Scripture Daily

Context No. 65 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 16:8-14: in context

8Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! 9Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? 11Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against the LORD! What is Aaron that you complain against him?” 12Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up! 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.”

Israel is in the wilderness, and Korah, a Levite, has gathered two hundred and fifty leading men to challenge Moses and Aaron. Their complaint sounds democratic: the whole congregation is holy, so why do you set yourselves above the assembly? This passage is Moses answering, and then trying to talk to two other rebels, Dathan and Abiram.

To Korah, Moses puts the question back. Is it a small thing that God separated you from the congregation to bring you near, to serve at the tabernacle and stand before the people? And now you want the priesthood too. Korah already had a privileged role and wanted the one above it, and Moses names that plainly: your quarrel is not with Aaron, it is with God.

Then Dathan and Abiram refuse the summons, and their answer contains a sentence worth reading twice. Is it a small thing that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? They are describing Egypt. The phrase belonged to the promised land, and they have attached it to the country where they were slaves. Memory has reversed itself under the pressure of a hard journey. What have I started remembering as better than it was, because the present road is long?

Sources