Matthew Henry Commentary Numbers 16:23-34

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat them up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Jehovah hath not sent me. But if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah. And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them; and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up." — Numbers 16:23-34 (ASV)

The seventy elders of Israel attend Moses. It is our duty to do what we can to uphold and support lawful authority when it is opposed. And those who would not perish with sinners must come out from among them and be separate. It was in answer to the prayer of Moses that God stirred up the hearts of the congregation to withdraw for their own safety.

Grace to separate from evil-doers is one of the things that accompany salvation. God, in justice, left the rebels to the obstinacy and hardness of their own hearts. Moses, by Divine direction, when all Israel were awaiting the outcome, declares that if the rebels die a common death, he will be content to be called and counted an impostor. As soon as Moses had spoken the word, God caused the earth to open and swallow them all up.

The children perished with their parents. In this, though we cannot tell how bad they might have been to deserve it, or how God might otherwise have been good to them, yet we are sure of this: Infinite Justice did them no wrong. It was altogether miraculous. God has, when He pleases, unusual punishments for the workers of iniquity.

It was very significant. Considering how the earth is still in the same way loaded with the weight of man's sins, we have reason to wonder why it does not now sink under its load. The ruin of others should be our warning. If we could, by faith, hear the outcries of those who have gone down to the bottomless pit, we would be more diligent than we are to escape for our lives, lest we also come into their condemnation.