Commentary - Psalm 106:16-18

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 106 is a national confession, a long and painful litany of Israel's covenant infidelity. The psalm begins and ends with praise, but the middle is a stark reminder that God's people are inveterate sinners, saved only by His tenacious, stubborn mercy. Our text, verses 16-18, zooms in on one particular instance of rebellion recorded back in Numbers 16. This was not a sin of weakness or a momentary lapse; this was high rebellion, a direct challenge to the authority that God Himself had established in the camp.

The psalmist here is not just recounting ancient history for its own sake. He is reminding the people of their pedigree. We are the kind of people who, when confronted with the manifest grace of God in our leaders, are capable of responding with hot envy. This is a deep-seated human problem. The rebellion of Dathan and Abiram was not just a political squabble; it was a theological revolt. And God's response was not merely punitive, but revelatory. It revealed His absolute holiness and the terror of standing against His ordained order. The ground opening up is a stark picture of what happens when men try to establish their own authority in God's world. It has no foundation; it is a direct route to the pit.

Outline

Context In Psalm 106

This section (vv. 16-18) is part of a larger catalog of Israel's sins in the wilderness. The psalmist has already mentioned their faithlessness at the Red Sea (vv. 7-12) and their lusts for meat (vv. 13-15). Now he turns to the sin of rebellion against leadership. This is not a random collection of failures. There is a logic to it. Unbelief leads to lust, and lust, when it cannot have what it wants, breeds envy and rebellion against the authorities who are seen as obstacles. This episode is a prime example of Israel's tendency to forget God's works and despise His counsel, which the psalmist mentioned in verses 13 and 24. They saw God's miraculous provision through Moses and Aaron, and instead of gratitude, they cultivated resentment.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 16 Then they became envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh,

The sin here is identified with surgical precision. It is envy. Envy is not simply wanting what someone else has. It is the bitter resentment that they have it and you do not. It is a sin that rots the bones, as Proverbs says (Prov. 14:30). And notice where it happened: "in the camp." This was not an outside threat. This was a cancer within the covenant community. The world's opposition is one thing; we expect it. But the green-eyed monster rearing its head among the people of God is a profound treachery.

They were envious of Moses. Moses, the man who spoke with God face to face, the man who endured their constant grumbling, the man whose face shone with the residual glory of God. Instead of honoring him as God's chosen instrument, they saw his position and coveted it. Selfish ambition always takes the grace of God as a given and then complains about the distribution of it. They were also envious of Aaron, who is here called "the holy one of Yahweh." This title is significant. It means Aaron was set apart by God for a specific, holy task. Their envy of Aaron was not just a personal dislike; it was a rejection of God's right to consecrate whom He will. It was an assault on the very concept of a God-appointed priesthood. At its heart, this envy was a profound act of egalitarian rebellion, a refusal to accept the distinctions and offices that God Himself had established for the good of His people.

v. 17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered up the company of Abiram.

The judgment is as startling as the sin was audacious. Divine judgment in the Old Testament is often strikingly literal, a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Dathan and Abiram, along with Korah in the Numbers account, sought to create their own platform of authority. They wanted to stand on their own ground. So God gives them what they want, after a fashion. He removes the ground from under them entirely. The earth, God's creation, refuses to support men in rebellion against its Creator. It literally opens its mouth and swallows them. This is a terrifying picture of the instability of all human rebellion. When you stand against God's ordained authority, you are standing on nothing. The pit is your only destination.

The psalmist names Dathan and Abiram specifically. These were the ringleaders. God's judgment is not indiscriminate. He deals with the source of the rot. Their "company" was covered up with them. Sin is never a purely private affair, and rebellion is a contagion. Those who throw in their lot with rebels will share in the rebels' judgment. This is a sober warning for all who are tempted to join a multitude to do evil. God's creation itself is loyal to Him, and it will execute His judgments against those who are not.

v. 18 And a fire burned up in their company; The flame consumed the wicked.

The judgment comes from two directions, from the earth beneath and from heaven above. Not only did the ground swallow the primary rebels, but fire from the Lord consumed 250 others who were offering incense, usurping the priestly role (Num. 16:35). The earth deals with the political rebellion, and fire from heaven deals with the religious presumption. The flame consumed "the wicked." This is a blunt, moral assessment. They were not merely misguided. They were not well-intentioned reformers. They were wicked. Their actions flowed from a heart at war with God's order.

This fire is a manifestation of God's holiness. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). When men who are not called and consecrated by Him try to approach Him on their own terms, offering strange fire, the result is judgment. This is the story of Nadab and Abihu, and it is the story here. The fire of God either purifies or consumes. For those who approach Him through the Mediator He has appointed, it is a purifying fire. For those who approach Him in the pride of their own self-appointment, it is a consuming fire. This event stands as a permanent warning that worship and leadership in God's house are to be conducted on His terms, and His terms alone.

Application

We read this history and we ought to tremble. We are made of the same crooked timber as these Israelites. The root of envy is discontent with God's allotment, and that is a weed that grows in every human heart. We look at those God has placed in authority, whether in the church, the family, or the state, and the temptation is to see their blessings and authority as a personal affront to our own importance. This is the seed of all revolution.

The story of Dathan and Abiram is the story of all who build their lives on a foundation other than Christ. When you challenge God's appointed authority, you are sawing off the branch you are sitting on. The judgment was swift and earthly, a preview of the final judgment when all who are not found in Christ will be consumed. The ground gave way beneath them, and fire fell from above. There was no escape.

But the gospel is the good news that there is an escape. There is one Mediator, one true "holy one of Yahweh," the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can stand before the consuming fire of God's holiness on our behalf. He is the true ground upon which we must build our lives. All other ground is sinking sand. This passage forces us to ask: on whose authority do we stand? Our own, like Korah? Or the authority of the one whom God has appointed, His Son? Rebellion against God's delegated authorities is a serious thing, because it is a symptom of rebellion against the King Himself. Let us therefore confess our envious and rebellious hearts, and fly to Christ, the only ground that will not open up and swallow us whole.