They gathered themselves together against Moses

Bible Reading: Numbers 16-17

Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

Korah, Dathan and Abiram gathered two hundred and fifty men to rise up in rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They were ambitious for a leadership position. They said that they were just as holy as Moses and could lead just fine without him.

This is such a common thing in life. It seems that there is always someone who thinks they can lead better than the leader. A person who could run things better than their boss or a parent who could coach better than the coach.

In this situation, God had chosen Moses for leadership. This was not something he took upon himself. So in going against God's man, these rebels were going against God. The New Testament warns that men like these will be a part of the New Testament church:

Jude 1:10-11 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

They are gainsayers like Korah. They argue and contend with the elders. They try to gather a following after them. This is dangerous business because we know what happened to Korah and the others. The earth swallowed them whole! God then provided a miracle to show that he had chosen Aaron and his sons for the priesthood.

The leadership of Israel was not man's idea, it was God's. He chose Moses and Aaron. As we follow Jesus, we need to respect those who are in authority and remember that Satan was a rebel. We don't want to be like him.

In Christ,
Rody