Num. 16:1 - 18:32
Précis: Korach foments a rebellion, claiming
that Moses and Aaron have taken too much power for themselves. Datan and Abiram
also attack Moses’ leadership, claiming that Moses has brought them from a land
of milk and honey (Egypt!) only to let them die in the wilderness. A test of
fire offerings is arranged, and Korach and his followers are destroyed as the
earth opens and swallows them. The People continue to complain, God threatens
to destroy them once again, but Moses and Aaron intercede. A plague takes the
lives of 14,000 people. A final test, that of staffs, is performed, and when
Aaron’s staff miraculously blossoms on the following morning, it is clear that
his status as High Priest is secure.
Num. 16:21-22 “Whereupon Moses and Aaron fell on their
faces and pleaded with God: ‘O God, Source of the breath of all flesh! When one
man sins, will You be wrathful with the whole community?...
‘Speak
to the community and say, ‘Withdraw from the abodes of Korach, Datan, and
Abiram.’”
In the initial confrontation between
Moses and Korach, only the principals are named. Here, in the subsequent
confrontation, all of the people are present and are threatened by God. Moses
intervenes, and the devastation is limited to Korach and his followers.
But why does God want to
destroy the entire nation ? After all, the threat was only by the rebellious followers of Korach, Datan, and Abiram. Perhaps it is because the others were indifferent to
the evil surrounding them.
This is a reminder: for evil to
triumph, all that is required is that people of good will stand idly by.
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