Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Korah
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Genesis 6:1-7
This vignette deals with the prevalence of ungodly marriage practices leading to disastrous results. The gist of this section is that, after a few generations of multiplying, men as a whole began to leave God out of their lives. They chose wives—probably several of them, like Lamech—based solely on their physical beauty, not on their depth of character. Their children, though they became mighty, famous leaders, grew into wicked adults whose every impulse, thought, and plan was corrupt. Violence became a way of life. Once conditions reached this point, God decided to destroy them before they became so totally depraved that they could never repent, even in the resurrection. The Bible pictures a society of unrestrained sin of every kind. The New Testament frequently mentions it in the same context as Sodom and Gomorrah and Israel's sins caused by Balaam and Korah. The underlying factor in all these situations is rebellion against and rejection of God. Cain, Lamech, and mankind in general never took God into account when they committed their iniquities. As Psalm 10:4 says, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." Has our present society reached this nadir of behavior?
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
'As It Was In the Days of Noah'
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Numbers 16:3
This is an example of a person who is dissatisfied with what he has and stirs up others because of his ingratitude for what God had given him already. The consequences of Korah's "taking action" are clear: God destroyed all these who rose up against Moses and Aaron—against Him. Does this pattern look familiar? It should. It is the age-old and oft-repeated sin of pride manifesting itself in ingratitude. Satan did the same thing (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17). It was not enough for him to be a covering cherub at God's throne. It was not enough to have the lordship over the earth and one-third of the angels (Revelation 12:3). No, he wanted to resemble or compare to the Most High (Isaiah 14:14)! His pride led him to go to war against God, a battle he soundly lost (Luke 10:18). Revelation 12:7-10 prophesies that his pride will drive him to attempt another coup d'état before Christ's return. This is where ingratitude can ultimately lead a person: into total rebellion against God. It lends to an individual feeling a false sense of worth, that he deserves more. If not checked, it becomes a plague of discontent that soon infects others, as Satan's ingratitude spread to other angels. If this kind of attitude lands us in trouble, just what should our attitude be? A truly humble and grateful person will never rebel against God because he knows that even the very breath he breathes is a gift and calls for praiseful thanksgiving to the Father. Sharing this thanksgiving with others in the church works like soothing oil that helps to heal the body.
Mark Schindler
Ingratitude
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Numbers 16:6-7
This is an inter-family squabble, mostly an argument among Levites, headed by a grandson of Kohath, Korah. Moses puts the blame squarely on the ones who were in charge. These Levites thought they had been kept out of the good positions. Their job was to take down the Tabernacle, cart it off, and do other physical labors, while Aaron's family got to be priests.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Countering Presumptuousness
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Numbers 16:8-10
Korah, Dathan, 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 did not want to be porters and bearers. They did not want to be the setup crew or the take-down crew. Instead, 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 that had the most authority. They were not content with where God had placed them in the body at the time. Seeing this, Moses tells the rest of the Israelites, "Clear out! Get away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. If you don't want to be caught in what they've just done, stay away!"
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Countering Presumptuousness
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Psalm 75:7-10
The righteous do not exalt themselves. God will promote them; He will exalt them when it is the proper time. In the meantime, it is best for all of us to be content with where He has put us. We do not need to go to the lengths of Korah or Diotrephes to be presumptuous—we can be presumptuous anytime we take something upon ourselves that has not been given to us to do, thinking that we know better. Such a thing is just plain pride. The cure for presumptuous behavior is realizing what God has given us, where He has placed us, and what is best for us at the time. If we work within the parameters He has set for us, we will grow, and we will perform the task He has asked us to do.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Countering Presumptuousness
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Romans 13:1-7
Once we understand God's sovereignty over the nations, it is not difficult to understand where Paul bases his instructions in these verses. Thus we can understand why Moses so quickly and surely considers the actions of Korah and his group as rebellion against God rather than merely against himself (Numbers 16). When Israel rejects Samuel as judge over them because they want a king, God reveals to the prophet that the people are really rejecting the rule of God Himself (I Samuel 8:7). It does not matter whether a Christian considers his nation's government to be unlawful. What matters is whether God permits it. If He permits it, this One, who is aware of even sparrows falling, has allowed it or has directly brought it to pass because of the purpose He is working out. That is all that matters. God is ruling His creation, and this is what we are here to learn and trust. Jesus lived His entire life under an unlawful civil government. The Roman government ruled over Judea as a result of military conquest. Moreover, at times even the ecclesiastical government was not in the proper hands because corrupt Roman officials discovered that just-as-corrupt Jews were willing to pay bribes to "buy" the high priesthood. But the Scriptures repeatedly show Jesus subject to them, though He called both, especially the ecclesiastical one, into account. Matthew 17:24-27 is a clear example: When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?" Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you." The Temple tax was one-half shekel per year for every Jew over 20. Since Jesus Christ was Lord and Owner of the Temple, He and His "children" should have been free of taxation. Jesus orders Peter to pay it anyway for both of them to avoid a bitter and offensive debate on the merits of His claim. By doing this, Jesus sets the right example looking by faith beyond a legal technicality to the True Ruler, the Father. God likely brought this episode to pass for our instruction. Perhaps a brief statement of Solomonic wisdom will summarize Christian understanding of God's sovereignty over the governments of men: "There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the LORD. The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD" (Proverbs 21:30-31). His meaning becomes clearer in other translations. The Living Bible renders it, "No one, regardless of how shrewd or well-advised he is, can stand against the Lord. Go ahead and prepare for the conflict, but victory comes from God." The Revised English Bible translates it as, "Face to face with the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel avail nothing. A horse may be made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord." It may seem a remote possibility, even strange, that we would fight against the Lord, yet because human nature remains in us, we do. The apostle Paul complains in Romans 7:14-23 that what he did not want to do he did anyway because a law of enmity against God worked within him. Proverbs 21:30-31 tells us that human wisdom, insight, and counsel must be in conformity with God's will to be successful. God's children must understand His sovereignty over everything and conduct their lives knowing that nothing avails against God and nothing without Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Five
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Jude 1:6
Jude puts this in an interesting way. They were not "the bad angels," or even "the angels who sinned." He calls them "the angels who were not content with where God had placed them." We know from Revelation 12:4 that one-third of the angels were under Helel's hand, and he convinced them to leave their proper domain—the place where they had dominion, the place of their responsibility and authority—so that they could get more for themselves. In doing this, they sinned. Their discontent caused them to attempt to take by force what had not been given, but which they thought they deserved. This is the same thing that happened in Korah's rebellion (Numbers 16:1-35).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Countering Presumptuousness
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Jude 1:11
Jude relates that those he is warning against "have . . . perished in the rebellion of Korah." The crux of Korah's story appears in the opening verses of Numbers 16: Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" (Numbers 16:1-3) Korah and his ilk make common cause with their fellowman to achieve their own ends. Theirs was a message of equality and populism, but all they were really concerned about was their own positions. What they said contained a measure of truth: The whole congregation was technically holy (meaning it had been set apart), and yes, the Lord was among them. However, what these men had overlooked is that God puts people where He wants them. In verses 8-10, Moses points out the honor and privilege God had already given to these men, but this was not enough for them. They wanted to climb further up the ladder. In verses 11 and 30, Moses says that their agitating for change in the God-given order of things was, in reality, an assault against God and a rejection of Him. They did not trust the way that God had ordered His congregation, believing that they could do a better job! In the end, they all died terrifying deaths because of their rebellion against their Sovereign. Sadly, even after their swift judgment, the seeds of rebellion they had planted continued to grow. The next day, the whole congregation—the one that was "holy" and had "the LORD among them"—complained against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of killing "the people of the LORD." In response, God sent a plague, and when it was all over, an additional 14,700 people had died! Not only that, but a great many more would have died if it had not been for the intercession of Moses and Aaron. Verse 45 suggests that God was ready to consume every single Israelite except for Moses and Aaron. This example is especially relevant within the church of God today, as we see leaders and would-be leaders jockeying for position and influence. We see titles like "apostle" and "prophet" being taken on, but it is not obvious that God has installed them in those offices. We see men agitating to be out front, not content to serve from behind. The apostle Paul spends a significant amount of space explaining that those in the Body have been placed where God wants them (I Corinthians 12:18), just as God placed Moses, Aaron, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in their respective positions. God considers it rebellion to push against His ordering of things, warning in Proverbs 24:21 not to associate with those trying to bring about such a change. The verb tense in Jude 11 concerning Korah indicates their fate is already sealed: They are doomed to perish.
David C. Grabbe
A Warning from Jude (Part Three)
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Jude 1:11
In examining the records of Cain, Balaam, and Korah, we could name several commonalities, but one in particular stands out. All three of these men were intensely self-willed. They all understood what God wanted from them, yet they consciously chose to follow their own wills instead. Jude's whole epistle shows that all his descriptions of those troubling the church would fit under the banner of "self-will." These men are noted for exercising their will to achieve their own ends without any real concern about God's will. By way of contrast, consider the outcome if Jesus Christ had used their approach when He came to decision points in His life. Imagine if, when the time came for Him to be the sin offering for all of mankind, He decided that He wanted to fulfill only the grain offering—maybe, like Cain, He just wanted to be devoted to His fellow man instead of making a blood sacrifice. Perhaps He could have healed every person in Jerusalem—or even all Judea—given lasting encouragement, and even bestowed a lot of money on the poor. Those could all be good works, yet that self-willed choice would have been evil in its effects because it would have thwarted the benevolent purpose that God had established at the foundation of the world. Suppose Christ's head had been turned by Satan's offer of all the kingdoms of the world, which would have included all of the temporal rewards or profits that He could dream of. What if, like Balaam, He had been motivated by immediate gain for Himself rather than the long-term benefit of all mankind? Thankfully, He persevered and rejected the bribe that would have cursed us all forever. Imagine if, like Korah, Jesus had been more concerned about His position and less about His service. What if He had decided that being equal with God was something "to be grasped at" and that His proper place was at the top instead of taking on the form of a bondservant (Philippians 2:6-7)? We would have no hope! However, Jesus Christ was not self-willed. At every turn, He submitted to the Father, knowing that circumstances would work out for the best. Our salvation and every uncountable blessing we receive along the way result from His saying to our Father, "Not as I will, but as You will." For us to be sons and daughters of the Most High God as well, we must likewise practice saying to Him, "Not as I will, but as You will."
David C. Grabbe
A Warning from Jude (Part Three)
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Find more Bible verses about Korah:
Korah {Nave's}
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