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“And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?” (Numbers 16:8-11, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on Numbers 16 is titled, “Before Pointing the Finger”.

Korah was a Kohathite, of the tribe of Levi (Numbers 4:1). The priests of Israel came from the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites were priests. Such was the case of the Kohathites. Still, they had an important duty in the camp of Israel as seen in Numbers chapter 4:

“And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die…. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” (Numbers 4:15, 17-20, ESV)

Their job was to carry the holy things that were inside the Tabernacle from place to place, but only after the priests, Aaron and his sons, covered them. They were never allowed to touch the holy things themselves. Instead of being grateful, they grewjealous because of this and rose up in Numbers 16 to rebel against Moses and Aaron, and they paid the price.

An example of someone who did the opposite of Korah’s clan is Ananias in Acts chapter 9 (starting in verse 10). After Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus and went blind, God said to Ananias in a vision to go find Paul, the man who was hunting down Christians and murdering them, because God was going to make him the “chosen instrument” to bring the gospel to the gentiles. Ananias could have responded like Korah, claiming that he was more worthy to be God’s chosen one (after all he presumably never killed anyone). But instead, Ananias simply did what God said without asking for more. Even though he had a very small part to play, Ananias was the first Christian to welcome Paul into the body of Christ, thus helping to start the incredible ministry of the Apostle.

What opportunities for service do me miss, how many chances to bless others do we fail to grasp, simply because we, in pride and jealousy, act more like Korah than Ananias?


Further Study

  • Have you ever struggled with contentment in your life?
  • Have you ever felt that the part God has for you to play is too small?
  • How can we be more like Ananias in humbly doing what God has called us to do?
  • Article: “Pride and Humility” by Thomas A. Tarrants