Num 16:8 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?” And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Romans 13:2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
So they were the servants both of God and of the church, which was a high dignity, though not sufficient for their ambitious minds. (Benson)
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you,…. It should not; for it was a great thing which the Lord had done for them, and with which they should have been satisfied, and for it thankful: that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel: this was a special favour, and ought to have been esteemed such, that God, who was the God of the whole people of Israel in common, should separate the tribe of Levi from all the rest of the tribes of Israel: to bring you near to himself; next to the priests their brethren of the same tribe, to be joined to them, and assist them in their service, and officiate in the court of the tabernacle, where the divine Majesty dwelt: to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord; to watch it, and guard it, and keep out persons until to enter into it; to take it down and set it up, as occasion required, and bear and carry the holy things in it, and take care of them: and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? (Gill)
Moses reminded Korah that God gave them an honorable service that they now apparently regarded as a small thing. Their role in serving the priests, carrying, and caring for the holy articles of the tabernacle brought them near to God, but Korah wasn’t content with his calling. We can only imagine what Aaron thought about all this. Aaron and his sister Miriam came against Moses before, as recorded in Numbers 12. That ended in ruin for Aaron and Miriam, and we might imagine that Aaron thought, “Korah, don’t make the same mistake that I made.” It is easy for men like Korah to say, “If I led Israel, we would already be in Canaan.” But Korah was not leading Israel, and men of his type rarely do. God seldom puts side-line critics in positions of real leadership – except as a punishment, to show them just how difficult leadership is, and to show them that perfect leadership, like perfect anything, is impossible. Dathan and Abiram considered themselves under no authority. It was as if they said: “Moses, we have no respect for your authority. We will listen to God, but not to you. Your word means nothing to us, and we will not come up.” Apparently, the 250 other leaders agreed with Dathan and Abiram; not one of those 250 raised an opposing voice to their harsh accusations. Sometimes people are offended that a man like Moses was angry with men like Dathan and Abiram. They think a gentle, easy love is the proper response. Such thinking is understandable, but wrong. Shepherds are gentle with wayward sheep who might injure themselves, but they are passionate against wolves who would injure the flock. (Guzik)
Pride comes before the fall, and deafens a persons ears and heart to wisdom.
