The Gainsaying Of Korah (16:1-50)
Neal Pollard
(Originally appeared in Words Of Truth, Vol. 29, No. 39, 9/24/1993)
In Jude three, the writer exhorts God’s people to strive earnestly for the faith in view of some who sought to undermine it. In vivid imagery, Jude identifies them. They are deceivers. They are distorters. They are disowners. They are disbelievers. He goes on to compare them to the faithless Jews who were denied Canaan. They are compared to the angels that sinned. These individuals are placed alongside the immoral inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then he labels them dirty dreamers, dominion despisers, and dignity defamers. Jude says they are brute beasts who corrupt themselves. Then, in verse eleven, he says, “Woe unto them!” They are like the murderer, Cain. They have recklessly followed the crowd-pleasing Balaam. And, they “perished in the gainsaying of Core” (verse 11). Notice three things about this last phrase in Jude eleven.
Korah, The Gainsayer
(“the gainsaying of Core”)
Korah had a good heritage, for his great-grandfather was Levi. He had influential followers, princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown (Numbers 16:1, 2). According to his resume, he was a natural leader. He could have been a faith builder in Israel.
However, he had heart problems. He was jealous of Moses! He blocked out of his heart the fact that God had hand-picked Moses and Aaron to lead the Hebrew wanderers. By gainsaying, Jude is suggesting that Korah was “opposing,” “contradicting,” or “denying” Moses. Korah thought the way he had devised was better than God’s way, despite the fact that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than any man’s (Isaiah 55:8-9). Korah should have seen that God was holding Moses’ hand as he had at the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai, and at the watering rock. But, he could only see himself and his grand designs of being the “leader of the pack.”
In mentioning Korah, Jude is is putting his finger over the pulse of an attitude of heart present in the early church. As in the days of Korah, in Jude’s day there were those who thought they had a better way than God’s way. So, they contradicted the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.
What motivates individuals to bemoan New Testament teaching and preaching? What causes people to challenge the plea for the old paths? When the doctrine of Jesus is being undermined, surely those responsible for such are guilty of having a heart like Korah’s!
The Followers Of Korah
(“Have gone after the way of…”)
Who followed Korah? In Numbers 16, we see again the 250 princes of the assembly (16:2). It is not altogether improbable to believe that Korah was the ringleader of the whole uprising, more responsible for God’s anger than his cohorts Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:1) were.
The followers of Korah were willing to follow him all the way, despite the warnings of Moses (Numbers 16:9-11; 24-30). Because of this, the followers of Korah were equally guilty. Who followed Korah?
According to the book of Jude, they are those who speak evil of those things which they know not. The followers of Korah to which Jude refers in his writings are those who choose not to believe or defend God’s wonderful words of life. False teachers are followers of Korah.
Who followed Korah? In the ‘church of today, the followers of Korah are those who wish to scratch itching ears (II Timothy 4:3, 4). The followers of Korah are those who devise their own doctrine (Matthew 15:9). They are false teachers who deny the Lord that bought them (II Peter 2:1). They are the ones who deny the deity of Jesus Christ (I John 2:22). The followers of Korah are as guilty as he was.
The End Of Their Gainsaying
(“Perished …”)
Back in Numbers 16, we read the end of the story about Korah. To determine who God was with, Moses challenged Korah to a test. Because Korah and the princes challenged the priesthood, Moses suggested that Korah take his censers, put incense in them, each of the 250 princes do the same, and Aaron also do the same. Moses said that God would show to all who was holy and acceptable. The next day, the challenge was issued by Moses. Korah and his princes made their offering at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Noticing Numbers 16:31-35, we find, “And it came to pass, as he [Moses] had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them [Korah and the princes]: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” When the people murmured that Moses and Aaron had “killed the people of the Lord” (verse 41), the Lord readied to destroy the whole congregation of the people. Because the Lord sent a
plague upon the congregation, Aaron had to rush to make an atonement for this crowd swayed by the influence of Korah. Aaron stood between the dead and the living, making an atonement for the people. The plague spread no further, but “they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah”(Numbers 16:49). God made it clear that Aaron was his High Priest. Korah was merely a trouble-making gainsayer.
What did the story of Korah illustrate to Jude’s audience? False teaching would cause both false teacher and followers to perish. As confident and smooth as Korah seemed to be, he led the people of God astray. Two hundred fifty men were consumed with fire because they followed Korah. Fourteen thousand and seven hundred Israelites were destroyed by the plague the Lord sent because they were swayed by Korah. How tragic!
How heart-breaking! God’s children were destroyed, not because they led an insurrection against Moses and Aaron, but because they followed the wrong leader. If they had trusted God and had known God’s will, they would not have died. So, the inspired Jude could predict the same spiritual end for those who teach false doctrine and for those who are swayed by it. How sad to be lost because we follow a teacher down the path of error! If only more children of God studied His will to know what truth is, fewer and fewer would go astray.
As Jude suggested, let us “build up ourselves in our most holy faith,” “keep ourselves in the love of God,” and “look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 20-21). As we look to God’s word and the doctrine of Christ as our standard for religious authority, we will avoid following the path that Korah blazed!
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