Numbers 16 - 19

Numbers 16

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

The Rebellion

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, took men, and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of great respect.

They gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You take to much upon yourself, seeing the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?”

When Moses heard this, he fell upon his face, and 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.”

“You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers 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 take to much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!”

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near himself to do service at the LORD’S tabernacle and to stand before the congregation and minister to them?”

“He has brought you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood also? It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have gathered together. Who is Aaron that you should complain against him?”

Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! 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!”

 “Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you also put out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!”

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.”

Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. 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.”

So each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

When Korah gathered all his followers against them at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire congregation.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this congregation so I can kill them at once.”

But Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces, and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire congregation when only one man sins?”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to the congregation, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”

Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the congregation, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything that belongs to them, unless you become consumed in all their sins.”

So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their children.

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: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me.”

“But if the LORD brings about something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have provoked the LORD.”

As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all those associated with Korah, together with all their possessions. 

They went down alive into the pit, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the congregation.

At their cries, all of Israel around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

The LORD said to Moses, “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.

And the censers of the men, who sinned at the cost of their lives, hammer those 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 children of Israel.”

So Eleazar the priest collected the brass censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, just as the LORD told him by Moses. This was to remind the children of Israel that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, and not do as Korah and his followers had done.

(A reminder was again brought up in Jude see verses 5, 10,11)

Jude 5, “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

10, “ But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

11, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

The next day the entire congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the people of the LORD,” they said.

But when the congregation was in opposition against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

Then Moses and Aaron went before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the LORD said to Moses, “Get away from this congregation so I can consume them at once.” And they fell upon their faces.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the congregation to make atonement for them, for a plague has begun, due to the wrath of the LORD.”

So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the congregation, and behold, a plague had begun among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for the people.

He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the plague was stopped.

In this example we see the seriousness of rebellion to God. God requires respect to those in authority, especially to those He placed there. The rebellion of Korah and his supporters against Moses was not only against him but also against God.

We also see the scene of the families of Dathan and Abiram, their wives, their sons, and their children in the tents with their doomed and rebellious fathers. Dathan and Abiram rebelled with the support (or at least consent) of his family, and therefore the entire family of those rebellious men was punished with destruction.

But we do not see in scripture anyone in Korah’s family rebelling with him. Numbers 26:9-11, again records the destruction of Dathan, Abraim, and Korah, but goes on to state, “Nevertheless the children of Korah died not.” Korah rebelled alone, and was punished alone, while his family survived to serve God in their appointed roles.

Scripture records the obedience and faithfulness and service of the sons of Korah from the time of Phineas the priest during the time of the conquest of the promised land under Joshua (Joshua 22:30, 1 Chronicles 9:19-20) to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 2:42, Nehemiah 7:45), a period of nearly 1000 years.

Numbers 17

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the children of Israel and take twelve staffs from them, one from everyone according to the house of their fathers. Write the name of each man on his staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each house of their fathers.”

“Place them in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before the Testimony, where I will meet with you. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant complaining against you by the children of Israel.”

So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and everyone of their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one rod a piece according to the house of their fathers, which was twelve rods, and Aaron’s staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tabernacle of Witness.

The next day Moses entered the Tabernacle of Witness and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed, and produced almonds.

Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the children of Israel. They looked at them, and then each man took his own staff.

The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in again before the Testimony, to be kept as a reminder to the rebellious. This should put an end to their murmuring against me, so that they will not die.” And Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.

The children of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we will die! We perish, we all perish! Anyone who even comes near the Tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”

Numbers 18

Duties of Priests and Levites (1 – 7)

Offerings for Priests and Levites (8 – 32)

Numbers 19

The Water of Cleansing