Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Korah And His Group Destroyed/ Plague Issued-Plague
Stayed.
Occasion: Punishment For
Rebellion/ Punishment For Their Murmurings.
Location: Hazeroth, Dessert.
Bible Text:
Numbers 16:1-50 NLT
1 One day Korah son of Izhar,
a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the
tribe of Reuben.
2 They incited a rebellion against
Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all
prominent members of the assembly.
3 They united against Moses and
Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of
Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and He is with all of us. What
right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of
the Lord’s people?”
4 When Moses heard what they were
saying, he fell face down on the ground.
5 Then he said to Korah and his
followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to
Him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom He selects
to enter His own presence.
6 Korah, you and all your followers
must prepare your incense burners.
7 Light fires in them tomorrow, and
burn incense before the Lord. Then we will see whom the Lord chooses
as His holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”
8 Then Moses spoke again to Korah:
“Now listen, you Levites!
9 Does it seem insignificant to you
that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of
Israel to be near Him so you can serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and
stand before the people to minister to them?
10 Korah, He has already given this
special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now
demanding the priesthood as well?
11 The Lord is the one you and your
followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are
complaining about him?”
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come
before you!
13 Isn’t it enough that you
brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill
us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your
subjects?
14 What’s more, you haven’t
brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t
given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to
fool these men? We will not come.”
15 Then Moses became very angry and
said to the Lord, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not
taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single
one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “You
and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves
before the Lord. Aaron will also be here.
17 You and each of your 250
followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so
you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his
incense burner.”
18 So each of these men prepared an
incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all
stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up
the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered
at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the Lord
appeared to the whole community,
20 and the Lord said to Moses and
Aaron,
21 “Get away from all these people
so that I may instantly destroy them!”
22 But Moses and Aaron fell face
down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who
gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people
when only one man sins?”
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 “Then tell all the people to
get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 So Moses got up and rushed over
to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.
26 “Quick!” he told the people.
“Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t touch
anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for
their sins.”
27 So all the people stood back
from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram
came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with
their wives and children and little ones.
28 And Moses said, “This is how
you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I
have done—for I have not done them on my own.
29 If these men die a natural death,
or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord does something
entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all
their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you
will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.”
31 He had hardly finished speaking
the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.
32 The earth opened its mouth and
swallowed the men, along with their households and all their
followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33 So they went down alive into the
grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them,
and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.
34 All the people around them fled
when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!”
they cried.
35 Then fire blazed forth from the
Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the
priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are
holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.
38 Take the incense burners of these
men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal
into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used
in the Lord’s presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a
warning to the people of Israel.”
39 So Eleazar the priest collected
the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died
in the fire, and he hammered them into a thin sheet to overlay the
altar.
40 This would warn the Israelites
that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of
Aaron—should ever enter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. If
anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah
and his followers. So the Lord’s instructions to Moses were
carried out.
41 But the very next morning the
whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and
Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”
42 As the community gathered to
protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle
and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of
the Lord appeared.
43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in
front of the Tabernacle,
44 and the Lord said to Moses,
45 “Get away from all these people
so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell
face down on the ground.
46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick,
take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar.
Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them
and make them right with the Lord. The Lord’s anger is blazing
against them—the plague has already begun.”
47 Aaron did as Moses told him and
ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down
the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.
48 He stood between the dead and the
living, and the plague stopped.
49 But 14,700 people died in that
plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving
Korah.
50 Then because the plague had
stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
Numbers 16:1-4 NLT
1 One day Korah son of Izhar,
a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the
tribe of Reuben.
2 They incited a rebellion against
Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all
prominent members of the assembly.
3 They united against Moses and
Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of
Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and He is with all of us. What
right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of
the Lord’s people?”
4 When Moses heard what they were
saying, he fell face down on the ground.
The spirit of rebellion had taken its
abode among the children of Israel. In chapter 12 of Numbers we read
about Miriam and Aaron's rebellion against Moses, now Korah, Dathan
and Abiram.
Someone has said,
“History proves, that men do not, learn by history!”
I Samuel 15:23 KJV
For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because
thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected
thee..."
Isaiah 14:13 KJV
(Lucifer)
For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides
of the north:
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, were Levites,
and as Levites their duties were that of, the care and keeping of the
tabernacle.
Numbers 3:27-32 NLT
27 The descendants of Kohath were
composed of the clans descended from Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and
Uzziel.
28 There were 8,600 males one month
old or older among these Kohathite clans. They were responsible for
the care of the sanctuary,
29 and they were assigned the area
south of the Tabernacle for their camp.
30 The leader of the Kohathite clans
was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.
31 These four clans were responsible
for the care of the Ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the
various articles used in the sanctuary, the inner curtain, and all
the equipment related to their use.
32 Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest,
was the chief administrator over all the Levites, with special
responsibility for the oversight of the sanctuary.
Why would these
Levites dare to assume the office of Priesthood?
Exodus 19:5,6
KJV (Moses, spoke the Lord's words to Israel.)
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey My
voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:
6 And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom
of priests, and an holy nation..."
Because all Israel had been called to be the priests of the Lord, they may very
well have thought to themselves, that no part of of priesthood was
unavailable.
But, Moses, and
Aaron had been hand picked by God, Himself!
(The Test)
Numbers 16:5-11
NLT
5 Then he said to Korah and his
followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to
Him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom He selects
to enter His own presence.
6 Korah, you and all your followers
must prepare your incense burners.
7 Light fires in them tomorrow, and
burn incense before the Lord. Then we will see whom the Lord chooses
as His holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!”
8 Then Moses spoke again to Korah:
“Now listen, you Levites!
9 Does it seem insignificant to you
that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of
Israel to be near Him so you can serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and
stand before the people to minister to them?
10 Korah, He has already given this
special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now
demanding the priesthood as well?
11 The Lord is the one you and your
followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are
complaining about him?”
Moses called the rebels to a test.
Korah and his resistance group, stated
that Moses had gone to far, in assuming control and leadership over
them, when in fact, Moses replied, that they themselves were the ones
who had gone to far.
This is a good place to speak
about the Church of the living God.
Are there rebels within the House of
God, sadly so.
It is not enough for some to use their
“gifts and callings,” to minister to others within the church,
no, they would like to assume the role and office of Pastor as well!
When only one man, has been “called
by Almighty God. Only one man, has been “screened both by the
deacon board, and the congregation, meeting their Biblical criteria to be their God appointed Pastor.”
And still there are “others,” that
would dare to usurp the God given position of pastor in the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
There can be only one thing that
awaits, as we will soon see in this story, and that is Judgment.
Homily:
This homily “will not be appreciated,
by all” but true never the less it is.
Once a pastor,while encountering some scriptural
difference in a class ….a dear brother rose to tell the class, in
opposition to the pastor, “no, that is not what this scriptures
means at all, here is what it means.....”
The pastor taking a deep but loving
breath, met fire with fire.
“You know,” he said, “any bum,
living under a bridge, can come into this church, and say, “this
is what this scripture means.”
“Almighty God, and this congregation
have called me to this church, because of my calling and theological
training to be the spiritual leader of this body. And today I tell
you lovingly the truth of the Word of God.”
Oppositionn was silenced.
Selah
II Peter 2:1-3 KJV
1 But there were false prophets also
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of Truth shall be evil
spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall
they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment
now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
Numbers 16:12-19
NLT
12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, “We refuse to come
before you!
13 Isn’t it enough that you
brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill
us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your
subjects?
14 What’s more, you haven’t
brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven’t
given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to
fool these men? We will not come.”
15 Then Moses became very angry and
said to the Lord, “Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not
taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single
one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “You
and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves
before the Lord. Aaron will also be here.
17 You and each of your 250
followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so
you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his
incense burner.”
18
So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and
placed incense on it. Then they all
stood at the entrance of the
Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
19 Meanwhile,
Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron,
and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance....
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, were not, alone, they had gathered some 250
other Levites with them.
What was that old saying “Misery, loves company,” and so it was.
Deuteronomy
31:24-30 KJV (Moses last words
to the Levites.)
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the
words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of
the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness
against thee.
27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck:
behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been
rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?
28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers,
that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth
to record against them.
29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt
yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded
you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do
evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through
the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the
words of this song, until they were ended.
Numbers 16:20-22
NLT
20 and the Lord said to Moses and
Aaron,
21 “Get away from all these people
so that I may instantly destroy them!”
22 But Moses and Aaron fell face
down on the ground. “O God,” they pleaded, “you are the God who
gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people
when only one man sins?”
Moses and Aaron, made intercession for Israel. Moses had made
intercession for Miriam, and now Israel.
A picture of our great Intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 53:12 KJV
Therefore will
I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out
His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the
transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
Luke 22:32 KJV (Jesus speaking to Peter.)
But I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.
John 17:9 KJV (Prayer of Jesus.)
I pray for
them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
Me; for they are thine.
Romans 8:34 NLT
Who then will
condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was
raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor
at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Hebrews 7:25 KJV
Wherefore He
(He, not she, or they.) is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for them.
Numbers 16:23-35
NLT
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 “Then tell all the people to
get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 So Moses got up and rushed over
to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.
26 “Quick!” he told the people.
“Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don’t
touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed
for their sins.”
27 So all the people stood back
from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and
Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together
with their wives and children and little ones.
28 And Moses said, “This is how
you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I
have done—for I have not done them on my own.
29 If these men die a natural death,
or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord does something
entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all
their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you
will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord.”
31 He had hardly finished speaking
the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.
32 The earth opened its mouth and
swallowed the men, along with their households and all their
followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33 So they went down alive into the
grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them,
and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.
34 All the people around them fled
when they heard their screams. “The earth will swallow us, too!”
they cried.
35 Then fire blazed forth from
the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“
Though the mills of God grind slowly;
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all.
Hebrews 10:31 KJV
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Numbers 16:36-40
NLT
36 And the Lord said to Moses,
37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the
priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are
holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.
38 Take the incense burners of these
men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal
into a thin sheet to overlay the
altar. Since these burners were used in the Lord’s
presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the
people of Israel.”
39 So Eleazar the priest collected
the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died
in the fire, and he hammered them into a thin sheet to overlay the
altar.
40 This would warn the Israelites
that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of
Aaron—should ever enter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. If
anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah
and his followers. So the Lord’s instructions to Moses were
carried out.
Some times we the
people of God, as we go about our spiritual duties, in or out of the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need reminders, of who we are,
and what our particular calling is! And not to assume anothers
calling.
It was so with
Israel, and is still true.
In the house of
God, the Pastor is the messenger of God!
Revelation 2:1
KJV (Revelation 3:1)
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith
He that holdeth the seven stars* in His
right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks
(lampstands);
Revelation 1:20
KJV
The mystery of
the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven
golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels* of the
seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest
are the seven churches.
*Angels – Greek: Aggelos (Ang-el-os): A messenger; by
implication a pastor; angel, messenger.
Abingdon/Strong Concordance of the Bible.)
In the 1st Century, every church of believers had its
messenger:
Ephesus- Revelation 2:1
Smyrna- Revelation 2:8
Pergamos- Revelation 2:12
Thyatira- Revelation 2:18
Sardis- Revelation 3:1
Philadelphia- Revelation 3:7
Laodiceans- Revelation 3:14
Each church had its “messenger,” Pastor given by God!
Godly Pastors are the “gift,” of God to His church.
Ephesians
4:11-15 KJV
11 And He gave
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers;
12 For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
14 That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking
the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ:
Numbers 16:41-45
NLT
41 But the very next morning the
whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and
Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”
42 As the community gathered to
protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle
and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of
the Lord appeared.
43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in
front of the Tabernacle,
44 and the Lord said to Moses,
45 “Get away from all these people
so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell
face down on the ground.
“Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George
Santayana, The Life of Reason (1905)
Romans 1:20 KJV
"...they
are without excuse"
Numbers 16:46-50
NLT
46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Quick,
take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar.
Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them
and make them right with the Lord. The Lord’s anger is blazing
against them—the plague has already begun.”
47 Aaron did as Moses told him and
ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down
the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.
48 He stood between the dead
and the living, and the plague stopped.
49 But 14,700 people died in that
plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving
Korah.
50 Then because the plague had
stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
What a word picture of our precious Savior, High Priest!
Today, His wish for you is to be “saved,” from judgment!
Hebrews 4:7 KJV
"...as it
is said, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.
John 3:16-18 KJV
16 For God so
loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through Him might be saved.
18 He that
believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.
