Rebellion in the camp

Numbers 16:1 - 18:32

It's not easy to tell how much time has passed between the end of chapter 15 and the start of chapter 16. The people have just failed at the entrance to the promised land. God has informed then that their punishment will be forty years of wandering during which time all the adults 20 years and older will die.
They've tried to take the land anyway and been beaten down by the locals...and now we see a rebellion brewing in the camp. Obviously, they needed somewhere to vent their anger and they must think it safer to vent it at Moses and Aaron rather than at God...or the locals who have just kicked their booties.
It's easy to just read the names of these guys who lead the rebellion and blaze right past them into the story itself but the names, or at least the family connections, are important.
Korah - who seems to be the instigator, is a Kohathite. The Kohathite clan had the reponsibility of carrying the ark and the holy objects from the tabernacle. They were the only ones who could not use ox carts to carry their part and they couldn't even go near the holy objects until the priests, the sons of Aaron, had prepared them. (Num 4:4 - 15)
He is obviously representing a faction that is jealous of the role of the priests:
"You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?" (Num 16:3)
You have to love the way he tries to include everyone in his own jealousy.

The other leaders listed in the rebellion, Dathan, Abiram and On, are all Reubenites. Their jealousy is different. The tribe of Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, have been losing their position for generations.
"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your fathers bed, onto my couch and defiled it." (Gen49:3)
Reuben slept with his fathers concubine and thus lost the privaledged position of the firstborn.
(It never ceases to amaze me how long these middle eastern folks can hold a grudge...but then we just need to read the newspapers to see that even today.)

So Korah, who is jealous over Aaron's spiritual authority, recruits some grumpy Reubenits, who are jealous over Moses temporal authority and raises up a rebellion.
Moses calls out Korah and his Levite followers to stand a test of fire before God...maybe this is where Elijah gets his inspiration later...and he couches it in the form of presenting themselves before God to see who God chooses. I love that he doesn't argue based on God's word, or past experience, or commands, he just says "Let's let God choose."
He tries to call out the Reubenites too but they refuse to come...obviously the religious thing is not their bag so they play the passive aggressive, "we don't recognize your authority" card.

I think what is happening here is much the same as what happened when they came out of Egypt.
There is a much different emotional landscape within the camp, but in either case they were on the doorstep of a "next phase", in either case God is establishing who He is and how he will be interacting with His people, in either case He is displaying His power.

It's makes me start to wonder how I tend to react when God starts a new phase with me. Am I "coming out of Egypt" or being "driven into the wilderness"? In any event what should my response be? I go back to yesterday's reading and the example of Joshua and Caleb...

If you want to do some interesting side reading do some internet research on the symbolism of the almond branch/tree. Aaron's staff budding and producing almonds wasn't a random choice of tree on God's part.