Numbers 16:41, commentary and pictures

On the morrow after God destroyed Korah and his company, all the congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron, charging them with killing the people of the Lord.
They blamed God's servants for deaths that were God's own judgment for sin and presumptuous seizure of the priest's office, failing to see His hand in the punishment.
Their complaint revealed unchanged resentment and rebellious principle, springing from pride, envy, jealousy and desire for exaltation, the same spirit Satan infused into Lucifer against God's government.
Satan perverted their judgment and sight so that they sided with wrong, called those God had reproved holy, and attributed the working of the Holy Spirit to human or satanic agency, thereby hardening the heart and cutting off communion with heaven.
To murmur against the men of God's appointment was to reject God as leader, a warning against unbelief and resistance to reproof for the last days, and because of continued presumptuous wickedness a plague followed in which fourteen thousand seven hundred more died.

Setting and Accusation

On the morrow, the day after God destroyed Korah and his company, all the congregation of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, accusing them of killing the people of the Lord. The complaint blamed God's appointed leaders for deaths connected with Korah's rebellion rather than accepting the judgment described in the chapter. The rebellion continued the morning after Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their followers were destroyed, and the false charge exposed deep disaffection. The people failed to recognize God's hand in the judgment.

The accusation belongs to the history of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses and Aaron. It followed Korah's public claim that Moses and Aaron had taken authority for themselves and that the whole congregation was holy and entitled to share authority. The chapter's account is written as a warning not to follow that example of unbelief, unreasonable provocation, and rebellion.

The people charged Moses and Aaron with blood that God Himself had shed, blaming God's servants for deaths that were God's own judgment. That judgment was for sin, self-exaltation, and presumption, and for unauthorized assumption of the priest's office. They had looked with admiration on Korah and his company as they impiously exercised the priest's office with their censers, and did not see that they were offering a daring affront to the divine Majesty. Their accusation exposed failure to recognize that affront and to judge God's correction rightly rather than by human feeling, and joined complaint against those faithfully carrying out their responsibilities.

They regarded the dead as good and holy people of the Lord despite the evidence of rebellion and its judgment. Disappointment that events had turned out in favor of Moses and Aaron distorted their judgment and perception. Korah's flattery had convinced them they were good and had been wronged, for they concluded Korah and his companions were good men because of flattering words of interest and love. Prejudice and continued rebellion led them to believe Moses had brought about the destruction, and they came in tumult against Moses and Aaron ready to attack the men God had appointed, about to proceed to violence against their faithful, self-sacrificing leaders.

On the previous day all Israel had fled in alarm at the cry of the doomed sinners who went down into the pit, saying lest the earth swallow them also. Though terrified when those men were destroyed, after a short time they were not humbled. They spent the night of probation not in repentance and confession and seeking pardon for grievous sin but in devising resistance to the evidence of their guilt.

Blindness of Rebellion

The morning after the destruction of Korah and his allied leaders and princes, and of Dathan and Abiram and their followers, the whole surviving congregation still accused Moses and Aaron of killing the people of the Lord, charging them with blood that God Himself had shed for sin, self-exaltation, presumption and unauthorized assumption of the priest's office. Their accusation continued the rebellion and exposed the depth of their disaffection, resentment and rebellious principles unchanged, showing how stubbornness, prejudice and spiritual deception can keep people from recognizing a clear divine judgment and lead them to blame God's messengers. It warns that murmuring and rebellion are dangerous and resistant to correction, and that judging God's correction by human feelings and joining complaints against those who faithfully carry out their responsibilities leads to grave consequences.

The murmuring came from pride and ambition, envy and jealousy, discontent and distrust, and desire for self-exaltation for position and honor. It was the same spirit that led Lucifer to complain of the government of God and seek the overthrow of the order established in heaven, which Satan infused into Korah, Dathan and Abiram to arouse self-exaltation and rebellion. Satan perverted the people's judgment, sight and hearing so that they could not see or hear aright. Siding with wrong and treating those God reproved as holy, they looked with admiration on Korah and his company as they impiously exercised the priest's office with their censers and did not see that they were offering a daring affront to the divine Majesty, and even the judgment they had witnessed only strengthened their mistaken accusation. So deluded as to think themselves righteous, they regarded those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan, watched every advance of God's servants with suspicion, misrepresented their actions, and drew honest souls lacking correct knowledge into the snare.

Settled rebellion and turning from light and rejecting God's testimonies had blinded them to overwhelming and most convincing evidence and to the merciful opportunity to repent, for they believed the dead were good and holy despite the evidence and were ready to attack in tumultuous manner the men God had appointed. It shows how difficult it is to undeceive those led into insurrection and how murmuring and rebellion persist despite clear divine vindication. Though terrified when those men were destroyed and disappointed that the matter had resulted in favor of Moses and Aaron, after a short time they came against Moses and Aaron with this accusation, illustrating the continuing spirit of resisting reproof and opposing efforts to correct wrongdoing, described as satanic fanaticism, presumption and rebellion.

They had overwhelming and most convincing evidence that God was leading Israel and showing His displeasure at their course in destroying the men who had deceived them, but by rejecting light they became so blinded that the most striking manifestations of His power could not convince them, and they attributed His judgments to human or satanic agency. Accusing Moses and Aaron of causing the death of good and holy men through the power of the evil one, they deliberately rejected as satanic the agency of the Holy Spirit through whom God communicates with man. This cut off the channel of communication between the soul and heaven, hardened the heart effectually against the influence of divine grace, sealed their doom, and was the sin against the Holy Spirit which shall not be forgiven.

Murmuring against Moses and Aaron was blasphemy against God and rejection of God as leader by rejecting the men of His appointment. It was the greatest insult to God in despising and rejecting the men He appointed for their salvation, even purposing to put Moses and Aaron to death. To admit Korah was wrong and Moses was right meant receiving as God's word the sentence to die in the wilderness, so the people cherished hope for a new order with praise instead of reproof and ease instead of anxiety and conflict. Convinced by Korah's flattery and flattering words of interest and love that they were good men who had been wronged by Moses, they spent the night of probation not in repentance and confession and seeking pardon for grievous sin but in devising resistance to the evidence of their guilt, still cherishing hatred and bracing against rightful authority while Satan perverted their judgment and led them blindfold to destruction.

Warning and Judgment

The history of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stands written as a warning not to follow their example of unbelief and rebellion. Their unreasonable provocation and unwise actions call for genuine repentance from all who repeat such conduct. Their murmuring brought destruction, and serves as an admonition for those living in the last days. It gives instruction appropriate for the present time to keep the whole flock from being fed with errors that would cause them to go astray.

The accusation that Moses and Aaron had killed the Lord's people exposed deep disaffection and failure to recognize deaths for sin, self-exaltation, and presumption as God's judgment. It warns against judging God's correction by human feelings and against joining complaints against those who faithfully carry out their responsibilities. The people's judgment had been distorted by siding with wrong and treating those God reproved as holy, so even witnessed judgment only strengthened their mistaken charge. That persistence illustrates the continuing spirit of resisting reproof and opposing efforts to correct wrongdoing.

God calls for decisive action against evil workers, for had His servants separated them from His work years earlier they would have been honored by Him. The chapter warns that work rooted in self will not endure, while work done in God will. Because of continued sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness, thousands more died. The morning-after charge of killing the Lord's people showed the people still failed to see the Lord's hand, and a plague then struck the congregation killing more than fourteen thousand. The rebellion was not cured until fourteen thousand seven hundred who had joined it were slain.

After that slaughter God in mercy caused Aaron's rod to work a remarkable miracle to settle forever the question of the priesthood.