“When Moses heard it, he fell on his face and he said to Korah and all his company, in the morning the Lord will show who is his and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses, he will bring near to him.”
– Numbers 16:4–5
So the context here in Numbers 16:4–5 is a rebellion from Korah against Moses. This man Korah basically rose up with others before Moses and Aaron and made charges against them. So Moses, look at what he does. He falls on his face, and he said, “Let’s go before the Lord, and the Lord will show who is his.”
May God deliver us from the temptation to make it look as though we are holy instead of actually pursuing holiness. God help us to be holy before You.
We Must Learn to Trust God in Our Leadership
That’s quite a picture of leadership. I think, when Moses says, “I want to be holy before the Lord and I trust the Lord, in the end, to show who is right and who is wrong, who is seeking him and who is not, who is holy before him and who is not,” and that’s exactly what happens afterward as you read through the rest of the story. It’s a good reminder though that ultimately the Lord alone sees the heart. He sees the hearts of leaders, and he knows whether or not their hearts are true to him. He sees the hearts of followers, and he knows whether or not their hearts are true to him.
It’s Important for Us to Ask God to Help Us be Holy
The key is for all of us, as followers of Christ in the church, whether we’re leading or not, that we are before the Lord saying, “God, make me holy,” and then praying for one another, “God, help them to be holy.” Let’s just pray like that right now: God, we want to be holy before you in your sight. Not in our sight. Not in others’ sight. In your sight. We are so prone to think too highly of ourselves. We’re so prone to put on kind of a religious veneer or an outside picture like everything is fine when it’s not. We are so prone to try to look like we’re holy instead of actually being holy. Oh God, deliver us from this. Help us to be holy before you in your eyes.
Numbers 16:4–5: Asking God to Help Us be Holy
I pray for this in my life. I pray for this in pastors and leaders, in the church around me. And I pray for this in followers of Christ in the church. God, please help us to be holy before you. We know there’s coming a day when we’re going to stand before you and our lives just completely exposed. Oh God may there be authentic holiness in us on that day. God, I pray for in my life. I pray for that in others who are listening right now. God, help us look to you, live for your pleasure, for your applause, and for what matters according to your word before you. Not before others or even before ourselves, but before you, oh God. Make us holy, we pray.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
