God Will Not Be Spurned, nor will He Allow His Servants to Face Opposition Alone

Numbers 16:15-40 God Judges Korah

Day 66. Sadly, I must admit that many people are getting used to this new ‘normal’ – whatever it looks like. America is poised to see what happens in New York City this Memorial Day Weekend when the Mayor has threatened to send officers into the water to pull swimmers out if they dare go in. Unbelievable. But nothing surprises me anymore. President Trump just declared churches and places of worship as “essential” to Americans and wants them to be open this weekend. That put the Federal government up against the States who disagree. A battle royal between the First Amendment and the Tenth is likely to go to the Supreme Court. I go on doing what I enjoy doing. And that includes studying the Word of God. Thanks for joining me. We’re about to see God’s response to Korah and his gang of rebellious leaders.

The Passage

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.”¹⁶ Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the Lord tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. ¹⁷ Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” ¹⁸ So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” ²² But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

²⁵ Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, ²⁶ and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” ²⁷ So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones. ²⁸ Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not ^[o]my doing. ²⁹ If these men die ^[p]the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord.”

³¹ As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. ³³ So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their ^[u]outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” ³⁵ Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

³⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ^[w]blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. ³⁸ As for the censers of these ^[y]men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” ³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, ⁴⁰ as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.

Thoughts on the Passage

Moses, as the God-appointed leader had just been disobeyed by some subordinates he had asked to come and meet him. So he gets angry. No, wait, the text says, he became “very angry”. He had done nothing wrong. He had had enough. And remember this man Moses the Bible tells us in Numbers 12:3 was the ‘meekest of all men’. We need to be careful that we are never the one to push some who has not sinned before God to get that angry because God may just be on their side. And so, once again, as angry as he was and as wronged as he had been, he took the matter to God telling Him to not accept their offering. Then Moses tells Korah, the leader of this rebellious group, to make sure they all keep the appointment with God the next day and how to prepare for it. What a scene that was going to be. Imagine 252 firepans with incense in them ready to be lit.

In verse 25, when Moses goes to speak to the rebels, we note what appears to be an insignificant phrase. The text says, “and the elders of Israel followed him”. Not insignificant at all. David Guzik says,

This was glorious. God had appointed elders back in Number 10:16-30, in response to another attack on Moses' leadership. There, the elders were to be men with the same spirit and vision as Moses, men to help him bear the burden, men to stand with Moses. Here they did exactly what God appointed them to do.

Every leader, appointed by God, and staying in God’s will, needs people like that in their lives. If you’re a leader, do you have such men or women of God, ready to back you up. If you know a leader of God, are you that man or woman that will back that leader up?

Sure enough they all show up and amass around the doorway of the Tabernacle, lit their censers, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation that was watching.

God then tells Moses and Aaron to move away from all the people as He intended to “consume” all of them. But yet once again, Moses and Aaron, fell on their faces, pleading to God not to destroy the whole congregation for the sin of one or a few.

Matthew Henry reminds us that what God did hear was to show these rebels the penalty they deserved. And it is a good time for us to ask whether or not we have recognized the penalty we deserve as sinners. I hope we have and that we can then sincerely, with our whole hearts, accept the fact that God gave His only begotten son to take that penalty on Himself in our stead.

Henry says we note that Moses was primarily angry because of the people’s view of God Who had done so much for them. And what he asked for was that his name be cleared in their sight. That somehow God would show them that He backed Moses, who in his own defense, due to his disappointment, pointed out in verse 15 that he had never “taken a single donkey from them, nor [had he] done harm to any of them.” You can see how hurt Moses was. Have you ever felt that way when false accusers you thought were your friends turned on you? I have and believe me it is no fun, even if in the end, they apologize and want to make things right.

God seemed to listen to His servants and instead told Moses to ask the congregation to back away from the dwellings of the three gang-leaders, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. [We cannot ignore the fact that this was a direct answer to Moses’ earlier plea to God. God answers the fervent prayers of His holy servants.] Moses then   did as he was told. All the people stood back from the dwellings of these three.

There’s a key lesson for us here. This was done for the sake of the people. Guzik covers it in three points:
1. God’s people should stay away from divisive, argumentative, contentious people in the body of Christ.
2. The New Testament supports this in Titus 3:10-11 and Romans 16:17-18.
3. Remember a divisive, contentious person will never claim to be such – they always consider their work a noble cause. Therefore, we need some discernment and to look at what others do, not only at what they say.

Now the scene gets very intense as Dathan and Abiram came out, with their wives and children, and stood in their respective doorways, and Moses spoke to them. And what Moses says to them is most interesting. Basically, he said, what was about to happen was not his doing, but God’s. If these rebels were to die like all other men, in due time, then that was a sign that God had not sent and appointed Moses to have authority over them. But if on the other hand, the ground opens up and swallows them, with all their households, and their personal followers, there and then, and they descended alive into ‘the nether world’, then you will know that they had ‘spurned’ the Lord.

The first thing to note is the confidence of Moses. The second is that somehow Moses knew that people could descent into Sheol alive. What that says about the reality of hell, I will to others. The third thing I would note here is that in verse 30 Moses refers to what God is about to do as “a new thing”. What a lesson for us – God never runs out of “new things” to do for His people and for His glory to be seen. What a great and mighty God is He. The fourth thing I would note here is how quickly things started happening.

The text says, “As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open,” and as Moses had indicated, all three leaders, their households, and followers were all swallowed up. And then the earth “closed over them”.  Wow.

And if that wasn’t enough fire came down from the Lord (likely out of the cloud above) and consumed the 250 other leaders. So, what did the congregation do? Well, instead of bowing down and worshipping God Almighty, they fled, crying as they ran, and fearing they too may be swallowed up. They never did listen well or read between the lines of what Moses said. He had said nothing about the congregation being swallowed up, only the households of the three leaders.

Now it would be very amiss on my part if I didn’t say anything about the death of the spouses and the children of these three leaders. [As far as we now the wives and children of the 250 others were spared.] Again, we are faced with the fact that God is God. You don’t spurn Him. You don’t rise up against His true appointee(s). Count the cost before you proceed. And for those just watching idling by as things like this happen, you cannot use God’s actions as a reason for you to deny your belief in God. Well, not exactly true, for you can – but you do so at your own peril. The secret is to accept that God is God and He can indeed do what He wants, when He wants to, and how He wants to. And the true believer has seen enough evidence to believe that God always acts with fairness and justice. If you can’t do that – if you can’t believe He has this right – you can’t really accept what He has done for you, especially through His Son, Jesus Christ – because, you know, you and I don’t deserve it at all.

Then God told Moses to tell Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to pick up the holy censers and scatter the burning coals. And the censers themselves were to be hammered into sheets for a plating of the altar, as a sign to all Israel. This was to be a reminder that no ‘layperson’ who was not a descendant of Aaron should go “near to burn incense before the Lord” to avoid ending up like Korah and his company.

This was a packed passage if ever there was one. There is so much guidance, direction, and lessons for each of us on how then we should view the God of our salvation. Now do you think the so-called “congregation of Israel” learned their lesson? Stay tuned. In the meantime, I hope you were blessed by this passage.  Seems that my comment section is not working for now -- so feel free to leave a message on the social media or reply to the email you got if you're a subscriber.   Thank you.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Have you ever been part of a rebellion? In your family, work, church, city, or country?

Numbers 16:1-14 The Rebellion of Korah

Day 63. We made it to nine weeks of “please stay at home” advice, and in many cases, required compliance. That’s equivalent to a whole summer’s vacation for students. Got word yesterday that the U.S. and Canada are negotiating a further extension to the ban on non-essential cross-border travel. That means we can’t go see our family in the south. The two camps on the seriousness of the virus, the best way to get over it, and even on what caused it and who knew what when continue to fight each other in every way they can think of.  Schools in Ontario were officially declared closed until the fall, so parents have another three and a half months to ‘enjoy’ their children at home, or not. We press on studying God’s Word and finding new gems every day, even in the otherwise unexciting book of Numbers. Read on.

The Passage

16 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, ² and they rose up before Moses, ^[a]together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, ^[b]chosen in the assembly, men of renown. ³ They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “^[c]You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; ⁵ and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all ^[d]your company, ⁷ and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. ^[e]You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”

⁸ Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, ⁹ is it ^[f]not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of 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 to them; ¹⁰ and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking for the priesthood also?¹¹ Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, ^[g]who is he that you grumble against him?”

¹² Then Moses sent ^[h]a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it ^[i]not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? ¹⁴ Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you ^[j]put out the eyes of ^[k]these men? We will not come up!”

Footnotes

1. Numbers 16:2 Lit and men from
2. Numbers 16:2 Lit called ones of
3. Numbers 16:3 Lit It is much for you
4. Numbers 16:6 Lit his
5. Numbers 16:7 Lit It is much for you
6. Numbers 16:9 Or too little for you
7. Numbers 16:11 Lit what
8. Numbers 16:12 Lit to call
9. Numbers 16:13 Lit a little thing
10. Numbers 16:14 Lit bore out
11. Numbers 16:14 Lit those

Thoughts on the Passage

We note that the rebellious group was not just Korah (from the tribe of the Levites), but he was joined by Dathan and Abiram (from the tribe of Reuben). But these three were able to incite 250 others, all ‘leaders’ of the people to rise up and assemble against Moses and Aaron. It is amazing how just one disgruntled person, can convince two others, and how three can convince 250 other men who were ‘renown’ amongst the people to act in opposition to leaders appointed by God. [By the way, Korah is also mentioned in the book of Jude, verse 11. David Guzik points out that Both Moses and Korah were descended from Kohath, but by different sons (Moses through Amram {Numbers 26:58-59}, and Korah through Izhar). Also as Matthew Henry points out, On is mentioned (verse 1) as one of the heads of the faction, but never after in the whole story, either because, as some think, he repented and left them, or because he did not make himself so remarkable as Dathan and Abiram did.]

Henry further notes that “the Kohathites encamped on the same side of the tabernacle that the Reubenites did, which perhaps gave Korah an opportunity of drawing them in, whence the Jews say, ‘Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his neighbor, who is in danger of being infected by him.’”

They told Moses and Aaron that they had over-extended their power and authority, and it appears their claim on being ‘holy’ and that “God was with them alone”. The rebels felt every single person in the congregation was holy and that God was with them too. So they weren’t pleased with the idea that Moses and Aaron were ‘exalting’ themselves above them. This accusation of pride and exclusionary leadership according to David Guzik was made in public, playing to the audience of 250 leaders. Rebels often play to an audience. In fact, we see it daily from our politicians, especially those in opposition to an elected administration. We note, like Guzik, that with these 250 leaders, Korah himself was, from a human perspective, successful. How often do we get duped by a humanly successful leader when in fact that leader may take us down the wrong path? Once again, the Jim Jones Jonestown, Guyana, massacre in 1978, comes to mind.

[The rebels also felt there was too much nepotism going on – you know, Moses getting the cushy job for Aaron his brother, and Miriam, his sister, having a special role with respect to the tabernacle. People grumble the same way today when they see a ‘family’ doing well. And I have no problem with that as long as appointed family members have the ability to do the job they need to do well.]

My guess is that when Moses fell on his face in verse 4, he prayed.  He always prayed when faced with opposition or challenges like this one. We don’t know how long of a break there was between verse 4 and verse 5 when he replies to his accusers.

And now comes the predecessor of what I call the “fire from heaven Elijah test” as we read in I Kings 18. Moses tells Korah and his gang that “in the morning God will show who is His”. In the morning God would show whom He draws to Himself; whom He chooses. Robert Jamieson reminds us that “in the morning” is the usual time of meeting in the East for the settlement of public affairs.

Moses must have been very sure of himself to acclaim this future act of God’s. But then again we must remember that Moses had seen the power of God over and over again in Egypt and so far in the wilderness. We also know that God chose Moses to complete a very special assignment and He gave Moses the right to speak for Him, telling the Isralites long ago (in Exodus 3) that He Who calls Himself the “I AM WHO I AM” has sent him (Moses) to them. As I read these thoughts now, I am reminded of the fact that Moses was “sent by God” to the people to deliver them from Egypt and their slavery. So likewise, Jesus was sent by God to His people years later to deliver us from our sin and slavery to it. Moses was no ordinary man; he could be sure of God’s support.

And with that confidence he tells the rebels to take censers (a container, usually covered, in which incense is burned, especially during religious services), fill them with incense, and set them on fire before the Lord, and see what happens. And Moses ends his little speech with an admonition to Korah and company, especially since Korah was a Levite. They had, in the words of Moses, “gone too far”. Perhaps he was worried that he could no longer expect God to forgive them again. They had already cashed in their last chip. I have a relative who feels like that – they feel they have sinned so often and so badly, that there is no way God can forgive them. That must be a terrible feeling. Unfortunately, some who feel that way also use it as an excuse never to come to grips with the issue of their relationship with God. All the rest of us can do is continue to pray.

[As I was doing this study, my wife just informed me about how miraculously God worked in the lives a couple we were praying for. The expression used was the sincere attempt at a change came “out of the blue”. And God does indeed work out of the blue. Moses knew that.  We believe it. Let’s keep looking for God to work “out of the blue” for us and for those we are praying for.]

Moses now more directly addresses Korah and those that were from the tribe of Reuben. How could these men not consider it sufficient that God Himself had separated them from the other tribes, had drawn them close to Him, to serve the Lord in the tabernacle, and to minister before the people? The Kohathites had, according to Guzik, the most exalted duty among the Levites; their charge was to carry the most holy things of the temple, after Aaron and his sons had covered them with the specially prepared coverings (Numbers 4:15). Moses tried to expose a possible desire of Korah himself and those close to him – the attainment of the office of ‘priests’ not just helpers in the Tent.

If that was the case, Moses indicates he could see why they are grumbling against the Lord, and perhaps even himself.  But what did these people have to grumble against Aaron himself?  There was no response that we know of. I love what Guzik says about Korah and how he would have led Israel as compared to Moses:

It is unbelievably easy for the Korahs of this world to sit back and say, "If I was leading the nation at Kadesh Barnea, I would have done thus and so." But Korah was not leading the nation, and men of his type rarely do. God rarely puts the Monday-morning quarterbacks, the backseat drivers, in positions of real leadership - except as a chastisement, to show them just how difficult leadership really is - and that perfect leadership, like perfect anything, is impossible.

Can we remember that as we watch rebels today? Can we remember that as we watch world politicians today? Can we apply that to our own leadership or rebellious thoughts, words, and actions today?

After that, Moses calls for the two leaders in the gang from Reuben’s tribe, Dathan and Abiram. But they refuse to go and see Moses, complaining further that not only had Moses taken them from “a land flowing with milk and honey” (boy, was Egypt ever glorified in their minds – remember, memory makes the mind murky, it colors the past), and now he was “lording it over them”. They felt cheated out of the promised land, the real land flowing with milk and honey and out of their inheritance of fields and vineyards. They accused Moses of wanting to “bore out” their eyes. So they refused to go and see him. Wow.

This was a total defiance of Moses’ authority and leadership. They would only follow and listen to God. What they missed was the very fact that Moses was God’s appointee. It would have been one thing if Moses had sinned. It is another thing to make up accusations against God’s anointed and appointed. In cases like this we must always check the hearts – both of the accusers and the accused. And then speak up – either in support of those who rightly judge or in defense of the one being falsely accused (as in this case). Our silence is not only a weakness, but it may be a sin.

In our next study, we will see how Moses and God both react. Hope you caught all the lesson gems that God gave us here through this rebellion.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.