Numbers 16:1 ¶ Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and 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 certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. 6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. 8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? 10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
Korah
gets a mention in Jude’s letter.
Jude
1:11 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.
250 leaders, princes, famous men, influential men rise up against
Moses and Aaron. Their defiance is based on the presumption that all of the
congregation is holy and Moses and Aaron are no better than the rest so on what
authority do they lead the multitude? The exclusivity of the Aaronic priesthood
is called into question. Others wish to claim the authority, too.
This defines gainsaying as a word in Jude 1:11 as
rebellious behavior. Moses first falls on his face and then dares Korah to find
out how he, a Levite, presumes to attempt a coup d’etat. Moses defines this
rebellion as against God Himself.
Numbers
16:12 ¶ And Moses sent to call Dathan
and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 13 Is it a small thing that thou hast
brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the
wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land
that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and
vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. 15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the
LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them,
neither have I hurt one of them. 16 And
Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and
they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17 And take
every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD
every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each
of you his censer. 18 And they
took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and
stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the
congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. 20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying, 21 Separate yourselves from
among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O
God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be
wroth with all the congregation?
Moses, God’s leader, calls Dathan and Abiram who refuse to obey.
They accuse Moses of being a failure, perhaps lying to them, and suggest he
means to blind the eyes of the men who oppose him as they have seen what causes
them to be afraid. They accuse him of being power-mad wanting only to be a
ruler over them.
Moses
exclaims, like Samuel, that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
1Samuel
12:1 ¶ And Samuel said unto all Israel,
Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have
made a king over you. 2 And now, behold,
the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons
are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
3 Behold, here I am: witness against me
before the
LORD,
and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or
whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received
any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us,
nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. 5 And he said unto them, The
LORD
is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not
found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
With incense and fire Korah and company come to the tabernacle
door and there God’s glory appears, telling Moses and Aaron to get out of the
way so He can destroy the entire congregation. Moses and Aaron plead for mercy.
A spirit, lowercase s, is the mind, the heart, the talents, the
animating part of who we are, that which allows us to act in the world. The God
of the Bible is the God of the spirits of all flesh as it says in
Numbers 27. This spirit, it is suggested, goes back to God at death and is
eternal according to Solomon’s great question.
Ecclesiastes
3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man
that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth
downward to the earth?
Numbers
16:23 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation,
saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and
Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying,
Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of
theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in
the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little
children. 28 And Moses said, Hereby ye
shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have
not done them of mine own mind. 29
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited
after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the
earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto
them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these
men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it
came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the
ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah,
and all their goods. 33 They, and
all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the
earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34 And all Israel that were round about
them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and all they have and all them that were
theirs are destroyed, swallowed up by the earth. This, of course, terrifies the
rest of the people and for good reason.
Numbers
16:35 ¶ And there came out a fire from
the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter
thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them
broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before
the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the
children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the
priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and
they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial unto the children of
Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near
to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company:
as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
Their followers, the rest of the rebellious lot, were also
destroyed, by a fire sent from God. A memorial is made of what remained in the
fire of the censers that were used to offer incense so that no descendant of
Korah and no foreigner would try to supplant the work of Aaron and the priests.
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