Bible Talks

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 4min
Numbers 16:1-351Now 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: 2And 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: 3And 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? 4And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the Lord will show 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. 6This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7And 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. 8And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9Seemeth 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? 10And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? 12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 13Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14Moreover thou 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. 15And 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. 16And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17And 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. 18And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19And 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. 20And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22And 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? 23And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 24Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26And 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. 27So 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. 28And 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 mind. 29If 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. 30But 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. 31And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33They, 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. 34And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. 35And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. (Numbers 16:1‑35)
We now come to a very sad scene in Israel’s history. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with a company of the chief men of Israel, began to speak against Moses and Aaron. Korah, their leader, was of the tribe of Levi, and he told Moses and Aaron that they took too much upon themselves, and that they had lifted themselves up before the people. This was a serious charge. It was really not against Moses, but against the Lord, who had given Moses and Aaron their position. The people had failed utterly, and would have all perished long bore this, if it had not been for the iercession of Moses, and yet they spoke against him. Moses’ and Aaron’s posion here is typical of Christ, our Great High Priest, who has now entered into heaven by His own blood, “having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12). To set Him aside, is to set aside the ground of all blessing—it is apostacy, and will bring down the judgment of God upon Christendom, just as this rebellion brought down the judgment of God upon Korah and his company. They said to Moses and Aaron, “Ye take too much upon yourselves ... .wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?” Moses replied, “Ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi,” and surely it was so! Moses spoke very solemnly to Korah, but they were filled with pride and rebellion, and refused to hearken, especially Dathan and. Abiram from the tribe of Reuben, who had joined with Korah in his wicked course. How often it is so, that when one in the wrong, influences others, they become worse than the leader himself in their rebellion.
Moses told them all to take their censers, and that the Lord would make manifest who had authority from Him, and who did not. There is one thing here that we notice with sorrow, for it marks the turning point in the life of Moses with the people. He did not no act in that meekness whinn he had shown when Miriam and Aaron rose up, but was angry, and called upon God not to respect the offering of the rebels. It was true that they deserved the judgment which fell, for it was only the grace and goodness of God through the priesthood (which they had despised) that could carry the people through the wilderness. This grace, Moses, in measure at least, failed to apprehend, or at least it was the beginning, which led later on to his calling the people “rebels,” and smiting the rock at Meribah. There could be no blessing for the people on the ground of their own responsibility, for they had failed completely, but only through the grace of God maintained toward them by the priesthood.
Nevertheless the instance gives a solemn warning to those who rebel against God’s authority. God was about to destroy the whole congregation, but Moses and Aaron interceded for those who had not joined in the rebellion, so the Lord told the others to separate from Korah and his company. Those who did, escaped the solemn judgment which fell upon the rebels, for the earth opened and swallowed them up with their children, their houses, and ail their belongings. They went down alive into the pit, and their cries were so terrible, that those who were near fled away. Oh, dear young reader, if you are unsaved and could hear the cries of the lost right now, you would surely “flee from the wrath to come.” You would not delay one moment longer. Why not turn to Christ as your Saviour today, before it is forever too late?
ML 10/28/1951