Numbers 16:26, commentary and pictures

Moses in God's name told the congregation to move away from the persons, tents and possessions of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and have no fellowship with them because judgment on their rebellion against Moses and Aaron was about to fall. To stay connected was to share their guilt and be consumed with them in their punishment and destruction, so leaving was separation from their crimes and not merely flight from danger. The call was mercy lingering for those who had been deceived, giving them opportunity to recognize sin and repent before the instigators were distinguished in judgment. Their rebellion against God's chosen instruments was rebellion against Jehovah Himself, repeating on a narrower stage the pride and ambition of Satan in heaven. The faithful record stands as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, that God's people must now depart from corrupt workers and have nothing to do with them lest association corrupt the soul and bring the same ruin.

Setting and Command

The verse belongs to the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against the authority of Moses and Aaron, and stands as a recorded warning against unbelief and following their example. That warning is to be read carefully and prayerfully, prompting reflection on rebellion, unwise conduct, and the need for genuine repentance. It is also a warning not to accuse and condemn those on whom God has placed responsibility for His work. After going to Dathan and Abiram with the elders of Israel following him, Moses spoke to the congregation in God's name, commanding them to depart from the tents of these wicked men and to touch nothing of theirs, lest they be consumed in their sins. In doing so he was carrying out God's direction to get up from about their tabernacle and to separate from among the congregation before judgment, leaving a fearful example of how the Lord will punish the rebellious.

The warning to leave the tents and avoid anything belonging to the rebels was given as God's judgment on the rebellion was imminent and about to fall, so that the people would not share the rebels' destruction or guilt. The congregation had accepted the accusations against Moses and Aaron and were guilty in some measure, yet when warned they obeyed and fled. The rebels, by contrast, remained with their families at their tents in defiance. Their remaining there while the people drew back made plain the separation between those who heeded the call and those who persisted in sin.

The rebellion extended beyond its principal leaders to include two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown, with many joining them and taking as firm a stand in the same course. The congregation believed them because things were set before them in a perverted light with false representations that Moses and Aaron were all wrong, while honestly thinking the rebels were right, but the result testified who was right and who was wrong. The destruction of Korah and his company by terrible divine judgment vindicated Moses and Aaron, showing that Korah and those who perished with him were sinners against the Lord who justly suffered His wrath. That judgment sustained Aaron in the holy office of high priest to which God had called and consecrated him, as confirmed when Aaron's rod blossomed in one night to settle the priesthood and silence murmuring. When convinced by that miracle, the children of Israel saw their past rebellion in its true light, were terrified at their fate to die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land, and confessed their sin against the Lord and the justice of the punishment on Korah and his company.

The destruction and the plague that followed were remembered nearly forty years later. At Kadesh, when water failed and the people thirsted, they murmured against Moses and Aaron and wished they had died with their brethren who had died before the Lord by plague.

Meaning of Separation

The command to leave the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs meant to leave their persons, company, tents and possessions and to have no fellowship with them. Moses warned the congregation to avoid anything belonging to Korah, Dathan and Abiram so they would not share the rebels' guilt, punishment and destruction as God's judgment was about to fall. All must now leave corrupt, impure men alone and let them suffer the disgrace and punishment of their crimes, lest association corrupt the soul. Siding with rebellion and taking part in its sins brings danger of being consumed with the guilty.

By sympathizing with and associating with the rebellious men the people had become sharers in their crimes and were guilty in some measure because they had accepted the accusations against Moses and Aaron. Their sympathy with the rebels made them guilty and put them in danger of being destroyed by God's wrath, so they fled when they saw the rebels perish. God distinguished the rebellion's instigators from those they had deceived, pitied the deceived for ignorance and folly, and gave Israel opportunity to recognize sin and repent. Moses, whom they had opposed, was God's instrument in warning them and saving their lives, offering those misled time to turn back.

Remaining connected with the rebellion risks being consumed in all their sins and sharing its guilt, punishment and destruction. When God's people face an emergency caused by evil workers, decisive separation from them is required rather than tolerating their influence, even to removing evil workers from the Lord's work. Stubbornly trusting one's own judgment against God's messenger is rebellion against God, and even witnessing severe judgments may fail to convince those hardened in that spirit. Leaving the tents meant separating from their crimes and avoiding destruction with them, not merely physical flight. The chapter shows that work done in self will not endure, while work done in God will endure.

Mercy Before Judgment

God drew a line between the men who started the rebellion and the multitude they had misled, pitying the deceived for ignorance and folly and holding open a time for them to see their sin and turn from it. Their sympathy with the rebels had made them sharers in guilt, yet they were not counted with the leaders but were warned to break away from the rebellious men and their possessions so as not to share the destruction their sins would bring. To leave the tents was to separate from the crimes themselves and so escape being destroyed with them.

That call to move away was forgiveness still lingering over the people when judgment had come very near. Jesus, the Angel who went before the Hebrews, was speaking through Moses to rescue Israel from destruction after a special, irresistible interference from heaven had arrested their rebellion. Moses himself, the very man they had opposed, became God's instrument to warn them and save their lives. By sympathizing and associating with the rebels they had become partakers of their crimes and stood in danger of God's wrath, and they had to leave the tents and avoid that fate.

Had they answered that interposition of providence they might have been saved, for the warning was mercy giving the deceived congregation opportunity to turn back and be spared. Their flight from the tents did not in itself cure the rebellion, since they still needed to recognize guilt and repent. Instead their moving away was only flight from judgment through fear of destruction.

They drew back in horror as the wrongdoers were swallowed, then went back to their tents that night terrified but not repentant. The next morning they charged Moses and Aaron with killing the Lord's people, stubbornly trusting their own judgment above Moses', showing how stubborn rebellion brings severe deception. For that sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness thousands more died. Those not called to correct the erring must not step between the offender and God, nor sympathize with the wrongdoer nor judge by human feeling against faithful reproof, but hold their peace and let God's correction fall where He directs to pierce souls that have little sense of sin.

Nature of Rebellion

The uprising of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses was rebellion against Jehovah and against God Himself. The rebels stubbornly trusted their own judgment over that of Moses, and God's judgments destroyed the leaders and the princes with them. Even after that destruction, the survivors on the next morning still accused Moses of killing the Lord's people, showing how stubborn rebellion can bring severe deception.

To oppose Moses and Aaron was not merely to oppose a human leader. By rejecting God's chosen instrument they rejected Christ, their invisible leader, and insulted the Spirit of God. They were deluded with the idea that they opposed only a man like themselves, while judgments followed close upon their sin.

Through moral infatuation their hearts were steeled against the influence of the Holy Spirit, because they did not implicitly trust and obey God. Satan exerted a wizard-like power upon their minds, yet they were deceived by their own consent, because they placed themselves in his power. On a narrower stage their rebellion repeats the rebellion of Satan in heaven. Pride and ambition prompted Lucifer to complain against the government of God and to seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven, and since his fall his object is to infuse the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into the minds of men.

He worked upon Korah, Dathan, and Abiram to arouse desire for self-exaltation and to excite envy, distrust, and rebellion, causing them to reject God as their leader by rejecting the men of God's appointment. While in murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God, they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan. Genuine rebellion is not curable and must be called by its right name as rebellion and apostasy.

The rebellion was extended, including more than two men and led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. Its faithful record was written for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come, so believers in the last days must review that chapter in their own experience and separate from leaders of apostasy. They must sink deep into the mines of truth to distinguish precious ore from base material and the voice of the true Shepherd from a stranger, heed the cautions about false prophets with heresies, humble themselves and repent when misled, and know leaders by their fruits instead of depending on the words of men.

Korah and those who perished with him were sinners against the Lord who justly suffered His wrath, while Moses and Aaron were right. The children of Israel had done wrong in unjustly accusing Moses and Aaron and in rebelling against their authority. When convinced by the miracle of Aaron's rod blossoming in one night to settle the priesthood and silence murmuring, they saw their past rebellion in its true light, were terrified at their fate to die in the wilderness and not enter the promised land, and confessed their sin against the Lord and the justice of the punishment on Korah and his company. The Israelites later acknowledged that warning to leave the tents of the wicked rebels and avoid sharing in their guilt and punishment was just, for those men had sinned and justly suffered.

Warning for Later Generations

The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their destruction stands as a warning not to follow their example, especially against unbelief. It admonishes God's people in the last days against tempting Christ and murmuring, the sins that brought destruction on Israel. The chapter is given as a warning and an example to learn from.

The faithful record of that experience was written for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come. It stands as a warning to God's people, especially those living near the close of time. Genuine rebellion is not curable and must be called by its right name as rebellion and apostasy, and the rebellion was extended beyond two men to include two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown.

The chapter is to be read carefully and prayerfully, studied, and reviewed in personal experience, prompting reflection on rebellion, unwise conduct, and the need for genuine repentance. Its instruction about that rebellion is appropriate at this time so that the whole flock will not be fed with errors that will cause them to go astray. Believers in the last days must sink deep into the mines of truth to distinguish precious ore from base material and the voice of the true Shepherd from a stranger. They must heed the cautions about false prophets with heresies, humble themselves and repent when misled, and know leaders by their fruits instead of depending on the words of men.

How Rebellion Repeats

The rebellion is recorded as a warning because the same spirit still leads persons to imitate Korah by rising in insurrection among God's people and opposing the plain testimony that rebukes wrongs among them, including hurtful indulgences like tea, coffee, snuff and tobacco. Those who refuse to deny self and sacrifice their idols of appetite reject the straight testimony and raise a wall of separation between themselves and those cleansing themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. When the rebellious unfurl their banner, all the disaffected rally around the standard to scatter and sow discord, thinking the counsels and reproofs of God's appointed workers are uncalled for.

Stubbornly trusting one's own judgment against God's messenger is rebellion against God, applying to rejecting God's counsel and undermining confidence in the messages God sends, even when severe judgments fail to convince those hardened in that spirit. It is a warning not to accuse and condemn those on whom God has placed responsibility for His work, not to rise up to reproach people entrusted with God's work, and not to criticize and undermine people God is teaching, guiding and leading, lest faith be weakened and Korah's experience be repeated. Those who lead others to reject God's direction and accuse His appointed leaders repeat Korah's rebellion, and the people warned to separate from his company lest they share its guilt and punishment show that such leading brings disastrous consequences on themselves and those they influence.

The rebels first gained the sympathy and confidence of souls perishing for truth who would accept anyone who could explain the Scriptures, then used that confidence to insinuate against God's appointed leaders and sow seeds of doubt about those God would have the people trust. The same course is followed by unsanctified men who enter a new field, win confidence, tell a deceptive story of being abused when the abuse has been on the other side, and turn the people against the central work. The spirit of Korah is bearing false witness against brethren by those who think they have been misused, leavening minds with distrust, weakening faith in God's instrumentalities, questioning and doubting men God is teaching and leading, planting seeds of doubt hard to uproot, manifesting no confidence in ministering brethren, and listening to Satan's reasonings and passing them on to create distrust, envy and evil-surmising. Safety from yielding to this manner of spirit and coming to share their experience and be consumed in sins is in a teachable and expectant spirit, in closing the mind to Satan by submitting to the molding of the Holy Spirit, in a consistent life testifying to the Spirit's guidance, and in following ministers only as they follow Christ.

The history is written for the admonition of those living in the last days and must be studied, for it warns against self-exaltation in God's work, where those honored with a part, as Aaron was made mouthpiece for Moses, come to think they are equal to God's appointed leader and a very essential part of the great whole and feel credit and honor should go to them. It applies the same warning to selfish, self-exalting conduct in God's service that must be removed lest there be sharing in sin against God. Korah, Dathan and Abiram exemplify those coming among God's people for personal advantage without bearing burdens, hoping to secure benefits from God's institutions without responsibility, practicing selfishness and even fraud in dealing with brethren and being no religious strength to the cause. Those at heart like them will follow open rebellion when favorable opportunity is presented, and though fraudulent transactions are concealed from brethren generally, God marks their course and will finally reward them according to their works with destruction for their sins.

Their rebellion warns about people who separate from the church, accuse fellow believers, and use others' errors to build up their own influence, who should be watched lest others share their guilt and judgment. The separation from their tents returns as a pattern when men who knew not God's past work are placed in responsible positions, pursuing ambitious projects, having pride hurt by straight testimony, and having little faith in God's messages, from whom God's faithful people must depart and have nothing to do lest they be consumed in their sins. The spirit of Korah, Dathan and Abiram appears just as soon as a man separates from God so his heart is not under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit, revealing Satan's attributes in oppressing fellow men with influence contrary to truth, justice and righteousness. It is manifested in institutions both in relations of workers to one another and in the desire of one institution to control all others, and it applies to leaders disconnected from God with no living connection who oppress others, do despite to the Holy Spirit, and cast aside warnings from God coming again and again while venturing on in the same course.

That rebellion is repeated when people whose whole lifelong experience is contrary to God's way need converting but will not change thoughts and attitude in every way, and instead criticize and find mistakes in God's appointed management and talk to make it appear wrong rather than working successfully in Christ's lines against work the Lord is guiding. It warns against joining those who distort God's truth, as people in later times likewise misinterpret and misuse the Scriptures and God's warnings to support their own theories. The rebellion at Minneapolis is compared to Korah's rebellion, where resisting evidence and rejecting God's message brings spiritual darkness unless there is repentance, and separation from the rebellious company is required lest there be sharing in its guilt or judgment.

The rebellion is acted over again when God's people manifest firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge heaven-sent light, cherishing pride, prejudice, backsliding, unsanctified independence, lightness, trifling, jesting, mockery and disgust at God's word, refusing to seek God and to hearken to be blessed and healed. Those in that spirit lose clear light to discern the preciousness of truth, are blinded by Satan and perverted in judgment, obscure spiritual eyesight and walk in darkness and in sparks of their own kindling, despising not the human messenger but God's messengers and message and doing insult to the Spirit of God with contempt for the word of the Lord. Unless every soul humbles pride, confesses, repents and is converted that God should heal, they shall lie down in sorrow and God will remove the candlestick out of his place. The rebellious course like Dathan and Abiram is clinging to a leader who wears a mild, devoted, religious garb while corruption and rebellion are within, whose heart is at war with the third angel's work and with the visions he despises, sowing unbelief and drawing followers into the dark every time, so that those who hang on to such a man and sympathize with him take that same course and must depart and break sympathy lest they be drawn into darkness and consumed in sins.

Korah, Dathan and Abiram labored to make God's messages of none effect, being deceived and deceiving others, strengthening the hands and minds of evildoers who quote them while the enemy of righteousness looks on pleased. Many joined them, even two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown in the tribes of Israel, making as firm a stand and working in the same way, and the congregation believed them because things were set before them in perverted light with false representations that Moses and Aaron were all wrong, honestly thinking the rebels were right, but the result testified who was right and who was wrong. In the day of final accounts they must meet not only their own course of action but the result of their influence upon other minds charged against them in heaven's books, and all who remain with their tents are consumed in their sins. Those claiming sacred power and demanding obedience while disobeying great light, mingling God's work with men's devisings and selfishness, exalting self as especially favored by God, hurting God's faithful servants, and sustaining men God cannot favor repeat the same rebellion and forfeit all right to have their voice respected as God's voice.

Such opposition is an offense to God like efforts to discredit God's appointed servants with false charges, and charges should be answered with evidence and carefully investigated and met and examined rather than left to mislead the people. The account stands as an example of disaffection and resistance to God's work, showing that work can survive such opposition. God's people must take their stand on the Lord's side rather than follow those who betray a sacred trust or join rebellion against God's message and refuse the testimony sent to correct wrongdoing, because the rebellion and its deception bring ruin whenever repeated, and the warning against joining it and undermining faith in the testimonies applies to those who would share the judgment their rebellion brought. The example applies to Battle Creek leaders who acted like Korah, Dathan and Abiram through self-importance and self-sufficiency, from whom God's people must separate and not share in wrongdoing lest they share its consequences.

Call to Separate Today

When an emergency arises among God's people because of evil workers, the warning to leave the tents and touch nothing belonging to the rebels requires decisive separation, and remaining connected with their rebellion risks sharing its consequences, so evil workers are to be removed from the Lord's work rather than tolerated. As Israel was told to leave the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, all are now to leave corrupt, impure men alone, to separate from their company and have no fellowship with them, and to let them suffer the disgrace and punishment of their crimes, lest association corrupt the soul. God's faithful people must not remain dependent on rebellious men but must depart from them and have nothing to do with them, breaking sympathy lest they be drawn into darkness and consumed in their sins and suffer the judgment brought on the rebels.

That separation returns as a pattern when men who knew not God's past work are placed in responsible positions, pursuing ambitious projects, with pride hurt by straight testimony and little faith in God's messages. The same rebellious course is clinging to a leader who wears a mild, devoted, religious garb while corruption and rebellion are within, whose heart is at war with the work of the third angel and with the visions which he despises, sowing unbelief and drawing followers into the dark every time, as those in New York who hang on to such a man and sympathize with him take that course. It is the danger of resisting God's truth and becoming so self-deceived as to call light darkness and darkness light. To depart means to refuse to see as they see and believe as they believe, to break from their spirit, and to fall on the Rock and be broken while there is time, rather than walk in sparks of their own kindling instead of the Lord's light.

Those who have light and evidence but will not see and acknowledge it, and who walk with rebellion, will fall into the ditch together with their leaders, be left as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were left, and lie down in darkness, consumed in the sins of the wicked, for all who join themselves with rebels against the voice of God imperil their souls and will share their destruction. The warning was needed because those men complained and drew the people to stand with them in rebellion, and even when the people drew back in horror as God swallowed the wrongdoers, their rebellion was not cured, but the next day they blamed Moses and Aaron and thousands more died for sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness. Therefore those who are not called to correct the erring must not step between the offender and God, sympathize with the wrongdoer, or judge by human feeling against faithful reproof, but hold their peace and let God's correction fall where He directs to pierce souls that have little sense of sin.

Members of an erring party, such as the Messenger Party, must return fully and humbly confess their course rather than be met halfway, or those who receive them may share their punishment, since God's people are warned to separate from rebels and not share in their wrongdoing lest they be destroyed with them. To keep off the ground of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram means refusing to go on year after year in the face of all warnings doing according to one's own mind and judgment and refusing to hear the voice of the Lord. That course includes threatening to sever all connection with the brethren and trying to make them afraid by threatenings in order to force consent to dishonoring terms, when firm rectitude requires refusing those terms even if separation takes place. All who share that spirit will be consumed in their sins unless they separate from those wicked men and have nothing to do with them.

That spirit is bearing false witness against brethren by those who think they have been misused, leavening minds with distrust, weakening faith in God's instrumentalities, questioning and doubting men whom God is teaching, guiding, and leading, planting seeds of doubt that are hard to uproot, giving occasion for others to question in return, manifesting no confidence in ministering brethren, listening to Satan's reasonings and passing them on, and giving Satan advantage to create distrust, envy, and evil-surmising, and yielding to it brings an experience similar to theirs. Safety is in a teachable and expectant spirit, in closing the mind to Satan by submitting to the molding of the Holy Spirit, in a consistent life that testifies to the Spirit's guidance, and in following ministers only as they follow Christ.