If you ever find yourself tempted to seize power that isn’t yours, you might want to take a quiet moment to read Numbers 16. It’s the kind of biblical story that makes Game of Thrones look tame.
It’s a wild story, the kind you’d think belonged in a dramatic action movie instead of Scripture. In Numbers 16, a group led by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram decided it was time for a coup. They challenged Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership, insisting, “Hey, we’re all holy! We’re all priests! So why do you two get to be in charge?”
Sounds reasonable until you realize their pious words were a convenient cover for pure power-grabbing. Bishop Robert Barron puts it well: their appeal to “equality” was really a mask for their own ambitions. They didn’t care about fairness; they wanted control. And God, apparently, doesn’t appreciate a coup masquerading as virtue.
The showdown is dramatic and a little wild. The earth opened up and swallowed them alive — Korah, Dathan, Abiram, their families, their tents, everything — and then closed over them. And their 250 supporters? They tried to perform their own version of a high-priestly offering of incense… and got a big surprise: fire fell from Heaven and turned them into a crispy mess.
It’s kind of a comic tragedy. They offered their incense — “Here’s a sweet offering to the Lord” — and instead they became the burnt offering themselves. Offer accepted! — just not in the way they had hoped for.
Some people today think God is a kind, fuzzy grandfather who lets everything slide. This story stands as a dramatic reminder: God is not a soft teddy bear or a kindly elderly man in the clouds. He’s holy, serious, and not to be trifled with — especially when the health and unity of His people are at risk.
Bishop Barron’s view resonates here: the real danger to a community isn’t just external opposition — it’s internal betrayal by its own members. The ambitions and egos within can undermine the unity much faster than an external attack. So while we may not see the ground opening up today, or fire falling from Heaven, the moral of the story still stands: be careful when pious words mask a power grab. Because you might just get more than you bargained for.
The story doesn’t quite end there. The very next day, the congregation is up in arms again — this time turning their complaints against Moses and Aaron directly. In response, a plague breaks out among the people, threatening to destroy them all. At that moment, the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron with a chilling command:
“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” (Numbers 16:45)
Instead of abandoning their people, Moses and Aaron remain. Moses commands Aaron to take his censer of incense and rush into the congregation — to stand “between the living and the dead” (Numbers 16:47–48) — and make atonement for their sin. The plague is stayed, and lives are spared.
This moment resonates forward to Jesus, our true and eternal High Priest, who stands in the gap today, securing mercy and life for us in a way we could never do for ourselves. As usual, this Old Testament story finds its ultimate fulfilment in Him.
