Numbers 16:8-10

This is an inter-family squabble; not just inter-church or international. This was mostly a squabble among Levites. It was headed by a grandson of Kohath. Very interesting. Moses puts the blame squarely on the ones who were in charge. This was spearheaded by the Levites who thought they had been kept out of the good positions. What they had to do was just take down the Tabernacle and cart it off and do all these physical labors, while Aaron's family got to be priests.

No. You see, Korah and Dathan and Abiram (and all the other two hundred and fifty men) were not content with what God had given them to do in the church of the wilderness. They didn't want to be porters and bearers. They didn't want to be the setup crew, or the take-down crew. They wanted to be the mediators between God and men. They wanted the cushy job—the one they saw that had the most going for it, the one they saw had the most authority. They were not content with where God had placed them in the body at the time. In verse 31 we'll see what happens.

Numbers 16:8-10

Let us look at this. What was it that they were upset about? Well, they said that Moses was exalting himself, that Moses was taking too much upon himself. "Don't you know, Moses, that the whole congregation is holy? We're all equally holy. We all deserve our say in things." When Moses heard this he fell on his face because he knew what was going on, and he knew that if he did not get down he was going to get hit.

This was a rebellion by the upper-management against the priesthood. These people who had been given the jobs that Moses mentions here wanted more. They wanted to be the priests. They wanted to lead Israel because they were not satisfied with the positions that God had given them.

Numbers 16:9-10

These people wanted more authority, more autonomy. They did not see that God had appointed the authority and that they were actually part of the authority. Some of these leaders came from the tribe of Levi and they were part of that constituted authority within Israel. God had separated them and yet they wanted more. So you see that their desire, the way their pleasure was going to be gratified, was that they wanted more than they already had been given.

Numbers 16:8-11

That is very interesting because apparently Moses must have turned and faced Korah directly. Korah, remember, was the only Levite among the three. There may have been other Levites in the 250, but apparently this was directed straight at Korah because he was a Levite, and he should have known better above the other ones.