Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?" When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!" Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?"
"Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come! Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!" Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them."
"Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also." So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?" Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.' " Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins." 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 entrances to their tents. Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt." As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
"And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy- the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites." So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers."
"The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the Lord's people," they said. But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the Lord said to Moses, "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown. Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started." So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped." Numbers 16
Aaron and Miriam had wondered why Moses thought he was so special when they had been used by God for special purposes as he had. They failed to recognize God’s special relationship with Moses…a relationship that was personal and intimate. Their challenge of Moses garnered the Lord’s attention who called Aaron and Miriam into His presence to set things straight about where they stood in their relation to Him. You’ll recall that Miriam was made leprous by the Lord and exiled from the camp for seven days as the penalty for their (Aaron and Miriam’s) sins against their brother.
In today’s scripture, we see where a Levite named Korah and three Reubenites named Dathan, Abiham and On decided to bring another authority challenge but this time it wasn’t just a challenge on Moses but on Aaron as well. Our passage tells us they were "insolent and rose up against Moses". Obviously, the Israelites had not learned from what had happened in the past. I guess they thought that instead of just two people challenging Moses, more men would bring different results. God would have to teach a greater lesson this time around.
We read that these four men came to Moses and Aaron with 250 others, all who were "well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council." They told Moses, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's assembly?" After falling facedown at their words, Moses replied, "In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!" Notice where Moses doesn’t attempt to settle the matter on his own but allows the Lord to show his challengers who He has chosen to lead His chosen people. Moses knows that the worst is to come as he tells the Levites that they have gone too far. He then further admonishes them saying, "Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together." The Levites had taken for granted the special place that God had given them in tending to and caring for the tabernacle as well as assisting Aaron and the other priests. They were not satisfied with what God had given them and sought more. Moses reminds them that they were not resisting him but God with their actions.
Having addressed Korah and his men first, Moses turned to the Reubenites, summoning them to him. They disrespectfully declined his request saying, "We will not come! Isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!" In response to their impudence, Moses tells the Lord to not accept their offering.
So what did God do about this situation? Well, Korah and his men showed up with their incense censers as Moses directed and stood in opposition to Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Into this faceoff enters the Lord who immediately directs Moses and Aaron to "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." As we have seen in the past, Moses intercedes for his people but this time he is joined by Aaron as they fall down before the Lord and plead for the assembly saying to the Lord, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?" They assert that only those who have sinned against God should face judgment.
The Lord listens because He orders Moses to tell the assembly to "move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram" and they obey. Moses then addresses the men who disrespected the Lord and the assembly saying, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt." Moses himself did not have the power to do what he said would happen. An event such as he stated would only come from God. The people awaited what would happen next.
It came suddenly after Moses finished speaking. For the "ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community." God had swallowed up His opposition for their sins, using the very earth He had created. His actions stunned the rest of the assembly who "fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
God wasn’t finished because there was a matter of the other 250 men who joined Kohath, Dathan and Abiham. Scripture tells us that "fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense". From the ashes of the sinners, Moses directed Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to gather up the holy censers and hammer them into "sheets to overlay the altar"…so they might be a "sign to the Israelites" reminding them that "no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers."
Well, this was quite an event…an event witnessed by all the Israelites. Given all the other prior events that God had to correct Israel for their stubborn disobedience, you would think that they all would have followed the example of deep reverence displayed by Moses and Aaron, falling facedown before the Lord. But instead, they became defiant once again.
For God’s word tells us that the next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying to them, "You have killed the Lord's people". They still didn’t get that what had happened had come from God Himself. So God returned to remind them and once again bring His wrath at their actions. Moses and Aaron know the worse is coming and so they once again intercede for the people, falling facedown before God who orders them to "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." The people were all going to be destroyed if something wasn’t done and done fast.
Moses sets Aaron into action telling him to "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started." We read where "Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly" where the "plague had already started among the people. Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them, standing "between the living and the dead" because of his actions and God’s mercy, "the plague stopped". Still 14,700 people died from the plague as well as the sinful opposition of Korah. God had sent a message about the sin of opposition in a big way.
Question: Are you opposing God in any way in your life? Have you questioned the special authority He has placed upon others, possibly challenging God’s divine right to specially select others to serve Him in powerful ways?
Through our scripture today, we should learn to avoid the mistakes of Korah, Dathan and Abiham as well as those who foolishly decided to band together with them. We should also learn from the further mistakes of Israel who perished from the plague. It’s clear that God does not stand for those who decide to oppose Him. He only expects a reverent attitude and respect because as He so often says, "I am the Lord!" We should ever treat Him as such.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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