Reading: Numbers 14-16, Psalm 44

One of the great tropes of storytelling is the “lost in the woods” scenario of going in circles. The lost subjects of the story will be wandering all day, only to come across something that reminds them they are, at the end of the day, in exactly the same place they started. Usually this is followed by fear, frustration, or despair. What I’ve never seen them do is celebrate their return to such a great place.

The people of Israel have arrived at the promised land, but ten of the men sent to scout out the land, who were leaders among the twelve tribes, brought back a report that scared the people. Once the people hear this, they begin a full blown rebellion, saying they will choose a new leader to take them back to Egypt. They accuse him of bringing them to Canaan so they will be slaughtered and their wives and children become slaves.

What is going on here? The people are suggesting they find a leader who is the exact opposite of Moses to lead them back where they started. They are ready to once again be slaves rather than risk the challenge of the promised land, despite the things they have seen God do for them. Caleb and Joshua, the remaining two men who spied out the land, hear all this and argue against it, but apparently the other ten guys had really stirred up something nasty. The glory of God appears in front of the tabernacle and he tells Moses he can just burn these people out and start over with Moses. Moses follows the same pattern he has before: he appeals to God’s character and reputation to save his own people. The people who are ready to dispossess him and return to Egypt. Those people.

God relents, though he curses the present generation to die in the wilderness because of their obstinacy, so their children, who they accused God and Moses of wishing to enslave, would gain the promised land instead of them. He tells them to get ready to head back to the wilderness. I’m sure Moses was really excited to keep on driving the bus.

But then the people try another tack. They say they are repentant, and will go up to attack the land of Canaan anyway. Moses warns them that this is nonsense, because God is now against them doing it. Given the continuous stories of Moses’ authority being challenged, I read this as yet another attempt to wrest leadership away from Moses. The people behind this rebellion aren’t really repentant- they are trying to manipulate God. If we go attack Canaan now, God will have to help us. Turns out, not so much. God is not interested in promoting a nation, he is interested in solving the human problem.

So the people are defeated, and the leaders of the rebellion are killed by a plague from God. There follows a reiteration of the laws for sacrifice and atonement. You will find this happens following the rebellions of the people- Numbers puts reminders of the Levitical laws following incidents they require them.

The last act in today’s drama comes from another sector of leadership. The tribal leaders have challenged Moses and been defeated. Now we get a challenge to Aaron from the Levites. Korah, a Levite leader, rousts up a big group of supporters from among the people and directly challenges the authority of God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron, by saying every one of the people of Israel is holy and can hear from God. Moses plays his cards as usual. He says, who am I and who is Aaron? We obey God, and if God wants someone else, good on him. At the same time, he tries to dissuade the rebels from their challenge, knowing that it won’t end well for them.

This leads to one of the most dramatic scenes in Scripture in which God judges between those he has called, and those who are in rebellion. Moses has all the people show up, and in front of the whole crowd, he says that if Korah and his people die a natural death, then God has not sent him, but that if they are swallowed up in a sudden sinkhole which then closes over them, then God has sent him. Guess which way they died. So Korah gets swallowed up and his supporters are burned out by fire from God.

One would think this would end the challenges to the authority of Moses. But literally the next day the people grumble about how Moses has killed God’s people. Indeed, the book of grumbles. Moses and Aaron have to arrange an emergency atonement for the people’s mutterings to avert further disaster.

There is something on display here about the character of Moses as a leader. He deals with challenges to his authority not by claiming it, but by placing it in the hands of God and letting him decide who is legitimate. He cares more about the continuation of the people than his own prestige. When God says he can just start over with Moses, making him the father of a great nation, Moses turns away the honor in order to plead for the lives of the people in front of him.

There is also something to be seen about the character of humans. The people of Israel, who more than anyone else in history have reason to submit to God, to make a declaration of dependence in opposition to the independence claimed by Adam and Eve, are constantly trying to rule themselves. They want to make their own plans, do their own thing, and choose their own leaders. Today’s reading gives tells us how absurd this desire gets: to be “free” of Moses, they will go back to Egypt, where they are slaves. The book of Numbers will continue to show us the pervasiveness and persistence of the human problem as God works out his plan on his chosen people.