The Sons of Korah

by David Brown

To the choirmaster. A maskil of the Sons of Korah (From the heading of Psalm 42).

In 1999, Stephen Lebert wrote a book called My Father’s Keeper. It is a follow-up to his father’s 1959 book For You Bear My Name. In the original book, Lebert interviewed children of Nazi leaders to see how they were coping with their fathers’ legacy. The 1999 book updates those interviews after four decades.

The stories vary widely. Karl-Otto Saur, Jr., is the son of Karl-Otto Saur, Sr., deputy in the Armaments Ministry. His father was one of the men responsible for keeping Hitler’s war machine going “by any means necessary,” even forced labor that resulted in death.

Karl-Otto, Jr., eventually became a professor of journalism, and although a cynic, could be counted upon by his colleagues to come down on the side of right and justice. His complete rejection of his father’s philosophy is clear—even in his hairstyle. His father was always clean-shaven with close-cropped hair. In contrast, the son wears a flowing beard and long, unkempt hair.

Gudrun Himmler is the daughter of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and responsible for a multitude of reprehensible crimes. Gudrun adopted her father’s beliefs as her own, eventually heading up a social organization to support elderly Nazis.

Martin Bormann, Sr., head of the Nazi party, was one of the most vocal atheists in the movement. Yet, his son became a Roman Catholic missionary who later married and became a professor of theology.

Rudolf Hess was deputy Fuhrer, considered second in the line of Nazi power. His son Wolf-Rudiger Hess refused military service in 1959, saying he would not fight for the country that kept his father locked up. To this day, he is convinced his father was murdered in Spandau Prison.

These are the children of Nazi leaders who led the most terrible assault of modern times during their attempt to overthrow western civilization. Four children. Four choices. Two rejected their fathers’ philosophy; two embraced them.

A Mysterious Rebellion

We find a similar biblical reference in the non-descript heading above Psalm 42. Who are the sons of Korah? And why is it important that we find them in the Book of Psalms?

Numbers 16 paints a vivid picture of a rebellion against Moses by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram not long after God condemned Israel to wander in the wilderness. Moses confronted the rebels, and God’s swift judgment followed. The passage provides the chilling details. “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah.”

In the middle of this dark story, however, we find a strange omission. Verse 27 recounts, “So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrance to their tents.”

It says nothing, however, about the wife and children of Korah. Numbers 26:11 confirms the omission when it states, “The line of Korah, however, did not die out.” While God judged Korah and his cohorts, Korah’s wife and children evidently were spared. Many Bible scholars believe Psalms 42-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88 were written by descendents of this rebel leader, the “Sons of Korah.” How did they live down the terrible thing their father had done?

While we don’t have a book of interviews or a journalistic account of their lives, we do have their writing. The faith, the heart of these men is obvious in the psalms they wrote.

Psalm 42:1 - As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Psalm 43:3 - Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 47:1 - Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

Psalm 84:10 - Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 85:10 - Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

This is just a sample of their “greatest hits”—12 beautiful psalms written under the inspiration of God by the sons, grandsons, and great grandsons of Korah, the man who led a rebellion against God. What lessons do we learn from this remarkable story?

God is glorified by using people we would not choose. We find this time and again in Scripture, from David the shepherd boy to Gideon cowering in the winepress; from small-town preacher Amos to Matthew, the conniving tax collector.

While humans look for folks who seem to have the right resumé, God looks for a willing heart. He doesn’t care about backgrounds or qualifications. In 1 Corinthians 1:27, Paul reminded his readers that God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the strong.

Children are not held responsible for the sins of their fathers. Again, we find this throughout the historical accounts of 1 and 2 Samuel, the Kings and Chronicles. God blessed godly children of wicked kings even though their fathers were condemned. Still, it is important to note that children are often affected by the sins of their father, and consequences of sin sometimes linger for generations.

Life is not fair. Get over it. When things happen to us, even things over which we had no control, we can get bitter, or we can get better. We always control our attitudes and responses to problems. No matter what we encounter in life, we can be confident God is with us, and we can trust Him to see us through the difficulty.

It’s time to stop blaming others for things that are messed up in our lives. Through God’s grace, we must get over it. Regardless of our parents’ choices, we all make our own choice about how we want to live.

A Living Example

Consider the story of Opal’s father—James Oscar Townsley. He was a descendent of one of the many Irishmen and women who immigrated to the United States in the years immediately following the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. As you might imagine, that many immigrants from one place in a relatively short period of time were not well received. They struggled to find work and faced intense discrimination. They had a reputation as brawlers—you know, “the fighting Irish”—and employers did not want them. Signs in shop windows screamed out, “Irish need not apply!”

Oscar Townsley was born into this hostile atmosphere. His mother died when he was very young. As a young boy, his father was shot in cold blood right in front of him. He never learned why. A peddler who watched the father die in Oscar’s arms took the young boy and raised him.

Despite the fact that Oscar was abused for being Irish; despite the fact that he never knew his mother; despite the fact that his father was shot down in front of him; despite the fact that he was raised by a peddler—despite all the traumatic events that could have adversely affected his life, he grew up to become a loving, generous man.

His children took after Oscar. One son named Charles was always smiling and his nickname became “Happy.” Even when recounting a story about something bad that happened to him, he found humor in it and had everyone laughing before he finished.
Happy was that way because Oscar was that way. He also passed that good humor and happiness along to his daughter Opal, who, in turn passed it along to her family, including me. Today, my children Reese and Adra are happy, contented people as well, because they are my children, Opal’s grandchildren, and—most important—Oscar’s great-great-grandchildren.

My great-grandfather realized that God is glorified by using people we would not choose, that children are not held responsible for the sins of their fathers, and that life is not always fair…and he got over it!

About the Writer: David Brown is director of the Free Will Baptist Foundation. Read more about the Foundation at www.fwbgifts.org.