LESSON 2: Punishment to the Rebels of Mosaic Priesthood (Numbers 16)

Priesthood was not tied to any specific tribe until Moses was given the Law. Prior to that the firstborns of each family acted as priests and offered their own sacrifices. After Moses received the Ten Commandments, the tribe of Levi was chosen for the priesthood. Aaron was made high priest and his sons — Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar became under-priests.

Opposing Moses and Aaron:

The children of Israel are still in their wilderness wandering. Korah is a Levite. The Levites are assistants to the priests in the tabernacle, the tent used for worship.

Korah is jealous of Aaron, who is the high priest over Israel. Since Korah is a relative of Moses and Aaron, he concludes that there is no reason why he should not serve as the high priest. He recruits Dathan, Abiram and On to his conspiracy. He also persuades 250 leaders of Israel to join them in opposing Moses and Aaron.

They allege that Moses and Aaron had set themselves up as the leaders of the Israelites. They blame Moses for their wandering. They accuse Moses of deliberately exposing the people to a slow death in the desert. They insist that Moses is a tyrant who made them do their bidding while he is living a life of ease. They sneeringly imply that Moses has not kept his promises about the Promised Land.

Although this rebellion is openly directed at Moses as their national leader and Aaron and their high priest and mediator, this is really a clear rebellion against the Lord!

God told Moses to order them to come with their censors along with Moses and Aaron who also should take their censors. God wanted to reveal who had the authority to use censors. 250 rebels carried censors along with Moses and Aaron the next morning and they stood in front of the Tabernacle. The glory of God appeared before the entire people.

Bringing Others Down:

The glory-cloud of the Lord appears among the entire assembly. The Lord orders Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from this assembly so that He can put an end to the rebels. The whole nation is guilty of grumbling against God, so God is going to end the whole nation’s insolence at once.

Moses and Aaron serve as mediators, falling face down and crying out, “O God, … will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins”. They plead this, even though the whole nation was guilty of rebellion. Out of his grace, God relents and does not bring judgment on the entire nation.

The Lord does bring judgment on the grumblers, though!

The Lord commands Moses, “Tell the assembly, ‘Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’! The leaders of the rebellion do not move, challenging God to punish their rebellion.

Moses tells the people, “If these men die a death like everyone else and if they suffer the same fate that everyone does, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something unheard of and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.” (Numbers 16:29,30)

God’s Wrath:

God’s wrath turned towards those who rebelled against the priesthood of Moses and Aaron.

The ground beneath the rebels split open. “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up everyone who was with Korah along with their households and all their possessions. So they and everything that belonged to them went down alive into the grave. The earth closed up over them, and they disappeared from the midst of the assembly” (Numbers 16:32-33). They are literally wiped off the face of the earth … by the earth.

The remaining 250 leaders of Israel who had joined in the rebellion, were at the entrance to the tabernacle when fire went out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense. (Numbers 16:35)

The very next day, the Israelite community grumbles against Moses and Aaron, “You have killed the Lord’s people”! So God sends a plague that kills 14,700 people. He puts an end to their grumbling! (Numbers 16:48)

It reveals that God will punish those who compete against the priesthood. Priesthood is a divine call. No one has the right to stand against this divine call.

What can we learn from Korah and his rebellion?

Grumbling. We all do it. Students grumble when their teachers give them a social studies fair assignment over spring break. Teenagers mutter under their breath as they storm out of the house. We grumble about the weather.

We grumble about going to church. We grumble about the worship music being too slow or too fast. We grumble about the sermon being too short and the service being too long.

Like Korah and his followers, we often immerse ourselves in our grumbling so that it easily becomes a habit that stays with us through life – home, school, work, sports, travel, church, etc. When we grumble and complain about our situation in life, we are showing ingratitude for all the Lord does and gives to us. We learn from the account of Korah and his rebellious followers that God is patient. But, we should never mistake his patience with acceptance. He is merely allowing us time to repent.

We dare never consider God as some white-haired grandfather in the sky who will always give, but never scold; who will always comfort, but never correct; who will always be patient and loving and accepting. No, he is a Father who disciplines those he loves.

When we stop being kind and considerate, humble and gentle, we stop being children of God. When we don’t see the need for confession and repentance, then we are putting ourselves in danger of being punished.

We are shocked when we see God dealing so harshly with sin! The earth swallows people whole! Fire consuming people leaving only ashes! A plague wiping out thousands of people!

We should never ask, “Why does God deal so harshly with sin?” Instead, we should thank God that he has not dealt with us harshly, as our sins deserve. God should send a plague for every dissatisfaction. God should send fire from heaven to consume for every complaint. God should have the earth swallow whole for every resentment.

But God doesn’t do that. And why not? Because He did all that to Jesus.

Jesus is our mediator between a righteous God and we sinners. Jesus intervened to save us. Jesus was stricken, smitten and afflicted so we would not be. The crown of thorns on his head, purges the sinful thoughts from our minds. The nails in his hands and feet sanctify our hands and feet for service to him. The cup of God’s wrath was poured out on him so God’s grace could be poured out on us. The stripes across his back removed the punishment we deserved. The blood that poured from his pierced side washes away our continual sins. In his love, God punished his Son so that he would not have to punish us.