Numbers 16:25-30: a reflection

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.”

In the crisis of Korah's rebellion, Moses goes to the tents of the ringleaders and issues an urgent warning to the wider congregation: move away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away in all their sins. He does not want the people to share in the judgment that is coming on those who have set themselves against God. There is a time to separate clearly from open rebellion, and Moses calls the people to do so before it is too late.

Moses also stakes his own vindication on what God is about to do. If these men die an ordinary death, he says, then the Lord has not sent me; but if God does something unmistakable, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord. Moses was confident that God would make clear whose side the truth was on. He did not need to defend himself with argument; he trusted God to vindicate his true servant and to expose the rebellion for what it was.

Two things to carry from this. First, there is a time to separate clearly from open rebellion against God, not to be entangled with it or to share in its consequences. When something is plainly set against God, distance yourself from it rather than lingering near. Second, when you are in the right and under attack, you do not always need to defend yourself; you can trust God to vindicate his own in his own time and way. Moses did not scramble to justify himself; he trusted God to make the truth clear. Separate from rebellion, and trust God to vindicate what is right.

Lord, Moses warned the people to separate from open rebellion before judgment fell, and he trusted you to vindicate him rather than defending himself. Give me the discernment to distance myself clearly from what is plainly set against you, and not to be entangled with it. And when I am in the right and under attack, help me to trust you to vindicate your own, in your time, rather than anxiously justifying myself. I rest my cause in you. Amen.