Numbers 16: What Happens When You Reject God's Leadership

"And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods." Numbers 16:32

In all areas of life, there is always authority above us. In our houses, it looks like parents. In our workplaces, it looks like bosses. In our churches, it looks like pastors and elders. In every area of life, we ought to submit to authority, but what happens when we don't?

Well, in our story today, we find some of the sons of Levi doing that very thing. These selfish, sinful men go up to Moses and Aaron in the midst of the wilderness and condemn them for selfishly leading the Israelites. "You have gone to far," they said, "Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" (v. 3). In other words, the sons of Levi here are not happy with Moses and Aaron's leadership, and desire it for themselves. However, in response to them, Moses tells them that they have "gone too far" since the Lord is the one who has appointed both himself and Aaron. Therefore, Moses asks that a test be done to show whom the Lord's favor was upon. Thus, the test is done, and it ends up with the sons of Levi being swallowed up by the earth in a great earthquake that the Lord has sent. Sound severe? It sure does, but that's what happens when we selfishly refuse the leadership of the Lord.

Now I have to admit, there is a strong likelihood that the resistance of the Lord's leadership is perhaps not the main point of this story, but let us realize that it is a point, and it is the point that I would like to highlight today. Why? Because we so often reject the Lord's leadership. God has placed above us leaders that we ought to submit to (see Romans 13:1-2), yet so often we reject their authority and claim ourselves as our own authority. To do so is to live selfishly, desiring our own will above the Lord's. However, we see from this story that the Lord brings great wrath upon those who do not submit to those whom he has appointed. Thus, we must seek to obey those whom God has placed in authority above us.

In light of these things, let us consider the person and work of Jesus Christ (which is always a good idea, and I would argue something that is needed for every good devotional). Although he was, in fact, the Son of God, he humbly submitted to the Father: "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8). Although he cried out to God in the Garden of Gethsemane to see if there was any other way, he selflessly obeyed the Father in order to save you and me. Jesus could have rebelled against God's leadership, but he didn't. Rather, he submitted to it, and thus saved our souls from what we deserved. In other words, Jesus did what we couldn't do, that is, submit perfectly to the leadership above us.

So, who will you imitate today: the sons of Levi in Numbers 16 or Jesus? The former rose up against what God had appointed and was swallowed up. The latter humbly submitted to God's leadership and was exalted (Phil. 2:8-11).