Journal Through the Bible: Week 23 Tuesday

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Numbers chapter 16

We read a few days ago about when Miriam and Aaron, Moses' siblings, grumbled against him. Today we will read about his first cousin, Korah, who led a rebellion. (Korah's father, Izhar, was Amram's brother. Amram was Moses' father. See Exodus 6:18.) Korah and some of the descendants of Reuben instigated a rebellion against the leadership of Moses by stirring up 250 men who were known leaders among the people. Their complaint was that Moses and Aaron had assumed too much authority and they claimed that all the people were as holy to God as Moses and Aaron. Specifically, it was the atoning work of the priesthood that was being challenged.

The leaders of the rebellion and their families perished when the earth opened up and swallowed them. The 250 men were destroyed by a fire that God sent but since the censers that the men were holding had been dedicated to God they were collected and flattened into brass sheets. These were then used to cover the altar as a memorial reminder that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron could serve as a priest.

This was not the end of rebellion. The people were angry with Moses and Aaron because they, the people, were marked for death. There were several times in this chapter that God threatened to eradicate the whole group of Israelites and each time it was only the intervention of Moses and Aaron that kept that from happening.

Does God make any promises in this chapter?

• God promised to kill the wicked offenders. And He did.

Does this chapter teach anything about Jesus?

• The mortal, sinful high priest was appointed by God to be the mediator between Himself and the people. The high priest pictured Jesus, the Messiah, who is the immortal, perfect mediator between God and man.  Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father except by Him. (See John 14:6) Religious people are always arguing that Jesus is just one of the ways to God when in reality there is no other! This was the sin of which Korah and his followers were guilty. They didn't argue against Moses being set apart for service or even against Aaron being a priest before God. They argued that they were able to be fulfill the same role even though God had set apart only one person for the office of high priestly mediator to atone for the sins of the people and that was Aaron. God has set apart one Man, the man Christ Jesus, to atone for sins.

Does this chapter teach anything about yet-future events?

• The New Testament teaches of the eternal division that will come between those who follow God's plan of salvation and those who decide to do things their own way. This chapter vividly illustrates that coming division.

Does God issue any commands?

• God told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the rest of the Israelites so that He could destroy the rest of the congregation. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before God and asked that the people be spared since they were not all rebelling.
• God told Moses to tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The rest of the congregation moved away.
• When the people angrily confronted Moses and Aaron after the death of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and the 250 leaders, God once again told Moses and Aaron to move aside so that He could destroy the remnant in a moment. A plague began broke out among the people so Aaron ran into the people with a censer with incense from the altar to make an atonement for the people.  Aaron stood between the dead and the living.