Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men.[1]
Fear, the Hebrew word yârêʼ, doesn’t appear in the story of Korah’s rebellion. That in itself is instructive. Though there is plenty to be frightened of, there is no fear of the Lord here; it is difficult to find even a hint of reverence for God. The rebels confronted Moses and Aaron and said, “You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”[2]
Accusing Moses of exalting himself above the community of the Lord was hitting below the belt. He was the most reluctant Messiah: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”[3] he had said. Then he had caviled, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ – what should I say to them?”[4] He had fretted, “And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”[5] He had made excuses, “O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”[6] He had all but refused to serve, angering[7] the Lord in the process, “O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”[8]
He had wholeheartedly admitted that he was burdened excessively, beyond [his] strength, so that [he] despaired even of living:[9] I am not able to bear this entire people alone, Moses had cried out to the Lord, because it is too heavy for me! But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.[10] And his most profound hope was that all Israel would know the Lord and be holy in fact: “Are you jealous for me?” he had said when Joshua was offended because Eldad and Medad had prophesied in the camp.[11] “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”[12]
With his body Moses fell down with his face to the ground[13] when he heard the rebels’ accusation, but I wonder about his heart (Numbers 16:5-7 NET).
Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t pay to be too subtle with Moses’ matter-of-fact writing style,[14] but the brute fact of goading Korah and his accomplices into presenting strange fire before the Lord[15] sounds like sarcasm to me. Moses spoke to Korah and the sons of Levi, but he summoned[16] Dathan and Abiram as a prince would summon unruly subjects. They refused his summons and said, Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind [continue to deceive] these men?[17]
It was another low blow. It hadn’t been that long since Moses had interceded[18] for Dathan and Abiram, when the Lord wanted to strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them[19] after they had refused to enter the promised land because they feared the people living there rather than the Lord. Reading the Bible in faith I am privy to the secret communication between the Lord and Moses that Dathan and Abiram heard about only through Moses. Granted, they had rejected the privilege of hearing from the Lord when they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”[20] Still, I want to consider the truth of Dathan’s and Abiram’s accusations, both literal and perceptual.
Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Yes, Moses had led them out of Egypt, and, yes, they were going to die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:28-30a):
As I live, says the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you.
Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? Moses had summoned them as a prince.
Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. True, under Moses’ tenure as leader Dathan and Abiram would not inherit fields and vineyards in the promised land. Their children might have: But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised,[21] the Lord promised. Dathan and Abiram, however, would die in the wilderness.
Do you think you can blind [continue to deceive] these men? Slavery in Egypt didn’t seem so bad any longer. But here they were wrong. Moses had not deceived anyone. Dathan and Abiram added up all the facts they perceived but came to the wrong sum. How do I know? Through faith, the very faith Dathan and Abiram did not have, though they saw with their eyes, and lived through, the circumstances I can only read about.
Moses was very angry…[22] Perhaps I should accept his anger as righteous indignation and let it go at that. I certainly have in the past. I would be willing to do so again, if not for the Scripture the Holy Spirit brings to my mind: Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.[23] Have no respect for their offering! Moses “interceded” with the Lord. I have not taken so much as one donkey from them [no one accused him of stealing anything], nor have I harmed any one of them![24]
Let me say before I go any farther down this road, that apart from the Spirit of God raising the dead, I would have folded long before this if I were under Moses’ pressures. But I do wonder here if Moses was concerned with justifying the Lord or himself. And I probably ask the question because I’ve spent so much of my time and energy trying to justify myself. Be that as it may, I can’t help but wonder if I am staring at the terminal moraine, if you will, of the most humble man in the world.[25] Is this the foreshadowing of what would become explicit at the waters of Meribah?[26]
I am foreshadowing for those who know the story and will be explicit for any who do not. Even Moses could not enter the promised land. “Then who can be saved?”[27] Jesus’ astonished disciples exclaimed on a different subject. But I think his answer still applies: “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.”[28] And don’t fret too much for Moses. He came back in the sequel (Luke 9:28-31 NET).
…Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white. Then two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him. They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke about his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem.
This followed Jesus’ promise, I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming (ἐρχόμενον, a form of ἔρχομαι) in his kingdom,[29] as Matthew recalled it. The definition of ἔρχομαι in the NET lists “to appear, make one’s appearance…come forth, show itself” and “become known” as possible meanings. These make some sense of Mark’s Gospel account (which I assume was Peter’s recollections), there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God come (ἐληλυθυῖαν, another form of ἔρχομαι) with power.[30] The vision[31] (ὅραμα) of not just one but three glorified sons of man was overwhelming to Peter in its power (Luke 9:32, 33 NET).
Now Peter and those with him were quite sleepy, but as they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. Then as the men were starting to leave, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying.
For they were afraid (ἔκφοβοι, a form of ἔκφοβος) Mark wrote, and he did not know what to say.[32] But God, the Father, made sure there was no confusion in the matter (Luke 9:34, 35 NET).
As [Peter] was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid (ἐφοβήθησαν, a form of φοβέω) as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him!”
It’s a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God. And the hope of, not being afraid,[33] but walking among them as one of them is wonderful beyond description. It’s an occupational hazard of studying the Bible I suppose, but Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Peter, Paul, Abraham, David, Jephthah’s daughter, Mary and Abigail are more vibrant and alive to me than most of the people I see every day. I can only imagine what it was like for Jesus to step out of that vision and back into the here and now. I know what was on his mind. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that He was concerned that his disciples understood his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem. The clock was ticking loudly then.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept this statement to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant.[34] But while the entire crowd was amazed at everything Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples, “Take these words to heart, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this statement; its meaning had been concealed from them, so that they could not grasp it. Yet they were afraid (ἐφοβοῦντοto, another form of φοβέω) to ask him about this statement.[35] They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand this statement and were afraid (ἐφοβοῦντο, another form of φοβέω) to ask him.[36] When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.[37]
Finally they began to hear Him. They became greatly distressed which is understandable, maybe even commendable, but completely beside the point! So with the foreknowledge of their unbelief weighing on his mind, Jesus walked down the mountain of transfiguration into an argument (Mark 9:14-18 NET).
When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and experts in the law arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran at once and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
A member of the crowd said to him,[38] “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute [Table]. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they were not able to do so.”
Then the Son of Man vented his own frustration, You unbelieving generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you?[39]
[15] Leviticus 10:1 (NET)
[19] Numbers 14:12 (NET)
[23] James 1:19, 20 (NET) Table
[25] Numbers 12:3 (NET)
[31] Matthew 17:9 (NET)
[38] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αποκριθεις and ειπεν (KJV: answered and said).