Numbers 16:1-50
1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
9 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?
10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
17 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.
18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 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.
27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
30 But if the LORD makea a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
31 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:
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
33 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.
34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, 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.
41 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.
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, 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.
47 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.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
THE REBELLION OF KORAH
(vs.1-15)
The rebellion of Korah and a large company with him is significant of a dreadful revulsion against Christ both as Lord and High Priest of His people, and the awesome resulting judgment of God. This is seen in Jude 1:11: "Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah." What a comment it is on the wickedness of man's heart that, after many great proofs of God's kindness and after many warnings of His judgment against evil, men will still haughtily reject His authority because they themselves want to rule!
Korah was a Kohathite and therefore was blessed with the dignity of caring for the holy furniture of the tabernacle. But this was not enough for him. He enlisted three others, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, Zebulonites, and On, a Reubenite, all of whom were willing to challenge Moses and Aaron as regards the authority God had given them. They were able also to influences 250 leaders of the congregation in resentment against Moses and Aaron (vs.1-2).
They came unitedly to Moses and Aaron and told them. "You take too much upon yourselves" (v.3). How little they understood that Moses had not wanted to be Israel's leader (Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:1), but God absolutely required him to be. The basis of their argument is that "all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them." Did Korah really care for all the congregation? No! He wanted to be the high priest himself (vs.10-11). He accused Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves (v.3) when it was plainly God who had exalted them. But Korah wanted to exalt himself, using his followers to this end.
But in the face of such opposition the faith and dependence of Moses is beautifully seen. "He fell on his face" (v.4). should we not do the same when trouble arises? Instead of arguing he prays. Therefore God immediately gives him the insight to know what to do. He calmly tells the hostile company, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy" (v.5). Precious it is to wait on the Lord!
The calm deliberation of Moses in answering the hostile words of Korah and his company by telling Korah what to do on the morrow was itself sufficient warning to Korah that his rebellion was doomed to failure, though Korah was too dense to perceive this.
Moses tells them (since they want to be priests) to take priestly censers with fire and incense and bring them before the Lord the following day. They were to be tested as to whether or not they were priests. Then Moses adds significantly the same words they had used, "You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi" (v.7).
His words in verses 8 to 11 are an added appeal to their consciences This gave them opportunity, if they would listen, to reconsider their rebellious determination and withdraw their foolish demands. Moses reminds Korah that he had been given a position of honor above the congregation, along with other son of Levi, and asks him if now he was aspiring after the priesthood also. For Moses knew this was the case, as verse 11 declares. Korah's complaint was against Aaron because he wanted Aaron's position.
Moses evidently had a message also for Dathan and Abiram and he sent to call them, but they responded haughtily, "We will not come up." They accuse Moses of taking them from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill them in the wilderness, and at the same time acting as a prince over them (vs.12-14). Of course these were totally unfair accusations: they had conveniently forgotten their own rebellion against entering the land of milk and honey, so are virtually blaming Moses for their own glaring evils.
Moses was righteously angry with this attitude of bitter animosity, yet he did not have to petition God not to respect their offering (v.15). Certainly God knew that Moses had not at all oppressed the people, and God would act in perfect righteousness.
But it is Moses who gives instructions to Korah as to what he is to do. Let him and his company, as well as Aaron, bring their censers before the Lord (vs.16-17). Korah was determined to brazen his way through in spite of fore warnings as to such folly, and he and his large company presumed to act as priests at the door of the tabernacle (vs.18-19).
Then the Lord intervened, but by first speaking to Moses and Aaron, telling them to separate from the company of evil doers and leave God free to consume the congregation (vs.20-21). Yet, beautifully, Moses and Aaron were ready to intercede immediately for the congregation, pleading with God not to consume all, but to make a difference between the guilty leaders and those who were led by them (v.22).
The Lord answered their faith by telling them to warn the people to separate from the guilty leaders, Korah, Dathan and Abiram (vs.23-24). Moses immediately gave the message to the congregation, who were concerned enough to obey God's word. Korah, Dathan and Abiram came out to stand at the door of their tents, with the wives, their sons and children (v.27).
Then Moses spoke solemnly as a prophet to indicate to Israel that he had not acted of his own will in what he did, but as directed by God. He tells them that if these men died merely natural deaths, God had not spoken by Moses, but if the Lord created a new thing, making the earth to open and swallow them up, then it would be clear that these men had rejected the Lord Himself (vs.28-30).
As he finished his message, his words were fulfilled. The ground split apart under these rebels and they were swallowed up, their households and all the men with Korah (vs.31-32). There is an exception noted in Numbers 26:11, "Nevertheless, the children of Korah did not die." Evidently they were not willingly linked with his rebellion and God knew how to preserve them alive.
Fear overtook Israel and they fled from the site of the opened earth. They need not have done this, for God had limited his judgment to the guilty, but He did send out a fire to consume the 250 men who offered incense (v.35). They reaped the results of their own folly.
The Lord spoke again to Moses, telling him to tell Eleazar the son of Aaron to pick up the censers out of the ashes, because the censers were holy, though the men who dared to use them were unholy (vs.36-37). Then the censers were to be hammered into plates as a covering for the altar (v.38). They were copper censers, therefore to cover the copper altar outside the tabernacle door. This covering was to be a constant reminder to Israel that no one who was not of Aaron's line could be allowed to offer incense before the Lord. If daring to do so, they would suffer a fate similar to that of Korah and his followers (v.40).
There is surely instructive for us today. Only those who are born again are counted as priests of God. They alone can offer what is acceptable to God, but the worship of unbelievers is false.
FURTHER REBELLION AGAINST GOD
(vs.41-50)
Only the next day the congregation was so foolish as to brazenly accuse Moses and Aaron of killing the people of the Lord (v.41). Moses and Aaron had not done this. It was manifestly God who had intervened in dreadful judgment such as Moses could never have done. But the people are often blinded by self-centeredness. They saw nothing but the work of the authorities in this catastrophic judgment, and people are always ready to challenge any authority. This uprising too was a general thing among all the congregation.
Moses did not have to answer the people at all. For God intervened suddenly. The cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord appeared (v.42). Moses and Aaron came there, to hear the Lord's command, "Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." In other words, their complaining, rather than helping anything, only led to further death among the people.
Moses and Aaron were first humbled in prayer (v.45), but Moses realized that God was already sending a plague of death to rapidly spread among the congregation, and he ordered Aaron to take a censer with fire from the altar, and incense, and carry it quickly to the congregation, to make an atonement for them (v.46). Korah's company had used censers with resulting death, but the censer in the prophet hands of Aaron was able to stop the scourge of death. How good to see the compassion of Moses and Aaron in the face of Israel's callous treatment of them!
As Aaron ran into the midst of the crowd with his censer, he stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped (v.48). This is another illustration of the intercessory grace of the Lord Jesus, our great high Priest, who preserves His people even from the deserved results of their own folly. This would remind us too that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much " (James 5:16).
But the complaints of the people against Moses and Aaron because of the death of Korah and his rebellious company only occasioned a far greater scourge of death in the congregation, with a decimation of 14,700 people who died by this plague directly sent by God (v.49).