Daily Devotion | Numbers 16:1–14 | 2026 May 13

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 16:1–14 | 2026 May 13

Scripture: Numbers 16:1–14 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 May 13

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day to study the Daily Devotion. The Scripture we are studying today is Numbers chapter 16, verses 1 through 14. All right, let us pray to God. We thank You for Your grace. Lord, may You be with us. Lord, You let us know, Lord, how willing You are to love us. Lord, You recorded these rebellions in Your Bible in order to make them a warning for us, so that we may know that we must submit to Your will and arrangement, and that the final outcome of any resistance against You is destruction. Lord, we ask You to have mercy on us and give grace to us, so that in all things we may submit to You and follow You. In the name of Christ, amen.

All right, let us look at Numbers chapter 16. We have said earlier that after chapter 14, after they had been defeated before the Amalekites, God still gave them in chapter 15 the promise: when you enter the land that I am giving to you, what are you to do? This was mercy given to them. But you see, in chapter 16, very clearly these Israelites, this group of Israelites, did not look in chapter 15 and see God’s mercy. On the contrary, they had already prepared themselves for rebellion. So this was a very wicked thing.

Let us look at the text. Who were the leaders of the rebellion? It was Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. That is, within the tribe of Levi, within the clan of Kohath, within the family of Izhar, Korah was the leader. Among the descendants of Reuben there were Dathan, Abiram, and On. Altogether there were four leaders; these four men were the ones at the front. And there were also 250 chiefs among Israel, men of renown in the congregation. These men of renown probably refers to the fact that among the Israelites there were leaders of tens, leaders of hundreds, and leaders of thousands. So perhaps these were elders, leaders of thousands, people with status—250 people. They came together before Moses.

What did they say? They said, “You have gone too far. All in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” This was their accusation. But in fact, from Moses’ later reaction, from Moses’ answer to them, we can see that it seems they were attacking Aaron. Because in verse 11, Moses says, “You and all your company are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you grumble against him?” So the first point of their attack was against the priesthood, and also against Moses and Aaron, and against the matter that Moses and Aaron received revelation from God. They expressed doubt about this matter. Did you really receive revelation from God or not? Right? Everyone in the congregation is holy, so we can also speak with God. Why do you yourselves only say that God speaks only to you? You come and speak to us.

Have you noticed? Here we still see the same kind of reasoning as when Aaron and Miriam grumbled in Numbers chapter 12. They denied and opposed the uniqueness of Moses and Aaron receiving God’s will before God. They thought it was not so. Then from verse 13, and really from verse 12 all the way to verse 14, in the words of Dathan and Abiram, there is another complaint. Another complaint of theirs, another way they speak, is truly something that makes people find it utterly unreasonable. Look at what they say. Moses called them to come, but they would not go. They said, “We will not come up.”

“You have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey.” Listen to these words. They had been slaves in Egypt, and now they beautify their life in Egypt, saying that Egypt was a land flowing with milk and honey. They completely forgot that in Egypt they were oppressed by Pharaoh and by the Egyptians. Then they say, “to kill us in the wilderness.” This is simply nonsense, is it not? God was going to bring them to Canaan. It was because they listened to the report of the ten spies, and in the end they had no faith and wanted to return to Egypt. Therefore God became angry and struck them, punishing them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

But look, this is the vanity of man. First, the land of Egypt becomes a land flowing with milk and honey. Second, Moses is said to be trying to kill us in the wilderness. Wow. Look at these words. “And now you also want to set yourself up as king and rule over us.” Moses was leading them, and they actually called it setting himself up as king. Moses’ leadership over them was actually described as ruling over them. So the lies of Satan—truly Satan had filled these people. These people truly had no regard for the facts at all.

Verse 14: “Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards.” How did this matter in verse 14 originally happen? Originally, God was going to bring you in. It was you who listened to the evil report of the ten spies who brought back a bad report. You did not go in. Now God is going to punish you. How has this now become, as if this matter was something Moses failed to accomplish? This is completely shifting their own responsibility. They also say, “Will you put out the eyes of these men?” “We will not come up.” So here, from verses 12 to 14, we discover that the world in the eyes of sinners is truly a completely wicked world. Of course, from a certain perspective, what they said was not entirely without reason.

The land of Egypt was indeed very fertile. They indeed could not enter Canaan. They had to die in the wilderness. They indeed had not received anything. From these points, it seems that what they said had some degree of reason. “Are you going to gouge out our eyes?” But they only looked at one side of the facts, while completely ignoring the other side of the matter. That is, they completely ignored and forgot that the cause which led to all these things was something they themselves had brought about. Right? They suffered in Egypt and cried out to the LORD, and the LORD used Moses to save them. In the wilderness they had no food and no water, and God cared for them and provided for them. Right? He brought them to this place.

And also, with the eating of manna and the eating of meat, and with the giving of the law at Mount Sinai and the building of the tabernacle—we will not even speak of all that now. Now that they had come to this side, it was because they did not listen to the words of Caleb and Joshua, who had faith, but in the end listened to the words of the spies who brought an evil report. Finally they were punished by God. Yet in their eyes, this fact actually became interpreted in such a way. Right? If an outsider listened to their explanation, it would seem that Moses really had a problem. Right? “You brought us up from the land of Egypt to kill us in the wilderness, and you set yourself up as king and rule over us. You also did not bring us in, and you did not give us anything. And now you still come to rule over us?” So this is a way of completely shifting one’s own responsibility.

I think verses 12 to 14 are something we especially need to, I think, carefully think about. Have we committed this mistake? Have we committed this kind of sin? I think many times, when we get along with other people, we fall into the kind of condition described in verses 12 to 14. That is, all we see is the hurt we have suffered and what we did not receive. And we completely forget what our own response was in the matter. How did we interact with others? How did we provoke others to anger? How did we afflict others? We forget all these things. I think verses 12 to 14 are a very good model for studying how sinners view matters. In my previous training class, I especially mentioned the matter of justice. What is justice? Justice is that you see your own responsibility and also see your own rights. This is called justice. You fulfill your obligations, and you also enjoy your rights. This is called justice. But people like Dathan and Abiram had no justice at all. When they were speaking about a matter, everything they said was how others treated us, how others caused me to suffer such-and-such hurt. Yet they completely ignored what they themselves had done in the course of this matter.

I think this is something we Christians must be especially careful about. One aspect is that in our actual life, we must often warn ourselves and ask whether we have committed this sin. In reality, we often fall into this sin, because sinners are just like this. We cannot see the harm we do to others; we only see the harm others do to us. And Chinese history is also like this. I mentioned this matter when I was teaching Chinese church history.

People constantly talk about things like the Eight-Nation Alliance and the Anglo-French forces burning the Old Summer Palace. They talk about how others invaded us, and when they speak about this history, this is a typical satanic lie of verses 12 to 14. It only emphasizes one side. It does not mention that during the Boxer Rebellion they killed Christians and killed ministers from other countries. It completely does not mention that, and simply keeps saying that the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded us. Earlier, during the Opium War, during the war between Britain and the Qing dynasty, when China calls it the Opium War, but in fact it was a trade war, people always mention how they sold opium. But in fact, the opium trade did not account for the whole of their trade volume. The main reason why others came to attack China was that China refused to open its own trade system. That is all. But when it is described, it becomes the model of verses 12 to 14: how did they bully me? How did I lose this and that? What happened to my Great Qing dynasty? This is a kind of satanic lie. It is the devil’s pattern. I think verses 12 to 14 are something we especially need to remind ourselves to pay attention to.

First, we must not be deceived by the wicked. When we consider a matter, we must consider it in more detail. What is the whole course of this matter? Why did others attack you? In the end, the reason Chinese people arrive at is: oh, we were weak, so we were bullied. This is complete nonsense. There are so many small countries in the world. Where is there such a thing that as soon as one is weak, one is bullied? There is no such thing, you know? This is Satan, constantly deceiving you and making you emotionally stirred up. This is verses 12 to 14. This is a typical satanic lie. We need to know how to identify these satanic lies in our life, in our surroundings, and in history. We must also be on guard against ourselves, because we often commit this mistake as well. I think this is a very beautiful reminder. That is, never fall into the wickedness of Dathan and Abiram, where you only see, “How did you treat me? You punched me once; it hurt me so much,” and so on and so forth. But you completely forget that you kicked the other person once, that you hurt the other person. You do not mention that at all. I think verses 12 to 14 are truly an excellent lesson. The Bible is truly wise. It exposes the thoughts of these sinners very clearly.

When you listen to it, it also seems to have some degree of reason, does it not? Egypt was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. They indeed had to die in the wilderness, right? Moses indeed was leading them. They indeed had not received anything. So when he says, “Will you gouge out the eyes of these men?” it seems that he is speaking with confidence and righteousness. But they completely ignored how this matter developed to this point, and what their own condition was. They were fallen and corrupt, right? They forgot grace. How did things come to this point? In chapter 15, God promised them that they could enter the land of Canaan. So I think this is the sinner’s perspective. I think verses 12 to 14 are a typical sinner’s perspective. In life, we must identify the old lies in history, the perspective of Satan. At the same time, in our own life, we must certainly avoid this and look very comprehensively at the experiences of our own life.

All right, let us return to the earlier matter, where they spoke about the accusation of Korah’s company against Moses and the others. Let us now look at the whole situation of the Israelites. Indeed, their situation was now very bad. We said that the accusations of Dathan and Abiram had some degree of reason. They were in the wilderness. They had the tabernacle. The spies came back and brought an evil report. Now their punishment was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. At this time, I have said before, what was the best way for them? They should have submitted, confessed their sins, and repented. But instead, they chose another road.

First, they wanted to oppose the authority of Moses and Aaron. God does not speak only to you. We also want to hear the voice of God. Why did they doubt? Why did they come to resist Moses and Aaron? This seems especially related to the authority of the priesthood, the authority to enter into the tabernacle and speak face to face with God, because they discovered that their present situation had already reached a dangerous point. They were going to die in the wilderness. At this time, for them, they felt, “I must make a desperate attempt. Since I cannot defeat the Canaanites, right? I have already lost. I am inside this situation, and I want to contend with God.” So this is the mentality of sinners. Therefore, what was behind their resistance against Moses and Aaron? They wanted to have their own will. They did not want to listen to God anymore. So it was not really that they thought Moses and Aaron had gone too far and had seized authority for themselves. No. In fact, they wanted to listen to their own voice. Verses 12 to 14 show that their judgment of their own situation completely shifted responsibility. When things had reached this point, the responsibility they themselves should have fulfilled, and the mistakes they themselves had committed, were completely erased. Their own responsibility was erased. Everything was God’s fault. Everything was caused by Moses. So this was their mentality.

Their resistance against Moses and their resistance against Aaron lay in the fact that they wanted to listen to themselves. They were beginning to rebel firmly against Moses and Aaron. Before God’s judgment, before the forty years in the wilderness, before this matter of being in the wilderness, they were beginning to make their final struggle by themselves. I think, as we reflect on our own lives here, this is something that should especially cause us to be alert. Truly, we must take this as a warning. For every one of us, if God places us in an environment in order to train us, then when it is time to submit, we must certainly remember not to struggle by ourselves. The more we struggle, the more we will only provoke God’s anger. Submission, prayer, and thanksgiving are the way a Christian ought to have. Here, these rebels—Korah’s company, Dathan, Abiram, On, this group of people—where was their greatest problem? It was that they were unwilling to accept God’s judgment upon them.

They used all kinds of arguments. In fact, they themselves also knew these were excuses. Things like, “You have gone too far,” “all the congregation, every one of them, are holy,” “the LORD is among them,” “why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” They themselves also knew these were lies. In fact, they were not unaware. This includes the words of Dathan and Abiram in verses 12 to 14. If you say they completely did not know, was that really the case? Of course, it is possible that there was some satanic lying and deception, so that they seemed to feel self-consciously that they were victims. That is possible. But if you say they completely did not know, that is not true either. The key point is that they chose to believe that this was the fact. I think this is something we especially need to be reminded of: in God’s discipline, we must submit to Him. We must not turn away from God. We must not betray God. We must not seem to feel that we should rely on our own ideas.

Especially when our environment, when our situation, does not fit our will, we must submit. I remember that when I had just believed in Jesus, some people prayed like this. They said, “God, regarding this problem, I will wait until Friday at 2:00 in the afternoon for You to solve it. If You do not solve it, then I will use my own method to solve it.” As for the specific matter, I have forgotten. It seems I have already forgotten what it was. For example, whether to give a gift or not. If I give a gift, then it can be solved; if I do not give a gift, then it cannot be solved. “I will see how You do it. I think You cannot solve it, so I will do it myself.” A person who says such things is actually completely ignorant and wicked. What is there that God cannot do? In the end, it becomes that I am God. “You—I will see whether Your ability is enough or not. If You cannot do it, I will do it myself. I am more capable than You.” Wow. All these things are terribly wrong in terms of theology proper, in terms of the doctrine of God. We Christians must never do this. In all things we submit, and in all things we look to God’s hand. We are creatures, and He is the Creator. In all things we must be humble and submissive. That kind of attitude which seems to provoke God and challenge God in everything—these all show one’s own unbelief. Such behavior is something we must never have.

We must never use this. So what is the background we see here? It is that when God punished them to be in the wilderness for forty years, when these people who were twenty years old and above were going to die in the wilderness, these people were making their final struggle. They were unwilling to submit under God’s will. Therefore this rebellion arose. Of course, the result of rebellion was even greater striking down. So I think that as God’s people, we must be cautious, we must be careful, and we must look clearly at what our own sin is in this process, and then properly confess our sins and repent. During these forty years in the wilderness, if they had been willing to repent, these men who were twenty years old and above and able to draw the sword—if they had been willing to repent, there would still have been people among them who were saved. This is my view. Some people think that among the 600,000 people in the wilderness, apart from Joshua and Caleb, none of them were saved, and only two people had faith to enter Canaan. I do not really agree with this view. I believe that as long as during these forty years, a person was willing to continue believing in these sacrificial types, and that these laws were types of the Lord Jesus Christ and types of the coming Messiah, then they could still be saved. So I do not think that only two people finally entered the heavenly home. Because if that were the case, I think it does not fit the meaning of the whole Bible. They were also justified by faith. When they believed that those preliminary ordinances were God’s types of the salvation of the coming Messiah, they could still be saved.

Of course, this process may have been very long. In this process, although their bodies died in the wilderness, they could still enter the eternal heavenly home. This is my view. So I think the best way was that they should submit to God, confess their sins and repent for their own sin, tear their garments, and submit under God’s judgment. Perhaps God would have mercy on them. They must never do this kind of thing, setting a time for God: “God, You must come at two o’clock to solve this for me. If You do not solve it for me, then I will do it myself.” This is completely despising God. Such a person, of course, if we speak positively, is still very immature in life. But speaking negatively, if he has believed for a long time, then he is an unbeliever. And with such a person, we can no longer have dealings. So I think this reminds us that today’s Scripture reminds us that in great affliction, we must still firmly rely on God’s promise, firmly listen to God’s will, and may God help us to live a holy life in our spiritual life. All right, our sharing today will simply stop here. Thank you, everyone.