Background: God promised to bless the world through Abraham’s
descendants who multiplied in Egypt but became enslaved. God called Moses to
lead them and God delivered Israel out of Egypt with many ‘miraculous signs’.
The Lord led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire and miraculously provided
‘manna and water from a rock’ despite Israel’s grumbling. At Mt. Sinai
the Lord established His covenant with Israel and gave them the 10
commandments. Israel fell into idolatry by making a ‘golden calf’, but Moses pleaded with the Lord and the Lord promised to go with Israel and to forgive them (Ex. 34:1-9). The
Israelites set out from Sinai in their
tribal divisions with the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ before them and the pillar of
cloud above them. However, the journey was a difficult one and the Israelites complained
about their hardships (11:1) and even claimed they were better off in
Egypt. Moses began to see his
calling as a burden, so the Lord anointed seventy of Israel’s elders with His
Spirit to help Moses. (Ex. 18:13–26, Num. 11:24–30). They came to the border of
their promised land where the ‘twelve spies’ confirmed that Canaan was a land
flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13-14). Caleb and Joshua believed they
could take possession of the land, but the others spies spread a ‘bad report’
and the community refused to enter Canaan. So the Lord said that generation
would wander forty years and die in the desert and that their children would
enter the land that they had rejected. Then the Lord struck the ten spies who gave
the ‘bad report’ with a plague and they died. When the Israelites heard of this
they tried to enter Canaan without Moses and without the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ but
the peoples living in the hills came
down and attacked the Israelites and beat them back (Num.
14:39-45). This brings us to the story ‘Korah’s rebellion’ and the ‘budding of
Aaron’s staff’ (Num. 16-17).
The Levite,
Korah, and his followers Dathan and Abiram and 250 Israelite leaders rose up in
opposition to Moses’ leadership and Aaron’s priesthood. They
claimed the whole community was holy and that Moses and Aaron had set themselves
above the Lord’s people. Just prior to
this the Israelites had failed to enter their promised land so the Lord said
that generation would wander forty years and die in the desert. Also the ten
spies who stirred the rebellion were struck with a plague and died. When the Israelites
heard of this they tried to enter Canaan without Moses and the ‘Ark of the
Covenant’ but they were driven back. Moses responds by falling facedown, and
then Moses tells Korah and his followers that the Lord would reveal who He had
chosen to draw near the Lord as priest. Korah and his followers were to put
fire and incense in their censers and the Lord would chose who the one who was
holy. According to Moses it was Korah and his followers who had banded together
against the Lord and they were trying to get control of the priesthood.
When Moses summoned Korah’s collaborators, Dathan and
Abiram, refused to come. They even claimed that Moses had brought them out of a
land flowing with milk and honey only to kill them in the desert. They shift
the blame for not entering the Promised Land to Moses and accuse him of trying
to make them his slaves. This angered Moses
who asked the Lord not to accept their offerings for he had not wronged any of
them. So Korah stood with his followers at the Tent of Meeting in opposition to
Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the assembly and the Lord
told Moses and Aaron to separate from the assembly so the Lord could put an end
to the people. Yet, Moses and Aaron fell face down and cried out, “O God, will
you be angry with the entire assembly when one man sins?” The Lord said that the people were to move
away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then Moses said that if Korah
and his followers died in an ordinary way then the Lord had not sent Moses. But
if the earth swallowed them then these men had treated the Lord with contempt.
Immediately, the earth opened swallowing Korah and his followers and the Israelites
fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us!” Then fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the
incense.
This dramatic
display confirmed that God had called Moses to lead Israel and that Aaron was God’s
chosen priest. Eleazar, Aaron’s son, was to remove the censers from smoldering
remains and hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar. This would be
a sign to remind the Israelites that only the descendants of Aaron were to burn
incense before the Lord. Yet, after all this the Israelites grumbled and even claimed
that Moses and Aaron had killed the Lord’s people. Then the glory
of the Lord appeared and the Lord told Moses that He would put an end to the
people. Once again, Moses and Aaron fell facedown. Then Moses told Aaron to take his censer and put incense and fire from
the altar in it and to hurry to the assembly to make atonement for the people. Aaron
ran into the midst of the assembly and offered the incense and the plague
stopped. Aaron stood between the living and the dead and the plague stopped. Yet,
14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because
of Korah.
After this the Lord told Moses to collect the staffs
of the leaders of Israel’s twelve tribes. They are to write their names on
their staffs and Aaron’s name was to written on the staff of Levi. Moses placed
the staffs in the Tent of Meeting and the staff of the man the Lord would
choose would sprout. This was to end
the constant grumbling against Moses. The next day Moses retrieved the
staffs from the tent of meeting and Aaron’s staff had sprouted, blossomed and
produced almonds. Aaron’s
staff was to be placed in front of the Testimony as a sign to the rebellious.
This end the grumbling against the Lord, so that the people wouldn’t die! Moses
did as the Lord commanded and the Israelites thought that they were all going to
die.
In the story the Lord confirmed Aaron’s priesthood by
causing the earth to swallow Korah, Dathan and Abiram and fire to consume the 250
Israelite others who opposed Moses and Aaron. Is this the indicator of those
who have been chosen by God? Should we expect the dramatic destruction of those
who oppose us? Perhaps our attitude towards those who oppose us is a better
indicator that we are Lord’s people. The first thing Moses did when he faced
opposition was to fall on his face before God (Numbers 16:4). Then when Lord told
Moses and Aaron to separate from the people so He could can put an end to them Moses
and Aaron fell face down and cried out, “O God, will you be angry with the
whole assembly when one man sins? (Numbers 16:22)” Moses gave the people the opportunity
to separate themselves from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then after the
earth swallowed these men and fire consumed the 250 others the Israelites claimed
that Moses and Aaron had killed the Lord’s people. Again the Lord tells Moses
and Aaron to separate from the people so He could put an end to them. What did Moses and Aaron do? Moses
told Aaron to take his censer and offer the incense in the midst of the assembly
to make atonement for the people. Aaron did this and the plague stopped. So
Moses and Aaron didn’t seek the destruction of those opposing them, rather they
desired that they be reconciled to God. The Lord further confirmed the
priesthood of Aaron by causing Aaron’s staff to sprout, blossom and produced
almonds. Aaron’s staff testified
that Israel could only approach God through God’s designated high priest. In
the new covenant—we are to draw near to God through our high priest, that is
Christ the Lord.
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