Korah and His Followers

Jealousy has once again entered the camp. This time Korah and 250 chiefs of the people rise against Moses and his claim to leadership. Moses does not fight with them but tells them to wait until tomorrow, forGod will show the people who the rightful leader is. When the next day came, so did God, and with Him a powerful display of His righteousness and judgment. The ground opened up and swallowed those inciting rebellion.

When we face those who oppose us, do we relish their punishment? Or do we step in and try to rescue them, point them to God? Christ, himself faced rejection and opposition we can’t imagine. Yet He interceded on our behalf, just as Moses does here for the people. As Moses speaks to Korah and the others, the ground opens up and swallows all 250 men, their homes, and their families. God says He will wipe them away with a plague. Again Moses and Aaron try to make atonement for the people’s sins with burnt offerings. Finally, they succeeded in stopping the plague but not before 14,700 people perished. God sends a sign the very next day, flowers budding from Aaron’s staff, to show everyone whom He had chosen to lead the Levites. But this would not be the end of God’s struggles with his stubborn, wayward people. And yet His blessing remained upon them.