had repented and asked forgiveness. The nearness of God’s judgment was appealing to them to repent, and a special, irresistible interference from heaven had arrested their rebellion to which, if they had responded, they might have been saved.
God in this distinguished the rebellion’s instigators from those they had misled, pitied the deceived, gave Israel evidence of its sin and of Moses’ innocence, and granted the people time and opportunity to repent after it was made clear that Moses was right. Yet they fled from the judgments only through fear of destruction, and their rebellion was not cured, for they returned to their tents that night terrified but not repentant. The depth of their disaffection appeared even under judgment the next morning, when they charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, and for that false charge with its sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness thousands more were killed.
The command therefore makes the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram a fearful example of how the Lord will punish the rebellious, requiring separation from the rebels and their tents before judgment falls. Those who had chosen these men in place of Moses shared in their rebellion and were in danger, and leaving the tents was a warning that could save their lives.
Warning for Later Readers
The history to which this word belongs was faithfully chronicled to pass into history as instruction and a lesson of warning against unbelief and rebellion, to be studied carefully and prayerfully, for these things happened for examples and were written for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, especially those who live in the last days and near the close of time. It belongs to the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, which extended beyond two men and was led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown, and tempting Christ and murmuring in that rebellion brings destruction by the destroyer. Genuine rebellion is never curable and must be called rebellion and apostasy by their right names, warning against following apostate leaders who claim to undeceive the whole church. Those so misled mistake the great leader of apostasy for Christ our Righteousness, failing to distinguish the false from the genuine and the voice of the true Shepherd from that of a stranger even after long light has been given. They must humble themselves before God and sincerely repent, sink the shaft deep into the mines of truth to distinguish precious ore from base material, heed the cautions about false prophets coming with heresies to deceive if possible the very elect, and test teachers by their fruits.
God still chose, directed, and vindicated Moses as His appointed leader when others honored with a part in the work claimed to be equal to him and demanded credit and honor for themselves, so self-exaltation, hunger for praise, and challenging God's chosen agent repeats that sin and brings the same divine judgment. The chapter is given as a lesson that work done from self will not endure, while work done in God will endure, and service mixed with self does not endure. The holy fire must be kindled by God and not supplied by human will, and nothing other than God's own holy fire is to be used. Those serving God must not substitute their own common, selfish plans for what God has made sacred, but self must be hidden in God and God's Spirit must transform their character and service.
The chapter shows that emergencies can call for decisive action against evil workers, and separating them from the Lord's work would have honored God, while failing to do so allowed dishonor to continue. Their course stands as a warning against refusing the Lord's voice and persisting in one's own judgment despite repeated warnings. Those who reject God's light and join the rebels face judgment, and those who follow their own light instead of God's light will end in darkness.
Its outcome warns that a spirit of criticism, false witness, and resistance to God's discipline can bring the same destructive experience among God's people. It portrays people who act selfishly and rebelliously, showing that God sees concealed wrongdoing and will ultimately judge people according to their deeds.
Rebellion Against God
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram repeats on a narrower stage the rebellion of Satan in heaven, where pride and ambition led Lucifer to complain against the government of God and to seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven. Since his fall he works to put the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into the minds of men, working on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion. By that working they rejected God as their leader by rejecting the men of God's appointment.
Their murmuring against Moses and Aaron was blasphemy against God. A Satanic moral infatuation steeled their hearts against the influence of the Holy Spirit, the same wizard-like power exerted over all who do not implicitly trust and obey God, and they were deceived by Satan by their own consent because they placed themselves in his power. Satan deluded them with the idea that they were opposing only a human leader, a man like themselves, but in rejecting God's chosen instrument they rejected Christ their invisible leader and insulted the Spirit of God, and judgments followed close upon their sin. In this they show how people may deceive themselves into thinking they are serving God while resisting His will.
They were so deluded that they thought themselves righteous and regarded those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. Those who rise in opposition become self-deceived, thinking those on whom God has laid the burden of His work exalt themselves above the people and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for. By that self-deception they call light darkness and reject truth as error, instead of seeking truth for themselves and remaining open to the light He gives.
Their course was first to gain the sympathy and confidence of the people, taking advantage of souls perishing for truth who will accept almost anyone who can explain the Scriptures. Then they insinuated against those in whom God would have the people have confidence, telling a deceptive story that they were abused men when the abuse and imposition was on their own side, and sowing seeds of doubt about God's appointed leaders. They set things before the people in a perverted light so the people honestly thought they were right and Moses and Aaron were all wrong, and they rose up like men coming afterward who receive points of truth prepared to their hand at no cost and then manifest ingratitude for the toil and sacrifice of others by reproaching those upon whom God has laid the burden of His work. They strengthened the hands and minds of evildoers and drew after them two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown in the tribes of Israel, and they must meet in the day of final accounts not only their own course but the result of their influence upon other minds, as charged against them in the books of heaven.
Leading people to distrust God's appointed leaders and reject their counsel is a rebellious work with ruinous consequences, as shown by the disastrous outcome of their challenge. Their conduct stands as a warning against accusing and condemning those God has entrusted with the work, and against independent action that divides the church. Their party warns about people who separate themselves from the church, accuse fellow believers, and use others' errors to advance their own ideas and influence.
Despising God's appointed messenger is despising God's messengers and message and showing contempt for the word of the Lord, while God directs, places, and sustains His appointed messenger in the face of rebellion. Those who rebelled forfeited all right to claim sacred power and to demand respect as the voice of God. The same forfeiture belongs to leaders who claim great light but do not obey it all, whose work for years is mingled with men's devisings and selfishness and with the claim to be especially exalted of God, who hurt God's servants, the oil and the wine, and who sustain men God cannot favor, so that they have no right to entrench themselves behind the sacredness of institutional power.
Present Applications and Warnings
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is repeated when persons are led to raise insurrection among God's people in opposition to plain testimony and reproof of wrongs, including hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco. Those who so oppose become self-deceived, thinking that those on whom God has laid the burden of His work exalt themselves above the people and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for. Many are left undecided between conviction of truth and appetite until appetite prevails, the sense of sacred things is perverted as by slow poisons, and they at last decide not to deny self. That decision raises a wall of separation between them and those who are cleansing themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. They then war against straight testimony, claim the people are all right and that the reproving testimonies make the trouble, and rally around the banner of rebellion all the disaffected and the spiritually defective, the lame, the halt, and the blind, to scatter and sow discord.
The same experience is repeated when people who themselves need converting resist God's guided management and refuse to change their thoughts and attitude. They criticize and find mistakes and talk so as to make it appear that mistakes were made when the Lord has been guiding. Yielding to self-esteem, hasty unadvised words, claims of being misused, false witness against brethren, leavening minds with distrust, and weakening faith in God's instrumentalities by questioning and doubting men God is teaching, guiding, and leading brings the experience of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, which is judgment. Safety is in a teachable, expectant spirit, confidence in ministering brethren, submission to the molding of the Holy Spirit, and following ministers only as they follow Christ.
That rebellion is acted over again when God's people show firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge heaven-sent light, cherish prejudice and pride, resist the message God sends and the evidence given, reject correction, and act in pride and defiance of the Spirit. They refuse to humble themselves and confess that they are not actuated by the Spirit of God, refuse to hearken when the Lord desires to come near to bless them and heal their backslidings, refuse to set their hearts to seek God for the manifestation of His Spirit and power, and practice mockery, lightness, trifling, jesting, and joking. Satan then blinds their eyes, perverts their judgment, and obscures their spiritual eyesight, so that they walk in darkness and in sparks of their own kindling and shall lie down in sorrow. Unless every soul repents of unsanctified independence that insults the Spirit of God, they risk judgment, spiritual darkness, and removal of the candlestick out of his place except they repent and be converted that God should heal them. The pattern can recur through ambitious men resisting God's appointed leadership, through responsible leaders rejecting correction and the messages given by God, and through supporting those who betray sacred trust and oppose God, so those who know the truth must choose whom they will serve and stand firmly on the Lord's side, while the one who stands at the post of duty has God's grace, power, and abiding presence to sustain him.
Assailing with false charges and holding up to ridicule those God has appointed to do His work repeats that rebellion and is an offense to God. Silence then is unjust to accusers and to those misled, so accusations must be met openly and answered by requiring proof. Every charge must be carefully investigated with nothing left uncertain, the people must be undeceived so they are not left to believe a lie, and every unsubstantiated reproach must be lifted until the false clothing put upon God's servant is removed.
The account warns that people will again create confusion by twisting and misapplying God's words and warnings to support their own ideas. Its example applies to leaders marked by self-importance and self-sufficiency, as when those at the publishing house acted like these rebels. The same rebellious course, covered by a mild, devoted, religious appearance, is repeated by those who hang on to and sympathize with a corrupt, rebellious influence that draws them into darkness while at war with God's work. That spirit comes when a man separates from God so his heart is no longer under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit, and then Satan's attributes are revealed in oppressing fellow men with an influence contrary to truth, justice, and righteousness. It is manifested in the desire of one institution to control all others, and in men entrusted with weighty responsibilities who have no living connection with God doing despite to the Holy Spirit, sustaining men God cannot favor, hurting God's servants, and casting aside warnings that come from God again and again while they venture on in the same course.
The lesson is that self-exaltation, hunger for praise, and claiming equality with God's chosen agent while demanding credit and honor repeats the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and brings the same divine judgment. God still chose, directed, and vindicated Moses as His appointed leader when others honored with a part in the work claimed to be equal to him, and that whole history is written for the admonition of those who live in the last days and is to be studied. Yet opposition and disaffection cannot destroy a work that is of God.
The Lord spoke directly to Moses in the midst of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram over the authority of Moses and Aaron, giving direction concerning the coming judgment that would settle the dispute. He directed Moses to tell the congregation to get up and move away from the tents of the rebels, so they would not be consumed with them in their sins. The One speaking was Christ Himself, seeking to save the people from destruction and answering the intercession of Moses and Aaron with a command that would spare the congregation. His words brought both threatened judgment on rebellion and lingering mercy, giving time and opportunity for the deceived to repent and be saved before judgment fell. For murmuring against His chosen instruments was rejection of God Himself, repeating Satan's rebellion in heaven, and the account stands as a fearful example and warning against unbelief, self-exaltation, and resistance to God's appointed leaders.
Setting and Command
The Lord spoke directly to Moses in the midst of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram over the authority of Moses and Aaron, giving direction concerning threatened judgment and setting in motion the settling of the dispute. The One speaking to Moses was Jesus, the Angel who went before the Hebrews, seeking to save them from destruction. He spoke to Moses in his God-given position to direct, place, sustain, and vindicate him, and to uphold Aaron in the holy office of high priest against the rebels.
The rebellion extended beyond the three named men and was led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. The Lord directed Moses to tell the congregation to get up and move away from about the tabernacle and tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, so they would not share in the judgment coming on the rebels. Those who had chosen these men in place of Moses were in danger because they shared in their rebellion, and leaving the tents was a warning that could save their lives.
Moses obeyed by rising up and going to Dathan and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him, warning the congregation to depart from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in all their sins. In this God gave Israel evidence of its sin and of Moses' innocence, distinguishing the rebellion's instigators from those they had misled and pitying the deceived while calling the congregation to separate to escape judgment. After this word the earth swallowed the rebellious leaders and plague destroyed those who joined them, fourteen thousand and seven hundred dying before the Lord.
The survivors still charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, showing how stubborn rebellion can deceive the mind even after marked judgment and harden against correction. The people later recognized their rebellion against Moses and Aaron as sin, accepted that the Lord had declared they would die in the wilderness, and acknowledged that Korah and his followers had justly suffered the Lord's wrath. Aaron's rod budding, blossoming, and yielding almonds in one night was given as sufficient evidence to correct perverted judgment, silence complaints, positively distinguish Aaron from the rest, settle the priesthood upon him beyond question, and preserve a standing testimony to remind the people, prevent further murmuring, and keep them from death. Nearly forty years later the thirsty congregation at Kadesh in the desert of Zin, murmuring against Moses and Aaron because there was no water, wished they had died with those brethren.
Mercy Before Judgment
God had just declared He would consume the congregation in a moment, but He answered the intercession of Moses and Aaron by giving Moses a command to save the people from being consumed with the rebels, telling him to speak to the congregation to get up and move away from about the tabernacle and tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses obeyed by rising up and going to Dathan and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him, warning the congregation to depart from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in all their sins.
The Lord’s words to Moses thus lead both into judgment on the rebellion and into an opportunity for the congregation to repent, for His long-suffering mercy still left forgiveness possible for those who would turn to Him in repentance and humility. At that moment forgiveness was still lingering, and judgment could still have been stayed if the rebels had repented and asked forgiveness. The nearness of God’s judgment was appealing to them to repent, and a special, irresistible interference from heaven had arrested their rebellion to which, if they had responded, they might have been saved.
God in this distinguished the rebellion’s instigators from those they had misled, pitied the deceived, gave Israel evidence of its sin and of Moses’ innocence, and granted the people time and opportunity to repent after it was made clear that Moses was right. Yet they fled from the judgments only through fear of destruction, and their rebellion was not cured, for they returned to their tents that night terrified but not repentant. The depth of their disaffection appeared even under judgment the next morning, when they charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, and for that false charge with its sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness thousands more were killed.
The command therefore makes the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram a fearful example of how the Lord will punish the rebellious, requiring separation from the rebels and their tents before judgment falls. Those who had chosen these men in place of Moses shared in their rebellion and were in danger, and leaving the tents was a warning that could save their lives.
Warning for Later Readers
The history to which this word belongs was faithfully chronicled to pass into history as instruction and a lesson of warning against unbelief and rebellion, to be studied carefully and prayerfully, for these things happened for examples and were written for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, especially those who live in the last days and near the close of time. It belongs to the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, which extended beyond two men and was led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown, and tempting Christ and murmuring in that rebellion brings destruction by the destroyer. Genuine rebellion is never curable and must be called rebellion and apostasy by their right names, warning against following apostate leaders who claim to undeceive the whole church. Those so misled mistake the great leader of apostasy for Christ our Righteousness, failing to distinguish the false from the genuine and the voice of the true Shepherd from that of a stranger even after long light has been given. They must humble themselves before God and sincerely repent, sink the shaft deep into the mines of truth to distinguish precious ore from base material, heed the cautions about false prophets coming with heresies to deceive if possible the very elect, and test teachers by their fruits.
God still chose, directed, and vindicated Moses as His appointed leader when others honored with a part in the work claimed to be equal to him and demanded credit and honor for themselves, so self-exaltation, hunger for praise, and challenging God's chosen agent repeats that sin and brings the same divine judgment. The chapter is given as a lesson that work done from self will not endure, while work done in God will endure, and service mixed with self does not endure. The holy fire must be kindled by God and not supplied by human will, and nothing other than God's own holy fire is to be used. Those serving God must not substitute their own common, selfish plans for what God has made sacred, but self must be hidden in God and God's Spirit must transform their character and service.
The chapter shows that emergencies can call for decisive action against evil workers, and separating them from the Lord's work would have honored God, while failing to do so allowed dishonor to continue. Their course stands as a warning against refusing the Lord's voice and persisting in one's own judgment despite repeated warnings. Those who reject God's light and join the rebels face judgment, and those who follow their own light instead of God's light will end in darkness.
Its outcome warns that a spirit of criticism, false witness, and resistance to God's discipline can bring the same destructive experience among God's people. It portrays people who act selfishly and rebelliously, showing that God sees concealed wrongdoing and will ultimately judge people according to their deeds.
Rebellion Against God
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram repeats on a narrower stage the rebellion of Satan in heaven, where pride and ambition led Lucifer to complain against the government of God and to seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven. Since his fall he works to put the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into the minds of men, working on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion. By that working they rejected God as their leader by rejecting the men of God's appointment.
Their murmuring against Moses and Aaron was blasphemy against God. A Satanic moral infatuation steeled their hearts against the influence of the Holy Spirit, the same wizard-like power exerted over all who do not implicitly trust and obey God, and they were deceived by Satan by their own consent because they placed themselves in his power. Satan deluded them with the idea that they were opposing only a human leader, a man like themselves, but in rejecting God's chosen instrument they rejected Christ their invisible leader and insulted the Spirit of God, and judgments followed close upon their sin. In this they show how people may deceive themselves into thinking they are serving God while resisting His will.
They were so deluded that they thought themselves righteous and regarded those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. Those who rise in opposition become self-deceived, thinking those on whom God has laid the burden of His work exalt themselves above the people and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for. By that self-deception they call light darkness and reject truth as error, instead of seeking truth for themselves and remaining open to the light He gives.
Their course was first to gain the sympathy and confidence of the people, taking advantage of souls perishing for truth who will accept almost anyone who can explain the Scriptures. Then they insinuated against those in whom God would have the people have confidence, telling a deceptive story that they were abused men when the abuse and imposition was on their own side, and sowing seeds of doubt about God's appointed leaders. They set things before the people in a perverted light so the people honestly thought they were right and Moses and Aaron were all wrong, and they rose up like men coming afterward who receive points of truth prepared to their hand at no cost and then manifest ingratitude for the toil and sacrifice of others by reproaching those upon whom God has laid the burden of His work. They strengthened the hands and minds of evildoers and drew after them two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown in the tribes of Israel, and they must meet in the day of final accounts not only their own course but the result of their influence upon other minds, as charged against them in the books of heaven.
Leading people to distrust God's appointed leaders and reject their counsel is a rebellious work with ruinous consequences, as shown by the disastrous outcome of their challenge. Their conduct stands as a warning against accusing and condemning those God has entrusted with the work, and against independent action that divides the church. Their party warns about people who separate themselves from the church, accuse fellow believers, and use others' errors to advance their own ideas and influence.
Despising God's appointed messenger is despising God's messengers and message and showing contempt for the word of the Lord, while God directs, places, and sustains His appointed messenger in the face of rebellion. Those who rebelled forfeited all right to claim sacred power and to demand respect as the voice of God. The same forfeiture belongs to leaders who claim great light but do not obey it all, whose work for years is mingled with men's devisings and selfishness and with the claim to be especially exalted of God, who hurt God's servants, the oil and the wine, and who sustain men God cannot favor, so that they have no right to entrench themselves behind the sacredness of institutional power.
Present Applications and Warnings
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is repeated when persons are led to raise insurrection among God's people in opposition to plain testimony and reproof of wrongs, including hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco. Those who so oppose become self-deceived, thinking that those on whom God has laid the burden of His work exalt themselves above the people and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for. Many are left undecided between conviction of truth and appetite until appetite prevails, the sense of sacred things is perverted as by slow poisons, and they at last decide not to deny self. That decision raises a wall of separation between them and those who are cleansing themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. They then war against straight testimony, claim the people are all right and that the reproving testimonies make the trouble, and rally around the banner of rebellion all the disaffected and the spiritually defective, the lame, the halt, and the blind, to scatter and sow discord.
The same experience is repeated when people who themselves need converting resist God's guided management and refuse to change their thoughts and attitude. They criticize and find mistakes and talk so as to make it appear that mistakes were made when the Lord has been guiding. Yielding to self-esteem, hasty unadvised words, claims of being misused, false witness against brethren, leavening minds with distrust, and weakening faith in God's instrumentalities by questioning and doubting men God is teaching, guiding, and leading brings the experience of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, which is judgment. Safety is in a teachable, expectant spirit, confidence in ministering brethren, submission to the molding of the Holy Spirit, and following ministers only as they follow Christ.
That rebellion is acted over again when God's people show firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge heaven-sent light, cherish prejudice and pride, resist the message God sends and the evidence given, reject correction, and act in pride and defiance of the Spirit. They refuse to humble themselves and confess that they are not actuated by the Spirit of God, refuse to hearken when the Lord desires to come near to bless them and heal their backslidings, refuse to set their hearts to seek God for the manifestation of His Spirit and power, and practice mockery, lightness, trifling, jesting, and joking. Satan then blinds their eyes, perverts their judgment, and obscures their spiritual eyesight, so that they walk in darkness and in sparks of their own kindling and shall lie down in sorrow. Unless every soul repents of unsanctified independence that insults the Spirit of God, they risk judgment, spiritual darkness, and removal of the candlestick out of his place except they repent and be converted that God should heal them. The pattern can recur through ambitious men resisting God's appointed leadership, through responsible leaders rejecting correction and the messages given by God, and through supporting those who betray sacred trust and oppose God, so those who know the truth must choose whom they will serve and stand firmly on the Lord's side, while the one who stands at the post of duty has God's grace, power, and abiding presence to sustain him.
Assailing with false charges and holding up to ridicule those God has appointed to do His work repeats that rebellion and is an offense to God. Silence then is unjust to accusers and to those misled, so accusations must be met openly and answered by requiring proof. Every charge must be carefully investigated with nothing left uncertain, the people must be undeceived so they are not left to believe a lie, and every unsubstantiated reproach must be lifted until the false clothing put upon God's servant is removed.
The account warns that people will again create confusion by twisting and misapplying God's words and warnings to support their own ideas. Its example applies to leaders marked by self-importance and self-sufficiency, as when those at the publishing house acted like these rebels. The same rebellious course, covered by a mild, devoted, religious appearance, is repeated by those who hang on to and sympathize with a corrupt, rebellious influence that draws them into darkness while at war with God's work. That spirit comes when a man separates from God so his heart is no longer under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit, and then Satan's attributes are revealed in oppressing fellow men with an influence contrary to truth, justice, and righteousness. It is manifested in the desire of one institution to control all others, and in men entrusted with weighty responsibilities who have no living connection with God doing despite to the Holy Spirit, sustaining men God cannot favor, hurting God's servants, and casting aside warnings that come from God again and again while they venture on in the same course.
The lesson is that self-exaltation, hunger for praise, and claiming equality with God's chosen agent while demanding credit and honor repeats the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and brings the same divine judgment. God still chose, directed, and vindicated Moses as His appointed leader when others honored with a part in the work claimed to be equal to him, and that whole history is written for the admonition of those who live in the last days and is to be studied. Yet opposition and disaffection cannot destroy a work that is of God.