The Lord Slays those who Speak Out Againts Moses

Today I read Numbers 16.  It never ceases to amaze me that the people would think that Moses was setting himself up to be their leader.  After all they have seen and done since Moses came to Israel to liberate them.  Do they really think that he could have done all those miracles himself?  Apparently they did because in this chapter there are about 250 plus people who are mad at Moses saying he is power hungry and that the Lord really hadn't chosen him.

It is very amusing to me that such people who generally accuse others of being power hungry, are really power hungry themselves.  Case in point Laman and Lemuel were always mad at Nephi because he was their younger brother and they thought he was trying to rule over them.  It wasn't the fact that they didn't want to be ruled, well in a way it was, but it was more the fact that they wanted to do the ruling.  They were the ones who were power hungry and wanted to be in charge.  So it is in this chapter with some of the sons of Levi.  The are mad at Moses saying he has set himself up to be a prince among the Israelites and are taking power unto himself.

So amusing that what they are accusing Moses of doing is exactly what they want to do.  It kind of reminds me of Steve Jobs getting mad at Bill Gates when Microsoft first came out with Windows which was based on another companies design but was also taken from Apple's new design.  Steve Jobs essentially got mad that Bill ripped off the other company before he could.  Similarly, Moses is only following the commands of God and doing what Heavenly Father wants him to do.  Yet others are blatantly ignoring all the miracles that Moses has performed that are impossible for man to perform themselves.  As expected, the Lord does not take kindly to the people speaking evil of His anointed prophet.  God causes a fissure in the earth to open up and swallow the rebels who are speaking out against Moses.  Sometimes it seems harsh to me when God punishes the wicked, but when He punishes blind stupidity, it doesn't seem so harsh to me for some reason.  I guess that's because I really, really don't like stupidity.  It's a flaw of mine.  Until tomorrow.