Comparing the Compensation of Clergy in the Old Testament Israelite Congregation to The New Testament Church Today.

Numbers Chapter 18: Remuneration of the Priesthood

Numbers 18:1-32

Day 70. Ten weeks of “please stay at home” and “we’ll shut down everything just in case.” As I posted earlier today, “If ever there was a doubt about whether or not politicians can solve the world's problems, it has totally disappeared. They can't.” Neither can doctors. Of course, lawyers will always be around to make a good dollar from the messes that politicians and doctors make. And we just had a black man named George Floyd killed by four police officers in Minnesota with initial video showing the murder. They only got fired. And of course, there’s an outrage. Only God can solve this kind of mess, this kind of hatred. And He will unite us – in His good time and in His good way. But of course, that may be too late for some who reject Him now. In the meantime, we keep on studying. I was encouraged again today by a reader who appreciates how we try to simplify the passages here. Thank you, K.B., but I assure you, I too am benefitting from this. So much to learn and take in.  Keep on trucking.  Please comment on blog, share it, and/or ask questions that arise. Now let’s turn what God said about compensation for priests.

The Passage

This chapter (in verses 1-3) clarifies the duties of Aaron and his sons (the priesthood) verses those of the Levites (their assistants). Aaron and Sons are held responsible for any offenses related to or in connection with the sanctuary and the priesthood. But their brothers, the rest of the tribe of Levi will serve them in their duties, but they cannot go near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both Aaron’s family and the Levites would die.

Verse 4 says that no outsider may enter the tent of meeting or go near Aaron or the priests. Verse 5 says this division of duties is intended to eliminate the wrath of the sons of Israel (the whole congregation).

In verse 6, God assures Aaron that the men He has given them as helpers are a) a gift, and b) dedicated to the Lord, for the purpose of performing their work. Verse 7 informs us that God is giving Aaron and Sons the priesthood as a bestowed gift, or honor, or present.

Then in verse 8 God continues talking to Aaron and up to verse 20, the chapter reviews the ‘remuneration’ of Aaron and Sons – that is, what they get to keep for their services that they may share with their families. And this was to go on perpetually in the future. Verse 10 tells us that the food portions of their compensation are to considered holy and eaten. In verse 12, God says He is the One giving Aaron’s family the fresh oil, fresh wine, the grain, and the first fruits.

In verses 14-15, God says that every “devoted” thing in Israel would belong to the priests. That includes all firstborns. But the firstborn of man they will need to redeem.

Verses 16-19 give more instructions about the redemption price, and what is not to be redeemed; as well as how to deal with the blood of the firstborn of an ox or a sheep or a goat.

And God reminds Aaron (in verse 20) that he and his sons are not to have any inheritance in their land nor own any portion of it, as He [God] alone is their portion and inheritance.

Then in verse 21, God turns His attention to the sons of Levi that were to help Aaron and Sons in their work. He indicates He has given them “the tithe” for their service. That tithe comes from the Israel of Israel (the whole congregation). That is their inheritance and they have no other inheritance among the sons of Israel.

Finally, in this chapter, God speaks again to Moses (verse 25). Moses was to tell the Levites that when they get the tithe from the rest of Israel, they still have to tithe on it to the Lord – a tithe of the tithe (vs. 26). They were to give the Lord the best of the tithe, and the rest was theirs (verse 31) for themselves and their families. This was their ‘compensation’ for their services in the tent of meeting.

The chapter ends by telling the Levites that doing what God asks here will clear them from any guilt or sin with respect to receiving or taking this tithe from the people. However, they were not to treat these gifts from the people as though they were common in any way. Doing so would mean they would die.

Thoughts on the Passage

After God proved to the sons of Israel that Aaron and family were indeed the divinely-appointed priests and that the Levites were to only help them, He then went about to eliminate any further wrath by specifying their separate areas of operation, their duties and responsibilities, and the process by which they were to be compensated. He also indicated what the penalty was for both the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi if they messed this up – they would die.  Here’s the first point – God never assigns anyone any “authority” without assigning them a corresponding “responsibility”. Take note when God give you an assignment – there is no option as to how well you apply yourself to it.

The very desire of God to eliminate the wrath of the people tells me a lot about God. Not only does He give us instructions, but He cares about psychologically and emotional states. He didn’t want His people to be angry, or furious, or annoyed. That’s God’s “father-side”. As parents, we sometimes not only decide disputes among our children, but we also then try to work with those that feel they got the short end of the straw. Why do we do that – because we love them. That’s our God.

God also assures Aaron that the helpers God has given him and his sons are hand-picked, fully qualified to do the work – they’re a gift from God and dedicated to God. When God assigns you a responsibility, He knows what help you need and how much. In fact, in this case, those helpers are to be perceived by Aaron as a gift, an honor. We could well ask ourselves how we view our helpers, our workers? Do we see them as God’s gift and treat them in the appropriate manner, encouraging them, developing them, and so on?

Just to make this a little clearer:
-- Aaron and his family were part of the tribe of Levi – but only his family was given responsibility for the priesthood.
-- the Levites were one of the tribes of the congregation of Israel (or the sons of Israel) and they were given assignments as helpers to the priests.
-- the whole congregation or Israel were the ones that would go to the priests with their sacrifices and their offerings.

And then of course God has a lot to say about how Aaron and Sons, as well as the Levite helpers are to be compensated then and into the future. What’s important here is that we are to see our compensation as being provided to us by God (verse 12).

In verse 20, we see God saying to Aaron and Sons that they are not to have any other inheritance except what He provides for them as per His instructions. How do we transfer that idea over to our compensation of pastors or clergy today? I remember some time ago being part of a church board that had hired a new pastor. One issue that arose was whether to allow he and his family to stay in a house belonging to the church, or to enable him to buy his own house with reduced or interest-free loans, etc. I opted for the latter, thinking more of the pastor’s long-term needs, even past retirement. Although, studying this passage, I’m open to the possibility that I was wrong. Why did God say they were to have no other inheritance, especially land?  On the other hand, we did read earlier in the book of Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 34 that the Levites were given lands to dwell in (they just didn’t own these outright). And even after retirement, they remained contacted to the tent of meeting, and would benefit from the gifts received by the younger, active priests. Since that is not the case for our pastors today – we don’t usually keep them until they die, perhaps encouraging them to own their own property as a retirement investment isn’t such a bad idea.

David Guzik reminds us that the concept of tithing was practiced and honored by God before the Law of Moses was given as indicated in Hebrews 7:5-9.

It’s also interesting that God tells Moses, not Aaron, that the Levites had to tithe on their tithe. That wasn’t Aaron’s job to tell them. It was Moses’ responsibility. And it had to be driven home. I like the idea of a title on a tithe. I know that some churches and some charities I have been involved with take a tenth of their tithes and pass them on to other more needy organizations in observance of this idea. I like it.

[Having said that, I would point out that there is no evidence that priests themselves (Aaron and Sons) had to tithe on what came into the tabernacle. Guzik believes that it was unlikely that they would have to tithe on what they got because “because what belonged to the priests was considered holy, and not to be used by others outside the priestly families.” How do we resolve this issue then of should pastors tithe? Pastors, in my humble opinion, are not required to tithe if they are considered part of the ‘priesthood’ as we understood Aaron and Sons to be. On the other hand, if they are seen as “servants” in God’s house, then they would be required to tithe. While, for Christians, Jesus Christ is our one and only High Priest, then pastors are clearly not the present-day equivalent of Aaron. On the other hand, the New Testament in I Peter 2:9 says we are all “priests”, so either we don’t have to tithe (which is clearly not the case) or pastors are like us and they too have to tithe. No one said that the model of the Old Testament Israelite Congregation and the model of the New Testament Church would match perfectly. Thank God for that.]

One other comment I would make here is that it appears, generally speaking, that Aaron and Sons got the offerings from the sacrifices and the Levites got the tithes. However, in those days, I believe the source of both was the people of Israel. Tithes were more closely related to “first fruits” and offerings were more closely related to the various sacrifices that were required. In the modern church – we have moved away from the idea of the various sacrifices and/or the first-borns being dedicated to God’s service.  Instead, we made the idea of the “tithe” the basic donation of a believer – 10% of their earnings and even then, we argue about whether it is net or gross. [I personally believe it should be gross (before taxes) because I want to give back to God first, before I give to the government; but hey, that’s just my take – you have to decide for yourself.] And then over and above the tithe, we have our “offerings” unto God when we feel Him say, “I want you to support this or that cause.”  The matter is further complicated when we put everything in the same collection plate as we take up an “offering” – although some churches or pastors specifically refer to this so-called offering as being composed of our “tithes and offerings”.

Finally, the chapter ends by saying to the Levites that if they did what God instructed – that is, a tithe on the tithe – they would be clear of any guilt or sin with respect to them being accused of taking this ‘tithe’ from the people.  And that is why I love it when a pastor can say (in an appropriate way without bragging or shaming others, but as a means of being a role model) that he and his family are also tithing and when God directs them, are giving ‘offerings’ as well.

And, let us not forget verse 32 that indicates they had to treat that whole ‘tithe’ as special, belonging to God. Failure to do so, and misusing it in any way, would mean death.

So, here’s my questions: Have we thought about how God would have us compensate our pastors? Have we thought about what provisions we should make for them and their families now and in the future?

And if we are the ones being compensated, can God say of us, “You are clear of any guilt with respect to your compensation?”

The gems in Numbers continue to be found.  Although I do admit this was a difficult chapter. Thanks for hanging in there. Would love to have your comments on social media (if you got here by there) or preferably on the blog itself.  And if you have questions, let’s discuss them. Thanks. Until next time.

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

"Let Me Take a Dead Piece of Wood and Bring Life Out of It Overnight. Will That Do It?" -- God

Numbers Chapter 17: Confirmation of the Divine Call

Numbers 17:1-13

Day 69. Well, thanks to my IT friend we were able to make sure you can leave comments again once you click into a specific blog. Then you’ll see the comment box. Leave us a comment or a question. We love interaction and that’s what the study of God’s Word should be like – all of studying together.  The lockdown continues. Nothing new of significance to report. Except we did find we were unable to purchase tomato and cucumber plants for our vegetable garden. Perhaps everyone in Michigan bought them all up to spite their governor who tried to ban the purchase of seeds for planting.  Oh well, judgement day is ‘a-coming’.  Meanwhile we press on.

The Passage

17 ^[a]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father’s household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households. You shall write each name on his rod, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers’ households. ⁴ You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.” ⁶ Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods. ⁷ So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

⁸ Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod. ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony ^[b]to be kept as a sign against the ^[c]rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.” ¹¹ Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying! ¹³ Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

Footnotes

1. Numbers 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Heb
2. Numbers 17:10 Lit for preserving
3. Numbers 17:10 Lit sons of rebellion

Thoughts on the Passage

God, using Moses and Aaron as intercessors, stops the plague from killing more Israelites who had rebelled against him, and the approaches Moses with some more instructions. The people were about to see another miracle proving the that God was indeed behind Aaron as the High Priest of the congregation.

God told Moses to have each of the twelve tribes bring a leader’s “rod” to him, Moses. Remember these rods were symbols of authority. And that’s what God wanted to establish here – the appointed Authority over His house.  On each rod, Moses was to write the name of the tribe’s leader, including the name of Aaron on the rod from the tribe of Levi. Once that was done, all 12 rods were to be put into the tent of meeting in front of the place where God normally met with Moses. Then just watch. These rods were, according to Robert Jamieson, of dry sticks or wands, probably old, as transmitted from one head of the family to a succeeding.

One of the rods would actually sprout (something very difficult with old dried out rods) – the owner of that rod was to be the one that God had chosen. It is interesting that the text says that God was doing this in order to lessen the amount of grumbling that the Israelites were undertaking against Moses. Again, God was acting on behalf of His servant, not Himself. That is something that we often forget about our God. He acts on our behalf, not His.

And Moses got the rods from the Israelites, put their names on them, and on the same day placed in the tent of meeting as instructed, near the ark. He left them overnight and went in again the next day to find that Aaron’s rod had sprouted, produced buds and blossoms, and if that’s not enough, bore ripe almonds – in one day. Can you imagine one old dry (Guzik says ‘dead’) rod, bearing three stages of development at the same time, in one day?  He took all the rods out to the sons of Israel, and each man took his rod.

All except Aaron’s rod as God asked Moses to put it back and to keep it there as a sign “against the rebels” to end the grumbling against God – and I love this next phrase, “so that they would not die.” To put it in modern human talk, God was ready to kill them; He was so angry with their repeated grumblings. David Guzik says God wanted to give them (again) another unmistaken display of evidence that would end their grumbling once and for all. And Moses obeyed.

Now of course the sons of Israel were scared and asked Moses, “Are we to perish completely as it seems we are all dying and it appears that everyone who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, must die?”  So, if you were Moses, what would you do?  How would you answer them now?

We should point out here that Robert Jamieson tells us that some see this as a new springing forth of more grumblings and others see it as an indication of a reverential and submissive spirit. I don’t know the answer to that one, but if you look at verse 13 in the passage, clearly there is hint at “hey, that’s not fair; is God going to punish us for every little offense we make?” For that alone, I would agree with those that say this is more grumbling. But I’m open if our readers see it differently. By the way, Matthew Henry in his commentary, says the answer is that the verse indicates both dismay at God’s insistence and an indication that they finally understood. To be seen as we continue our study in Numbers.

Now Guzik also raises a question that many of us may be asking and he answers it: “If God demonstrated His choice of Aaron [from the tribe of Levi] and his descendants as priests for Israel, how can Jesus be our high priest, as Hebrews 2:17 says? Because Jesus is a high priest of the order of Melchizedek [from way before the Levi], not Aaron (Hebrews 7).”  For more on this you may want to check out Who Was Melchizedek.

Gems we can take from this chapter:
i. God often acts on our behalf, not His.
ii. God is very insistent on His way, not ours.
iii. When God goes to establish or prove something to us mere humans, He does it in technicolor.

That’s our God. Hang in there. Please take the time to comment in the blog and to share this blog with your friends. Next time we take a look at how the priests were to be paid. Interesting.

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

With many 100's of people dead before them, the Israelites cause the death of nearly 15,000 more. Will they never learn?

Numbers 16:41-50 Israel Rebels Again Against Moses and God Acts Strongly

Day 67. Today our church held its Annual General Meeting on-line through Zoom. Very well done and very interesting with a great turnout. Life has changed. The issue is how much of the change will stick around after Covid-19 is no longer a threat.  Our last study got several positive responses on social media and some new subscribers. Unfortunately, the comments section of the actual blog is not working well and I’m having someone look into it. But we press on. Can you believe these Israelites? They’re at it again.

The Passage

⁴¹ But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people.”⁴² It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁵ “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. ⁴⁶ Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!” ⁴⁷ Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. ⁴⁹ But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

Thoughts on the Passage

This seems to be right after the day that three entire households were swallowed up by an opening in the earth and when 250 leaders were consumed by God’s fire – and yet these Israelites are grumbling against Moses and Aaron once again, and now blaming them for the deaths of the day before.

[Can you imagine how Moses must have felt? He thought that they day before the Israelites must have finally learned their lesson. But instead they started feeling sorry for the rebels and those that perished. I’m sorry, but I have to say to those of you that follow world news, this reminds me of what is going on with politicians blame the ruling administration for Covid-19 deaths when their own people acted unwisely locally. Or I am reminded of a group that wanted to impeach the country’s head of state and failed; and right after the verdict, they indicated they are starting the process all over again. You can’t follow your own desires and agenda, and then blame others for the results. God allows us to discover that in our relationship with Him as well. Clearly the old saying, “once burned, twice shy” does not apply to God-haters and to put it mildly, idiots.]

This time, though, when the Israelites complained, God didn’t wait long to show up. Right away the glory of the Lord appeared in the vicinity of the Tabernacle. Moses and Aaron drew near and God spoke to Moses telling him to arise and get away from the people, because He wanted to consume them immediately.

As we learned to have expected by now, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces in prayer pleading to God. [There is some disagreement of opinion here as to who the “they fell on their faces” in verse 45 refers to. Most believe it to be Moses and Aaron. Some, like David Guzik, think it was the congregation. I side with the majority on this.]

This time, Moses tells Aaron to use his incense burner and on behalf of the congregation, make an atonement for them, because as Moses detected, God’s wrath had left Him and was impacting the people as a plague had begun.

Aaron immediately did as was he was asked to, running amongst the people, to atone on their behalf, although some had already died. The text says Aaron stood “between the dead and the living” causing the impact of the plague to be ‘checked’. This was a combination of a) following God’s commandments for what needed to be done when there was sin present (atonement), b) the wisdom of a man like Moses who being God’s friend and close to Him knew what to do, and c) the immediate obedience of a servant like Aaron. In addition to all that, what we have here is a beautiful picture of two intercessors at work – Moses and Aaron – the former through prayer and the application of his wisdom and the latter through his actions, which incorporated a certain amount of risk. Guzik reminds us that prayer does move the hand of God, “and moves it to stop death and to give life!” Furthermore, Guzik reminds us that “Aaron the high priest's work here is a picture of our high priest Jesus, and his work on our behalf.”

This is a place for us to ask ourselves: Do we have such intercessors on our own behalf? Am I an intercessor for some dying soul(s)? Does the world have anyone interceding for it? We need positive answers to all three of those questions. 

Nevertheless, 14,700 people died on that die. And the plague stopped.

Let me circle back for a moment to my church’s AGM held earlier today on Zoom technology because of the ‘physical distancing’ we all have to observe. To the best of my knowledge (because I cannot know the heart of men), godly leaders were joined by a godly congregation to conduct one of the best church business meetings I have attended in my close to six decades I’ve had an interest in such events. The relevant material was shared in advance; the process was described; questions were encouraged on every item; the questions were all honest without an agenda in mind; where the staff or members of the board didn’t have an answer, they promised to get back to the people; and when an error was discovered, the person who made it owned up to it. We opened and closed in prayer and thanked God for helping us as a local church body deal with some difficult things during this Covid-19 situation which not only impacts church income but also our inability to meet together.

The point that I want us to grasp here is that if there are godly leaders in place and if the congregation is in sync with what God is doing with and through them and their leaders, then there is no need for grumbling or rebellion. And that happens when both sides recognize their roles and go out of their way to help those in other roles feel safe, secure, and satisfied with the transparency of what is going on. My prayer is that is the way your church is operating.

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

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.

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