Numbers 16

To log onto UNITYINCHRIST.COM’S BLOG, Click Here

Share on Facebook

Numbers 15:37-41

Numbers 15, verse 37, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations,” this is perpetual, “and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39 and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it,” and here are some of the reasons, “and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them;” not just remember them, “and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes,” which we’re all so inclined to do, they would determine our lifestyle, our own desires, our own heart, our own eyes, “after which ye use to go a whoring: 40 that ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” This ribbon was a border of blue on their garments. Remember Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees, he said ‘You like to make broad your phylacteries and wide the border of your garments,’ that’s what he was speaking of here. But is also what the woman with the bloodflow for 12 years said, ‘If I can only grasp at the hem, craspadon, this border of his garment,’ it’s the beauty of it no doubt, she saw that border of blue on many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which had never helped her, which had never produced anything in her life, the religious community was of no help at all. And no doubt when she saw that border of blue on the garments of Jesus Christ, she looked at it, and it was to remind them to remember all of God’s commandments, not to walk in their own ways but to walk in his ways, and to be holy unto God. And no doubt, not knowing he was the Messiah, not knowing that he would be crucified and rise from the dead, but perceiving him as a Prophet, as a healer, no doubt perceiving him as a man who in fact walked with his God and was holy to his God, she said ‘If I can just take hold of the hem of his garment,’ that craspadon of blue, that reminder, ‘Certainly I’ll be healed.’ And so the beauty of the picture we’re given in these few verses, describing that border.

Numbers 16:1-50

“Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: 2 and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3 and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5 and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. 6 This do; take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7 and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. 8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9 seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? 10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of the land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14 Moreover that hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. 15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. 16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17 and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. 18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. 20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. 28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. 35 And there came out fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. 36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses. 41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED585]

“As we come to chapter 16, we come to the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, as we go into this. It is certainly the largest crisis in some ways from within the camp that we see in their wilderness wanderings. Again, about 30 years of wandering condensed within the Book of Numbers, so the specific things we see are highlighted, there taken for a purpose and brought before us. We had heard the children of Israel grumble as they had begun their wilderness wanderings in regards to nothing to drink, nothing to eat and so forth. And then we have something that was closer to home, we had Nadab and Abihu struck down for bringing strange fire before the LORD, no doubt to be a warning. In chapter 12 of Numbers we had Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ brother and sister rebel, which must have hurt him deeply. But now we have someone from the family of Levi, which then is a relative of Moses, whose name is Korah, whose going to come out in open rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and say, ‘Hey, we also have the same blood in our veins that you have in your veins, who do you guys think you are, you take too much to yourselves.’ And it tells us that Korah will lead 250 of the most notable princes in Israel into this rebellion with him. So he must be a very able leader, very sophisticated in the way he approaches this, he’s a guy with great influence. In fact then it says the whole congregation of Israel gathers, and then the glory of the LORD appears, and Moses has to tell them ‘Hey, back up, get away from the tents of these guys,’ and everybody kind of scatters. But God is going then to judge Korah, and then he’s going to judge the 250 others who presumed that they could operate in the priest’s office. And then we’re going to find the whole congregation rebels and 14,000 are going to die. And it all starts with this one man’s rebellion, and his rebellion is born out of no doubt pride. It tells us in the Book of Proverbs ‘Contention cometh only’ it doesn’t say “mostly,” it doesn’t say “usually,” it says ‘Contention cometh only by pride.’ This man is wrestling no doubt with envy, this man has his own agenda. He sees Moses and Aaron in a position, and judging in the natural, there’s some truth to that, he says ‘Why do they deserve that?’ Well they didn’t deserve it more than him. It doesn’t have anything to do with who deserved it. He will start this rebellion that will infect the whole camp. And God takes it and records it for us, again, Romans 15, 1^st Corinthians 10 tells us these things are written for our instruction and our learning. Beyond that, Jude in his short little letter says ‘Woe unto them,’ speaking of those that will arise, that don’t know what they’re speaking about, that are despisers of order and so forth, ‘Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, they have run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and they have perished in the gainsaying of Korah.’ So Jude uses this chapter to warn the Church about some of the things that are taking place within it. Gainsaying is the idea of “speaking against,” so the idea of ‘speaking against the leadership that God raised up, speaking against the people that God had placed in certain positions, the gainsaying of Korah.’ And he points to that specifically. Now look, throughout the Scripture we find these kind of things, we’re going to see Korah this evening. Everybody knows about Absalom, David’s son, who sat outside of the city and said ‘Oh ya, my dad he’s a big fancy-smancy leader, he’s so busy he don’t have time to talk to you, but if you bring your problems to me, I really care about you,’ and there’s this undercutting there. We see the disciples arguing over whose going to be the greatest in the Kingdom. We have in 3^rd John verses 9 and 10, Diotrephes, whose starting a problem in the Church, and it says very clearly there, ‘Because he loves the preeminence.’ We have in Acts chapter 20, Paul telling the elders of Ephesus on the beach of Miletus, he says ‘Look, I ceased not to warn you over the space of two or three years, that after my departure grievous wolves will creep in from outside the Church to devour, and men will arise out of your own midst, leading disciples after themselves instead of after the Lord Jesus.’ So the Bible warns in many places about envy, about false leaders, about rebellion, about those who undercut the Work of God and the people that God puts in different positions in the Church. And here in this chapter we have kind of an in-depth look at this character named Korah, the way he moves, the problem he causes, the way God deals with it, and no doubt for us to sit alone and ask ‘What are the lessons you would have me to learn from this?’

Korah Is Jealous Of Moses & Aaron’s Positions, Starts A Rebellion

It says “Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath,” take note of that, “the son of Levi,” so he’s one of the Levites, “and Dathan” and from what I remember in the movie, that’s Edward G. Robinson “and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:” (verses 1-2) So we have this man Korah, rising up against Moses, he is from the tribe of Levi, and not only that, from the Kohathites. And back in chapter 3, verse 30 it tells us about who headed up the Kohathites, and it wasn’t Korah, it was one of the youngest in the family that was the head. [did that make Korah jealous? Good question.] And Korah has the privilege, when the Tabernacle moves and they break down the Tabernacle, it’s the Kohathites who move the Ark of the Covenant and the Menorah and the Table of Incense, the Table of Showbread, the most holy things are borne by the Kohathites. And this man Korah has tremendous privilege. But you know, the interesting thing is, from there you can only see that one step that just seems within reach in your mind, if you’re carnal. It seems a little higher, but it doesn’t seem far away. You know, the common person in the camp of Israel wasn’t thinking ‘I’ll be like Moses and Aaron,’ the common person in the camp of Israel wasn’t thinking ‘I’ll be a Kohathite and carry the Ark of the Covenant.’ It’s somehow, when we get in a position, we work for years, and somehow I think we can get into a routine, and then we become dissatisfied with the place we’re in. And if we look beyond that, we want to be more important, we want to be better, we want to be more recognized, we want more honour, and then somehow God doesn’t bless the position we’re in, we can’t give our whole heart to it the way we should, we can’t even see clearly just the responsibility, and the privilege of serving where the Lord has us to serve, serving where the Lord has us to serve. And Paul talks about with the Body of Christ, that the Holy Spirit gives severally, in the Body of Christ, as it pleases the Lord, and that he puts us into the Body the way that he sees fit. And Paul uses the human body as a picture of that. And look, the most important parts of your human body are not seen, and you should be glad of that. Who wants a lung hanging outside your sweater? Or who wants a kidney hanging out your back pocket? The things that keep you alive are hidden, they’re within the body, but they produce health. I encourage you today, by the way, remember to pray for Mary Barret who often leads worship for us here, she was in surgery today, she has ovarian cancer, and the doctors were positive, they feel like that got it all, but that’s a very aggressive form of cancer, she’s going to have to go through the whole chemo routine. But there’s something inside, huge in regards to life, to humanity and the importance of it, you don’t want it outside. So there are those that are visible. Let me tell you something, for 25 years and watching this grow from 20 people to what’s happened today, there are so many wonderful people here, who serve without being patted on the back, without recognition, they lay their heads down on their pillows at night, and they know the Lord is pleased with them, and they don’t need man to give them accolades. The one’s that cause problems are the one’s that say ‘You know that Rob, he should learn new songs, if I was leading worship, Joe, he wears jeans, if I was pastor, I’d dress nice, more people would come,’ there are those people, ‘You need to do this ministry,’ they invent things, you know. We’ve got a great group of pastors and elders here who are afraid to touch anything unless we really feel the Lord is telling us to do it. Because we’ve watched it go from the beginning and we realize we have very little do with it at all. You know, when there’s a hundred people coming into the church, you think you can do it, and you think you need to do it, you take yourself very seriously. When there’s 13,000 people coming, you know you don’t have anything to do with it at all, you’re lucky you don’t get struck by lightning every week, you just get to come and be part of it. But there are those who see and envy, they have ambition, and they want to make a place for themselves, and that’s always going on. Well Korah here, evidently a point in the natural, a natural leader, he’s able to assemble 250 of the most notable princes in the nation, and convince them that Moses and Aaron are doing something wrong, that they need to confront. And he’s a guy that already has tremendous privilege in regards to moving the most holy things in the Tabernacle. But this is a notable rebellion, God wants it put before us so we learn the lessons that are involved. It says, verse 3, “and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,” now that’s true, “every one of them, and the LORD is among them:” well that’s true, there’s always truth usually in the mouth of a rebel, “wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?” Moses and Aaron were not doing that. Moses, if you read back in Exodus 4:10, the LORD was trying to get him to go, and he said ‘I can’t talk, my speech is terrible,’ and God finally said ‘hey! Who made the mouth, who made the ears, you or me? You know, you got a brother that can talk,’ ‘ya,’ ‘well then you go, I’ll talk to you, you tell him, then he can talk for you, he’ll be your mouth.’ So Moses, he hadn’t butted into this and said ‘Send me, here I am, I can part the ocean, I can do this.’ there wasn’t any of that in Moses. He was reticent, he was respectful, we find him always on his face before the LORD, he wasn’t saying ‘Boy, I want to be in a best-seller, I think Charlton Heston should play me some day,’ there wasn’t any of that on Moses’ part here. So the accusations are false here. But they’re using an amount of truth here, the congregation is holy, that’s true, every one of them, the LORD’s among them that’s true. Where it’s not true here is “wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?” We live in a culture of rebellion. Paul said in the last days, this is what would happen, and men would rebel against order, against parents, be lovers of their own selves, lovers of pleasure, trucebreakers. Imagine, in the home there was to be order, there have to be parents, in the classroom there has to be a teacher, there has to be order, civil servants with police and firemen there has to be order. If that breaks down you have anarchy. And people don’t have the right to step into any of those places and decide they’re going to fulfill a certain role, or they’d be better for something, there is order. When there is a contention between brethren or sisterns, those are not holes in the ground for water, those are girls, when there’s contention, Matthew 18 says you go to your brother alone. You can always tell a Korah, because a Korah never goes to his brother alone. Korah will always get a posse, always get a lynch mob. And he’ll get his 250 guys first, and then he’ll come. Because he really doesn’t care about the Kingdom, he really doesn’t think about it, he doesn’t care about the things of Christ, he really hasn’t got ahold of the fact that the whole thing is blood-bought, and we don’t have a right to touch any of it except by his grace. He really has some sick sense of entitlement, like he deserves something, or something should be his, you know, ‘the LORD’s made a mistake giving you a ministry and not giving it to me.’ And that happens in the church, with ushers, in Sunday school, in home fellowships, it happens everywhere. It happens at work, it happens in the classroom, people get an attitude. Our instruction is, if you have something to settle with a brother, go to him alone, settle it. If he sinned against you, go to him alone. Because it says if you settle it that way, you’ve gained your brother, and the church, the Kingdom is healthier. But a Korah is not concerned about Christ or a Kingdom, their own ego is at stake. And they’re more concerned about their own advancement than they are about the Body of Christ, or the wellbeing of others. So they always get their posse. And that’s what he’s doing here, he’s coming with these 250 and just creating confusion here, it’s just unbelievable what’s going on.

Moses Hears Korah & Goes To The LORD--The LORD Inspires Moses To Propose A Test

Notice, “And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.” (verses 4-5) Now Moses goes right to the LORD, he gives it right over to the LORD here. He just puts the whole thing in the LORD’s court, Moses doesn’t have to fight for territory, he never got it in the first place, he didn’t earn it, didn’t work his way up the corporate ladder to get it, he said the LORD will settle this, he defers to the LORD. Intelligent thing to do. Hard to do sometimes. I know Chuck [Smith], my pastor will always say “Why should I defend myself. The Lord has defended me all these years. He’ll let me defend myself, if I want to, he’ll let me. He just won’t help me if I do it by myself. I’m 81 years old, and he’s defended me all of these years, why should I defend myself now? If I let him do it, he does it without my help. If I insist on doing it myself, he steps back, and he lets me, but he doesn’t help.” [Who was Pastor Chuck? See http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/smith.htm and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vmHFvnjPDw ] And Moses wisely here defers to the LORD. He says “This do; take you censers, Korah, and all his company; and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.” (verses 6-7) Now he gives it back to them, “ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.” Because that’s what they had said to him, ‘You take too much upon you,’ now he gives it back to them. Ah, interesting here, it names Dathan and Abiram from the tribe of Reuben, Korah and the Kohathites pitched their tents right on the south side of the Tabernacle, and Reuben was one of the tribes that pitched right there on the south side also, so they were cronies, they kind of hung around and they socialized. And that was what so often this goes on, and they drew these guys into this rebellion with them. “And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9 seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?” (verses 8-9) ‘You know, don’t you understand the place of privilege that you already stand in? How can you be envious?’ Look, if our common portion is Christ, what’s the greatest thing, you and I, have in all of this? Isn’t it him? Our common portion is Jesus Christ. Men, that when we sit alone with him, and can raise our head and say ‘Father’ to heaven, and if we listen, he’ll say ‘son.’ Is there anything greater than that in service, in position, in exposure? If our common portion we all share is Christ, and we all share the greatest, gals to hear him say ‘Sweetheart’ or ‘daughter.’ What greater thing is that? Look, Jesus is coming soon. And when we get to heaven [into the Kingdom of heaven, which Jesus brings back with him at his 2^nd coming], there’s no pastors there, worship leaders will still have a job, I’ll have to find something new to do, and nobody will envy my job, then I’ll be unemployed. [He’ll have plenty to do, maybe preaching again, in the Millennial Kingdom of God which will be on earth, ruled over by Jesus and all us resurrected saints. Again, his concepts of heaven and reward are a bit screwed up.] Will get to be a worship leader again, I’ll enjoy that. All of this will seem so, this will be the illusion as we look back, when we stand in reality. We get so caught up now. Moses says ‘Does it seem like a small thing to you, you’re of the tribe of Kohath, you walk closer to him than anyone, you bare the Ark of the Covenant where the very presence of God dwells between the cherubim, does that seem insignificant? Aren’t you satisfied, you actually want more? What is it with you guys?’ Moses is challenging them. “And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?” (verse 10) Now Moses knows what they’re up to. ‘You also want to be priests also?’ That belongs to Aaron, you know it says in Hebrews chapter 5 that no one takes this office to himself, that it’s given of the LORD, and it says even the priests had to offer sacrifice for their own sins, before they could offer for the people. So, Billy Graham said “We’re never more like the devil than when we want to touch the glory.” You know, Isaiah 14, ‘I’ll be like the Most High, I’ll sit on the side of the congregation of the north, the stars of heaven will come and worship me,’ you hear the seven “I wills” of Satan there. It’s the first time, he’s the first Korah is what he is. He’s the first government rising itself against the single Government that existed, which is the Government of God. It is the first competition, it is the first thing. And we’re told clearly, he was lifted up in pride. And Moses is saying, certainly there’s a malevolent force that gets ahold of our hearts, that there’s warfare, we can get convinced, ‘Hey, I’m not being noticed, hey, I have this tremendous gift, nobody sees it, nobody’s taking advantage of it, I’m just gonna sit here and be a lump on this log until Jesus comes.’ That’s not true, God’s calling and gifts are without repentance, and when gifts are genuine they make room for themselves. And there is God’s timing, and there is God’s design. I’ve seen it, and seen it, and seen it, and seen it. Here he says ‘You seek the priesthood also?’ “For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?” (verse 11) Aaron? You know, he said ‘You’re not gathered against Aaron, remember Aaron’s the Golden Calf builder, he’s a knucklehead like everybody else, remember, I went up to get the two tablets, I came down and he told this cockamamy story ‘I threw the golden bracelets and the golden earrings in and this calf jumped out, I’m just as shocked as anybody else.’ And Moses said ‘Don’t even tell me.’ In chapter 12, a couple chapters before this, Aaron and Miriam rebelled against Moses, Miriam was struck with leprosy. So he’s saying ‘Why are you picking on Aaron, what does he have to do with this, this is the LORD’s choice, if I was the LORD I wouldn’t have picked Aaron,’ Moses’ is saying. ‘But this is the LORD’s choice, you’re not rebelling against Aaron, you’re rebelling against the LORD. What is Aaron?’ Isn’t it interesting, he’s sticking up for his brother, who had rebelled against him? You’d think Moses might have turned around and said ‘Well, how does it feel? You’ve sown to the wind, you’ve reaped the whirlwind. God obviously wants you to learn this lesson.’ There’s none of that here.

The LORD Brings His Judgment Down On The Rebellion Of Korah, Dathan & Abiram

“And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab:” and it doesn’t mention On now, maybe he’s wised up and stepped aside of this already, “which said, We will not come up:” (verse 12) Moses said ‘Alright, go get Dathan and Abiram, they need to come up here with Korah and hear this,’ and they sent word back ‘We ain’t coming.’ Just imagine now the defiance, the rebellion. This is what they say, “Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of the land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?” (verse 13) Listen to what they’re saying, they’re saying that Egypt is the land that flows with milk and honey. He’s saying to Moses, ‘Is it a small thing that you brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in this wilderness,’ “except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?” Well the reason they’re not entering into the land is because they turned away at Kadesh-barnea, not Moses, he wanted them to go in. This is blasphemous, what they’re saying ‘Egypt is the land that flows with milk and honey, and you brought us into this wilderness to kill us.’ “Moreover that hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.” (verse 14) “And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” (verse 15) that’s kind, I’m sure, Moses blew steam out of his ears at this point. And you know, this is the meekest man that ever lived, he just wrote that about himself two chapters before this. So when he gets this mad, it’s like ‘It’s all I can stand, I can stands no more,’ his pipe spins around in his mouth, he gets out his can of spinach, this is it here. “And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” (verse 15) ‘I haven’t taken anything from them, I haven’t hurt them at all,’ “And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:” (verse 16) So Moses calls them out, he’s had it, he’s calling them out, ‘Let’s step outside.’ “and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.” (verse 17) because it’s a priestly function, he knows what they want to do, he says ‘Let’s meet tomorrow.’ “And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.” (verse 18) So you can imagine the next day, here comes Korah who had 250 of these guys, all burning incense, it must have been hard to breath, all of this smoke going up, they all come to the door of the congregation. “And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. (verse 19) The majority is not always right, please take note of that. The majority is not always right, “and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.” So Moses, Aaron and God are the majority that are right now. When the glory of the LORD appears, all of a sudden your numbers seem to fall away very quickly. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” (verses 20-21) This is a simple form of church discipline here. God just says ‘You guys step outside, I’ll burn up the whole thing here.’ “And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?” (verse 22) now the LORD knew that that was going to happen, so the LORD is still making the man, Moses, and he’s still making a disciple named Joshua, who is the one things are going to be handed to. God is not surprised thinking ‘I’m glad Moses is here to calm me down, or I’d have burned everybody up.’ He knew this was going to happen, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces and say ‘LORD, don’t destroy the whole congregation for this one man’s sin.’ “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” (verses 23-24) Now by the way, that’s always good practical advice. If you get yourself involved with a complainer, a grumbler, a whiner, you know it says if you put out the person that causes contention, contention ceases, you put out the grumbler, you get rid of that person, and everything settles back down again. And all of us, I included, we can easily get involved, and get in this little grumbling group, and we can have some self-righteousness, and can be correct in some of the things we’re saying. That’s not the question. The question is, what is the Lord doing, what has the Lord done, and what will the Lord do, and above all, what does his Word say? And just good advice is, if you get caught up in one of those, and we all can, separate yourself from it. Just get away from it, so when the fire falls out of heaven you’re not standing close. Just step away from it. Have the courage to say ‘This isn’t right, I’ve developed a critical spirit, I’m not going to be part of this, we need to pray for those people instead of criticizing.’ Sometimes it’s wise just to step away, I think it’s good counsel. Because sometimes people, again, I’ll have people come here and say ‘There’s a lot of people that aren’t happy here.’ I’ll say, ‘Ya, ya, I’m the pastor.’ and they’ll say ‘you know, there’s a lot of needs here,’ and I’ll say ‘Ya, I know that, I’m the pastor,’ ‘and there’s so many needs,’ and I’ll say ‘I know, because I’m the pastor, it’s like the Lord says, he went to invite the people that had the piece of land, team of oxen, they had all of these excuses, I’m going to go buy my land, get married, so the Lord said ‘Forget those guys, go out into the highways and byways and gather in the halt, and the lame and the troubled,’ and here we are, and of course there’s needs, I know that, that’s easy, it’s a wonderful club to join, because there’s not a lot of work that has to go into your resume’, I’m a sinner, you’re welcome. So, and ‘There’s a bunch of people,’ it’s always four or five, I’ve been doing this a long time. And then they’ll say ‘There’s 50 people that aren’t happy,’ and I’ll say ‘No, there’s 200 at least, you don’t know nothing, it proves you don’t know nothing, 50 people, I wish it was 50 people,’ and they don’t know what to say to me, so. It’s not you guys on Wednesday night obviously. We get letters all the time, ‘Not happy with the songs, not happy you got a drummer, not happy with the way you dress, not happy you don’t speak in tongues, you’re grieving the Spirit,’ everybody looking at the same thing sees it completely different, so we just pray and move on. Just get up and separate yourself from them. “And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side:” You can just see the whole congregation just kind of fading away from the tents of these guys. And then it says, “and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.” (verses 25-27) Their sons seems to indicate grown sons, and little children. “And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own.” (verse 28) ‘I didn’t ask for this job, I was drafted,’ he says ‘Let’s have a little test here, let’s do it this way, we have 250 of you guys against me and Aaron, so let’s do this,’ “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.” (verse 29) ‘All of you guys are here with your censers, 250 of you guys, let’s stand here for awhile, and if we stand here for thirty years and we all die of old age, then we know the LORD hasn’t called Aaron and I, but let’s try this,’ “But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.” (verse 30) ‘Let’s try a simple test, we’ll all stand here, 250 guys with your censers, me and Aaron will stand over here, and if the ground opens up and swallows up Korah, Dathan and Abiram alive and they go down into the pit alive, then you know God’s chosen us. If we stand here forever and we all die of old age, then you know the LORD hasn’t. That’s a new thing, why don’t we try that.’ If I’m these guys, I got a bad feeling as this day’s going forward. God is just not happy with Korah, Dathan and Abiram “And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them:” that must have been Wooosh! when it closed up again, I just can’t imagine what that was like, opening and closing “and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.” (verses 31-34) That’s really dumb, you’d need a hot air balloon to get away from this one, you can’t just run, the earth can swallow you up wherever you go, ‘Let’s run so the earth,’ like the earth’s mouth is over there, I didn’t even know the earth had a mouth until this day. So Moses no sooner finishes saying it, the earth just opens up, and these guys, it says they fall down into the pit, into Sheol, alive, and it says the congregation hears the cry of them, so they heard ‘Aaaaaaaah aaaaaaah aaaaaaah, aaaaaah,’ they never heard ‘Thump!’ they just heard them falling, and then the whole ground closes up again, and everybody heads for the hills, everybody heads for the hills. “and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came out fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” (verses 34b-35) So the 250 guys must have a really bad feeling as Korah, Dathan and Abiram disappear into the ground, and they’re just standing there, then all of a sudden, like Nadab and Abihu, fire comes forth from the presence of the LORD and consumes them. How sad that sometimes, it says “all that pertained to them,” sometimes when there’s bitterness and envy and strife, we’re warned in the New Testament not to let a root bitterness take hold, because many become defiled by it. And we see so many times, people swallowed up and consumed by their own bitterness, and the sad thing is, sometimes it infects members of their family, it infects other people that are willing to listen. You know, because we can always find a little group of people, you can find two or three or four or five discontent people, and if you beat your drum long enough, you can always find them, and how sad to see other people infected with that sometimes. So this lesson that God puts in front of us in regards to this, not in rebellion against Moses and Aaron, but against the LORD, they were in a position that God had appointed them, not a position they asked for, not a position they were worthy of, not a position they could ever deserve, it was a position of grace. Moses is not going to get to go into the Promised Land because he’s going to lose his temper, the meekest man that ever lived. Aaron’s already made some major bungles in his life. They’re not in those positions because they’re qualified, they’re in those positions because God has called them, and enabled them, and placed them in those positions, and it was God’s decision, it was not theirs. Now, the 250 perish also in this firestorm.

The 250 Brass Censers Hammered Out Into Shiny Brass Plates & Put Onto The Sides Of The Altar--As A Reminder

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.” (verses 36-37) So it seems like the bodies are completely consumed, what’s left is these brazen incense burners. The one that belongs to the priesthood was golden, and we hear about that in several places, Aaron and his sons, the Table of Incense, inside the Holy Place was overlaid with gold, and whatever censers they had were made of pure gold. Now these censers made of brass, we’re going to find out, they scatter the ashes, it seems like everything is gone, but gather up the censers, because they’re hallowed, the LORD said ‘OK, let them come, let them bring them before me,’ once that happened they were holy. “The censers of these sinners against their own souls,” and notice, that’s who they had sinned against, not Moses and Aaron, they had sinned against their own souls, “let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:” (verses 38-39) Now the picture is, they were beaten until they were smooth, evidently they had the capacity to reflect. And somehow these censers were taken and hung, it would seem, in something that would look like a coat of shiny brass around the brass altar, that when people walked up to offer, they could see their reflection, and it was always to be a reminder, look at yourself, you’re a sinner, coming here with a lamb to offer, you are a sinner saved by grace. Look at the priest, he’s not examining you, he’s examining the lamb. Just in the act of bringing the lamb you’re admitting that you are imperfect, and the priest is looking to see that the lamb is without spot and blemish. And nobody could approach that altar it would seem after this, without seeing their own reflection, and being reminded of who they were as they came to offer a blood sacrifice, substitutionary atonement. And he says here, it is “to be a memorial unto the children of Israel,” the reason? “that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.” (verse 40) So it wasn’t enough to have Levite genes, you had to be of the specific, you can laugh, it’s a funny joke, you had to be of Aaron’s specific lineage, separate from the tribe of Levi, it had to the line of Aaron. And it’s a reminder that no one was to come. Now interesting, we’re told in chapter 26, you don’t have to turn there, it says “And the sons of Eliab, Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign. Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.” (verses 9-11) So we have here all that appertained to them, it says the sons, grown sons, evidently there were members of the family who entered into the rebellion and perished with Korah, Dathan and Abiram. But evidently there were sons who stood back and said, and look, this is hard for any of us, in their own house, they said ‘This is not right, this is not right,’ and they stepped back. And the beautiful thing about that, is when we get to the Book of Psalms, Psalm 42 to 49, are for the sons of Korah, beautiful Psalms, ‘As the deer panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O LORD.’ Psalms 84, 85, 87 and 88 written “for the sons of Korah” [see https://unityinchrist.com/Psalms/Psalm84-1-12.html ]. Psalm 84 says this, and you’re all familiar with it, and it’s beautiful in light of what we’re looking at here, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” What a song for the sons of Korah, I’ve learned just what a beautiful thing it is just to be a doorkeeper in the house of God, to serve. And here you have a wonderful picture of bitter, envious, parents, grandparents, whatever, not God-fearing, rebellious. And yet in the same family God is able to get ahold of the heart of a son or a daughter or a grandson, and it says “Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.” And then we find a whole series of the Psalms specifically for the sons of Korah who still ministered in the days of David, in the precincts then of the Temple, the Tabernacle and Temple, what a wonderful thing. So God is so gracious. But what a difficult lesson.

The Whole Congregation Murmured Against Moses & Aaron--They Just Don’t Get It

Now look at verse 41, this is discouraging, it doesn’t say two years later, it doesn’t say a month later, it says “But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.” Moses has got Excedrin headache # 154. Now look, there’s no, they didn’t email each other, they didn’t call each other on cell phones, and you know the way if you sit in a circle and you tell somebody something and it gets passed around a circle, how different it is by the time it comes around. Well you can imagine what the story was like by the time it get through the camp of 700 square miles, 2 to 3 million people, you can imagine the next day, ‘They did what!? and they told 250, and got burnt up, and then they dug a hole and they fall down, and they buried them alive and said it was the LORD,’ you can imagine by the next day, so they come and they accuse Moses and Aaron, they come and say ‘You killed the people of the LORD? What do you think you guys are doing?’ “And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.” (verse 42) Now if they had been there the day before, they would have known, this is not a good thing. “And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.” and you know what happened, “And they fell upon their faces.” (verses 43-45) Moses and Aaron ended up being the two old men with flat noses by the time this journey is over. “And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar,” that is where the fire should come from, “and put on incense,” that was the priestly incense and a priestly censer, “and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran” he’s a 100 years old, this is a big camp, I’m not sure with wrath and fire going forth from the LORD if I’m waiting for a 100-year-old guy to come running along, he’s running, just imagine what a scene this is, here comes Aaron running. And probably a wonderful picture of intercession, “and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense,” and we know from Revelation chapter 5, verse 8, a picture of the prayers of God’s people, “and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.” (verses 46-48) it’s a picture of Christ, our High Priest, he runs, he ever liveth and maketh intercession for us the New Testament says it, and he stands between the living and the dead, isn’t that who Jesus Christ is in all of our lives, what an interesting picture of prayer, of intercession. Interesting, one of the churches in Germany, they have teams of intercessors, each pastor on staff, I’m just telling you this in case you get inspired, each pastor on staff has two intercessors that pray for that pastor. And people come forward and say “I’m an intercessor,” each pastor has a team of intercessors, two intercessors assigned to each pastor, and then once a month all of the intercessors get together and just talk about their prayers and what’s going on in the church, and how they can pray, and then they split up again for a month, and the two communicate on a daily basis. So, if you’re ever inspired, our pastors love to be prayed for. You can tell Jerry, he’ll organize the whole thing. Ok, he’s not here tonight, just call church tomorrow and say ‘The whole church was talking about you last night, they told us to call,’ teach him not to be here. [laughter] “And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.” (verses 48-49) the fruit of the rebellion of Korah, 14,700, besides them that died about the matter of Korah, directly. “And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.” (verse 50) he must have come hobbling back after running all the way out there. The end of a long day, these two old guys, Moses in his 90s, Aaron at least a 100 years old, standing at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, at the end of the day they must be thinking ‘What a crazy day this was.’ And those days come. Look, I would say this, if you are a person who is competitive, you know that can be a good thing, if it’s, ask God to hone that and refine that. Are you a jealous person? jealousy is as cruel as the grave when in the wrong environment. I think there’s a lot of people that need to be jealous for the Lord, and I wish the Church in America was jealous for his Word. Because we’re surrendering all kinds of holy things. We need to be jealous for the Lord, we need to be jealous for his Word. You know, anger has its place, there is a time when anger is the only proper, moral response. We just use it foolishly and stupidly and selfishly. But if you’re given to envy, if you’re given to bitterness, if you’re given to ambition--the way in the Body of Christ for gifts to be used is, when a baby is born, when a church is born, the body begins to grow, and as time goes on, everything involved specializes, becomes stronger, muscles develop, lots of wonderful things go on, but if you go back to the Book of Acts, you go back to the New Testament, the Church is the pillar and ground of Truth in a community. The local body of believers is the primary and best place for gifts to be cultivated that are God-given. You know, if it’s not a gift of the Spirit, it’ll only cause disruption, it can’t be natural ability, it never produces anything. But if you have spiritual gifts, plug in, serve, that’s what they’re there for, to serve. You know, the kidney is happy serving, I wouldn’t want its job. Your foot, you keep it in a sneaker all day, the poor thing. But they say the foot has the capacity to at least endure 32,000 miles in a lifetime, at least three times around the globe. It’s over-engineered. All of us are over-engineered. In regards to the Body of Christ, if our strength is from him, and our equipping is from him, and our enabling is from him, we shouldn’t get tired, we shouldn’t get worn out, we have plenty of time to grow and to learn and to find our place and to plug in and to serve. Isn’t it a funny thing, we never hear ‘I just want to be a security guy, I really want to get out there on a really cold night, I just want to stand out there and freeze for everybody, you know, I hate to have ambition,’ or ‘I just want to get in the nursery and change poopy diapers, I just got to serve,’ but no, what you hear is ‘I want to get on the stage and lead worship,’ and somehow the public positions are somehow more attractive because of our ego and our fallen nature. Let me tell you something, the Body builds itself up in love, we get to see the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful things that go on around here, week in, week out, by people who never get noticed by anybody but the Lord, but their rewards are going to be the greatest rewards in heaven, I guarantee you. They’re going to be the greatest rewards in heaven. God has called us to be faithful, not to be noticed, to be faithful. And he’s gifted all of us, and everybody should have their hand to the plow in one way or another. And it’s just so much fun, let me tell you, the most adventurist part of this, even for me still, it to hear the Lord say ‘Go talk to that person,’ and I say ‘That’s not you, Lord.’ ‘What is it, is your flesh of the devil?’ I’ll say ‘Alright Lord, it’s you Lord.’ And then you go talk to that person, and something really cool happens, and by the time the end of the day comes, you go ‘Lord, that was really cool, we did good,’ and he says ‘No, I did good, you just cooperated, finally.’ But that’s the adventure of it all, that’s the adventure of it all, that the Living God would speak to us, that he would allow us to do something, in our misperceptions, the smallest thing for him, that would touch another life, and that we might then see the fruit of that. I encourage you, plug in, plug in, there is plenty to do. Ah, let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s have the musicians come, we’ll sing a last song, together…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Numbers 15:37-41 and Numbers 16:1-50, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]