Book Of Numbers Chapter 16-The Rebellion Of Korah

In Numbers 16 we have a group of Levites led by Korah and other leaders (non Levites) are going to come against Moses. Not the first time, but probably the most difficult for him. They’re going to question his authority to lead and Aaron’s authority to be the Priest.

I was curious, so I flipped back through the pages and tried to find something nice that was spoken about Moses from the assembly, and I found none. No record of any compliment given to Moses by these people, only complaints.

Exodus 19:8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

Numbers 16:1-3 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent ² and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. ³ They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

(Insight) Numbers 4:15 “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:17-20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ “See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. ¹⁹ So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. ²⁰ But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”

Korah, the instigator of this conspiracy/rebellion against Moses, was a grandson of Kohath. But Kohath wasn’t just the grandfather of Korah, he was also the grandfather of Moses. So, the man leading the conspiracy/rebellion against Moses was his first cousin Korah.

Numbers 16:4-11 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown (22&45). ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. ⁶ You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers ⁷ and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!” ⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹ Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. ¹¹ It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

God used the censers with fire and incense in this test for a good reason. A censer is a metal pot used to burn incense, and they were used in the priestly worship of God. Since Korah and his companions questioned Moses and Aaron’s right to lead the nation and conduct the priesthood, each group would come to the Lord as worshipping priests — and God would show which group He accepted.

Humanly speaking, the odds were not good. It was Moses and Aaron standing alone against all the congregation. Yet God would make this choice, and His choice has nothing to do with popular opinion.

Numbers 16:12-15 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! (defiant) ¹³ Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! ¹⁴ Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!” ¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

Sometimes people are offended that a man like Moses was angry with men like Dathan and Abiram. They think a gentle, easy love is the proper response. Such thinking is understandable but wrong. Shepherds are gentle with wayward sheep who might injure themselves, but they are passionate against wolves who would injure the flock.

Numbers 16:16-24 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” ¹⁸ So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. ²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” ²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?” ²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.”

Numbers 16:25-35 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.             ²⁸ Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: ²⁹ If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”

³¹ As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. ³⁴ At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!” ³⁵ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.  (26:11 remnant)

Numbers 16:36-40 The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy— ³⁸ the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”³⁹ So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, ⁴⁰ as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the Lord, or he would become like Korah and his followers. God stamped His approval of Moses, beyond a shadow of doubt.

Now you would think that everyone got in line after seeing what the lord had done right? Numbers 16:41-50 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said. ⁴² But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown. ⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.  There is no end to man’s criticisms and accusations. Man’s eyes can be so blinded and ears so deaf to God’s will that they see nothing else except their self-will.

EXPECT OPPOSITIONS BUT STAYED FOCUSED on God and what He has called us to do. • Even if you are as innocent/humble as Moses, or as perfect as Jesus, you will have people coming against you.

LISTEN TO WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY, NOT MAN  (Popular opinion)

Under Grace, the New Covenant, this priesthood no longer exists. That whole system under the law was FULFILLED by Jesus Christ who has become our great High Priest.

Jesus paid the penalty for our sins with His sacrifice on the cross, He was buried and on the third day, He rose from the grave. Today Jesus has re-entered heaven for us and has opened the door for all of us to have free access to God through Him.

God’s ear is open to your prayer just as readily as He is to my prayer. I have no more access to God than you. I have no privileges that you do not have. We are all one together in Jesus Christ; equally privileged, with equal opportunities for each of us to come before God at any time.

When that thick temple veil that covered the doorway to the Holy of Holies was torn in two by God at the time of Jesus’s death, God was saying that the Old Testament priesthood was no longer necessary. Now we can come directly to God through the great High Priest, Jesus Christ: Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

No earthly mediators exist between God and man as existed in the Old Testament priesthood: 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

1 Peter 2:4-5 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.