270 What About . . .Korah's Rebellion part 2

We continue looking at the story of Korah and his friends who rebelled against Moses and ultimately God. There are many problems that we discover if we subscribe their destruction to God. We look closely at the story and conclude that Moses is not kinder than God. The Israelites attributed their deaths to Moses not God. We also look at the larger context of this rebellion. We conclude by discovering that the devil disguises his work so that God is blamed for it. And still today much of what the devil does is attributed to God. His deception is very extensive.

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SHOW NOTES

3. Moses is NOT kinder than the LORD. (Numbers 16:21-22)

If we attribute the death of the murmurers to the LORD and Moses must intercede for those who did not eventually die, we are suggesting that Moses is more compassionate than the LORD? This suggestion contradicts

Exodus 33:18-19 NLT Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.” 19 The LORD replied, “I Here are will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.

4. The Israelites attributed the deaths of the rebels to Moses not God.

The surviving Israelites attributed the deaths of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families, who were swallowed by the earth, with the 250 people offering incense who were destroyed by fire, to Moses not to God.

Numbers 16:41 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

This means that it was not clear to the people that God had caused their deaths. This is startling because the record does not seem to have this ambiguity.

The first part of 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers to those who grumbled or murmured. more instances of murmuring:

1. Complaining about hardships: Numbers 11:1-3.

Fire from the LORD results. We cannot conclude this fire was from the LORD since we know the fire in Job 1:16 was caused by Satan.

2. Lusting for meat: Numbers 11:4-35. Plague kills many. We remember that the curses for disobedience are war, famine, plague, and wild beasts (Lev 26:14-22; Dt 28:21-16; Ez

5:17; 14:21). Jesus is dogmatic in Luke 13:1-5 he discredits the idea that God punishes

sinners with manmade calamities or “natural” calamities.

3. Complaining about impossibility of entering the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea

(Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 1:19-46; 2:14-16). The rebels all die in the desert. God

must wait for the next generation who will be ready to enter the land. However, the

LORD does not forsake them (Deuteronomy 2:7) except when he is forced away.

All the deaths above are attributed to ‘the destroyer’ or Satan by Paul in 1 Corinthians

10:10 even though Moses attributed these deaths to the LORD.No Israelites died leaving Egypt, but when they rebelled in the desert there were many deaths.

There is a close connection between rebellion against God, which forces His protection away, and death. Rebellion is intricately connected to murmuring. Firstly, the people murmur and then they rebel. When continual murmuring occurs two consequences are inevitable. There will be rebellion and there is death. The death is caused by the devil (John 8:44, 10:10; Hebrews 2:14).

This is because rebellion against the LORD gives Satan control in the community.

The antithesis of murmuring is Praise to the LORD for His goodness which endures for ever.

This is worship, the great antidote for murmuring.

Why did they murmur so often? Perhaps murmuring was the culture they brought from being slaves in Egypt all their lives. Perhaps their language was more fluent in murmuring that in giving praise. Miriam’s praise singing was meant to break this cycle but even Miriam was habituated in murmuring. She murmurs against Moses’ leadership and does not enter the Promised Land.

The Larger Context of this Rebellion

This rebellion is in addition to the ten previous rebellions that had already occurred: (Numbers 14:22) Early Jewish exegesis (m. Avot 5:4) tallies ten tests by which the generation tried God.

Scriptural data align:

1. Red Sea crossing panic (Exodus 14:11-12)

2. Marah’s bitter water (Exodus 15:24)

3. Grumbling about the food and the quails. (Exodus 16:2-3; Numbers 11:4-6, 31-35). Some died.

4. Keeping manna overnight against the command of God. (Ex 16:19-20)

5. Collecting manna on Sabbath against the command of God. (Exodus 6:27,28).

6. Grumbling about water at Rephidim. Called Massah and Meribah (Exodus 17:1-3).

7. Idolatry, the golden calf at Mt Sinai. (Ex 32:1-6, 28, 35). Over 3,000 died. In this incident

Moses decides to execute the idolaters rather than wait for some supernatural punishment.

8. Taberah, when the people grumbled, and fire came down on some who died (Num 11:1-3).

9. The grumbling of Miriam and Aaron against Moses. (Num 12)

10. After grumbling of the ten spies about the impossibility of taking the Promised Land the people rebel (Num 14:1-4). All those who were 20 plus years at the census will die in the desert before reaching Israel (vs 29). So at least 600,000 died in the desert. These deaths were not a punishment but the consequence of their refusal to enter the land. It was their attitude of unbelief that prevented their entering the land (Heb 3:19).

The following additional rebellions are recorded.

11. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram plus 250 leaders (Num 16) results in their death. The next morning the remaining people accuse Moses and Aaron of the deaths and, 14,700 died of plague (16:47-50).

12. The people grumbled about water. Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking (Num 20:1-8). Therefore, Moses and Aaron will not enter the Promised Land.

13. The people grumbled and died from poisonous snake bites (Num 21:4-9).

14. The people committed adultery (Num 25:1-9) and 24,000 died. Interestingly according to (1Cor 10:8-9) 23,000 died.

15. The accusation that God had brought them out of Egypt to die in the desert (Ex 14:12; 16:3; 17:3; Num 11:4,5; 14:3-4) seemed to be true. However, we know, this was not God’s purpose but the result of their rebellions. God’s intention was to bring them all to a land flowing with milk and honey.

The New Testament Comments on these Rebellions

1 Corinthians 10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our

forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were

all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4

and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that

accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with

most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things

as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat

down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8 We should not commit

sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them

died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10

And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

What we learn from the snakes in the desert.

1 Corinthians 10:9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.

Paul attributes the deaths, in this instance, to the snakes rather than to God as written in

Numbers 21:6. However, Deuteronomy 8:15 recognizes that the snakes were in the desert and the LORD had protected the people from them. So, when the people rebel, they force the LORD away and the devil takes the opportunity to work through the snakes to kill them. The author of Numbers unwittingly perpetrates Satan=s lie about the LORD destroying people.

The agencies of death for Korah and his co-conspirators

1 Corinthians 10:10 gives the clue to understanding the cause of the death of Korah and his fellow conspirators. This verse links most of the deaths in the desert to “the destroying angel” who can kill when there is “grumbling.” Numbers 14 indicates that this “grumbling” was plain and simple unbelief in God’s power to fulfil his promise to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land.

Numbers 14:26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked

community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling

Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord , I will do to you the very

things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty

years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30

Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except

Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you saidwould be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But

you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty

years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.

This is the reason for the following warning against unbelief:

Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden

your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where

your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was

angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they

have not known my ways.’

11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from

the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that

none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if

we hold firmly till the end the confidence, we had at first. 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of

Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned,

whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never

enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter,

because of their unbelief.

The way the Israelites rebelled was to grumble about their certain doom because they did not believe the Lord was their protection and their leader. This grumbling forced God away and opened the way for “the destroying angel” to kill them.

Thinking Aloud:

1. An Earthquake could have destroyed Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families. We know from Job chapter 1 that Satan can control so called natural events as he brought destructive lightening (1:16) and a tornado (1:19) to killed Job’s family, servants and livestock. Jesus is clear in Luke 13:4 that accidents are not punishment from God for sin.

Here is a list of some more devastating earthquakes that we know about and the number of people killed. Who instigates these catastrophes? John 8:44, 10:10, Hebrews 2:14,

Revelation8:7-9:21 all indict the devil for the life taking chaos on the earth.

1268 B Silicai, Asia 60,000

1290 B Chihli, China 100,000

1556 B Shensi, China 850,000

1667 B Shemaka, Cau 80,000

1693 B Catania, Italy 60,000

1737 B Calcutta 300,000

1755 B Lisbon 60,000

1908 B Messina, Italy 75,000

1920 B Kansu, China 180,0001923 B Tokyo/Yoko. 143,000

1932 B Kansu, China 70,000

1935 B Quetta, India 60,000

2004 B Tsunami in Asia 200,000

Shall we say that God sent all these earthquakes? It seems that the devil needs to be given the responsibility for the cause of these natural disasters. Earthquakes are the result of sin, which means they are caused by the devil.

Fire often accompanies earthquakes, as at Pompei, San Francisco, and Mt. Saint Helens.

We should not be surprised that with the earthquake that destroyed some of the rebels came fire which destroyed the 250 princes.

If the earth opening its mouth was a punitive act of God then there was no need of an accompanying fire. The accompanying fire indicates that it related to seismic activity or a “natural” event.

2. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day claimed Jesus was doing the work of demons.

When we attribute the work of Satan to the LORD, we commit serious sin. This following is harsh and strong language, but it is the witness of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 12:22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son ofDavid?’ (Satisfied a Messianic Miracle.)

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.’

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and everycity or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the

kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 ‘Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up

the strong man? Then he can rob his house.

30 ‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

(Jesus has cultural and gender baggage. He was a male Jew. The Spirit has none of this baggage. He can interface at the spirit level.)

Today, many Christians attribute the work of Satan to the LORD when they claim that the LORD is responsible for stealing, killing, and destroying on the planet. It does not help to justify the LORD for stealing, killing and destroying by claiming that as the Creator he can judge and punish as he wishes. These are wrong actions as defined by the moral law (Exodus 20).

3. We must begin with the beginning.

It is the words of Jesus Christ which must have first place in our hearts. world and the redeemer of our hearts from falsehood and misunderstanding. (Deuteronomy 18:15)

He is the Saviour of the ‘Hear ye Him!’

John 10:10 The thief (the devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus Christ) have come that they may have life and have it to the full.Jesus brings life. He claimed he is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Jesus never brought death to anyone in his life on earth. He always brought more abundant life to everyone he met.

Some refused this life, but they could never say that Jesus did not bring them life!

Luke 6:47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into

practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who

dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that

house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

4. Moses understood the origin of the repeated disasters Israel experienced.

Deuteronomy 31:15 Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. 16 And the LORD said to Moses: AYou are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon

them, and on that day they will ask, >Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?= 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

If God had been present, they would not have suffered. They suffered when they forced God away by their murmuring and subsequent rebellion.

5. The devil disguises his work so that God is blamed for it.

The devil would, not only destroy but also engineer deaths to bring blame upon God. He is a master at deception, but you know the truth about God from Jesus. The devil moved in every time there was grumbling, rebellion, or unbelief in the camp and killed all he could before God moved back in mercy, to protect the rest of the camp.

We are only alive this moment because God has protected us from this evil being who would destroy all of God’s beautiful creation. Jesus came to set us free from these misunderstandings about God. We no longer need to be deceived.

The agency in Korah’s death, which included his family members, should make us suspicious from the very beginning of the story. Ezekiel 18 is clear that God does not hold a child guilty for the parent’s sins. This implies that the destruction of Korah’s family was not the work of God. This leaves the cause firmly in the hands of the destroyer or Satan himself.

Conclusion: God’s Conundrum

In Korah’s rebellion God is cornered by deliberately by Satan and unwittingly by Moses.

If God doesn’t allow Satan to carry out Moses’ leadership which operates by force and violence, Moses’ credibility is in jeopardy. If God allows Satan to open the earth and swallow up the enemies of Moses, then the people’s terror will strongly reinforce pagan beliefs and superstitions in their hearts.

Either way Satan gets the advantage. This advantage means Satan can use this incident as proof that God is as pictured by Satan—two-faced, double-minded, good and evil, uses Satan's system of rewards and punishments to control the lives of His followers. (Floyd Philips)

You dear reader can set the record straight. You can create good press for God at every opportunitythat comes your way. Do it for God’s glory and your joy. Do it because love does!

Ian Hartley—November 2026