Skip to content Numbers 16-17: Understanding Korah's Rebellion Mar 20 · 15 min ...more
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Korah's Rebellion Ignites 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word as our journey through the bible takes us to numbers chapter 16 and 17. 2 very, revealing chapters into the0:21 fallen nature of mankind. Verse 13 of chapter 16, isn't it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness and now you also want to0:33 lord it over us? Alright. Before I jump into this, let me just say thank you for the many messages, and post regarding my father's passing and our family. We appreciate the prayers greatly, and I0:45 would ask you 1 more prayer request. I will be leading and conducting the, celebration ceremony of my father on Friday morning. You'll if you want to, you can tune in on my Facebook0:56 page. But just be praying as our as our family celebrates the legacy of a, of a godly father, lifting up the name of Jesus Christ. Right. Here in, chapter 16, we1:08 have the the rebellion of Korah, who was from the family of Kohath, and this was 1 of the 3 Levite families responsible for serving in the Tabernacle. Now god brought justice upon the leaders of this1:20 rebellion, and then and then amazingly, the people grumbled about it, and a plague breaks out. And in that plague, 14700 more people1:31 died. Then in chapter 6, 17 rather, god validates Aaron as the head of the priesthood, and then we'll see how the people responded to god's validation. So let me start1:43 with this general observation. From our vantage point, we read of the children of Israel, and we're we're utterly amazed at their behavior. Now in chapter 16, we have the fifth and the sixth accounts of the children of1:55 Israel murmuring or complaining, which by the way never turned out well. And we see these dramatic swings in their behavior from rebellion and defiance2:07 to we're gonna die because we will see or hear from god. Now this is not this is what's revealing here. This is not just about the history of Israel. We are actually2:19 reading about the predictable, unreliable nature of fallen man. Alright. With that said, let's start verse 1 chapter 16. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the2:31 son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the son the sons of Eliab, and 1 of the sons of Peleth,2:43 son sons of Reuben took men. Now you have 2 groups involved in this insurrection, the sons of Kohath, Levites, and sons of Reuben. Now the tribe of2:54 Reuben, what's the connection between these 2? Well, they were next to the tribe of Levi in the camp structure. So I would imagine it all began with gossip sessions around the evening campfire.3:07 Verse 2 verse 16. And they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renowned. These were the leaders. Alright?3:19 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you take too much upon yourself, yourselves, for all the congregation is holy. Every 1 of them and the3:31 lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the lord? In other words, who died and made you king? Well, stand by because the answer is,3:42 coming. Verse 4. So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face. Look at the contrast, the humility of Moses compared to these others saying, we're all holy. We all can have the same responsibility.3:55 Moses falls on his face before god. We see this over and over again. What humility? Verse 5 verse 5 of chapter 16, and he spoke to Korah and all his company saying tomorrow morning,4:07 the lord will show who is his and who is holy and will cause him to come near to him. That 1 whom he chooses, he will cause to come near to him. Okay. We're gonna let god decide4:19 the outcome here. So do this, verse 6. Take censors, Korah, and all your company. Put fire in them and put incense in them before the lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the lord chooses is the holy4:31 1. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi. So Moses says, okay. Alright. You wanna be priest? Perform the role of priest. Take censors and put fire in them. And tomorrow morning,4:42 we'll see what god does. Now talk about not learning from history. I mean, and and we're not gonna we're not talking ancient history. You remember Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who were priests,4:54 but burned unauthorized or strange fire? I'm gonna tell you, if you had half a brain, you're not gonna play with the fire of god. So Korah and crew took the things of god5:06 lightly which is the opposite of holiness and reverence. Verse 8, then Moses said to Korah, here now you sons of Levi. Is it a small thing to you that god the god of Israel has separated5:18 you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to him to do the work of the tabernacle of the lord and to stand before the congregation to serve them? And that he has brought you near to himself, you and all your5:30 brother and the sons of Levi with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? Moses says, is the elevated position that God has given you small? Is it a small insignificant5:42 thing in your eyes? Now this exposed their heart and actually should prompt each of us to search our hearts. Their desire okay? Hear me on this. Right? This5:53 is, this is 1 of those, tests. This is the acid test. Their desire, what this lays bare, is that their desire was not to serve the lord in some6:05 greater way, but to elevate themselves in the eyes of man. Let me let that sink in because that that may step on I may be stepping on my6:17 own toes. That may step on our toes because what he's saying is, is it the fact that we want we really want greater service for god? Or is it that we want a a a greater elevated position in the eyes of man?6:30 Verse 12. And Moses said or Moses sent rather to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said we will not come. So Moses turns6:42 to the coconspirators here, and they won't even respond to his call to meet him. But they make this incredible public statement. Look at verse 13. Is it a small thing that6:54 you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness that you should keep acting like a prince over us? Alright. Now now we can tell they're all working off the same talking7:05 points. Alright? They must have been circulating them. It wasn't by email, but somehow they were, they were spreading the words. Verse 14. Moreover, you have not brought us us into a land flowing with milk and7:17 honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up. Now did you catch that? Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of7:29 a land flowing with milk and honey? I mean, Egypt has gone from a place where they had pots of meat and garlic to a land flowing with milk and honey. They were equating. Look7:40 look at this. They were equating god's promised land with the bondage of Egypt. That was the description of the promised land and they were attributing that to a place of7:52 bondage. And notice they too charged Moses with what they were actually seeking themselves. Alright? Power. Power. And there's a there's8:03 a psychological term for this, and it's something that we see a lot of today. It's called projection, projecting onto others the very motives or characteristics that you have yourself. Alright. So the nextDivine Judgment Unleashed 8:15 day, verse 18. So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door8:25 of the tabernacle meeting. Then the glory of the lord appeared to all the congregation, and the lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them in8:37 a moment. God was going to take everyone out for what Korah was doing. I mean, this is why we cannot be silent when evil raises8:49 its rebellious head. Silence is being complicit. Alright. Some people say, oh, you know, I don't wanna get involved. I don't wanna say anything. No. You need you need to make very clear you're not a part of it.9:01 Alright. Moses intercedes again. First verse 22. Then they fell on their faces and said, oh god, the god of the spirits of all flesh shall 1 man sin and you be angry with all the congregation. Moses9:13 is interceding. So the lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the congregation saying, get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abi Abiram. And he spoke, verse9:25 26, and he spoke to the congregation saying, depart now from the tents of these wicked men. Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins. Separate yourselves. This is good advice. Alright? This is good9:36 advice. Put distance between you and those who have put distance between themselves and the truth of god. Verse 28. And Moses said, by this you shall know that the lord has sent9:48 me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the lord has not sent me.10:00 But but, he says, if the lord creates a new thing and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these10:12 men have rejected the lord. Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them swallowed them up with their10:23 households and all the men of Korah with all their goods. Verse 33. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit. The earth closed over them, and they perished among the10:35 assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, lest the earth swallow us up also. Now meanwhile, down the street in the Levite10:47 subdivision, verse 35, and a fire came out from the lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense. So the people10:59 saw and heard the supernatural judgment of god in surround sound. Alright. This was an IMAX. So they learned their lesson and they moved on to the promised land. Right?11:11 Unfortunately, not. Verse 41. On the next day, all the congregation of the children of Israel complained. Here we go again. Against Moses and Aaron saying, you have killed thePlague, Intercession, and Christ's Picture 11:23 people of the lord. You gotta be kidding. I mean, could they not connect the dots, the rebellious people of god with the judgment of god? I mean, these rebellious people and11:35 their rebellion against god and the judgment of god. Do we not see the same thing today? Verse 42. Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron,11:47 that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting, and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting, and the lord spoke to Moses saying,11:56 get away from among the congregation that I may consume them in a moment. And what did they do? And they fell on their faces. Here it is again. Moses intercedes. Now12:08 stop for just a moment and take this in. I mean, we we already read that Moses was at the end of his rope before, but god keeps I don't know. Kept, he he found his strength12:20 in the lord. Moses doesn't pray for fire. He doesn't ask for for God to sweep away these, these people. He intercedes with12:31 God, and then he acts. He doesn't just pray a passing prayer. He takes action on their behalf. Look at verse 46. So Moses said to Aaron, take a censer12:43 and put fire in it from the altar. Put incense on it and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from the lord. The plague has begun. Then Aaron took it12:55 as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the assembly, and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood,13:07 verse 48, between the the dead and the living, so the plague was stopped. This is a picture of Jesus. Alright? Despite the13:19 hardness of our hearts as people, he has stood between the living and the dead, stopping the plague of sin and death so that you and I might live.13:31 Verse 49. Now those who died in the plague were 14700 beside those who died in the core incident. So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting for the plague had stopped.13:43 Well, I I hope that, like like me, that that the humility, the compassion of Moses along with the holiness13:55 of god and the fallen nature of man, just grips you and causes causes you to do some introspection. Alright. We're way over time, so I'm gonna have to stop there. However, in14:07 chapter 17, God addresses the people's question, who put you in charge? So make sure you read chapter 17. Father, thank you for your word. And, lord, I pray that we would not just read it as14:19 words on on paper, and we would not just be reading to say that we've read it. But, lord, we we know the word is alive. It's living. It's sharper than a 2 edged sword, and we wanna be changed by14:31 it. We wanna be transformed by your truth. And so we thank you for the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us when combined with the word. So sanctifies, change our nature so14:42 that lord we're not repeating the same things that we read about. Father, thank you. Thank you for this journey. We pray and ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Thanks for joining this morning. Until next time. Keep standing14:54 on the word.14:57 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:09 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at FRC dot org slash Bible.In this video 0:00 Korah's Rebellion Ignites8:15 Divine Judgment Unleashed11:13 Plague, Intercession, and Christ's Picture93.9K followers
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