Swallow Your PRIDE or be Swallowed UP!
5:1–2 Previously, we were God’s enemies. We were at war with him. Through Jesus, however, he has drawn us close and made us his friends (5:1). Although the grace that saves and grows us can’t be earned (see 11:6), it can be accessed by faith.
5:3–4 If we are in Christ, then we can rejoice in our afflictions (5:3) because God is working in those afflictions for our good.
5:6–8 On occasions like Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices of people who died so others might live. Remembering these heroes brings to my mind what Paul says here, that for a just person … perhaps someone might even dare to die (5:7). It’s rare for someone to lay his life down for others. It’s tremendously loving and worthy of honor. But God’s love is even more worthy of recognition than this. Jesus died, but not for friends; God proved his own love for us by dying for us while we were his enemies (5:8)! It’s as if he says to unbelievers, “I know you’re rebelling against me. But I still love you so much that I’ll go to the cross for you” (5:6).
16:1–2 Notably, these men already held positions of great honor when they decided to make a play for further power. This story is a reminder that sin doesn’t play favorites; it infects all.
16:3 Korah and his followers claimed to be as holy as Moses and Aaron. One has to wonder if they had been paying any attention at all. It is mind-blowing that they thought they could pull off a successful rebellion against Moses given what had befallen Miriam and all God had done through Moses to this point. Not one of these previous incidents or God’s responses, however, penetrated their hard hearts. Their accusation even included Aaron, the high priest, suggesting that they were challenging both the religious and governmental leadership of God’s kingdom structure.
16:4–7 Moses knew that, ultimately, Korah and crew were not sinning against him but against the Lord. So he fell facedown in worship and prayer before God (16:4). He must have been there long enough to get instructions from God for the event that would take place the next day at the entrance to the tabernacle.
16:8–11 Korah wasn’t content to take care of the tabernacle as a Levite. He wanted to usurp the role of a priest, even though God had given that ministry to Aaron and his family alone among the descendants of Levi (16:9–10). God had brought [Korah] near (16:10) by sanctifying him for ministry, but that wasn’t good enough for him. Thus, Korah and his friends decided to conspire against the LORD (16:11).
16:12–14 The claim made by Dathan and Abiram was outrageous. In their minds, Egypt—the land in which they had been enslaved—was a land flowing with milk and honey (16:13). So not only had Moses yanked them out of their “paradise” in Egypt, but he had also failed to give them the land that had been promised. They felt Moses had so deceived the people that the only way he could hide his true intention to kill everyone in the wilderness was to gouge out the eyes of the rebels who knew the real truth (16:13–14). They were delusional.
16:15 Everything Dathan and Abiram said was a lie; the opposite, in fact, was true: Moses had cared for and interceded for Israel. (See the note on 16:12–14.)
16:19 Korah’s prominence within the camp is on display here because he was able to assemble the whole community against Moses and Aaron. Yet his popularity did not mean his heart was right or that he was worth following.
16:31–40 What followed was a terrifying scene of judgment. As Moses predicted and through the supernatural work of God, the earth consumed all Korah’s people (16:32).
16:41 The community had witnessed the truth for themselves. Their outrageous claim testifies that humans can be tenacious in their willingness to deny the truth and believe a lie—no matter how obviously the facts are presented.