Numbers 16:15-23 – Profile of the heart of an intercessor.

The accusation of Dathan and Abiram hurled at Moses had absolutely no basis. They and the congregation having to wander in the wilderness had nothing to do with him. It was their own doing. They had chosen not to believe God. Moses on his part did not do a thing to harm them, neither did he gain a thing from them. He insisted that he did not even take a single donkey from them.

However, provoked by the defiance of Dathan and Abiram, who ignored his summons and refused to appear before him, Moses became angry. So he told the LORD to ignore the offerings of Dathan and Abiram as if these two would do something to atone their wrong. However, this pair had become so incorrigible and hopelessly irredeemable. Moses then ignored them and turned to deal with Korah and his group first. Repeating what he told them earlier. He said, “You and all your group be present before the Lord tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron. And each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.” 

Unlike Dathan and Abiram, who absolutely refused to appear before Moses, Korah responded. He and his group did as they were told and appeared before Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the tent of meeting with their censers and all, as instructed. Verse 19 indicates that Korah managed to assemble the whole congregation who concurred with him in the insurrection. So they all stood facing Moses and Aaron as the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

At first, God wanted to destroy the whole congregation. He ordered Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the congregation so that He could judge them all. Here again, we see the tenderness of Moses in full display. Together with Aaron, they fell on their faces and pled for mercy for the congregation. The LORD heard  their plea and said to Moses, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

While the passage highlighted the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the takeaways firstly, is about the heart of the intercessors, especially Moses’. As an intercessor, he was confident that God would hear and answer his prayer. So he adopted the posture of humility. He stood with God in judgment, but he also sought to understand the plight of those who were less culpable. These people did not take the lead, they were thoughtless followers drawn into a fight unwittingly. Moses pled on their behalf and God relented.  When we are seeking to mediate a situation in prayer, learn to identify those who are truly responsible and those who are unwitting victims. Secondly, we must be mindful of who we are listening to in life. There are people who would want to draw us to join in their rebellion against God’s ordained leadership. We must learn to be discerning and not become an unwitting victim of other’s discontentment, and invite needless troubles to ourselves. Be discerning and act rightly!