Who is he that you grumble against him? Parashat Korach, Numbers 16-18

There was an important difference between Moshe, Aaron, and Korach. Korach represents one who was hungry for worldly power and authority. Moses and Aaron represented ones who would have preferred to have not been given their positions. In Numbers 12:3, the Torah states, "Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth." This is in contrast to the view that we have of most politicians. At the very beginning of Moses ministry, Moses declared to God that he did not want to go. Exodus 4:13-14
"But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart." After this time, Moses stood against Pharaoh, and he saw the wonders of God as the greatest kingdom on the earth fell before God, witnessed by Israel, in a very short time. Moses leads the people out of Egypt and stops at a dead end by the sea. Here, God destroys the greatest army on the earth in a single day, while the Israelites cross through the Reed Sea, again, in a short amount of time. Within days of this catastrophic event, the people grumble about thirst and hunger. Again, God delivers water from rocks and manna that appears with the dew in the morning, enough for everyone to eat and be full. Then God takes them to Mt. Sinai, where they are to receive the Torah, but also where they build a golden calf to worship God falsely. Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel and seeks God's forgiveness. Following a plague that kills many people, God relents. In relenting, he delivers to Moses a second time, the Torah written upon the tablets. Then, the Israelites set out from Mt. Sinai for the purpose of entering into the land, but they grumble again about not having meat. At this point, even Aaron and Miriam grumble against Moses regarding Zipporah. Miriam is stricken with leprosy, but is then healed. Next, they come to the land, where they send in spies, who come back with huge grapevines and other produce. They then turn and give false testimony about being consumed by the land and the people in it. This discourages most of the people. (Apparently, when they took their polls, a majority decided that they were against going into the land…so much for taking polls.) God sends the people back into the wilderness where he gives them their saddest news yet—God was promising them that they were going to die in the wilderness, but that their children would be able to take the land. Could anyone imagine being in the shoes of Moses during this time? Sure, he like no other prophet in Israel, save Yeshua, had direct access to God the way that he had. But it seems that this interaction with God, while it may have been more glorious than any other type of interaction any of us can dream up, this interaction was filled with sadness and discouragement. Everyone seemed to stand up against Moses at one time or another. Well, they weren't standing against Moses, they were standing against God, but Moses certainly ended up spending a great deal of time before God on his knees, begging God not to destroy Israel because of their faithlessness. Numbers 16:4 "When Moses heard it, he fell on his face…"

Moses leadership of the Israelites must have been the most unique leadership that we could have ever seen. While many of us think in terms of politics and policies, these are such worldly ways of thinking, it would be difficult for us to comprehend how Moses led, and even why he did it. This is not just some native people group from Indonesia, or Africa, or rural America, these are the Israelites. The Israelites, one could say, literally lived out the Torah. And how did that work out for them? I think we can draw some encouragement that living out the Torah is not necessarily a beautiful or idealistic thing. It is difficult and very unromantic, and even in many cases, very unspiritual.

At that very difficult moment, and at absolutely the worst possible time for Israel, along comes Korach. Korach was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. Their fathers were brothers. Moses and Aaron's father was Amram, and Korach's father was Yitzhar. Amram and Yizhar' father was Kohath, the second born of Levi. If there were a line of succession to the priesthood, one could suppose that Korach would have been next behind Aaron, had Aaron not had sons. But this was not how God cuased this to work, and for whatever reason, at this worst possible time, Korach decides it was his time to stand against Aaron. One would figure that after Pharaoh, his army, the complainers about food and water, the golden calf worshippers, the 10 spies and the 70 elders who were just consumed, one would think that Korach should have been a little frightened. Yet, he goes and gets two fellow lead complainers from the tribe of Rueben. Certainly, they understood what is must have been like to have been set aside for a younger brother to have taken the family birthright. These three men led quite a few people against Moses and Aaron.

However, the response to Korach and his followers was pretty abrupt, and perhaps worse than all of the rest of the destruction of those who complained before. The Scripture says that Korach and his followers were swallowed by the earth directly into Sheol (16:30). On one hand, this could be a reference only to the ground or earth, which is a literal translation of Sheol. But could it be possible that this is a reference into hell, as well? The end result is that these men and their families existed no longer in Israel, and not even their descendants would go into Israel. This is such a warning about so many groups that go against God's leadership. Of course, by "God's leadership," I am not speaking about individuals who elevate themselves above all others for their own sake, their own glory. However, there are leadership structures out there, for example, the entirety of the Southern Baptist Convention, that have a certain type of halachic authority on the earth. Not that it is to be worshipped nor is it to be considered infallible. But this kind of organization, so long as it stays the course following God, is a type of leadership that we need to support, or at least, not rise up against for the sake of destroying it. The same could be said for the UMJC or the MJAA or other such groups. God does not bring people together without purpose, and within large groups such as these, there is a structure and there are leaders. Again, not like Moses. But they are there, and these leaders need prayer and support and encouragement. If there is any lesson we need to draw from Korach: Now is NOT the time to abandon our various institutions that God is using to spread the message of Messiah and hope for the lost. Now is the time to dig in and help.

Consider again what Moses said about Aaron to Korach: Numbers 16:11 "Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" This may not seem very encouraging to Aaron, but by this point, Aaron understands what Moses is saying. He has already been scolded by God, along with Miriam. Aaron, too, was humble. We all have our areas of leading in which God is or should be calling us to. The Great Commission is a calling for all. But we are not anything in regards to what our calling is. If God is, who are we? Even the high priesthood of Israel was nothing before an Almighty God. Korach missed that point. There is no power in leadership that is not from God. Man can create a false type of power, of course, as we see on the news every day. But it is an illusion, and it is nothing more. Power lies with God alone, and there is no leader who can have that. Let us be faithful and let us be obedient, for who are we?