Numbers 16: Perished in the Rebellion of Korah
1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; 2 and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. 3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
We all have our place in the body of Christ. And those who usurp others, even the priesthood, are in danger of hellfire. Be diligent to make your calling and election sure. Jude spoke of some folks in his day who had likewise "perished in the rebellion of Korah," (Jude 1:11)-- God calling that which was not yet as though it were. "The rebellion is attributed to Korah [by Jude], inasmuch as he was the religious leader in it. He seems to have possessed sufficient influence to gather around him a large number of influential men 'princes, famous men, and men of renown.'" (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch) "These men intended to overthrow the constitution that God had handed down for Israel and to replace it with one that seemed better to them. They based their action on the truth that the whole congregation was holy (Exodus 19:5-6). They inferred from this that all Israelites therefore had the right to serve in the priesthood. They failed to appreciate the fact that God had chosen the Levites for special priestly service because the nation as a whole had apostatized at Sinai (Exodus 32). They also failed to see that divine election to priestly service, which had been the privilege of the entire nation, did not in itself constitute qualification for priestly service." (Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable)
4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; 5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him. 6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; 7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
Moses fell on his face, helpless again... But then he sprung into action. "The test involved offering incense because this was the most holy responsibility of the priests that brought them closest to God.” (Constable) “Take your censers, Korah, and all his company, that is, since you aspire to the priesthood, then go, perform the highest function of the office - that of offering incense; and if you are accepted well. How magnanimous the conduct of Moses, who was now as willing that God‘s people should be priests, as formerly that they should be prophets (Numbers 11:29). But he warned them that they were making a perilous experiment.” (Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown)
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; 10 and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you complain against him? 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us? 14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!” 15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.” 16 And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron. 17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22 Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”
“Curiosity to witness the exciting spectacle attracted a vast concourse of the people, and it would seem that the popular mind had been incited to evil by the clamors of the mutineers against Moses and Aaron. There was something in their behavior very offensive to God; for after His glory had appeared--as at the installation of Aaron (Le 9:23), so now for his confirmation in the sacred office--He bade Moses and Aaron withdraw from the assembly ‘that He might consume them in a moment.’” (Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown)
23 So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” 27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children. 28 And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”
Moses does not speak on their behalf. "Moses, in these words, makes it a question simply between Jehovah and the rebels.” (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch)-- as, "May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you." (1 Samuel 24:12)
31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!” 35 And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.
They went into the ground alive but were devoured in the strange, judgment fire of God. “Truly, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ ‘God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints; and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about Him.’ ‘Our God is a consuming fire.’ How much better it would have been for Korah had he rested content with his Levite service which was of the very highest order. His work as a Kohathite was to carry some of the most precious vessels of the sanctuary but he aimed at the priesthood, and fell into the pit. (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch)
36 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 37 “Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to pick up the censers out of the blaze, for they are holy, and scatter the fire some distance away. 38 The censers of these men who sinned against their own souls, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar. Because they presented them before the Lord, therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar, 40 to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.
The censers are made into a covering for the altar- a memorial; they "are hallowed - קדשו kadeshu, are consecrated, i. e., to the service of God though in this instance improperly employed..." (Clarke), as a reminder to the "children of Israel of this event, that others might hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously. They brought destruction on themselves both in body and soul. Thus all who break the law and neglect the gospel choose and love death." (Henry)
Numbers 16: Morning Repost: The Typical High Priest In Action
41 On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 42 Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting.
44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
And they fell on their faces.
46 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.” 47 Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. 50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.
“It is very likely that the people persuaded themselves that Moses and Aaron had used some cunning in this else, had they discerned the hand of God in this punishment, could they have dared the anger of the Lord in the very face of justice?” (Adam Clarke) “The whole congregation is again threatened with immediate destruction. All seems hopeless. The divine long-suffering seems at an end, and the sword of judgement is about to fall on the whole assembly. But now it appears that in that very priesthood which the rebels had despised lies the only hope for the people; and that the very men whom they had charged with killing the Lord's people, were God's instruments in saving their lives." (C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch)
It was Yahweh, not Moses, who consumed the people. And, here, it is Aaron— the high priest, not Moses, who interceded for the people. God Word alone can bring His people through the wilderness, even His Word made flesh who dwelt among us. "There that priesthood is needed which Core had despised; but it is by priesthood alone that man can get through the wilderness with God… Moses, in replying to Core, declares that God will shew whom He had chosen for this end; and this He soon does in fact.” (John Darby’s Synopsis)
“Surely Yahweh GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) “God now punished them by a secret blast, so as to put the matter beyond all dispute; His hand, and His alone, was seen, not only in the plague, but in the manner in which the mortality was arrested. It was necessary that this should be done in this way, that the whole congregation might see that those men who had perished were not the people of the Lord; and that God, not Moses and Aaron, had destroyed them.” (Adam Clarke Commentary) After hearing of God’s judgment, Moses and Aaron, again, “fell on their faces, humbly to intercede with God for mercy, knowing how great the provocation was.” (Matthew Henry)
After God spoke to Moses, His prophet, and told him of the universal punishment, Moses directed Aaron (the high priest) on the proper usage of the censer: "Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar (for it was not lawful to take any other fire, but of the altar of burnt offering, (Leviticus 10:1), and put on incense [representing your prayers], 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 did as Moses commanded… he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. God drew back his hand and stopped punishing them.” (The Geneva Study Bible)
“Since incense symbolizes prayer in Scripture (cf. Exodus 30:8; Psalm 141:2; Luke 1:10; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4), Aaron apparently moved among the people interceding for them. The plague ( Numbers 16:46) was obviously a divine judgment involving sudden death, but more than this Moses did not reveal. A total of 14 ,700 people died ( Numbers 16:49).” (Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable) “When the plague was smiting the hosts of Israel, Aaron the high priest, put incense on the censer and ran among the people, ‘and the plague was stayed’ (Numbers 16:46-48). The sacred incense was burned only on the golden altar and in the censers of the priests. The other Levites were not allowed to burn it (Numbers 16:3, 35). The priests who performed the work which typified Christ's work in a special sense, were the only ones who could burn incense before the Lord. The horns of the golden altar were often touched with the blood of the sin offering [from the brazen altar of sacrifice], thus typifying that it was Christ's death that made it possible for our prayers to be answered and for us to be clothed in His righteousness. As the fragrance of the incense was not confined to the sanctuary, but was carried in the air to the surrounding neighborhood; so in like manner, when one is clothed with Christ's righteousness, an influence will go out from him which those that come in contact with him will recognize by its fragrance as of heavenly origin.” http://amazingdiscoveries.org/the-altar-of-incense
“If Aaron the high priest, with his censer and incense, could disarm the wrath of an insulted, angry Deity, so that a guilty people, who deserved nothing but destruction, should be spared; how much more effectual may we expect the great atonement to be which was made by the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was only the type! The sacrifices of living animals pointed out the death of Christ on the cross; the incense, his intercession. Through his death salvation is purchased for the world; by his intercession the offending children of men are spared. Hence St. Paul, Romans 5:10, says: If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved Through His Life, i. e., by the prevalence of his continual intercession. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: ‘And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.’ By the awful transactions recorded in this chapter, we may see how jealous God is of the sole right of appointing the way and means of salvation. Had any priesthood, and any kind of service, no matter how solemn and sincere, been equally available in the sight of Divine justice and mercy, God would not have resented in so awful a manner the attempts of Korah and his company in their new service. The way of God's own appointment, the agony and death of Christ, is the only way in which souls can be saved. His is the priesthood, and his is the only available sacrifice. All other modes and schemes of salvation are the inventions of men or devils, and will in the end prove ruinous to all those who trust in them. Reader, forget not the Lord who bought thee.” (Adam Clarke)