Numbers 16:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is an account of the rebels, who they were and what sort of men they were. They were not, as before, the mixed crowd and the lowest people, but men of rank and standing, men who mattered. Korah was the main leader. He organized the revolt and headed the group, so this rebellion is called “the gainsaying of Korah” (Jude 1:11). Korah was Moses’ cousin, since they were sons of brothers, yet that close family tie did not keep him from treating Moses with insult and disrespect. We should not be surprised if a man’s enemies are people from his own home.

Dathan and Abiram, two leading men from the tribe of Reuben, joined him. Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son. Korah was likely angered both by Aaron’s appointment to the priesthood and by Elizaphan being made leader of the Kohathites, a Levite clan (Numbers 3:30). The Reubenites may also have resented Judah’s having the place of highest honor in the camp. On is named in Numbers 16:1 as one of the leaders of the faction, but he is never mentioned again in the story. Some think he repented and left them, while others think he simply played a smaller part than Dathan and Abiram.

The Kohathites camped on the same side of the tabernacle as the Reubenites, and this may have given Korah a chance to win them over. That is why the Jews said, “Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbor,” since a bad man can spread his corruption to those near him. These men of renown drew in two hundred fifty princes of the assembly (Numbers 16:2). They were likely firstborn sons, or at least heads of households, who had served in holy matters before Aaron was elevated. Pride, ambition, and rivalry among great men have always caused much trouble in churches and nations. God, by his grace, make great men humble, and so give peace in our time, O Lord.

These famous men were like the celebrated sinners of the old world (Genesis 6:4). Their fame did not satisfy them. They were high already, but they wanted to rise higher. In the end, the famous became infamous.

The rebels’ complaint was against the priesthood being fixed on Aaron and his family in Numbers 16:3. They thought it was too much honor for Moses to appoint, and too much for Aaron to accept. So they accused both men of seizing power for themselves: “You take too much upon you.” In effect, they were saying, “You have ruled long enough. Now give your places to others who have just as much right and ability.”

They proudly claimed that the whole congregation was holy, and that the Lord was among them. They acted as if every one of them was fit to offer sacrifice, just as Aaron was. They had little reason to boast about the people’s purity or God’s favor, because the people had often and lately been defiled by sin, and were then under signs of God’s displeasure. That should have made them thankful for priests who could stand between them and God. Instead, they envied the priests.

They also wrongly accused Moses and Aaron of taking honor for themselves, even though it was plain that God had called them to their work (Hebrews 5:4). Their complaint really meant that they wanted no priests and no rule at all, neither in civil affairs nor in sacred matters. Or else they would not accept the government God had appointed. This shows what spirit belongs to those who reject authority and resist the powers God has set over them. They are proud, jealous, ambitious, restless, wicked, and unreasonable. It also shows what kind of treatment even the best and most useful servants may receive from the people they have helped. If men with the best titles are called usurpers, and men who govern well are called tyrants, they should remember that Moses and Aaron were treated that way too.

When Moses heard their complaint, he fell on his face (Numbers 16:4), as he had done before (Numbers 14:5). This showed his willingness to yield if he could have done so without disobeying God or breaking faith with the trust given to him. It also shows that he turned to God in prayer, asking for guidance about what to say and do in such a painful situation. He would not answer them until he had humbled himself, calmed his spirit, and received direction from God. A wise heart, in such a case, thinks carefully before answering and asks for counsel from God’s mouth.

Moses agreed to let God decide the matter, because he was sure his own calling was good, yet willing to step aside if God chose otherwise. He was content to let even the next day be the time of testing (Numbers 16:5-7). Korah and his supporters were to bring censers and offer incense before the Lord, and if God accepted them, that would settle it. Moses was as willing now that all the Lord’s people should be priests, if God so pleased, as he had once been that all the Lord’s people should be prophets (Numbers 11:29). But if God decided for Aaron, as Moses knew he would, then the rebels would learn how dangerous it was to force the issue. He delayed the trial until tomorrow, hoping they might sleep on it and give up their claims.

Moses also reasoned with them carefully, trying to calm the unrest by fair argument before the matter came before God, where he knew it would end in the rebels’ shame. He called them the sons of Levi (Numbers 16:7, 8). They were his own tribe, and even more, they were God’s tribe. That made their rebellion worse, because they were rising against both God and Moses. Not long before, the sons of Levi had stood boldly for God in the matter of the golden calf and won lasting honor for it. Should those who were then the only innocent ones now become the main offenders and lose the honor they had gained? Could there really be such chaff on God’s threshing floor, Levites and yet rebels?

Moses also turned their charge back on them. They had said that Moses and Aaron took too much authority upon themselves, though they had done only what God assigned them. But Moses answered, in effect, that they, the sons of Levi, were taking too much upon themselves. Those who try to control and contradict God’s appointment take too much upon themselves. It is enough for us to submit. It is too much to try to rule what God has ordered.

Then Moses showed them the privilege they already had as Levites, which should have been enough for them. They did not need to reach for the honor of the priesthood (Numbers 16:9-10). He reminded them how great their own calling was, since they had already been set apart as Levites.

They had been set apart from the congregation of Israel, marked off and honored above the rest. Instead of complaining that Aaron’s family had been lifted above them, they should have been thankful that their own tribe had been raised above the other tribes, even though in many ways they stood on the same level as everyone else. It helps us stop envying people above us when we remember how many are below us. Rather than grumbling that others are preferred in honor, power, wealth, influence, gifts, grace, or usefulness, we have reason to thank God if we, who are less than the least, are not put at the very end.

They had also been given very great and valuable honors. First, they were allowed to draw near to God, closer than the ordinary Israelites, though the Israelites as a whole were also a people near to him. The nearer anyone is to God, the greater that person’s honor. Second, they were appointed to serve the tabernacle, the sacred tent where God was worshiped. It is honor enough to carry the vessels of the sanctuary and to be used in any part of that service. God’s service is not only complete freedom, it is also high advancement.

Third, they were to stand before the congregation and minister to the people. Those who serve the public are truly great, and it is the honor of God’s ministers to be servants of the church. To this dignity was added another reason they should have been content, because it was the God of Israel himself who had set them apart. It was his own act that placed them in their role, so they had no reason to be discontent. He was also the one who placed Aaron in his office, so they had no reason to envy him.

Moses then exposes the sin in their low view of these privileges: “Does it seem like a small thing to you?” He means, “It is wrong for you, of all people, to begrudge Aaron the priesthood, when you were also given another honor that depends on it and shines with light borrowed from it.” The privilege of drawing near to the God of Israel is no small thing, so it should not seem small to us. Anyone who neglects the chance to come near to God, or does it carelessly and only as a duty, should hear this question: “Does it seem like a small thing to you that God has made you a people near to him?”

Those who reach for honors that God has not allowed them show contempt for the honors he has given them. Each of us has as much reputation as God sees fit for us, and far more than we deserve. We should be content with that and not, like these men, try to handle things that are too high for us. “Do you also want the priesthood?” They would not admit that was their aim, but Moses saw that it was in their hearts. The law had already made good provision for those who served at the altar, and that stirred their ambition for the office.

Moses also treats their rebellion as rebellion against God, because while they claimed to defend the holiness and freedom of Israel, they were really taking up arms against the God of Israel: “You have gathered together against the Lord” (Numbers 16:11). Those who fight against God’s commands and his rule are really fighting against their Maker, whatever they claim and whether they realize it or not. Anyone who resists the king resists the one who sent him, because the king’s authority stands behind his servants. Moses says, in effect, “What is Aaron, that you complain against him?” If complaining people would remember that the people they attack are only instruments God uses, and that they are exactly what God has made them, no more and no less, they would speak with much more humility. If they found the priesthood a blessing, all the praise should go to God. If they found it a burden, they should not blame Aaron, who is only what God made him and does only what God commanded. In this way, Moses places God in the center of the case, and that gave him confidence in his appeal.