2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, arepresentatives of the congregation, men of renown.
3aThey gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You1 take too much upon yourselves, for ball the congregation is holy, every one of them, cand the Lordis among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who isaHis and whoisbholy, and will cause him to ccome near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;
7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. Youtake too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9Isitaa small thing to you that the God of Israel has bseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
10 and that He has brought you near toHimself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. aAnd what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!
13Isit a small thing that you have brought us up out of aa land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should bkeep acting like a prince over us?
14 Moreover ayou have not brought us into ba land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
Moses must have had a premonition of what was coming, so he called upon God to make a visible choice between him and these men who were the representatives of the complainers.
We have to see God as the Head of His creation—He rules over and governs everything. What is He looking for on earth? He is looking for people who will submit to that rule—once they recognize where the real power and authority in the creation resides. He is looking for people who will submit to it voluntarily, of their own free will—people who will consciously choose to submit to the rule, the way, of God.
These men were not like this. All they saw was Moses, and that he seemed to have a lot of authority.
He was dodging the lightning bolt that he thought would come to strike these men down! That is the import of the words they said against him and Aaron.
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