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.

How Memory Romanticizes the Past and Exaggerates the Negative Aspects of our Present.

Numbers 11:1-9  Israel Complains About Their Circumstances and Food

Day 50 of self-isolation for us personally (52 since the U.S. started it). Can hardly wait for tomorrow – garden centers are open again; and then in two days we can actually shop in large retail stores like Home Depot and others. Progress. But some futurists are predicting life will not return to normal – for a year, or two, and in some respects, never. Well, that’s enough of a downer for now.  And speaking of downers – boy do the Israelites ever know how to “feel down” and how to get Moses down as well.  Keep reading as we continue our study in Numbers.

The Passage

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ² The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire ^[a]died out. ³ So the name of that place was called ^[b]Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ The rabble who were among them ^[c]had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us ^[d]meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, ⁶ but now our ^[e]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ^[f]to look at except this manna.”

⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ⁸ The people would go about and gather it and grind it ^[g]between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of ^[h]cakes baked with oil. ⁹ When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall ^[i]with it.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 11:2 Lit sank down
2. Numbers 11:3 I.e. burning
3. Numbers 11:4 Lit desired a desire
4. Numbers 11:4 Lit flesh, and so throughout the ch
5. Numbers 11:6 Lit soul is dried up
6. Numbers 11:6 Lit for our eyes
7. Numbers 11:8 Lit with
8. Numbers 11:8 Lit juice of oil
9. Numbers 11:9 Lit on

Thoughts on the Passage

You have to love that opening phrase – “the people became like those who complain of diversity in the hearing of the Lord.”  I really get a kick out of that phrase. First, notice this was Moses writing the words, not the Lord speaking them. Second, I wonder on what basis or earlier experience was he making that analogy. There is a later reference to such grumbling in chapter 14, verse 2, but that likely came afterwards. Earlier though, in Exodus (chapters 15), Moses had to deal with the grumblings of the Israelites about water (Ex. 15), about food (Ex. 16), and again about water (Ex. 17). God took care of their needs in each of these occasions. And this was early in their Exodus – before they were led to Elim.  Then things seem to have settle down for a while, and now this.

The other thing that I find interesting about this phrase is the later part, “in the hearing of the Lord” as if there was any other kind of grumbling anyone could do. Go ahead, try to grumble so God does not hear you. Don’t utter words; just think the grumbling. Did that work? No. All our grumblings are heard by God. So, what was Moses saying here? I think he just wanted it on record, for the generations of Israelites to come, and perhaps for us, that God heard their grumbling. And let me tell you, God hears your grumblings and mine. And when He thinks they’re legitimate, He answers them and when He thinks they’re not, well, just read on and see what happens. . .

The text says His anger was kindled. That’s a nice choice of words because the next thing we read is that “the fire of the Lord burned among them”. Hey, I’m not one hundred percent certain of what that looked like, but I believe it was something physical, something that could be seen, because it (this fire of the Lord) actually “consumed some of the outskirts of the camp”. David Guzik tells points out that the people counted on the fire of the Lord over their camp at night. It may well have been the same time. Whatever it was, it sure got the attention of the Israelites not to mention that it scared them profusely. We need to learn that “the fire of the Lord” in His hands can be a blessing and it can destroy.

Chuck Smith tells us that throughout chapters 11 to 20 we will see a pattern of complaining and grumbling, so let’s keep on an eye out for it. He also reminds us that if we are God’s children (as the Israelites were), trusting our lives to Him, then any complaint we make about life is a complaint against God. Some people don’t see that, and that’s okay. In the case of the Israelites, as angry as God gets with them, He does not destroy them (although He often wanted to and Moses talks Him out of it), once again showing us His long-suffering.

So they go to Moses, crying out for help. Moses prays to God and the fire goes out. By the way, the text says they called the spot Taberah or ‘burning’ because the fire of the Lord burned among them there.

Now apparently it was not everyone that grumbled or at least they all didn’t grumble to the same extent. Or perhaps it was that they all weren’t as greedy. But we read that some had some real greedy desires in the opinion of Moses. Smith reminds us that not all in the camp were pure Israelites as some were married to Israelites and had left Egypt with them. So, they weren’t fully committed to being God’s people and He being their all-sufficient God. These same people cried out for meat, because the regular diet of manna that God had provided much earlier was no longer sufficient for them. They remember all the good stuff (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic) they had back in Egypt and yearned for the “good old days” they were in captivity as slaves. They remembered the good things in their old lives, but they neglected to focus on the horrors of the hard labor they had to undertake as servants and slaves. They were sick of the manna and lost their appetite. No wonder God was a little riled. And sometimes, we behave in the same way – forgetting what God has saved us from and only focusing on the fact that His yoke is not easy. Jesus later speaks of those who are like that as being “lukewarm” in our faith. And we could well ask ourselves whether the church today is pampering too much to these kinds of believers?

Guzik says that memory often romanticizes the past. That was what the Israelites were doing. Recently one of my own relatives broke up with someone they loved and were in a relationship with for a number of years. They often remember the nice times they had together. But only the rest of remember the terrible times they endured during that period. Yes, memory often romanticizes the past.

Guzik also reminds us that the Israelites wanted someone to give them “meat” – but God had not forbid them to hunt in the wilderness, or to use some of their own livestock for food. No, they would rather complain and do nothing. Often, we want something better (job, friends, education, relationship with Him, etc.) and complain to God because He doesn’t give it to us, while we are willing to do nothing about it.

I love verse 6 that says, “our appetite is gone” which is translated more literally “our soul is dried up”. So, not only does memory romanticize the past, it apparently causes us to exaggerate the negatives of the present. Guzik says there’s no way their soul was drying up – God wouldn’t have allowed that. And He won’t allow it for us. Let’s give our heads a shake and recognize that we need to fight the memory that erases the bad past and causes our present to look so dreary.

The bottom line is this – the people sinned against God and He got angry with them. They knew better.

And can you imagine the impact on Moses? You see, when children grumble about their lot in life, there is a great impact on their parent or parents. When employees grumble, there is an impact on their superiors. When citizens grumble, politicians should be impacted. When church people grumble, there is an impact on pastors. If we learn nothing else here, let’s learn about grumbling. First you can’t grumble outside God’s hearing. Second, when you and I grumble, it affects those we relate with.

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

A Closer Look at "Godly Guidance via a Cloud"

Numbers 9:15-23 The Guidance of the Cloud

Our province continues to be in a lockdown for the most part. Although people across the country and around the world are starting to retake their freedom. It’s just a matter of time before we get it all back. What is scarier is the thought of what happens with the next virus or pandemic now that they have got us used to living like prisoners in our own homes. But this morning I rejoice in the fact that “God’s got this!”.  A friend of mine sent me this short reminder from Romans 11:33-36:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

What a comfort that was and is to me this morning. So, we press on learning more about how we should live using the teachings of God to the Israelites in the desert. 

The Passage

¹⁵ Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening, it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. ¹⁶ So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp.¹⁸ At the ^[a]command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the ^[b]command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ^[c]the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out. ²⁰ If ^[d]sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the ^[e]command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the ^[f]command of the Lord they set out. ²¹ If ^[g]sometimes the cloud ^[h]remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. ²² Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. ²³ At the ^[i]command of the Lord they camped, and at the ^[j]command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the ^[k]command of the Lord through Moses.

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 9:18 Lit mouth
2. Numbers 9:18 Lit mouth
3. Numbers 9:19 Lit and the
4. Numbers 9:20 Lit it was that
5. Numbers 9:20 Lit mouth
6. Numbers 9:20 Lit mouth
7. Numbers 9:21 Lit it was that
8. Numbers 9:21 Lit was
9. Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth
10. Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth

k.     Numbers 9:23 Lit mouth

Thoughts on the Passage

God’s guidance of the children of Israel through the cloud started the day the tabernacle was first erected. I can imagine the beautiful sunset on that first evening that perhaps caused the cloud to have the appearance of fire over the tabernacle. But what was miraculous was that this effect stayed “until morning” the Scripture says. So that were God’s natural laws of sunlight causing such appearance ended, the cloud was indeed miraculously maintained by God’s very active control. Surely the Israelites noted that and thus had no trouble following that cloud. Cloud by day, cloud that appeared like fire by night.

What is also of interest here is that whereas with respect to what God wanted the Israelites to do, we almost always have the phrase, “And God spoke to Moses to speak to the Israelites . . .”. But with respect to the “cloud to be followed” there was no such spoken word by God. The people were so struck by the magnificence of that first night, that it was obvious to them that they had to move with the cloud. That God was indeed in that cloud and He was leading their path through the desert. You will also remember that they had just celebrated the Passover which brought memories of God passing over their dwellings when they were in Egypt so that their first-born would not be killed. They needed no other encouragement to follow the cloud. I would, however, point out that at the very end of verse 23, we are told that they did all this “according to the command of the Lord through Moses.” So, it is possible that this all came about the same way as other instructions, but not necessarily. [And that is what is amazing about Bible studies. We need to be able to identify what we know for sure and what we don’t know for sure. We need to be careful that we don’t assume certain things as fact to suit our own beliefs or preferences.]

So, when the cloud moved, they would follow it. When it settled down, they would set up camp again. One wonders whether the cloud just moved horizontally or actually climbed higher and then lowered itself so that there was no mistake about where to camp. Verse 17 seems to imply clearly the latter as it was in fact “lifted” from over the tent. This verse also reminds us that the cloud likely did not cover the entire camp, but was primarily over the tent of the tabernacle.

And the passage tells us that sometimes it stayed in one place for two days or a month or a year. And they stayed put until it moved. Two things come to mind here.  First, how and why did God determine the length of each stay? I guess we will never know that. Suffice it to say that the passage from Romans 11 shared in the introduction to this particular study is all that we have to go by.

Secondly, I wonder how many Israelites that were in a hurry to get to the promised land, would, especially when the cloud didn’t move for weeks, or months, would get very impatient with God. Try to put yourself in that situation. How would you react? How long would your trust and faith in the Almighty last? [Well, it seems that with this coronavirus experience we are all undergoing, we have a chance to test that.] Matthew Henry, commenting on this very thing says,

“He that believeth doth not make haste. There is no time lost while we are waiting God's time. It is as acceptable a piece of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot requires it as to work for him when we are called to it.”

David Guzik’s commentary adds to the richness of this passage. He tells us the fire at night was “obviously a comfort to Israel in the midst of a dark wilderness, and the cloud by day would be a shade from the hot wilderness sun.”

He goes on to say, even though Israel had been organized, and cleansed or sanctified, they still had to be guided by God each step of the way to the Promised Land. That makes me think about our journey to heaven. It’s not just about becoming a Christian and taking communion, or even being baptized. It is about living each moment being led by God in all of our actions, totally depending on Him.

Matthew Henry’s points us to the fact that sometimes they had to move in the middle of the night (vs. 29). Can you imagine how much grumbling that may cause for some people?  I wonder how we would react to such guidance in the middle of the night. Henry says, 

“. . . probably there were some appointed to stand sentinel day and night within sight of it, to give timely notice to the camp of its beginning to stir, and this [is] called keeping the charge of the Lord. The people, being thus kept at a constant uncertainty, and having no time fixed for stopping or removing, were obliged to hold themselves in constant readiness to march upon very short warning.”

Are we keeping that charge of the Lord? Are we, as Henry puts it,

“kept at uncertainty concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle, that we may be always ready to remove at the commandment of the Lord [for heaven].”

We should note as Henry did that it is uncomfortable to remain in place when God has departed, but very safe and pleasant going forward when we see God has gone before us and then to be resting when He commands us to rest. That is the life of action and peace that we should all seek. In this passage God clearly shows us once again that He cares for us. 

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