Scripture Daily

Context No. 4317 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 16:25-30: in context

25Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!” 27So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind. 29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then the LORD hasn’t sent me. 30But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have despised the LORD.”

As Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebel against God's appointed leadership, Moses warns the rest of the congregation: depart from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away in all their sins. The people separate themselves from the rebels, and God's judgment falls on those who had defiantly set themselves against him. The warning was to not share in the rebellion, and so not share in its consequences.

What stands out is the call to separate from persistent, defiant rebellion against God. Those who did not want to be swept up in the judgment had to distance themselves from the rebels, not partaking in their defiance. There is a danger in close association with unrepentant rebellion against God; those who stand with it can be drawn into it and share its downfall. The wise response was to step away.

To align ourselves closely with persistent, defiant rebellion against God, or with those set on evil, is to risk being drawn into it and sharing its consequences. This is not about self-righteous separation from ordinary sinners, among whom we all number, but about not making ourselves partners in defiant, unrepentant rebellion against God. There are times when faithfulness means declining to stand with what sets itself against him.

Am I aligning myself closely with persistent, defiant rebellion against God, or with those set on evil, in a way that risks drawing me into it and its consequences, and are there times when faithfulness calls me, like the congregation, to step away rather than share in it?

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