Numbers 16:1-50

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 16

Korah, Dathan and Abiram oppose Moses – Numbers 16:1-35

v1-2 Korah, Izhar’s son, belonged to Levi’s *tribe. He was in Kohath’s *clan. On a certain day, he met with three men from Reuben’s *tribe. They were Dathan and Abiram, Eliab’s sons, and On, Peleth’s son. They decided to oppose Moses. They asked 250 other leaders of the *Israelites to join them. These leaders were well-known men whom the people respected. v3 Together, they all went to Moses and Aaron.

Korah and his *followers said to Moses and Aaron, ‘All the people here belong to the *LORD. But you think that you are so much better than anyone else! The *LORD is with all of us. But you think that you are more important. You have made yourselves our leaders!’

The next stories follow the passage about the *tassels for a reason. The people looked at the *tassels to remind them about God’s special promises to them. They were his special people. He had given his *Law to them. He had promised to give to them their own land. But it seems that Korah did not look at the *tassels. He did not want to think about God’s promises. Instead, he thought only about his own wishes and desires.

Moses and Aaron were leaders, but they were God’s servants, too. Korah did not want to serve God. He did not want to serve the people. He wanted to be a leader so that he would have power. So he opposed Moses and Aaron and he tried to become a leader himself.

Verses 1-3 Korah was from Levi’s *tribe. His duties were to help the priests. He was from Kohath’s *clan. So he looked after the most *sacred objects in *God’s Tent (Numbers 4:1-15). He had a very important job. But he was not content with this. He wanted to be a priest. But he did not want to be a priest for the right reasons. Probably, he thought that it was a more important job. And he wanted more power and authority (Numbers 16:10).

He persuaded 250 other important leaders to join him. Then he went to Moses. But he did not say that he wanted to be a priest. Instead, he said that all the *Israelites were holy. They were all God’s people. He said that Moses and Aaron were not more important or holy than any other *Israelite. He did not care that God had given special authority to Moses and Aaron. Korah was jealous of Moses and Aaron. He saw that they had power over the people. It seems that he wanted to have that same power. So he *rebelled against them.

Moses prays to God – Numbers 16:4-7

v4 When Moses heard this, he prayed. He fell down so that his face touched the ground. v5 Then he spoke to Korah and all his *followers. Moses said, ‘The *LORD has chosen a man to be his priest. Tomorrow morning he will show who this man is. This man is holy. The *LORD will let this man come near to him at the *altar. v6-7 Korah, I will tell you what you and your *followers must do. Tomorrow morning, you must take some pans. Fill them with burning coals and *incense. Put them near to *God’s Tent. The *LORD will show us which man he has chosen. You men from Levi’s *tribe are very arrogant!’ (A person is arrogant when that person is too proud and confident).

Verse 4 Moses did not argue with Korah. Instead, he prayed to God. He trusted God to help him.

Verse 5 When Moses spoke, he spoke God’s words. Moses knew that God had chosen him to lead the *Israelites. God would prove it to them.

Verses 6-7 Moses told Korah and his *followers to fill some pans with coals and *incense. Only priests had the right to carry these pans with fire and *incense in them. So Moses was giving a challenge to them. (To give a challenge to someone means to invite that person to prove something.)

Moses warns Korah and his *followers – Numbers 16:8-11

v8-9 Moses said, ‘The God of *Israel has chosen you, Levi’s *tribe, to serve him. He has separated you from the rest of the *Israelites. He has chosen you to look after *God’s Tent. You help the people to *worship him properly. This is very important work. v10 God has given to you, Korah, a special responsibility. You share this responsibility with the other members of Levi’s *tribe. But now you think that you should be priests, too! v11 You are complaining about Aaron. But really you and your *followers are opposing the *LORD!’

Verses 8-11 Moses reminded Korah and his *followers that Levi’s *tribe had special responsibilities. Already God had chosen them to work for him. But this did not satisfy them. Korah wanted more. He wanted to be a priest. He wanted to do a more important job for God. But really, he was God’s enemy! When he and his *followers opposed God’s priest, Aaron, they were opposing God. Moses and Aaron had not done anything wrong. God had chosen them to do their special jobs.

Dathan and Abiram complain to Moses – Numbers 16:12-14

v12 Then Moses ordered Dathan and Abiram (Eliab’s sons) to come. But they said, ‘We will not come! v13 You took us out of the country called Egypt where many crops grew. That was a country where the milk and honey were plentiful. But we will die in this *desert! Now you want to rule us and to command us! v14 You have not brought us into a country where we can grow many crops. You have not led us to a place where milk and honey are plentiful. You have not given to us fields and *vineyards. You are trying to deceive us. (To deceive means to tell lies. In other words, to make people believe something false.) No, we will not come to you!’

Verses 12-14 Dathan and Abiram were not with Korah. Probably, they were in their tents still. They refused to go to Moses. Instead, they sent a message to him. They complained that Moses had not brought them to the *Promised Land. They even said good things about the country called Egypt. But they did not really believe that their lives in Egypt were good. They said these things on purpose, to insult God’s *Promised Land. They were blaming Moses, God’s servant, because they were in the *desert still. But they were not just insulting God’s servant. They were saying that God’s promises were lies. Therefore, they were insulting God. This was *blasphemy.

God becomes very angry – Numbers 16:15-24

v15 Moses was very angry. He said to the *LORD, ‘Do not accept any *offering from these men. I have taken nothing from them, not even a *donkey. I have not done anything wrong to them.’

v16 Moses said to Korah, ‘Tomorrow, you and all your *followers must go to *God’s Tent. Aaron will be there, too. v17 Each man must take his pan with *incense in it. So there will be 250 pans with *incense. Each man must offer the *incense to the *LORD. Also, you and Aaron must offer *incense to the *LORD.’

v18 The next day, the men put *incense and coals in their pans. They stood at the entrance to *God’s Tent with Moses and Aaron. v19 Korah brought all his *followers to oppose Moses and Aaron. They were at the entrance to *God’s Tent. Then suddenly the *LORD appeared in his *glory. Everyone saw it.

v20 The *LORD said to Moses and Aaron, v21 ‘Move away from these people. I will kill them immediately!’

v22 But Moses and Aaron fell down so that their faces touched the ground. They cried, ‘Our God, you made all the people. That is why they are alive. Only one man has *sinned. Do not be angry with everyone here.’

v23 Then the *LORD said to Moses, v24 ‘Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’

Verse 15 Moses had been very patient with these men. But he became angry when they insulted him. He had been a fair and responsible leader always. He had never stolen anything from them. He had not hurt anyone. But he did not argue with them. Instead, he talked to God.

Verses 16-17 Moses wanted to prove which men God had chosen as his priests. God allowed only priests to offer *incense to him. So it seemed that Korah and his *followers wanted to be priests! So Moses told them all to offer *incense in *God’s Tent. Then they would see whether God allowed them to do this.

Verses 18-24 But God would not allow them to do this! They were proud. They wanted power and authority that God had not given to them. So God decided that he would act against them.

God said he would kill all the people. But Moses and Aaron asked God not to punish everyone because of Korah’s *sin. So God said he would punish only Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families.

God punishes Korah, Dathan and Abiram – Numbers 16:25-35

v25 Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The other leaders of *Israel followed him. v26 He warned the people. He said, ‘Move away from the tents of these wicked men! You must not touch anything that belongs to them. If you do this, you will die with them. This is because of their *sins.’

v27 So the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. But Dathan and Abiram had come out of their tents. They were standing at the entrances, with their wives and children.

v28 Moses said, ‘The *LORD has chosen me. He has told me to do these things. It was not my own idea to do them. I will prove this to you in this way. v29 If these men die naturally, without a punishment from God, then the *LORD has not chosen me. v30 But the *LORD may do something new (see note below). The ground may split open. These men, their families and all their possessions may fall alive into *Sheol. This will prove that these men have *rejected the *LORD.’

v31 Immediately after Moses had spoken, the ground split open under Dathan and Abiram. v32 The men, their families and all their possessions fell down into the hole. The earth covered Korah and all his men, too, with all their possessions. v33 They went down alive into *Sheol with all their possessions (see note below). The ground closed over them. They disappeared.

v34 The rest of the *Israelites heard their cries. The other *Israelites ran away. They shouted, ‘The same thing might happen to us, too!’

v35 Then the *LORD sent a fire. It killed the 250 men who were offering the *incense.

Verses 22-35 Moses and Aaron’s prayers saved all the people from death. It seems that Korah had left his 250 *followers. He was standing next to Dathan and Abiram. Moses told the people to move away from the tents of these three wicked men.

The terrible thing that happened next was God’s punishment. It was ‘something new’ (verse 30). Moses wanted everyone to know this. Nobody had seen anything like it before. The ground opened up and the wicked men went down alive into a hole in the ground. The *Israelites understood that these people were going to *Sheol. This was God’s judgement on them.

The *Israelites used the word *Sheol to describe the place where people go after death. Of course, the person’s body remains in the grave. But the person’s spirit does not remain in the body after death. So people would say that the person’s spirit was in *Sheol. For a wicked person, the idea of *Sheol included the idea of punishment. A wicked person would go to a terrible place that is dark and far away from God. The *Israelites actually saw when Korah, Dathan and Abiram suddenly disappeared into this dark place! And everyone was very afraid.

Then, God punished Korah’s 250 *followers. He sent a fire to kill them.

This is a very sad story. These men had opposed God. They had opportunities to *repent. But they continued to oppose God. So God punished them. But God did not kill Korah’s sons (Numbers 26:11). They had not joined their father to oppose Moses and Aaron. Their *descendants wrote many psalms (songs about God that people use to *worship him). The Book of Psalms is in the *Old Testament. See, for example, Psalms 84; Psalms 85; Psalms 87 and 88.

But the *Jews remembered Korah as a wicked man who opposed God (Jude 1:11).

The pans – Numbers 16:36-40

v36 Then the *LORD said to Moses, v37 ‘Speak to Eleazar, who is the son of Aaron the priest. Tell him to take the pans out of the hot ashes. He must scatter the coals somewhere else, because the pans are holy. v38 They became holy when the men used them to offer *incense to me. Hammer the pans until they become thin pieces of *bronze. Cover the *altar with these pieces of metal.

Those men died because of their *sin. Their pans will remind the *Israelites that only Aaron’s *descendants can offer *incense to me.’

v39 Eleazar the priest collected the pans that the men had brought before their deaths. He told people to hammer them until they became thin pieces of *bronze. This *bronze covered the *altar. v40 He followed the instructions that the *LORD had given to Moses. This reminded the *Israelites that only Aaron’s *descendants could offer *incense to the *LORD. If any of the other *Israelites offered *incense, that person would suffer punishment like Korah and his *followers.

Verses 36-40 The fire had burned the 250 men until they became ashes. God gave instructions that Eleazar had to collect the pans. The pans had not burned because the people had made them from *bronze. These pans were holy because the men had used them to offer *incense to God. Eleazar used the *bronze from the pans to make a cover for the *altar. This cover would always remind the *Israelites about how God had punished Korah’s *followers. They would remember that God allowed only his priests to offer *incense to him.

The people complain again – Numbers 16:41-50

v41 The next day, all the *Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron again. They said, ‘The people whom you killed were the *LORD’s people!’

v42 The *Israelites met together to oppose Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron turned towards *God’s Tent. Suddenly, the cloud covered it. The *LORD appeared in his *glory. v43 Then Moses and Aaron went and they stood in front of *God’s Tent.

v44 The *LORD said to Moses, v45 ‘Move away from these people. Then I can kill them immediately.’ Moses and Aaron fell down so that their faces touched the ground. They prayed.

v46 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take your pan. Fill it with hot coals from the *altar. Put *incense in it, too. Then go quickly to the people. Offer the *incense to the *LORD, so that he will forgive them. The *LORD is so angry that he is acting against the people. People have started to die from a disease!’

v47 Aaron obeyed Moses. He ran into the middle of the crowd. He saw that the bad disease had started to spread. So he offered the *incense to God on behalf of the people, so that God would forgive them. v48 Aaron stood between the dead bodies and the people who were still alive. Immediately, the disease stopped. No more people died. v49 Because of the disease, 14 700 people had died. This number did not include the people who had died with Korah and his *followers. v50 Then Aaron returned to Moses who was at the entrance of *God’s Tent. The disease had ended.

Verses 41-50 Again, the people complained against Moses and Aaron. The people blamed them for the deaths of Korah’s *followers. But the cloud appeared again over *God’s Tent. God showed the people that he was on Moses’ and Aaron’s side. He was angry with the people who opposed them still. He wanted to punish the people. So he told Moses and Aaron to move away from the people.

A bad disease began to spread quickly. It was as if God had allowed an evil spirit to start the disease. (Evil spirits work for the devil. They are alive but we cannot see them.) Aaron offered *incense to God so that God would forgive the people. God accepted the *incense that he offered. God forgave the people’s *sins and the disease stopped. It stopped spreading at the spot where Aaron stood. He stood between the dead people and the people who had not yet got the disease.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
Law ~ the rules that God gave to Moses for the *Jews.
sacred ~ special for God. ‘Sacred’ means that something is separate from other things, for God’s purposes only.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts as a *sacrifice to God (or, to a false god).
incense ~ a substance that people make from plants. It has a good smell when people burn it.
worship ~ to give honour to God and to thank him. Sometimes, people worship false gods.
desert ~ a dry region, or a region where there is just a little water. A few wild plants are able to grow in some deserts. So people who are travelling can live in these deserts in their tents. And they can lead animals through the desert. The Israelites lived in a desert for nearly 40 years.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.

'Promised Land ~ the country that God promised to give to Abraham and his *descendants.
blasphemy ~ an insult against God.
glory ~ everything that makes God great and beautiful. A bright light that comes from God or Jesus to show that they are beautiful and holy.

holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
Sheol ~ a word that the Israelites used to describe death. Another word for ‘the grave’.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
reject ~ not to accept or not to believe in someone or something.
repent ~ to decide not to do bad things that you did before. To decide to do what God wants.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible; the *Jews’ holy book. The writers wrote this before the life of Jesus.
bronze ~ a kind of metal.