Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (vv.1-3)
This rebellion, like all rebellions, had a leader and followers. The leader was Korah, descended from Kohath. Interestingly enough, both Moses and Korah were descended from Kohath, but by different sons (Moses through Amram [Numbers 26:58-59], and Korah through Izhar). The Kohathites had the most exalted duty among the Levites; their charge was to carry the most holy things of the temple, after Aaron and his sons had covered them with the specially prepared coverings (Numbers 4:15).
Korah was not content with what the Lord had called him to do in serving with the other Levites of the family of Kohath. He accused Moses of pride and exclusionary leadership. This accusation was made publicly, in front of two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation… men of renown. It was a clever attack because Korah acted as if he represented the people and fought for their interests. The truth was that he desired a following and a position for himself. Korah accused Moses (and Aaron) of pride and self-seeking. The truth was that Moses had not aspired to his position, that God had indeed called him, and Moses did not in fact see himself as above the congregation. On a human level, Korah was successful because of those who followed him.
When Moses heard this, he fell on his face (v.4), meaning he prayed. Being a humble man, he probably asked God if his critics were right or had something to teach him. He probably asked God what should be done in the situation. He certainly asked God to spare the nation and he asked God to not allow these divisive men to bring permanent harm to the people of God. We don’t know how long Moses prayed, but after prayer he had a sense of God’s direction for this crisis. Whereby he issued a challenge that Korah and his followers would come before the Lord, and Moses and Aaron would also come, so that the Lord would choose His leaders (vv.5-11).
Moses knew that the rebellion of Korah was rooted in ingratitude. They were not thankful for the wonderful ministry God gave them to do. He rebuked the pride and self-seeking that prompted their challenge which eventually killed those who argued against the leadership of Israel, God’s elect Moses and Aaron. God had established the authority of Moses as chief governor, and of Aaron and his family as priests, but it was not sufficient to restrain the ambition of mutinous men.
Korah lead a mutiny against Aaron because the priesthood was confined by him, and against Moses because this was done by his order. Korah did not recognize God’s authority and designed his own plan to elevate himself to the priesthood. Not a good idea. If one desires to be first in God’s kingdom, then one must learn to start at the bottom and be the servant of all, and never put down God’s elect to elevate yourself.
The Truth: “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
