2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
January 8, 2020
Numbers 16-17
Chapter 16. Korah, a Levite, organized some disgruntled Reubenites, along with 250 leaders of the congregation, to rebel against Moses and Aaron. Their contention was that they and everyone in Israel were holy to the Lord. Therefore, they all should be able to serve as priests. They accused Moses and Aaron of going too far by exalting themselves over Israel. So they were challenging God’s appointed leaders, demanding equality for all. The chapter relates this rebellion and its aftermath, where God vindicated Moses and Aaron and brought frightening judgment on these rebels. Motive is everything in our service for the Lord. Why do you do what you do for Him? Often your true motives are uncovered when you feel that you should have a higher position of service or more recognition than the church has given to you. You resent those in leadership and think that you could do a better job if you only had the chance. The text reveals ways that we can serve wrongly, as exemplified by these rebels; and, four ways to serve rightly, as seen in Moses and Aaron.
We serve God wrongly when we desire power and prestige for ourselves. The rebels were Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On. Korah was a son of Kohath, a Levite, and a cousin of Moses. The sons of Kohath had important duties in the tabernacle, including setting it up and taking it down when Israel changed locations in the wilderness (Num. 4:1-20). But the Kohathites were a notch below the Aaronic priests. The other men were from the tribe of Reuben. Reuben had forfeited his preeminence as Jacob’s firstborn when he slept with his father’s concubine, Bilhah (Gen. 35:22; 49:4). The Levites and the tribe of Reuben shared adjoining campsites on the south side of the tabernacle (Num. 2:10; 3:29), which may account for their collusion here. Also joining Korah and the sons of Reuben were “two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown” (Num. 16:2). So this was not just a few complainers! It was a large, organized rebellion, made up of top leaders. Korah and his fellow rebels. It was true that all Israel was to be holy unto the Lord (Exod. 19:6; Lev. 11:44; Num. 15:38-41); but it was also true that God had appointed Moses to be the leader over Israel and Aaron and his sons to serve as the officiating priests. Israel was to be a nation of priests before the Lord (Exod. 19:6), but that did not exclude Moses as God’s appointed mediator and Aaron as the appointed high priest. So their appeal for “equality” for all the people sounded right, but was out of balance. So Korah and the rebels disguised their real motive for wanting to serve in more prestigious positions by claiming, “We just want to follow the word of the Lord, that we’re all holy in His sight.” But the real reason they demanded more preeminence was jealousy and the desire for more power and prestige for themselves. Moses unmasks them with the truth (Num. 16:8-11). Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. So we shouldn’t be jealous of the prestige of those who have more popular ministries than we have, but rather rejoice that the gospel is being preached and the body of Christ is being built up. And we shouldn’t despise or neglect the gifts that God has entrusted to us, but use them to serve Him with thankful hearts.
We serve God wrongly when we do not fear Him. These rebels were wicked men who had spurned the Lord (cf. Num. 14:11, 23, 27, 35). Their problem was that they did not have hearts that loved and feared God. Moses met their challenge that they deserved to be priests on a par with Aaron first by falling on his face and then challenging them (Num. 16:5-7). Moses fell on his face because he rightly feared the Lord. These rebels, who weren’t of priestly lineage, should have connected the dots between the incident of Aaron’s sons and Moses’ challenge and fallen on their faces in repentance. But they didn’t. They are told to appear before the Lord the next day. When they assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting with their censers in hand, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation (Num. 16:19). Again, they should have dropped their unauthorized incense offerings, fallen on their faces, and begged God for mercy. But they didn’t. The Lord opened the earth to swallow Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with their families and He sent fire to consume the 250 men offering the unauthorized incense. The censers were pulled from the fire and hammered into sheets to overlay the altar as a reminder of their sin and a reminder to the people. This should have quieted the people, but the entire congregation had the audacity the next day to accuse Moses and Aaron of being responsible for the death of these godless men, whom they called (Num. 16:41), “the Lord’s people!” You would think that after seeing God’s power in the plagues in Egypt, parting the Red Sea, and the fire and thunder on Mount Sinai, the Israelites would have respected God’s power, but they didn’t. This shows that even seeing powerful miracles is not enough evidence to convert sinners. The hearts of skeptics are so hardened that they can see miracles and rather than fall on their faces in the fear of God, they accuse God and His servants of cruelty. The immediate response of Moses and Aaron to Korah’s rebellion and later to the whole congregation’s accusation that they were responsible for the rebels’ deaths, was to fall on their faces (Num. 16:4, 45). They feared God because they knew that He is the righteous Judge who has legitimate grounds and the power to destroy on the spot all who challenge His right to rule. God sends a plague on those who kept challenging Moses and 14,700 died from the plague.
Chapter 17. This chapter began after the mayhem with Korah and his followers and their rebellion. On the same day apparently, The LORD God implemented a way to settle this sort of rebellion forever with the children of Israel. God instructed Moses to have each tribe bring in a rod with the head of the tribe’s name on it. They then were commanded to lay their rod in the tabernacle where God would meet with Moses. Whoever’s rod budded/sprouted, would be the tribe the Lord chose to lead the children of Israel. This procedure would or should at least cease the murmurs against Moses and Aaron. Everyone did as Moses commanded and the following day, they all witnessed that the tribe of Levi (Aaron’s rod) budded and blossomed with almonds on it. When God has called you and appointed you, God will verify you publicly. Moses and Aaron were humble enough to let God verify their calling and not themselves. The congregation was shown this and God had Moses keep Aaron’s rod in the tabernacle as a token for future reference for rebels. The rod of Aaron was to be kept as a museum piece, to remind the children of Israel that God had chosen a priesthood, and nothing would change that — Aaron’s priesthood would always be Aaron’s priesthood. Also, it would quiet any murmurings preventing rebellion within Israel. The children of Israel felt inundated with dying, by all of God’s commands, they asked, “Will we be consumed with dying?” A better question would have been, why do we keep on getting punished? The answer was obvious, Stop rebelling!
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