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 out0:21 of out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, and now you also want to lord0:33 it over us? And 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 I would ask you0:45 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 Facebook page. But just0:57 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, we have the the1:09 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 this rebellion. And then1:21 and then amazingly, the people grumbled about it and a plague breaks out. And in that plague, 14700 more people died. Then in chapter1:33 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 start with this general1:45 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 of Israel murmuring or1:56 complaining which by the way never turned out well. And we see these dramatic swings in their behavior from rebellion and defiance to we're gonna2:08 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 actually reading about the predictable,2:21 unreliable nature of fallen man. Alright. With that said, let's start verse 1 chapter 16. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,2:33 with Dathan and Abiram, the son, the sons of Eliab, and 1 of the sons of Peleth, son, sons of Reuben took2:45 men. Now, you have 2 groups involved in this insurrection. The sons of Kohath, Levites, and sons of Reuben. Now, the tribe of Reuben, what's the connection between2:57 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. Verse 2 verse 16, and they3:09 rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. These were the leaders. Alright. They gathered together3:21 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 the lord is among them. Why3:33 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 coming. Verse 4, so when Moses3:45 heard it, he fell on his face. Look at the contrast, the humility of Moses compared to these other saying, we're all holy. We all can have the same responsibility. Moses falls on his3:57 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, the lord will show who4:08 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 decide the outcome here. So do4:20 this, verse 6, take sensors, Cora 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 holy 1. You take too4:32 much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi. So Moses says, okay. Alright. You wanna be priest? Perform the role of priest, take sensors, and put fire in them. And tomorrow morning, we'll see what god does.4:44 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 priest but burned4:56 unauthorized or strange fire. I'm going to tell you if you had half a brain, you're not going to play with the fire of god. So, Korah and crew took the things of god lightly which5:08 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 separated you from the congregation of Israel5:20 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 your brother and the sons of Levi with5:31 you and are you seeking the priesthood also? Moses says, is the elevated position that god has given you small? Is it a small insignificant thing in your eyes?5:43 Now, this exposed their heart and actually should prompt each of us to search our hearts. Their desire, okay? Hear me on this. Alright? This is, this is 1 of those,5:56 tests. This is the acid test. Their desire what this lays bare is that their desire was not to serve the Lord in some greater way, but to elevate themselves in6:08 the eyes of man. Let me let that sink in. Because that that may step on I may be stepping on my own toes. That may step on my toes because what he's saying6:20 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? Verse 12, and Moses said,6:32 Moses sent rather to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said we will not come. So Moses turns to the co conspirators here and6:44 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 that you have brought us up out of a land6:56 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 talking points. Alright? They must have been7:06 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 and honey nor given us inheritance7:18 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 of a land flowing with milk and7:30 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. Now, look look at this. They7:42 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 of bondage And notice they7:54 too charged Moses with what they were actually seeking themselves. Alright? Power. Power. And there's a there's a psychological term for8:06 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 next day, verse 18, so every man took hisGod's Fiery Judgment 8:17 sensor, 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 door of the tabernacle meeting. Then the8:28 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 in a moment. God was8:39 going to take everyone out for what Korah was doing. I mean, this is why we cannot be silent when evil raises its rebellious head. Silence8:51 is being complicit, alright? Some people say, oh you know, I don't want to get involved. I don't want to say anything. No. You need you need to make very clear you're not a part of it. Alright, Moses intercedes again.9:04 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. Moses is interceding. So, the lord spoke to Moses saying,9:16 speak to the congregation saying, get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abi Abiram and he spoke verse 26 and he spoke to the congregation saying, depart depart9:28 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, right? This is good advice. Put distance between you and9:40 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 sent me to do all these works for I have not done them of my own9:51 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. But but he says, if the lord creates a new thing10:04 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 these men have rejected the lord. Now, it came to pass as he finished10:16 speaking all these words that the ground split apart under them and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, swallowed them up with their households and all the men of Korah with all their goods. Verse 33.10:27 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit. The earth closed over them and they perished among the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled10:39 at their cry for they said, lest the earth swallow us up also. Now, meanwhile, down the street in the Levite subdivision, verse 35, and a fire came out from the10:51 lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering incense. So, the people saw and heard the supernatural judgment of God in11:03 surround sound. Alright. This was an IMAX. So they learned their lesson and they moved on to the promised land. Right? Unfortunately, not. Verse 41. On theGrumbling, Plague, and Intercession 11:15 next day, all the congregation of the children of Israel complained. Here we go again. Against Moses and Aaron saying, you have killed the people of the lord. You gotta be kidding. I mean,11:27 could they not connect the dots? The rebellious people of god with the judgment of god? I mean, these rebellious people and their rebellion against god and the judgment of god.11:40 Do we not see the same thing today? Verse 42. Now it happened when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting and suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory11:51 of the lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting and the lord spoke to Moses saying, get away from among the congregation that I may consume them in a moment. And what they do? And12:03 they fell on their faces. Here it is again. Moses intercedes. Now, stop for just a moment and take this in. I mean, we we already read that Moses was at the end of his rope12:15 before but god keeps, I don't know, kept, he he found his strength in the lord. Moses doesn't pray for fire. He doesn't ask for for god to sweep away12:27 these, these people. He intercedes with god and then he acts. He doesn't just pray a passing prayer. He takes12:38 action on their behalf. Look at verse 46. So Moses said to Aaron, take a censer and put fire in it from the altar. Put incense on it and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them12:50 for wrath has gone out from the lord. The plague has begun. Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the assembly and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the13:02 he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood, verse 48, between the the dead and the living so the plague was stopped.13:15 This is a picture of Jesus. Alright? Despite the hardness of our hearts as people. He has stood between the living and the dead stopping the plague13:27 of sin and death so that you and I might live. Verse 49. Now those who died in the plague were 14700 beside those who died in the Korah incident. So Aaron returned to Moses at the13:38 door of the tabernacle of meeting for the plague had stopped. Well, I I hope that, like like me, that the the humility, the compassion13:51 of Moses along with the holiness of God and the fallen nature of man just grips you and causes causes you to do some introspection. Alright,14:03 we're way over time. So I'm gonna have to stop there. However, in chapter 17, god addresses the people's question, who put you in charge? So make sure you read chapter 17. Father, thank you for14:15 your word. And, lord, I pray that we would not just read it as 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's14:27 living. It's sharper than a 2 edged sword and we wanna be changed by it. We wanna be transformed by your truth and so we thank you for the holy spirit that sanctifies us when combined with the14:39 word. So sanctifies, change our nature so 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.14:51 Thanks for joining this morning. Until next time. Keep standing14:56 on the word. Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a15:08 day, you 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 God's Fiery Judgment11:14 Grumbling, Plague, and Intercession
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