The sons of Korah were Levites of the Koathite clan. If we go back to Numbers 4, we remember that the three branches of the Levites– Koathites, Merarites, and Gershonites, were put in charge of breaking down and setting up the Tabernacle whenever the Israelites moved from place to place during their wilderness wanderings. Of those three branches, it was the Koathites who had the most sacred duties. They were to carry the ark of the covenant itself, along with plates and bowls and lamps and incense burners, and all the other most holy things. It was serious business, so much so that God gave Moses a special warning about the Koathites:
“The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” (Numbers 4:17-20)
It was privileged, holy work. But it was also hard work, for unlike the poles and the curtains of the Tabernacle, which could all be loaded up on ox carts, the most holy things all had to be carried by hand. Add to that the emotional burden and stress of knowing you could be struck dead on the spot if you did it the wrong way. And then, multiply that by forty years of being in the desert. Being a Koathite was hard work.
At one point, the Koathites apparently cracked under the strain. In Numbers 16, we read that a Koathite named Korah, along with his friends Dathan and Abiram, rose up against Moses and Aaron. Notice the reaction from Moses (and Aaron) to this angry opposition.
Numbers 16
Korah, Dathan and Abiram
Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent 2 and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. 5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 6 You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers 7 and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
8 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! 9 Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? 10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. 11 It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! 13 Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! 14 Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”
16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. 17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” 18 So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”
23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy— 38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”
39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40 as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers.
41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. 48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
God appointed and anointed these men with specific, holy work that was sacred to God. The work came with a warning label with the instructions: “follow the instructions; lest you die.” As a Koahite, Korah was closer to the holy things than anyone else. Korah’s clan cared for the Ark and the altar and all the Tabernacle furnishings. And maybe that was part of the problem. Familiarity breeds contempt, and proximity to sacred things breeds pride and, God help us, indifference.
We read how Korah, along with Dathan, Abiram, and all the others who joined in the rebellion were destroyed for their disobedience and disrespect for Moses and Aaron along with their contempt for God and the work given to them! The ground literally opened up and swallowed them. It’s fitting that Korah was swallowed by the earth. Envy, pride, entitlement—those are all things of the world. And like Korah, the world can swallow us alive, too!
Korah wanted to feel more important and sought to be who Moses was called of God to do. Many leaders fall for this because of the constant tempting by God’s fallen angel, Satan, who was kicked out of heaven because he wanted to be God. Since Adam and Eve, our real Enemy floats these thoughts of pride, envy and arrogance with contempt for God over our heads in subtle to not so subtle ways. And most often, these traits appear in God’s church built on the blood of Jesus Christ. We seen it or be have been the one who opposed the holy! God help us!
Whenever we hear complaining and rebelling among God’s people, there’s usually a “stated reason” and a “hidden reason.” Korah’s public complaint was that Moses and Aaron were “running things” and not giving the people opportunity for input. He wanted more democracy in the camp. The hidden reason was that Korah wanted the Levites to have the same privileges as Aaron and his sons. Korah wasn’t satisfied to be assisting the priests; he wanted to be a priest.
God knew. Moses is told how God will handle the opposition.
Notice Moses and Aaron’s first response to the cruel, arrogant words of opposition from Korah; “The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” Nothing stings worse than when a brother attacks your very soul given to God.
Godly leaders fall facedown, humbled before God, seeking God’s help. Be wary of those who do not.
The selfish desire for greatness and authority is a common theme in Scripture, yet the most important place in the Christ believer’s life is the place of God’s choice, the place He’s prepared for us and prepared us to fill. The important thing isn’t status but faithfulness, doing the work God wants us to do. Sweet peace envelopes all who are doing what God wants us to be and do.
Moses intercedes for the rebellious! Moses and Aaron, being true leaders, immediately fell on their faces before the Lord and interceded for the nation—just like Jesus interceded for us today! It is just like Jesus, who died and rose again for our sins, to continue to seek and to save the lost through His committed followers! It is God’s two part assigned work, authorized from God, first be reconciled to God by repenting our sins to Jesus, His Son! The second part of our assignment is to help others be reconciled to God through Jesus, too! Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21;
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”—Paul to the church
THE REST OF THE STORY…
God Word reveals a subtle redemption story. The sons of Korah found their way back into humble service of God. A close look at 1 Chronicles 6 reveals that Samuel, the prophet who anointed Saul and David, was a Koathite (1 Chronicles 6:31-38). And a few generations later, when the tabernacle was replaced by the Temple, the Korathites became its doorkeepers (1 Chronicles 9:19-21). Finally, they could lay down the burden of caring for the most holy things. Once the ark had a place to rest, so did the sons of Korah. Read Psalm 84 to get a glimpse of contentment and rest in the house of the Lord: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” It took some time, but the Korahites apparently learned to praise God for the role they were given. God gave them rest from carrying their burdens. When they laid down their resentments, they took up their instruments and praised God!
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Lord,
Cleanse our hearts. Remove all that is not of you. Renew our minds, transform our thinking to be more like you. Refresh our souls with your new mercies. Restore the joy of your salvation at work with us that also give us peace as we trust and obey you.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 