Remember a few chapters ago (Numbers 12), when Aaron and Miriam “rose up” against Moses? It happens again, but this time, the situation is dialed up a few notches. And it’s not just some of the leading men of Israel, but, depending on how you read Numbers 16:41-50, arguably the entire nation is in an upheaval.
Even the accusation is the same. Just as Aaron and Miriam claimed that Moses wasn’t any more special than the two of them, so Korah and his cronies argue that “the entire congregation is holy, every one of them.” Because of that, they argue, Moses shouldn’t be exalted above the rest.
This seems to be a recurring issue with Israel—and, one could argue, with all of humanity. Any time you have a group of people, there will be those who vie for leadership. Ironically, the very fact that they desire it so much makes them unfit (and is probably one of the reasons elders are told to be “free from the love of money” in 1 Timothy 3:3).
But does Korah even have a case for leadership? Why is he so forceful in assuming his own candidacy?
His lineage, and that of his co-conspirators, gives us a few clues. According to the Numbers 16:1, Korah is of the lineage of Levi, which places him not only in the same tribe as Moses, but of the priests, as well.
However, many Jewish scholars have noted that Korah is descended from Izhar, which is the second son of Kohath. Amram, which is the oldest son of Kohath, is the lineage of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:16-22).
Why does this all matter? Because the headship of the Kohathite household went to the youngest son of Kohath, which is Uzziel (Leviticus 10:4; Numbers 3:30). Since he has the family leadership, and Moses’ family has leadership over Israel, that means Kohath was passed over for any kind of leadership position whatsoever, as far as we can tell.
This would most likely make him furious, as his plea for the “entire congregation is holy” is probably mostly about elevating himself, and not anyone else.
But what about his co-conspirators? Numbers 16 also mentions Dathan and Abiram, who are sons of Reuben. If you remember from Genesis, Reuben is technically the oldest son of Jacob, but loses his birthright privileges because he slept with his father’s concubine (Genesis 49:3-4).
So here’s the situation. You have two people (Dathan and Abiram) who firmly believe they should have some kind of position of honor, but was taken away from them by the foolish actions of their ancestor. You have another (Korah) who feels his family was overlooked for leadership no reason at all (in his mind).
These notes are important, because most people read Korah’s rebellion as just a simple coup’. It was, but as you can see from the genealogical note in Numbers 16:1, it ran a lot deeper than that. Moses isn’t just resisting a rebellion from the camp, he’s standing up to an insurrection from people who have at least somewhat of a legitimate claim to power.
But, just as we saw with Aaron and Miriam, God is the one who chooses the leaders, not man. And when He makes His choice, man would be wise to accept it.
