Numbers 16:12 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, the bold insolence of Dathan and Abiram, and their rebellious complaint. Moses had already heard Korah and answered him, and now he sent for Dathan and Abiram to come and present their case (Num 16:12). But they would not obey. Perhaps they were ashamed to say to his face what they had already decided to say. More likely, they simply refused to admit his authority at all. That was plain arrogance.

Their words sounded like Pharaoh himself, who also defied Moses, though he later paid dearly for it. If their minds had not been darkened and their hearts hardened, they would have seen the danger. If they did not respect these messengers, Moses could soon send messengers of death in God’s name. But the god of this world blinds the minds of unbelievers.

Through the same messengers, they sent back their accusations against Moses, and the charges were serious. First, they blamed him for bringing them out of Egypt, calling Egypt a land flowing with milk and honey (Num 16:13). Egypt had onions, garlic, and fish, but it never claimed to be a land of milk and honey. They were mocking God’s promise about Canaan. Ungrateful people, to call their rescue an injury.

Second, they accused Moses of trying to kill them in the wilderness, even though they had been well provided for. If they were under sentence to die there, they had only themselves to blame. Moses would have healed them, but they would not be healed.

Third, they accused him of taking away their freedom and making himself a prince over them. A prince over them? Was he not, in truth, a caring father to them, and a servant for the Lord’s sake? Had he not protected their property, preserved order, and judged fairly? They lived with peace and honor, yet they complained as if Moses’ rule were harsher than Pharaoh’s. And did Moses try to make himself a prince? Far from it. He had been reluctant to take the office at first, and many times since he would gladly have given it up. Yet they slandered him as a tyrant and a usurper.

Fourth, they accused him of deceiving them, of promising them a good land and then failing to deliver it (Num 16:14). But whose fault was that? He had brought them to the edge of it and was ready, under God, to bring them in. They themselves pushed the promise away and shut the door on themselves. So they were now outside Canaan by their own sin, yet they blamed Moses. When foolish people ruin their own way, their hearts often grow angry against the Lord (Proverbs 19:3).

Fifth, they made a broad accusation of unfair dealing, saying that Moses had put out the eyes of these men and meant to lead them as he pleased. But his whole purpose had been to open their eyes, not blind them. They hinted that he wanted to keep them from seeing how badly they were being treated. Still, the wisest and best people cannot satisfy everyone, and often those who deserve the most praise get the harshest criticism. Many good works Moses had shown them from the Lord, and for which of those did they insult him?

Next, we see Moses’ rightful anger at their insolence (Num 16:15). Though he was the meekest of men, he grew very angry when he saw God being dishonored in him. He could not bear to watch a people destroy themselves after all he had done for their rescue. In this distress, he first appealed to God about his own honesty. They had wrongly painted him as ambitious, greedy, and oppressive, as if he had made himself a prince over them. God knew the truth.

He said he had not taken even one donkey from them, not as a bribe, not as extortion, and not even as payment for all the good he had done. He had never taken a general’s pay or a judge’s salary, much less a prince’s tribute. He had more in his own estate when he kept Jethro’s flock than when he became king in Jeshurun. He also testified that he had not harmed a single one of them, not even the smallest offense, not even the most difficult people among them. He had never used his power to support wrong. Those who have not wounded their own conscience need not fear false accusations from others.

Then he asked God to plead his cause and show His displeasure by refusing their offering. “Lord,” he said, “do not accept their offering.” He seems to be thinking of Cain, who offered to God but was not accepted (Genesis 4:5). Those who followed Korah’s rebellion were walking in the way of Cain, as Jude says (Jude 1:11). So Moses prayed that they would be rejected and shamed, as Cain was.

Then the matter was put to the test. Moses challenged them to appear with Aaron the next morning, at the time of the morning incense, and let God decide the case (Num 16:16, Num 16:17). Since calm reasoning had not convinced them, he was ready to place the matter under God’s judgment. He did not doubt that God would settle the dispute. Moses had already agreed to this kind of test before (Num 16:6, Num 16:7), and here he adds one more mark of fairness. Aaron, who had been chosen by God to burn incense in the tabernacle, would stand there now as if on trial, level with Korah at the entrance of the tabernacle. Moses himself would stand with them too. The complainants would have every fair chance they could ask for, and then every mouth would be shut.

Korah accepted the challenge and appeared with Moses and Aaron at the tabernacle entrance to defend his claim (Num 16:18, Num 16:19). He must have had an enormous amount of boldness to carry the matter this far.

Had not Korah lately seen Nadab and Abihu, the consecrated priests, struck dead for daring to offer incense with unauthorized fire? Could he and his companions expect to do any better when they offered incense with unauthorized hands? Yet, in his pride, he defied Heaven and acted as if he could demand God’s approval without God’s command. This is how the heart grows hard through sin’s deceit.

“They took every man his censer.” These may have been some of the censers these family leaders had used at their family altars before this part of worship was limited to the priests and the altar in the tabernacle. If so, they hoped to bring their old practice back into honor. Or they may simply have been common fire pans, used in ordinary life.

To attend this solemn test and watch the outcome, one might think Moses should have gathered the people against the rebels. Instead, Korah gathered them against Moses (Numbers 16:19). This suggests that a large part of the congregation sided with Korah, followed his lead, and hoped he would succeed. Korah’s confidence was so high that he called the people together as witnesses of his own defeat. Proud and ambitious people often work for their own rise, only to hurry toward their own shameful fall.

Then the judgment was set, and the Judge took his place. The glory of the Lord appeared (Numbers 16:19). The same glory that first appeared to appoint Aaron to his office (Leviticus 9:23) now appeared to confirm him in it and to confound those who opposed him and tried to take his place. The shekinah, God’s visible glory, usually dwelt between the cherubim inside the veil, but now it was seen over the entrance of the tabernacle, terrifying the whole congregation. They saw no form or image, but the light and fire likely made it clear that God was angry, as in Numbers 14:10. Nothing is more frightening to guilty people than the sight of God’s glory, because such a glorious God must be a dreadful enemy.

God threatened to destroy them all at once, and told Moses and Aaron to move away from them, so that he could do it (Numbers 16:21). In this way God showed what their sin deserved and how deeply it offended him. It is dangerous to keep company with sinners, even in the smallest way. Many in the crowd probably came only out of curiosity, or because they followed the group. Yet if they did not stand openly against the rebels and declare for God and Moses, they were in danger of being destroyed in a moment. If we follow the crowd where the devil has already entered, we do so at our own risk.

Then Moses and Aaron pleaded for the people (Numbers 16:22). They fell on their faces, throwing themselves down before God as earnest petitioners, hoping to win mercy for the congregation. Though the people had treacherously turned from them and joined the men who rose against them, Moses and Aaron stayed faithful to the duty given to them. They acted like shepherds of Israel, standing in the gap when the flock was in danger. If others fail in their duty toward us, that does not free us from our duty toward them, or from seeking their good.

Their prayer was a strong plea, and it was effective. God would have destroyed them if Moses had not turned away his anger (Psalm 106:23). Still, we should not think Moses was more thoughtful or more compassionate than God. God chose to show his holy anger against sin in the sentence, and at the same time to show his mercy to the prayers of his servants by revoking that sentence when Moses interceded.

In their prayer they addressed God as “the God of the spirits of all flesh.” This reminds us what man is, a spirit living in flesh, a soul joined to a body, a creature wonderfully made of heaven and earth. It also reminds us what God is, the God of the spirits of all mankind. He forms the human spirit (Zechariah 12:1), is its Father (Hebrews 12:9), has power to shape it (Psalm 33:15), and authority to decide its fate, since he has said, “All souls are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). By calling him this, Moses and Aaron seem to appeal to his mercy. As the God of the spirits of all flesh, he could destroy the whole congregation in a moment, but he might also spare them. He made them, he owns them, and he knows their inward condition. He can tell the difference between the leaders and the people they misled, between those who sinned with malice and those who were pulled in by deceit. He can judge each one accordingly.

Their argument was much like Abraham’s plea for Sodom (Genesis 18:23): “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” That is the same burden here: “Shall one man sin, and will you be angry with the whole congregation?” It is true that all of them were guilty in joining the matter, but the main wrongdoing belonged to the one who first began the rebellion. God may act in sovereign power and strict justice, yet we still have reason to hope that he will not destroy a whole congregation for one man’s sin. In the work of the Redeemer, righteousness and peace have met, and mercy will triumph over judgment.

Moses knew that the whole congregation would die in the wilderness little by little, yet he still prayed earnestly that they would not be destroyed all at once. He would count it a mercy if they were only given a reprieve. “Lord, leave it alone this year.”