They assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone too far!
Moses has been leading the people through the desert, and all of a sudden he has an uprising on his hands, and not just any uprising, an uprising from the very people God has held apart as the holy men, the descendants of Levi. They claim that Moses is holding himself above everyone else, Moses who previously was referred to as the most humble man on earth. Moses takes this to God, and God deals handily with the insurgents, with the earth swallowing them up alive.
Why was Moses upset? Why were the insurgents upset? Was it God-centered, or humanity centered? I can imagine the insurgents being upset because Moses had been separated, even more than they had. Perhaps there was some envy on their part, something along the lines of ‘you’re not the boss of me’.
If Moses was really the humblest man, than we have to assume he wasn’t threatened that his specialness was being challenged. A humble person wouldn’t necessarily want or recognize their specialness. But maybe Moses was challenged because he had a huge task in leading the people to the promised land, and his ability to accomplish God’s job for him was being challenged. His efficacy as a leader was being threatened. He might fail, and look bad. These are the man-centered reasons that I can imagine this uprising occurred, and was snuffed out.
From what we know about Moses, it’s more likely that Moses was genuinely concerned that God’s will was threatened, regardless of Moses’ role. Moses brought his concern to God, because as he understood God, this is what God wanted him to do. This I can believe.
But giving the insurgents the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they genuinely felt that God was not calling them to wander, that God was asking them to take the group in a different direction. As a result they challenged the religious authorities, based on their understanding of God’s will.
Fast forward a few thousand years, and this same insurgency story is played out in the man of Jesus of Nazareth. He challenged the religious authorities at the time, led an insurrection of sorts, and as a result was killed.
I don’t draw parallels to suggest that Jesus was no different than the folks challenging Moses. But from a human standpoint, how were observers of either skirmish to tell the difference between God’s side versus man’s?
More than an historic or theoretical debate, how do we tell today who’s right, when humans are fighting and all claiming to be doing God’s will? Whether it’s battles in the Middle East, political or social divides, or racial riots? Are the insurgents going to be swallowed up by the earth, or are they really moving the world back towards God’s will?
I don’t think we can tell, because people who are beloved children of God and who also deeply love God, disagree, sometimes violently. Maybe it’s prayer. And focusing on the big two. Love God. Love your neighbor. Personally, I will always err on the side of ‘why can’t we all just get along’, rather than ‘if you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention’. But when is outrage warranted? When is the uprising necessary?
This morning, I’m thinking about my predisposition to try to have everyone just get along and stop fighting, and wondering if I’d recognize the uprising is imperative.
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