Acts: Opposition to the Gospel: Korah's Rebellion

Jude decries the ungodly within the church this way: Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. See Jude 1:11.

Korah’s rebellion, this is a tough one because so much is going on in Numbers 16, but I only want to focus on one thing that Korah said to Moses.

For example, there are two rebellions in Numbers 16, Korah’s and the tribe of Reuben’s (through Dathan and Abirim), one in the religious sphere and the other in the political. God’s judgment reflected the difference between the two as well: Korah was consumed by fire from heaven, Dathan et al. were consumed by the earth.

Political strife is not difficult to understand. We read about in the news all the time. In this early instance of political strife, the roots extended back to a son’s desire to replace a father. Reuben lost his birthright as the first-born by sleeping with Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid and the mother of Dan and Naphtali through Jacob, Reuben’s father). And Jacob passed him over:

Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Uncontrollable as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. Genesis 49:4

Absalom did this as well. See 2 Samuel 16:22. It’s a heinous usurpation of power by a son over his father.

I suppose the Reubenites after several generations thought they should no longer bear the ignominy of their patriarch. But by making a play for first by force and rebellion, they only confirmed that the character of their “father” was firmly rooted in theirs as well despite the significant passage of time.

Enough of that. I would rather think through the religious rebellion of Korah while keying off one particular thing he said to Moses:

“Enough for you.” See Numbers 16:3.

(Or otherwise translated, “let the past suffice for you” or “you have too much” or “you have gone too far.”)

What follows on the phrase, “enough for you?” Some for me? All for me, none for you? You are finished, my time has come? This wilderness isn’t big enough for the both of us? That’s funny, but that’s not quite right because there is no parity between Moses and Aaron and Korah and his followers.

[[The Following is a Very Long Parenthetical, But a Very Important Biblical Principle: We have seen this “town-ain’t-big-enough” before with Abraham and Lot. Lot’s shepherds and Abraham’s shepherds could not work together, and contended with one another:

“‘And Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no quarrel between me and between you and between my herdsmen and between your herdsmen, for we are brethren. Is not all the land before you? Please part from me; if [you go] left, I will go right, and if [you go] right, I will go left.’” See Gen. 13:8-9.

Don’t mistake what Abraham is saying. It is no different that Naomi saying to Orpah and Ruth,

“Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

And it is no different than Elijah telling Elisha in 2 Kings 2, “Stay!”

Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.” And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.” And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan. And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind. As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over. (emphasis added).

Don’t be confused by the manifestation of the power of God in Elisha. The issue is not one of power primarily but of relationship and proximity to God. Lot, Orpah, Ruth, and Elisha are all confronted by the same choice: their will be done, or His will be done (especially when His will extends apparent favor to someone else). Ruth and Elisha recognized or caught something about God they wanted to share in, participate, and experience. Lot would have done well to remain with Abraham at the expense of his personal gain. Only God knows what “Boaz” Orpah could have met and fallen in love with.

Sometimes to learn of Him, we have to stick close to those who are closer to God:

Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?

If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds. See Song of Songs 1:7-8.

And, in contrast to Korah, in sharp contrast in fact, we see this biblical principle of power, authority, and relationship in the life and ascendancy of Joshua.

When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his tent. This the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the tent. See Exodus 33:10-11.

Joshua learned proximity to God, drawing near, meeting, and remaining (or abiding) was the most important thing. It is no accident that Joshua was chosen to lead Israel after Moses. He learned the key to true power and authority—nearness and union with God. Understanding the will and purpose of God only comes from being close enough to know Him and His ways, not through some mandate of heaven. End of the Very Long Parenthetical]]

Korah is out of his depth but doesn’t know it. He fails to grasp the world he is now living in, one ordained and one governed by God, and thus, in his blindness, he is a grasper for this-side-of-eternity power and authority. In so doing, Korah still holds an Egyptian view of power and authority, which isn’t so much a “might makes right” as power issuing out the “mandate of heaven” upon a ruler who claims to be divine, or near-divine, or in proximity to the divine.

That is, the mandate of heaven, and the corresponding divine attributes of an Egyptian ruler, were confirmed by the martial successes, agricultural abundances, and material blessings of the people who were governed. Once these slipped away into drought or military failure, the mandate of heaven would be seen to shift to another. [[Another parenthetical, albeit a smallish one: that is why Joseph rose to such prominence, so rapidly, he secured, or at least represented a promise to secure, the mandate of heaven upon the present Pharaoh with the impending drought.]]

But here under Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership, all we see is sand, and more sand, and even more sand. It’s a desert, a wasteland. No agricultural or material blessings, only the moving from place to place, from time to time, based on the incalculable movements of a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. By comparison, slavery in Egypt looked like a much clearer indication of God’s favor with all the leeks and onions and fresh water, etc. whereas freedom in the wilderness looked and felt like greater bondage and further hardship with none of the benefits.

In other words, Korah assumed, wrongly, that Moses and Aaron could not have the mandate of heaven upon them—no connection to the living God (as Moses had asserted to the elders, and to Pharaoh). All God’s marvelous signs were done back in Egypt—there in Egypt was the real demonstration of power. In the wilderness, however, there was no consistent evidence of “real” power and authority, only “what-is-it” to eat (i.e., manna), snakes and scorpions, and a lot of seemingly aimless walking around.

[[Yet another smallish parenthetical: As Pharoah was unimpressed with Moses and Aaron, so too Korah. This ambivalence certainly suggests to me that in themselves Moses and Aaron were quite ordinary. They were not for example Charlton Heston, but regular men chosen by God for a particular purpose. That election was what made them special, if you will. Wasn’t this the criticism leveled at Jesus as well—he was by all appearances a very, regular man? See also, Isaiah 53:2 (“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”)]]

Where is God, where is there any Promised Land, in a trackless desert? Where is there any evidence that God has chosen Moses and Aaron to be His representatives, and authorities? I am not sure that Korah can see God; he seems to only see the high priestly position and the rewards that came with the elevated status.

[[Still another parenthetical: as you may recall, there were high priests in Jesus’ day. They were not descendants of Aaron; they were political animals and aggrandizers who exploited the office like Eli’s sons. This perversion of God’s annointing for personal, material, this-side-of-eternity life was born in Korah, and his seed continued throughout the history of Israel and in Paul’s day as well.]]

To see what cannot be seen takes faith. To keep walking, without clear direction, for the hope of what-has-not-yet-been-realized takes faith, not power.

Walking aimlessly, with limited material blessings, in discomfort, requires a trust in His power and authority. Sort of.

The trust is actually faith in His character as good, and right, and true, and pure, and compassionate, and solicitous—all of which allows Him to rightly, and not tyrannically, exercise the power and authority He possesses as God by nature.

A living trust and active confiding also requires both a recognition and an acknowledgement that it’s best that real power is best left in the hands of a gracious and loving God, and, if in God’s wisdom, He delegates some of His authority to a Moses or to an Aaron, or to a Joshua to lead a people to a place He has designated, then trust must bridge the gap between our own envy and jealousy to contentment in any and very circumstance. See Philippians 4:12.

As James recommended to us in his letter (Chapter 3):

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, do not boast in it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

Jealousy and selfish ambition are always with us, but the point here is they will always lead to, or more accurately, are evidences of a rebellion against, and an opposition to God.