As Israel continues its journey through the wilderness, an interesting revolt takes place. Another member of the Levite tribe, Korach, gathers together a group of people to challenge the authority of Moses.
The argument that Korach presents is a personal one. Essentially, he asks: what makes Moses so great? It couldn’t be lineage, since Korach is of the same tribe and, therefore, of the same lineage as Moses. It couldn’t be communication with God, since Korach claims to have also spoken closely with God. Certainly Korach could pull out a long list of complaints that the People of Israel had raised against Moses during their wilderness journey, since the text reflects an ongoing reality of complaint after complaint directed toward Moses.
Ultimately, the challenge for leadership is forced to the forefront, with a full-blown mutiny on the horizon. Moses must now defend his leadership and argue for his worthiness to hold the prominent position that he holds. One can imagine that mounting an argument in support of Moses’ leadership should be an easy thing. In truth, merely stating the fact that God chose Moses as leader should put an end to the discussion, since it’s one thing to argue with Moses while quite another to challenge God.
Interestingly, Moses doesn’t defend himself, but rather seems shocked into silence. The text reflects that Moses has “fallen upon his face,” indicating both shock and shame. To settle the dispute, God steps forward (so to speak) and represents Moses in the challenge. Of course, Korach loses and is discredited, and the text describes the famous incident of the earth opening up and swallowing Korach and his followers.
The question remains: why couldn’t Moses respond to Korach, and is that a sign of vulnerability in a leader?
From the moment we meet Moses as an infant, there are many things we don’t know about him. We have no sense of how he looked or about any of his preferences in daily life. The only traits we encounter again and again are his humanity and his humility.
It’s Moses’ humanity that leads him to strike an Egyptian taskmaster and begin a journey of destiny that will help redeem the Jewish people. It’s his humility that will begin a relationship with God, which will stand as unique for all time.
Moses’ first conversation with God was an argument. At the burning bush, God instructs Moses that he was to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt, and Moses argues with God. The more God expresses commitment to the vision of Moses as a leader, the more Moses argues that he’s not equipped for the job. Moses pushes the argument so far that God ultimately shuts it down and unilaterally dictates to Moses that he must accept his fate. This initial argument is the key to our understanding why Moses can’t respond to Korach. Korach is merely reinforcing the self-doubt that Moses had expressed in the beginning.
The essence of humility is not to feel that you can’t accomplish anything, but to understand that many others in the world can likewise accomplish a task and to believe that they can probably do it better. Humility creates the space in which other people’s accomplishments and strengths can exist. When there is humility, there is room for others. Moses showed us that with great humility comes greater room for the presence of God in our lives.
The Talmud states that Psalms teaches us how God can’t endure someone of proud heart. Rabbi Hisda says not to pronounce the word as oto (him), but ito (with him). It’s not that God can’t endure someone of proud heart because of his pride, but rather that a proud heart has filled the entire space, leaving no room within which God can reside.