Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!” – Numbers 16:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 1, 2018): Numbers 16

I love Alexandre Dumas’s story “The Three Musketeers.” It seems to hit all the right buttons emotionally for me. But early in the story, there is a moment when the young D’Artagnan unwittingly challenges each of the famous Three Musketeers to a duel. They all arrive at the meeting point at the same time. And Athos, Porthos, and Aramis all begin to understand that the same child has challenged each one of them to a fight, and they begin to argue over which one of them is going to be given the privilege of teaching the young upstart a lesson. Of course, at that time the Cardinal’s soldiers also show up intent on teaching a lesson to the rogue Musketeers. And in an early feel-good moment of the story, sides are switched. Instead of D’Artagnan getting ready to fight Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the young wannabe Musketeer becomes a fourth with the Musketeers in the battle against Cardinal’s evil followers. And at this moment, a friendship between the four begins.

It is a common theme in a number of stories. The hero takes a stand against the mob, and things do not look good. But suddenly, someone arrives to even the odds. Oh, there is no mistake that odds still stand against the hero, but the hero also no longer stands alone.

As the dark story of rebellion in Numbers continues, Dathan and Abiram continue to support Korah and level some charges at Moses and Aaron. But they refuse to meet with Moses to talk with him, but rather just accuse him in the midst of their followers. The biggest mistake the men seem to make is that they blame Moses, Aaron, and God for their situation which is actually a result of their own rebellion. They refused to go in and take the land for Moses as he requested. Their exclusion from the land has little to do with Moses and a lot to do with the refusal of the leaders to trust God. But now the men accuse Moses saying that their exclusion from the land is also his fault.

But here, Dathan and Abiram make comments not just for themselves, but for the 250 leaders who are following him. Did the 250 agree with Dathan and Abiram? Probably not. There were bound to be many within the group who did not agree or thought that the rhetoric of Dathan and Abiram was going too far. But the problem is that none of them stepped out from the crowd and said so. And, as a result, they became guilty by association.

In our politically charged world, this is often a problem. We support those who run under the right colors even if we disagree with portions of their stand. But if we never stand up for what we believe is right, then we become part of the problem. And we need to remember D’Artagnan, who was willing to switch sides to stand for what was right, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 17