“Ye take too much upon you.” Such was their charge against “the meekest man in all the earth.” But what had Moses taken upon him? Surely, the most cursory glance back at the history of that dear and honored servant would have been sufficient to convince any impartial person that, so far from taking dignity and responsibility upon him, he had shown himself only too ready to shrink from them when presented, and sink under them when imposed. Hence, therefore, any one who could think of accusing Moses of taking upon him, only proved himself totally ignorant of the man’s real spirit and character. Assuredly, the one who could say to Joshua, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” was not very likely to take much upon him.
But on the other hand, if God calls out a man into prominence, if He qualifies him for work, if He fills and fits the vessel for special service, if He assigns a man his position, then of what possible use can it be for any one to quarrel with divine gift and divine appointment? In truth, nothing can be more absurd. “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.” And therefore it must prove worse than useless for any one to assume to be or have aught, for all such assumption must prove hollow in the end. Men will, sooner or later, find their level; and nothing will stand but what is of God.
Korah and his company, therefore, were quarreling with God, and not with Moses and Aaron. These latter had been called of God to occupy a certain position and to do a certain work, and woe be to them if they refused. It was not they who had aimed at the position or assumed the work; they were ordained of God. This ought to have settled the question; and it would have settled it for all save restless, self-occupied rebels, who sought to undermine the true servants of God in order to exalt themselves. This is always the way with the promoters of sedition or disaffection. Their real object is to make themselves somebody. They talk loudly and very plausibly about the common rights and privileges of God’s people; but in reality, they themselves are aiming at a position for which they are in no way qualified, and at privileges to which they have no right.
In point of fact, the matter is as simple as possible. Has God given a man his place to fill—his work to do? Who will question this? Well, then, let each one know his place and fill it—know his work and do it. It is the most senseless thing in the world for one to attempt to occupy another’s post or do another’s work. We were led to see this very distinctly when meditating on chapters iii. and iv. of this book. It must ever hold good. Korah had his work; Moses had his. Why should one envy another? It would be quite as reasonable to charge the sun, moon, and stars with taking too much upon them when they shine in their appointed spheres, as to charge any gifted servant of Christ therewith when he seeks to discharge the responsibility which his gift most surely imposes upon him. These luminaries serve in the place assigned them by the hand of the almighty Creator, and so long as Christ’s servants do the same, it is charging them falsely to say that they take too much upon them.
Now this principle is of immense importance in every assembly, large or small, under all circumstances where Christians are called to work together. It is a mistake to suppose that all the members of the body of Christ are called to places of prominence, or that any member can select his place in the body. It is wholly and absolutely a matter of divine appointment.
This is the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians xii. “The body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now _hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him_.” (Ver. 14-18.)
Here lies the true, the _only_ true source of ministry in the Church of God—the body of Christ. “God hath set the members.” It is not one man appointing another; still less is it a man appointing himself. It is divine appointment or nothing, yea, worse than nothing—a daring usurpation of divine rights.