Numbers 16:1-11
The Challenge of Korah and His Companions... [ Continue Reading ]
The Challenge of Korah and His Companions... [ Continue Reading ]
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, himself a member of the band of Levites whom the Lord had distinguished by entrusting to them the special service of the Sanctuary, Numbers 7:9, AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM, THE SONS OF ELIAB, of the tribe of Reuben, Numbers 26:8, AND ON, TH... [ Continue Reading ]
and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, for the conspiracy that had first brooded in secret now came out in open revolt, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY PRINCES OF THE ASSEMBLY, FAMOUS IN THE CONGREGATION, MEN OF RENOWN, all of them leaders and influential men in their own tribe... [ Continue Reading ]
and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, in a formal organization, with the intention of ousting the leaders instituted by God, AND SAID UNTO THEM, YE TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU, you have had the leadership long enough, SEEING ALL THE CONGREGATION ARE HOLY, EVERY ONE OF THE... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face, in the attitude of a suppliant bringing his case to the attention of the Lord;... [ Continue Reading ]
and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to-morrow the Lord will show who are His and who is holy, the reference being to the priestly office, for which Aaron had been consecrated by the special command of the Lord; AND WILL CAUSE HIM TO COME NEAR UNTO HIM, EVEN HIM WHOM HE HAT... [ Continue Reading ]
This do: Take you censers, Korah and all his company, such vessels as were used for offering incense in the Holy Place, at the altar of incense,... [ Continue Reading ]
and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow; and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy, and therefore be accepted as the Lord's priest. YE TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU, YE SONS OF LEVI. That ought to be sufficient for them; that surely would be a f... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi, he addresses them all by that name, because their leaders were Kohathites:... [ Continue Reading ]
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? Surely these privileges, as here enumerated, shoul... [ Continue Reading ]
And He hath brought thee (the tribe of Levi) NEAR TO HIM, AND ALL THY BRETHREN, THE SONS OF LEVI, WITH THEE; AND SEEK YE THE PRIESTHOOD ALSO? The Levites even now held a higher position in the congregation than the other tribes, and their desire to have all Israelites recognized as priests was nothi... [ Continue Reading ]
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord, for that is what their rebellion amounted to. AND WHAT IS AARON THAT YE MURMUR AGAINST HIM? It was not a case of Aaron's having placed himself into the office of high priest by deceitful or arbitrary measures; and... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the negotiations till now having been carried on with Korah and his company; WHICH SAID, WE WILL NOT COME UP; they refused to come out to the open space before the Tabernacle.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Test.... [ Continue Reading ]
Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, for so they now designated Egypt, TO KILL US IN THE WILDERNESS, for they accused Moses of deliberately exposing them to a slow death in the desert, EXCEPT THOU MAKE THYSELF ALTOGETHER A PRINCE OVER US? T... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, whereby they sneeringly imply that he had not kept his promises, Exodus 4:30; Exodus 3:7, OR GIVEN US INHERITANCE OF FIELDS AND VINEYARDS; WILT THOU PUT OUT THE EYES OF THESE MEN? WE WILL NOT COME UP. So they flung the... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses was very wroth, the insulting injustice of the charge provoking him to a just indignation, AND SAID UNTO THE LORD, RESPECT NOT THOU THEIR OFFERING; God should not accept their sacrifice, which certainly was a mild form of vindication of his own uprightness; I HAVE NOT TAKEN ONE ASS FROM TH... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou and they and Aaron, to-morrow;... [ Continue Reading ]
and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also and Aaron, each of you his censer, all of them performing one of the chief acts characteristic of the priesthood.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took every man his censer, they accepted the challenge in a spirit of blasphemous presumption, AND PUT FIRE IN THEM, AND LAID INCENSE THEREON, AND STOOD IN THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION WITH MOSES AND AARON. They actually had the audacity to press forward to the place which... [ Continue Reading ]
And Korah gathered all the congregation against them, in an attitude of hostility, UNTO THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION; he encouraged them to press forward to profane the Sanctuary. AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED UNTO ALL THE CONGREGATION; by some miraculous manifestation the Lor... [ Continue Reading ]
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,... [ Continue Reading ]
Separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them in a moment. Because the people had taken sides with the rebels, the Lord intended to exterminate the entire congregation in one moment.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they fell upon their faces, in the attitude of most fervent intercession, AND SAID, O GOD, THE GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH, Creator and Preserver of all living things, SHALL ONE MAN (KORAH) SIN, AND WILT THOU BE WROTH WITH ALL THE CONGREGATION? Korah was the leading spirit, he had instigated... [ Continue Reading ]
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,... [ Continue Reading ]
The Punishment of the Rebellious Faction... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle, the place of habitation, OF KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM.... [ Continue Reading ]
; AND MOSES ROSE UP AND WENT UNTO DATHAN AND ABIRAM, who, it seems, had stayed in their tents, as they had said, while Korah led the revolt against the Tabernacle; AND THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL FOLLOWED HIM.... [ Continue Reading ]
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, be punished as partakers in their transgression.... [ Continue Reading ]
So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, moved back in a wide circle from their place of habitation. AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM CAME OUT AND STOOD IN THE DOOR OF THEIR TENTS, AND THEIR WIVES, AND THEIR SONS, AND THEIR LITTLE CHILDREN, apparently defying the authority... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, everything connected with the leadership of the people; FOR I HAVE NOT DONE THEM OF MINE OWN MIND; he was not governed by any selfish motives.... [ Continue Reading ]
If these men die the common death of all men, as men usually die, OR IF THEY BE VISITED AFTER THE VISITATION OF ALL MEN, THEN THE LORD HATH NOT SENT ME. If Providence would keep the rebellious people from a violent death, then Moses was ready to be accused of being an impostor.... [ Continue Reading ]
But if the Lord make a new thing, something unheard of until now, AND THE EARTH OPEN HER MOUTH AND SWALLOW THEM UP, WITH ALL THAT APPERTAIN UNTO THEM, AND THEY GO DOWN QUICK, while still alive, INTO THE PIT, THEN YE SHALL UNDERSTAND THAT THESE MEN HAVE PROVOKED THE LORD.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them;... [ Continue Reading ]
and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up and their houses, the families of the leaders, AND ALL THE MEN THAT APPERTAINED UNTO KORAH, that is, his servants, AND ALL THEIR GOODS. The catastrophe included Korah, although he was probably not in his tent at the time, but somewhere between th... [ Continue Reading ]
They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them; and they perished from among the congregation. It should be noted that the sons of Korah were not included in this punishment, Numbers 26:11. Their descendants were later known as the sons of Korah, a... [ Continue Reading ]
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them, for the noise, as the abyss opened beneath them, was mingled with the shrieks of the doomed; FOR THEY SAID, LEST THE EARTH SWALLOW US UP ALSO. It was not a case of wholesome fear, however, which would have led them to repentance, but... [ Continue Reading ]
And there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense, and thus, like Nadab and Abihu, offered strange fire before the Lord, Leviticus 10:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak unto Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, out of the midst of those that had been destroyed by the fire of the Lord, AND SCATTER THOU THE FIRE YONDER, that is, the coals of fire that were in the censers; FOR THEY ARE HALLOWED, consecrated by vi... [ Continue Reading ]
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, who by their sin had forfeited their lives, LET THEM (the artisans) MAKE THEM BROAD PLATES FOR A COVERING OF THE ALTAR; FOR THEY OFFERED THEM BEFORE THE LORD, although without authority, THEREFORE THEY ARE HALLOWED; AND THEY SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO... [ Continue Reading ]
And Eleazar, the priest, took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burned had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar,... [ Continue Reading ]
to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, even an Israelite who does not belong to the family of priests, COME NEAR TO OFFER INCENSE BEFORE THE LORD; THAT HE BE NOT AS KORAH AND AS HIS COMPANY; AS THE LORD SAID TO HIM BY THE HAND OF MOSES. Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. They charged these two with the responsibility for the death of the rebels, whom they, in blasphemous exaggeration, call the people of the Lord, t... [ Continue Reading ]
The Rebellion and the Punishment of the Congregation.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, a sullen mob, ready for almost any crime, THAT THEY LOOKED TOWARD THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION; AND, BEHOLD, THE CLOUD COVERED IT, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED, in a threatening manifestation of His... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, ready to receive the commands of the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,... [ Continue Reading ]
Get you up from among this congregation, remove from its midst as quickly as possible, THAT I MAY CONSUME THEM AS IN A MOMENT. AND THEY FELL UPON THEIR FACES, with the intention of making a plea, even now, for the lives of the people. The attitude of the Lord, however, showed Moses that it was too l... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar of burnt offering, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun, a terrible, devastating pestilence, which stru... [ Continue Reading ]
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people, the incense being a symbol of intercession and of the people's prayers of repentance.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he stood, placed himself like a valiant champion, BETWEEN THE DEAD AND THE LIVING; AND THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED, shut off, confined to the place where it had broken out.... [ Continue Reading ]
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, where the faithful leader watched, although rejected by his own people; AND THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED, it did no further damage, wrought no more ravages. Note: The two hundred and fifty censers of the fanatics effected no... [ Continue Reading ]