Numbers 16-17    Listen

Hey Moses! We want a democracy! (Numbers 16:1-3)

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?”

This is a very sophisticated, well-planned rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. But here's the fundamental problem; Moses and Aaron were chosen and appointed by God himself to lead Israel. And Moses didn't make his decisions arbitrarily, God spoke to Moses, and Moses spoke to the people. Therefore, this form of government is called a "theocracy." The prefix "theo" comes from a Greek word meaning "god." The Greek word "kratos" means "rule or control." And finally, the Greek word "demos" means "people." Now let's put those words together to form some governments. A "theocracy" is a government ruled by God, and a "democracy" is a government ruled by the people. Korah (a Levite) was one of the four "representatives" that approached Moses, but he had reinforcements, Dathan, Abiram and On. But wait! There's more! Apparently there had been a series of informal caucuses throughout Israel who had selected 250 more Levite representatives of the people to stand with these four men. Hey! Let's face it! The people of Israel were looking to abandon this theocracy under Moses in lieu of their own form of democracy. Verse 2 would indicate that these men were rather carefully selected for this purpose by the people of Israel themselves. Now pay close attention to the wording in verse 3. In essence, they proclaim to Moses that his relationship with God is no greater than that of any other of the Hebrews. In other words, "Moses, you're no holier than we are!" Additionally, they accuse Moses of assuming too much power.

Let's do a review of responsibilities to help with our grasp of the gravity of this situation. Moses and Aaron were Levites, but ONLY the direct descendants of Aaron could serve as actual priests; God said so. The world has always had its that's-not-fair crowd; that's exactly what we have here. While the non-descendant-of-Aaron Levites served God in tabernacle duties, they could never be actual priests. Who made up that law anyway? As far as they were concerned, it was Moses, who just happened to be the brother of Aaron, the High Priest. CAN YOU SAY NEPOTISM? Yeah...but here it wasn't nepotism; God (not Moses) appointed Aaron to be the first High Priest. Korah thinks electing priests is a better idea; what do you suppose God thinks?

Incidentally, Korah doesn't survive this attempted takeover; he thus becomes infamous in scripture with dishonorable mention in Jude 11 (see notes), "Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah." What's more, he's in pretty bad company there - Cain (who slew his brother Abel in Genesis 4:8, see notes) and Balaam (who assisted Israel's enemies in trying to corrupt Israel from within in Numbers 22-24 and 31 - see notes).

Moses: Let's check to see who is holy (Numbers 16:4-19)

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!”
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.

First of all, let's do a holiness check on these 250 leaders the Hebrews have selected. There's the test in verse 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." The candidates are given censers (little bowls of fire and incense). Have those 250 would-be leaders forgotten about Aaron's own two sons, Nadab and Abihu, when they experimented with the censers back in Leviticus 10 (see notes)? Moses then calls for two of the other main leaders, Dathan and Abiram, who refuse to come to him. They even mock Moses. In verse 15, Moses appeals to God - asks God to have no respect for their offering.

So here's the procedure: Get your 250 people-selected leaders (all Levites according to verse 7) along with yourself (Korah) and appear before the Tabernacle tomorrow. Aaron will bring a censer as well. Lest you think this was a movement by a few crazy men, notice verse 19, "And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting." The people of Israel had chosen to follow Korah. Obviously, they really were trying to adopt a form of democracy through their rebellion, and they had elected their own "holy" men to head it up. Well this is scary; let's recall Numbers 3:4 (see notes), "Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai..." The stage is set for a big event right before the eyes of all the Hebrews who have gathered around.

It's time for God to cast his vote (Numbers 16:20-50)

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?”
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.”
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.
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.
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.

God's first noted inclination here is to just consume by fire all the Israelites who are gathered around the Tabernacle, but Moses and Aaron intercede (verses 20-22). He convinces the people to return to their tents. You will notice that the Kohathites (of Korah) and the Reubenites (of Dathan, Abiram and On) were all situated on the south side of the Tabernacle (click here to see the layout). Moses heads down to their tents and finds them standing with their families in the doors of their tents. He prays and asks God to cast his first vote in the recall election of Moses. Here's the proposition: If these men are right, let them die natural deaths; if they are wrong, let the earth consume them. The intensity of the situation mounts as Moses warns in verse 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." Here's God's vote in verse 32, "and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods." Subsequently, the people of Israel scatter for fear of their own lives. Oh! But what about the 250 people-appointed Levite men with censers? Well...they get an immediate trip to the land of Nadab and Abihu just as back in Leviticus 10 (see notes) - whooooosh - wiped out by fire. Verse 35 says, "And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense." Friends don't let friends play with censers!

So, with this miraculous demonstration by God under the direction of Moses, it's settled now, right? Well...not exactly. Look at verse 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.'" What! These Israelites are a more stubborn bunch than we thought. What are they thinking!? And besides that, if by his own power Moses is able to orchestrate targeted earthquakes and massive fire from the sky on demand, wouldn't that be sufficient grounds for conforming to his wishes? God has a solution in verse 45, "Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." Moses and Aaron again intercede even after the plague to destroy them all has begun (verse 46). Aaron, at the command of Moses, takes his censer and makes atonement for the rebel Israelites, but not before the plague takes 14,700 of them. Now the push for a democracy really is over. LESSON LEARNED: Never sue Moses for wrongful death; the judge is biased.

Let's have a vote of confidence for Aaron (Numbers 17)

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod.
3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house.
4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you.
5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.”
6 ¶ So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7 And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
8 ¶ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.
9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 ¶ And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”
11 Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.
12 ¶ So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish!
13 Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?”

We're still dealing with the aftermath of the rebellion in chapter 16 (see above). Israel needs a definitive word from God declaring who is the God-authorized leader of Israel. Whose rod will bloom of the thirteen tribal leaders here? Will it be Aaron's, or one (or more) of the others. They place the rods in the Tabernacle overnight with their names carefully inscribed thereon. Next day - surprise! It's Aaron's! And not just a small amount of growth...just look at verse 8, "Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds." Now that's decisive!

It would appear from verses 12-13 that the nation-wide mutiny had been put to rest. That is apparent when those verses say, "So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, 'Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?'" I guess that settles it...finally...the people understand that there really is something special about the Tabernacle, God's presence there and the people God appointed to serve.

Incidentally, according to Hebrews 9:4 (see notes), "Aaron’s rod that budded" was placed into the Ark of the Covenant along with a jar of manna and the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, seen here in verse 10. However, we see in II Chronicles 5:10 (see notes) at the time that Solomon's Temple was dedicated, "Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt." Apparently the manna and rod had been removed prior to the dedication of Solomon's Temple.