Numbers 16:9, commentary and pictures

Moses rebuked Korah and the sons of Levi for treating their calling as if it were only a small thing. The God of Israel had separated the Levites from the congregation of Israel to bring them near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, with Moses as chief governor and Aaron and his sons established in the priesthood by God's own choice. That setting apart was a great, sacred and precious privilege, yet those already honored with trusted places in it were not content but sought the priesthood also and a share in supremacy. To gather against Moses and Aaron in this prideful contempt for God's order was rebellion against Jehovah Himself, repeating on a narrower stage Satan's pride, ambition and attempt to overthrow God's government in heaven. The history was faithfully chronicled as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, that God's people must not follow Korah's course of secret distrust, false witness and sympathy with the wrongdoer, but must meet the accusing work with proof, investigation and firm rectitude.

Words and Historical Setting

Moses spoke the question as a rebuke to Korah and the sons of Levi for treating their calling as only a small thing. The God of Israel had separated the Levites from the congregation of Israel to bring them near to Himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that nearness and service was a great honor and no small thing. The Kohathites had been appointed to that tabernacle service and placed in positions of trust, yet they were not content and forgot that God and not Moses had placed them where they were. They were already honored with work connected with the sanctuary and with ministry to the people, but they treated it as too little and sought the priesthood also. Their complaint against Aaron was in truth a gathering against the Lord Himself, because Aaron had assumed no office of himself but had received his sacred office from God.

God had established a distinct order with Moses as chief governor and the priesthood given to Aaron and his sons, with Aaron honored by sacred consecration as high priest. Aaron's rod blossoming stood as a lasting sign of that divine choice, and the terrible manifestation of divine judgment in the destruction of Korah and his company sustained Aaron in that holy office. Korah was not satisfied with his place connected with the service of the tabernacle but desired to be exalted to the priesthood and determined to compel a change in God's order so he might be raised to its dignity. He drew Dathan and Abiram and then two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, into rebellion with him, all determined to have a share in the priesthood and the government. Rising before Moses, they accused Moses and Aaron of taking too much upon themselves and claimed authority that should belong equally to the congregation, setting things in a perverted light with false representations so that followers honestly thought the rebels were right.

Those leaders died before the Lord by plague under His just judgment for rebellion against Him. Yet the survivors remained deceived in stubborn confidence in their own judgment, and the next morning charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord. For that sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness thousands more were killed by plague. Nearly forty years later the thirsting multitude encamped at Kadesh in the desert of Zin, finding no water, murmured against Moses and Aaron and wished they had died with them. The people later recognized that their rebellion was sin against the Lord and that Korah's company had justly suffered His judgment.

Privileged Service Despised

Being separated from Israel and brought near to God to do the service of the tabernacle and to stand before the congregation to minister to them was a great, sacred and precious privilege, not a common or insignificant thing. The honor given to the Levites in their appointed tabernacle service was significant and did not itself confer the priesthood, for God had set Moses as chief governor and given the priesthood to Aaron and his sons. To treat service entrusted by God as small is to despise what He gave, and those who draw away from the body to accuse fellow believers and use faults in the church to build themselves up, imagining their own ideas would make a more correct church, are to be watched. Such privilege is no ground for pride, complaint, or rebellion, and criticism and resistance toward God's appointed workers repeats the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram to grave consequence.

Korah and the sons of Levi were already honored and placed in positions of trust connected with that near service, with the Kohathites appointed to the service of the tabernacle, yet they were not content. They forgot that God and not Moses had placed them where they were, charged Moses with taking too much upon himself, wanted to be commanders, and sought the priesthood also and a share in supremacy. Their dissatisfaction with the position God assigned became a determined effort to change the order God had established, reaching for greater authority while disregarding the sacred service already given. That grasping after equal honor and supremacy stands as a warning to those living in the last days, for honored part in the work does not make one equal to those God placed above nor justify resentment over honor given to another.

To count entrusted sacred service too little and to challenge the order God established is prideful rebellion and contempt for God's order. The Levites had been set apart, brought near to Himself, and entrusted with tabernacle service and ministry to Israel, yet Korah's company treated that honored calling with contempt as too little. Such contempt gives no basis for self-importance or grasping for more authority, and rejecting the appointed messenger and message is contempt for God's work itself. God's people must therefore choose whom they will serve rather than repeat rebellion and misplaced loyalty.

Sacred trust gives no right to entrench behind sacredness of office and demand to be respected as the voice of God while disobeying light. Those who claim great light and to be especially exalted of God, yet do not obey it all but mingle human devisings and selfishness with their work, hurt God's servants and sustain men God cannot favor, and like Korah, Dathan and Abiram forfeit all right to the claim of sacred power and authority. Those who receive truth prepared through others' labor should be grateful rather than reproach and rise against those bearing that burden. Service mixed with self is corrupted and will not endure, while work done in God and carried out through His principles, with self and selfishness put away rather than substituted for His direction, will stand.

Rebellion Against God Himself

To gather together against Moses and Aaron and to challenge those leading the work was to gather against the Lord and to rebel against Jehovah and against God Himself, for Aaron had assumed no office of himself but God had placed him in the sacred office and had distinguished him for the priesthood, and to reject the men of God's appointment was to reject God as leader. The Levites had already been separated from the congregation of Israel and brought near to God to do the service of the tabernacle and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that near service was no small thing, yet in seeking the priesthood also their discontent became opposition to the Lord and they justly suffered His judgment, with Aaron's rod blossoming as a lasting sign of God's choice. Their course is recorded as a warning, for Satan leads persons to imitate Korah, Dathan and Abiram by raising insurrection among God's people.

The rebellion repeats on a narrower stage the rebellion of Satan in heaven, for pride and ambition prompted complaint against the government of God and the attempt to overthrow the established order. Satan infused the same envy and discontent and the same ambition for position and honor into Korah, Dathan and Abiram, arousing desire for self-exaltation and exciting envy, distrust and rebellion. By murmuring against Moses and Aaron they blasphemed God, yet they were so deluded as to think themselves righteous and to regard those who faithfully reproved their sins as actuated by Satan.

The rebels were held by a moral infatuation exerted by Satan that steels hearts against the influence of the Holy Spirit, deluding them with the idea that they opposed only a human leader, a man like themselves. 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. They were deceived by Satan but by their own consent, because they placed themselves in his power. To act in a spirit separated from God, with hearts not under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit, reveals the attributes of Satan in oppressing fellow men, as seen among workers toward one another and in the desire of one institution to control all others, and men entrusted with weighty responsibilities but having no living connection with God do despite to the Holy Spirit in this same spirit and keep on in the same course even when warnings from God come again and again.

Rebellion works secretly and in darkness, refusing to come openly to the one wronged, and spreads falsehood and enmity and evil-surmising and satanic misrepresentation to gain sympathy, as Satan did with the angels under him. It speaks hasty, unadvised words from a sense of being misused, bears false witness against brethren, leavens the minds of others with distrust, weakens faith in God's instrumentalities, and questions and doubts men whom God is teaching, guiding and leading. It assails fellow men whom God appointed to do work for Him, presents them in a ridiculous light, sets things in a perverted light with false representations against them, and leads the people to think that brethren in whom they have had confidence are no longer worthy of love and fellowship. The seed of doubt so planted is hard to uproot, and those who question give occasion for others to question them, while listening to such suggestions makes men fitful in feeling, impulsive, rash, reckless and unsafe in positions of trust, giving Satan advantage to create distrust, envy and evil-surmising. Such unjust charging of fellow laborers with guilt creates a sentiment that cuts off their influence, makes false impressions, causes dissension in the church, creates false sympathy, leads others into the same error and endangers souls.

Those who rebel become self-deceived, thinking that those upon whom God has laid the burden of His work have exalted themselves above the people and that their counsels and reproofs are uncalled for. They think themselves righteous even while opposing the plain testimony God would have His servants bear in rebuking wrongs, including hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff and tobacco, and when conviction conflicts with appetite and appetite prevails they refuse to deny self. Irritated because their idols would be destroyed, undecided between conviction and appetite, weakened by indecision and with sacred sense perverted, they 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, then find relief in warring against the straight testimonies and rallying all the disaffected and spiritually defective, the lame, the halt and the blind, to scatter and sow discord.

Genuine rebellion of this kind is hardly ever curable and must be called rebellion and apostasy by their right names, for it involved far more than two men, being led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. Its disaffection was so deep that it was not cured even when God stretched forth His hand and swallowed up the wrongdoers while the people fled to their tents in horror, for the morning after the destruction they charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, for which sin, exultation and presumptuous wickedness thousands more were killed. Those who join themselves with such rebellion, by men who had light and evidence but would not see or acknowledge it, refuse God's voice and walk not in the light of the Lord but in the sparks of their own kindling, leading others who trust them into the same path where God is not leading. They imperil their souls and, if they continue, will be left as Korah, Dathan and Abiram were left, falling into the ditch and lying down in darkness.

Warning for Later Generations

The history with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into instruction for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, especially for those living near the close of time, as a warning to learn from Israel, repent of rebellion and unwise conduct, take heed, choose whom they will serve, and not follow the example of unbelief shown when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rose with two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous men of renown. That rebellion works secretly and in darkness, refusing to come openly to the one wronged, and spreads falsehood and enmity and evil-surmising and satanic misrepresentation to gain sympathy, as was done with the angels, and Christ came not to aid such rebellion but to put it down. Genuine rebellion of this kind is hardly ever curable and must be called rebellion and apostasy by their right names, warning against failing to sink deep into the mines of truth, mistaking the great leader of apostasy for righteousness, failing to distinguish the false from the genuine and the voice of the true Shepherd from that of a stranger, and being easily led astray when a few claim to undeceive the whole church, who are known by their fruits.

The example is repeated when persons rise in opposition to plain testimony and the testimonies God sends, setting their own judgment above appointed leadership and turning aside divine counsel to suit self and lessen confidence in the message, which is rebellion against God Himself and must be answered for because it is God's work. When conviction conflicts with appetite and appetite prevails, many refuse to deny self because their idols would be destroyed, undecided and weakened by indecision with sacred sense perverted by slow poisons. They war against the straight testimonies that rebuke wrongs among God's people and hurtful indulgences such as tea, coffee, snuff, and tobacco, claiming the people are all right and the reproving testimonies make the trouble. They 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, and rally all the disaffected and spiritually defective, the lame, the halt and the blind, to scatter and sow discord. They refuse the testimonies given through appointed messengers and labor to make them of none effect, deceived and deceiving others and strengthening evildoers, setting things in a perverted light with false representations so that followers honestly think the rebels are right, leading a vast number including the two hundred and fifty princes to a firm stand in unbelief whose result testifies who was right, and this course with its influence upon other minds is charged in the books of heaven to be met in final accounts unless confessed and sent beforehand to judgment to be blotted out when refreshing comes and Jesus is sent.

The rebellion was acted over at Minneapolis in firm self-complacency and unwillingness to accept and acknowledge light sent from heaven. There men strengthened the gainsayer, unsettled minds and shook faith in the testimonies, and sowed impressions of unbelief in other minds that cannot be removed even if faith is later recovered. To be found among them at such a time is to do the very work Satan is doing and to give him triumph. Rejecting the appointed messenger and message there treated entrusted sacred position with contempt while challenging the order God had established, like contempt for God's work in Korah's rebellion against the separation of the Levites to be brought near to serve at the tabernacle and minister to Israel.

That spirit is proud and prejudiced and not actuated by the Spirit of God, refusing to hearken when the Lord desires to come near to bless and heal backslidings. It despises God's appointed testimony, messengers, message, and word, showing contempt with a spirit of mockery and disgust expressed in lightness, trifling, jesting, and joking. Unsanctified independence insults the Spirit of God, while Satan blinds eyes and perverts judgment, obscuring spiritual eyesight and refusing the manifestation of divine Spirit and power. It refuses God's voice though having light and evidence, walking not in divine light but in darkness in the sparks of its own kindling, and leading others who trust such leaders into the same path where God is not leading. Unless every soul humbles pride, confesses prejudice and sin, repents and is converted to be healed, those who join themselves with such rebellion imperil their souls and will be left as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were left, falling into the ditch, lying down in sorrow and in darkness, with the candlestick removed out of its place.

The disastrous work is repeated by challenging, accusing, and condemning those on whom God placed the burden of His work, driven by a self-righteous spirit that sets its own judgment above them, and anyone persuaded to join shares its danger. It is done by those who act from selfish interest and reject responsibility toward God's cause, following the spirit of wicked rebellion. Such disaffection and resistance against God's work will not prevail if the work is of God. Criticism and resistance to appointed workers can repeat that rebellion and bring grave consequences, for being set apart and brought near to God for sacred service is a great privilege, not a basis for pride or rebellion.

It is repeated by drawing away from the body, accusing fellow believers and using faults in the church to build self up while imagining one's own ideas and methods would produce a more correct church, and such persons should be watched. It is repeated by carrying out a threat to sever all connection with brethren unless others consent to one's own terms, going year after year by one's own mind and judgment while refusing to hear the divine voice despite all warnings, and those threatened should stand with firm rectitude and not yield from fear, because separation is better than consent to dishonoring propositions until the one taking this ground comes to his senses and keeps off it. It hides corruption and rebellion within under a mild, devoted, religious garb, is at war with the work of the third angel and at war with the visions and despises them, sows seeds of unbelief and exerts a dark and deadly influence, and clinging to and sympathizing with such leaders and being drawn into darkness by them is taking that same rebellious course against a holy separation to tabernacle service.

It is repeated among workers and managers through self-importance and self-sufficiency, including the desire of one institution to control all others, revealing the attributes of Satan in oppressing fellow men when hearts are separated from God and not under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit. It is seen in those entrusted with weighty responsibilities yet having no living connection with God, who do despite to the Holy Spirit in this same spirit and keep on even when warnings come again and again. It is seen in those who reject God's warnings and use their position to oppress others, treating as too little the privilege granted by separation and nearness to God for tabernacle service and ministry while seeking more authority, and distorting divine words and warnings to defend their own ideas as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram did by misuse of Scripture.

Faithful Response and Duty

God's people must not follow the course of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram by judging from human feelings, sympathizing with the wrongdoer under correction, or standing between the offender and God when His servants do the disagreeable duty of correcting the erring. They are to hold their peace and let the arrows of the Almighty fall just where He directs to pierce those with little sense of sin, for disaffection was so deep that it 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 that destruction they charged Moses and Aaron with killing the people of the Lord, and for that sin, exultation, and presumptuous wickedness thousands more were killed. Turning against God's instrumentalities brings that same experience, which comes from speaking hasty, unadvised words, thinking one has been misused, bearing false witness against brethren, leavening the minds of others with distrust, and weakening faith in God's instrumentalities by questioning and doubting men whom God is teaching, guiding, and leading. The seed of doubt so planted is hard to uproot, and those who question give occasion for others to question them, while when ministers manifest no confidence in their ministering brethren Satan is given advantage to create distrust, envy, and evil-surmising. Those who listen to his suggestions pass them on to others and become fitful in feeling, impulsive, rash, reckless, and unsafe in positions of trust.

The accusing work of assailing fellow men whom God has appointed, presenting them in a ridiculous light, and leading the people to think that brethren in whom they have had confidence are no longer worthy of love and fellowship, arising in the very midst, is an offense to God and must be met rather than left in silence. On every point the accusers must be called to bring proof, and every charge must be carefully investigated and made certain, so the people are not left uncertain whether it may be true or may not be true. To unjustly charge fellow laborers with guilt creates a sentiment that cuts off their influence, makes false impressions, causes dissension in the church, creates false sympathy, leads others into the same error, and endangers souls. The people must be undeceived and not left to believe a lie, and every unsubstantiated reproach must be lifted with the filthy garments of false accusation removed from the servant of God.

Those threatened with separation by one carrying out a threat to sever all connection with brethren, demanding consent to his own terms, and going on year after year according to his own mind and judgment while refusing to hear the voice of the Lord in spite of all warnings, should stand with firm rectitude and determination and not yield from fear. Separation is better than consent to dishonoring propositions, and the one taking this ground must come to his senses and keep off it. Those who corrupt the Lord's work should be separated from it, for failing to act decisively against evil workers dishonors God, since being set apart to serve God and minister to His people is a sacred privilege. Those who draw away from the body, accuse fellow believers, and use faults in the church to build themselves up while imagining that their own ideas and methods would produce a more correct church, and those who claim great light yet hurt God's servants and sustain men God cannot favor, should be watched.

People who receive truth prepared through others' labor should be grateful rather than rebel and reproach those entrusted with God's work and rise against those bearing that burden, for being set apart by God for sacred service is a privilege and responsibility, not a reason for pride or complaint. The spirit that despises a God-guided work and criticizes and finds fault with its management, talking so as to make it appear that mistakes have been made when the Lord has been guiding, is repeated by those who themselves need converting and need to change their thoughts and their attitude in every way in order to work successfully in Christ's lines. Because it is God's work, those who set their own judgment above Moses as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram did when they charged that Moses was injuring Israel, and who turn aside the counsel of God to suit self and lessen the confidence of God's people in the testimonies God has sent them, must render account to God for how they treat His message. Their history is stubbornness in their own opinions and fearful deception that is hard to convince, for even after God in marked judgment destroyed the leaders and princes, the survivors came the next morning saying Moses had killed the people of the Lord. Refusing the testimonies God gave through His appointed messengers and laboring to make them of none effect, deceived and deceiving others, strengthening the hands and minds of evildoers and leading a vast number including two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown, to make a firm stand in unbelief by setting things in a perverted light with false representations against Moses and Aaron so that followers honestly thought the rebels were right, with the result testifying who was right and who was wrong, is a course with its influence upon other minds that is charged in the books of heaven to be met in the day of final accounts unless confessed and sent beforehand to judgment to be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come and He shall send Jesus.